A low pick for me. Loved the sense of place especially the power of the river and the insight into history that I just don‘t know anything about -
Sudan in the mid 1800s (yes I am still making my way through #readingafrica2022 😆) but overall I found the story from multiple perspectives hard to keep up with and there was a really sad futility in much of the war and loss of identify. The main love story also confused me!

Been to see my mum for the weekend and just missed train back to London - enjoying some sunshine and hoping the signalling issue that has incomings now delayed is sorted soon!

On paper this should have been right up my alley - at marys‘s style writing and the recall of the knights of the round table to help save the realm. Plenty of in jokes, nods to the myths and general shenanigans ensue. And yet for that I found it a bit too full - I would have enjoyed the myth bits on their own, ditto the strong eco-warming and female strengths but all together it read a bit like all the books the author wanted to write

Gosh this is a quite remarkable read. It contains some things that I don‘t like - age differences in relationships inc a child bride (of its time but still not what I want to read about) and an almost distant story telling with very abrupt changes in main character and focus. It was a spiralling family saga - at its heart about love for each other and love for home even as both things change and evolve. The love for the land comes clear ⬇️

My first 5* of the year. This was a fabulous multi layered story - yes there is the love and bond of the 3 sisters and the pain and trauma of a difficult family history, then there is a world of female oppression, the witchcraft, the love of stories and words and all of it done against a clever historical backdrop that acknowledges the racism of the suffrage movement. The power of women, of words and of wanting was powerful stuff this IWD

Another YA from the TBR pile. this was stark and unrelenting in its portrayal of the experience of life for those forcibly removed from the Baltic states by the USSR during WW2. Lina is a wonderfully drawn protagonist - at times selfish, at times incredibly brave she is well rounded esp for a YA even if I did want to shake her! If I had a criticism, it‘s the end. Incredibly abrupt with a postscript as though the author ran out of steam or words

A quick easy YA read for #bookedintime. Pirates follows the daughter of a Bristol merchant as she learns the reality of where her wealth is come from & how tenuous her circumstances as a young woman are. enjoyed learning about something new.Pirates! Pirate honour! Whilst well researched it has a simplistic tone to it The love story seemed insta & there was a sense that Nancy was telling minerva‘s story as much as her own. @Cuilin

Maybe I am just not quite smart enough but there were swathes of this one where I was not quite sure what was happening and crucially not sure I cared. I do know the language was beautiful - words of longing and exploration and loneliness but it still left huge gaps as a cohesive story for me. I suspect I might give it another go and find more in the language to love and maybe a better understanding of the actual time war. Low pick

Whilst I feel like I might have seen the main premise of this book in a very old episode of Bones it was really well written and good to return to Northumberland wit L J Ross - she writes with such love and sense of place that even her slower books are enjoyable and this one is not at all slow. A good read at the end of. Very busy week

This was another #auldlangspine2024 from @BennettBookworm and was a lovely gentle read. I really liked how our main protagonist Meg had a full life outside of the love interest - rich yet complex female friendships and a hard earned creative career. As someone bit obsessed with signs and fonts I loved the game Meg and Reid played wandering the city looking for interesting and lost typeface it was like a private world in the city

Soft pick. This book, clearly means a great deal to its author and is in many ways deeply personal but for me one that took me. Surprisingly long time to read. A n exploration of life after death, grief and the universe it was at times wuirky and poetic and at times quite frustrating. Loved Wallace‘s growth and all the character bus found the pacing a bit too slow for me

I really like Alison Weir but this for me fell a bit flat. Perhaps it‘s because the story adds nothing new to my knowledge of the time and compared to some of the other novels I have read it felt a little fast and at time perfunctory. Henry is a complex character and I feel like we never really see that complexity #bookedintime @Cuilin

Another of my #oldlangspine2025 selections from @BennettBookworm this time one I least had on my kindle - honestly @monalyisha is so good at the pairing! I really enjoyed this swisty take on a reliable / unreliable narrator and stayed up far too late last night to finish it. If I had any complaint it finished quite abruptly. A note - set across the southern US states I loved the sense of place and clear love the author wrote with

Look at me go #auldlangspine2025 @monalyisha @BennettBookworm thanks for this tip. Having only recently come to romance novels, the challenge from the protagonist that people can be sneary about romance felt a bit stinging! Loved our main characters - well rounded, kind but flawed people both of whom I would happily have as friends. The set up, a dating show is made fun by the embracing of romance hero tropes. Lots of fun - thank you!!

Happy to finish the year on this one. A story of the power of books and the damaging world we find ourselves in when they are banned. Troy is a southern town full of secrets who have started down the book banning route when a teenager hides them in the covers of a local lending library. Learning ensues. The Indiana story with real heart, stark warning and sense of hope. Loved it

This is written in an unusual style - lots of spaces and no speech punctuation. Does take away from this heart breaking story following a family of Afghanistani
Refugees and their long hard journey to Australia. It‘s a damning indictment to the camps and treatment of refugees. I really enjoyed the folktales weaved through and the impact they had - less keen on the magical realism component. Rewarding but tough to read

A fun less headache inducing outing for Max and co. I had been finding these increasingly tough to follow but this felt like a return to form. Forced into supporting a tv producer help make his show authentic, max ends up adventuring with the star of the show.

