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Journey
Elizabeth Strout has contributed significantly to my favourites bookshelf with her two unforgettable characters: Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton. Both women were crafted from the discerning and expressive observational talent of Elizabeth Strout. Lucy Barton spent her early life in abject poverty, an extreme situation that shaped her personality…
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Richard Osman is a popular TV personality in the UK, and has now released the second book in what is becoming a best-selling series. The Thursday Murder Club was established by four fascinating characters, all seniors, but determined to use their career skills and experience to help solve murder…
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Choices
Time travel is such a mesmerising concept. Our fascination with returning to the past to relive precious moments, provide a heads up on the future (Humm lottery numbers), or prevent a devastating event keeps us enthralled in the many tales told. She Wouldn’t Change a Thing is a time travel story…
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Illuminate
Claire Keegan has crafted an outstanding novella that is heartbreakingly authentic, compelling, and reassuring in how a regular person rejected and ultimately helped curb the authority of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Claire Keegan’s writing is exquisite (I have found a book fitting of those words), and Small Things Like These gently…
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Malevolent
After reading the cover description, I thought this would be interesting as an audiobook – and what a great call I made. Courtney Gould’s debut novel, The Dead and the Dark is a wonderful atmospheric supernatural mystery that exposes people’s nature and truths of the past.
The Dark is more than…
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Derange
The Last House on Needless Street is one of those extraordinary books that tell a compelling story in the constant haze of uncertainty, with a gripping dark psychological intensity and fascinating characters that are cleverly blended with beautiful writing.
From the start, there is a dark and menacing atmosphere to the…
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Vibrations
I devoured James Patterson’s novels decades ago, and after all these years, I can say returning to him in this book, there’s a very different atmosphere and plot than what I expected. Also, JD Barker (who I also love) is co-authoring this one, and I see the influence with…
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Before sharing how I feel about the story, I’d like to point out how beautifully and cleverly written The Shadow in the Glass is. Somehow, Harwood successfully makes the black-eyed woman appear on every page, despite only appearing when Eleanor summons her or when she whispers into Eleanor’s mind,…
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Attachment
There is an immersive observational skill Rooney has with her characters and their relationships. Coupled with her beautiful and unique writing style, Beautiful World, Where Are You is another captivating novel for fans of Sally Rooney.
I often feel frustrated following her characters and their relationships, wondering why they don’t just say…
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The Shadow in the Glass is a fascinating novel that animates a dark story of murder, mystery, power, ambition, family secrets, supernatural twists, consequences, and beautifully depicted in Victorian London. The historical aspect of nineteenth-century London is brought alive with vivid intensity, as the two worlds of the rich and…
Founder of The Reading Desk, supporting readers, authors, publishers and book industry. Top Reviewer on Amazon, Goodreads, and NetGalley peter@thereadingdesk.com