How lucky was I? Thank you so much @jhod and also @MaleficentBookDragon for running this fun swop again #JolabokaflodSwap24

#JolabokaflodSwap24 my parcel has arrived ! The one I am@sending went to day for confirmed Tuesday delivery!! Thanks for organising again @MaleficentBookDragon

Told in non chronological order this is a story of a indigenous woman adopted at birth by white parents. Each chapter focuses on part of her story from someone else‘s perspective meaning it‘s at times a bit disjointed. Despite that I really enjoyed and found her story heartbreaking

Hmmm. Only picked this as it had a colour in the title for a challenge but for really pulled in. I liked the world building and how we learned as we went vs being given perfect back story but the main character was frustrating beyond measure and the senseless violence is almost never ending. I imagine I will seek out the rest of the first trilogy at least however as it ends in a decided cliffhanger

Picked this one for my #bookedkntime and really enjoyed. Whilst there are some quite chunky assumptions made that put it firmly in the fiction bucket it was also very interesting and grounded in well researched detaill and the characters and political intrigue intriguing! 📸 a thebian temple

This was one of my #auldlangsspine24 books from @DebinHawaii and I am so glad as I would like to read more from this author. Great, rich historical fiction. This follows Mercy a smart young girl from San Francisco‘s Chinatown in the weeks prior to & then immediately after the earthquake. Mercy is brave & funny as she navigates her way into an elite girls school ready to take on the world before circumstances remind her of what truly matters.

This was one of my #auldlangsspine24 books from @DebinHawaii and I am so glad as I would like to read more from this author. Great, rich historical fiction. This follows Mercy a smart young girl from San Francisco‘s Chinatown in the weeks prior to & then immediately after the earthquake. Mercy is brave & funny as she navigates her way into an elite girls school ready to take on the world before circumstances remind her of what truly matters.

High literature these are not and yet I am living this series. This time we have an enemy to lovers story set against a family feud of sorts. I really do like the world this author has created and how there is a depth to the writing even when a little fluffy. In this I like the exploration of family and what it means to belong

@DebinHawaii my things are 1. I have a day off!! 2. I got to have a sleep in! 3. I just had my food shopping delivered and get to food prep this afternoon to make next week easy! 4. My parents have had their Covid and flu jabs which makes me worry a little less 5. The pup and I are going to a Sunday adventure so something nice to look forward to!

fantastical & mystical I picked this up as i needed ‘a book about a city‘ & it was recommended. It‘s a special, beautiful odd book. A story about a demon who claims a city for her own, growing it over decades & blessing or cursing its people & what happen when it is destroyed by 3 angels - one of whom she curses in her rage. As she mourns & grieves & remembers, the angel returns to her over decades as she (they) build the city once more. ⬇️

Reading out of order but another really enjoyable story in this series. There is a couple of layers here - yes a cool lgbtq romance but also a story about fear and fitting jn. An easy read

Bought in Salem last weekend to meet a book about magic prompt for peak witchiness. This is on the surface a light and frothy cozy tale of a magical competition in a Salem-esque town in Illinois. Dig a little deeper and there is a some great female friendships, a lovely lgbtq romance and an interesting story about how and where you might belong

I almost put this down - it was very sow and high on the magical realism which. Is not my favourite but slowly it pulled me in. I really loved the atmospheric old house in Durban, truly a character in its own right and also enjoyed hearing about the Indian immigrants to South Africa something I did not know about about. Ultimately I think this will stick - a story of missed opportunity, trauma and childhood hurt and more

Loved this. Eons ago at university I did a half module on Arthurian legend of which I remember almost nothing! This story of the youngest daughter of the Duke of Cornwall fighting against a genuinely evil stepfather, seeking knowledge to heal to take control of her own destiny was a fabulous rich story and the introduction of Arthur‘s hints for interesting things ahead in this trilogy

Another outing for Raisa the fabulously employed FBI agent forensic linguist who is pulled into a seemingly closed serial killer case connected to book 1 and her own challenging family background. Less linguistic leaps than book 1, or at least until 70% in bi when they come they are good. It‘s twisty and asks some interesting questions about the impact of trauma and what it means to trust. Rapidly becoming a go to author for me

This was almost perfect as a thriller let down a little bt the straw out ending. Teenager Eliza arrives at the fbi office in Seattle in the middle of the night and confesses to a murder insistent yo speak to only 1 person. What emeres is a creepy tale of a small town and a cult like church community where secrets and half truths@are commonplace. A good way to spend a couple of hours after a busy week.

This is a captivating story about Rachel, a slave in Barbados who seeks to find her stolen children after emancipation comes. It‘s powerful on a mother love and freedom but I found it strangely flat - full of coincidence and a large cast of often more interesting characters of whom we learn only some of their story. Bought those one for #readingtheamericas2023. D only just got to it!

I suspect his will be my most read author this year as I am really enjoying. This was a really strong twisty murder mystery featuring all the good tropes. There is a troubled police offer and her incredibly patient partner. A rich powerful pillar of the community and a troubled family with a missing child. Somehow however it‘s so much more than all of its parts. Now to find what else is on kindle unlimited !

I‘ve been really enjoying this authors books but this, a stand alone is a bit of softer pick with em. Loved the atmospheric and isolated setting of a small island off of Maine coast and the secrets that come out when a police officer returns home for the first time in many years. Trigger warnings abound

This was almost perfect. It‘s a fast paced tale of the life of Hercules told not by himself but by those around him - a mix of those he loved and those who hated him. It‘s refreshingly honest and embraces the queer nature of Ancient Greece but keeping track of all of the people and voices is a lot. The tone is quite Jodi Taylor esque (esp when you get to the character list) and feels a bit much across so many narrators.

Quite enjoying this so far. Lots of different perspective on Hercules from people who crossed his path. If I can finish this before September 1st which is an off chance given my upcoming work week I will make my first ever line in bingo!

Read for a challenge with a book by a journalist this was .. a lot. Ex marine turned SBS is now trying out life in the security services when he gets pulled into a twisty issue that would have James Bond shaking his head. It moves very fast from cartels to more traditional enemies of the state and ends up in a rush to solve before a terrible attack. For me there was too much h here and it took away from the story⬇️

Trope laden but still quite fun. Fake marriages, billionaires, billionaires who are also awful, sparky young kids - it doesn‘t set itself up to be classic literature but tells a the tale well. I liked the protagonist who takes no crap and doesn‘t buy into her makeover to make her a worthwhile person which I appreciated. I suspect I won‘t remember this in 6 months but enjoyed for a few hours in the sunshine

Trope laden but still quite fun. Fake marriages, billionaires, billionaires who are also awful, sparky young kids - it doesn‘t set itself up to be classic literature but tells a the tale well. I liked the protagonist who takes no crap and doesn‘t buy into her makeover to make her a worthwhile person which I appreciated. I suspect I won‘t remember this in 6 months but enjoyed for a few hours in the sunshine

In many ways very similar to her first book this is a more assured novel. secrets, complex families and locked in location all come together for a somewhat unbelievable but quite creepy lock in murder mystery. Like her first novel the weather - initially hot, sticky and unforgiving turning to wild winds is as u h a protagonist as the bad guy (my reading location is pretty fun for today)

A Ya distopian threat been on my kindle for 8 years. It‘s a great set up. a national lottery has allowed 20 plus years of genetical modifying 1% of babies born. Now the rest aren‘t sure they like seeing this group - ‘the ones‘ succeed…in steps in big government with the equality COmission and act aimed to controlling and minimising the risk they believe the ones hold. The decent into violence & hatred is almost inevitable. ⬇️

This has the potential to be a great and fun romantic comedy but falls a little short. The male protagonist has a bucket load of issues and I am not sure they fully get solved more than magiced away - also there is a fair amount of reflecting on life lessons versus showing them. For all that though it was an easy enjoyable read and perfect for the start of a short break in the sunshine

My #bookedintime read for Indian independence that I really loved. It‘s great historical fiction but also has a really strong family story with excellently rendered female relationships. Following 3 sisters through the violence of independence and partition it was both profoundly sad and incredibly hopeful. Also more thoughts below ⬇️ My copy came from India last year and so is also my twentieth for #readaway2024 @Andrew65

A bit bonkers but good fun. The start of a new leaves series with conman turned lawyer Eddie Flynn reluctantly defending the Russian mafia… a fast double crossing ride

I have never really understood the pull of a cozy mystery but one set in a lighthouse library in the outer banks - one of the most beautifully places I have ever been and I couldn‘t resist. It was saccharine sweet but I did think characters were fleshed out well and could see the appeal of diving back into the world created (was v into filters in 2013 clearly!)

In an effort to clear the kindle I picked this 2013 buy. it‘s a solid if perhaps unecesssrily complex murder mystery set in the Arizona desert. Narrated by Bridget Quinn in the first person its the story of a somewhat disgraced, early retired FBI agent and the case that got away. Bridget is frankly infuriating but also kind of awesome and it was interesting to have a slightly older protagonist. Apparently now there are also another 3!

Picked this for 30s dust bowl for #bookedintime and whilst starting and finishing late I LOVED this book. It‘s a story of an orphan on the bridge of adulthood who finds himself talking his way into driving 2 African giraffes across the states from New York to San Diego. A road trip in the best tradition of both adventures en route alongside a deeper story of growing self awareness and acceptance. and giraffes! ⬇️ @Cuilin

Here‘s my very vague list for the month @TheAromaofBooks