Really enjoying listening to this. Young covers a variety of topics in a scholarly but accessible way. So far, PT Barnum, Chatterton and literary forgers pretending to be Native American or having far more traumatic experiences than they did! Narrator is really good too, and it's making me research a lot of different topics in my spare time!

Fantastic historical fiction from Pigeonhole, this is set in 1911 New York. Peggy Batternburg, an heiress, is forced by her family to stay at a hotel near Coney Island, where she meets a mysterious Serbian artist and witnesses the discovery of two bodies of murdered women. Full of mysteries, atmospheric descriptions and some great characters, I'm really enjoying this. Out on 16th January.

Just finished a #cosy #festive #romance that is unlikely to make grandma blush! Haley, a workaholic ad designer is forced to go to a Christmas Camp by her boss to come up with ideas for a new campaign. Initially resistant, she soon gets forced into the Christmas spirit by handsome Jeff, his team and the other inmates at the Christmas prison camp! OK, so it's a #cheesefest but perfect if you fancy something light without too much smut!

A newlywed couple go on honeymoon and meet up with an old friend of the bride who gets them involved in a decadent summer party lifestyle and leads them astray. An idea #summerread, this draws comparisons with the Great Gatsby. It's poignant at times, but a great read.

An anthology of titbits about the past and people who are not always recognised. I would have been more impressed if I hadn't checked the endnotes and found them full of wiki pages he'd cribbed from. It's written as if it's addressing the reader in quite a jokey style and to be honest I prefer my history better researched with more depth.

Got my grubby mits on an arc! I ❤️ Laura Purcell so much. Historical fiction with a gothic and paranormal spin. It skillfully weaves a few mysteries together. Hester Why, who has left her last job under bad circumstances takes up a job in a creepy house looking after Miss Pinecroft. The servants are obsessed with fairies and pixies. Forty years earlier Miss Pinecroft helps her father in his attempts to cure consumptive prisoners. Out September.

After a tragic accident, Violet is sent to an exclusive girls school where she attracts the attention of a teacher who invites her to join an elite club. The school is located at the site where witch trials took place and the four girls dabble in witchcraft and rituals, believing that it gives them power. An excellent portrayal of adolence and a gripping thriller, altho slightly over the top at times.

Polly Clark should be much better known, this book is brilliant. Partially told through the eyes of a tiger, it tells the stories of Frieda, a bonobo expert who has to leave her job after being attacked and goes to work in a zoo and Tomas, who lives an unhappy life in a Siberian nature reserve. Beautifully poetic and original.

#buddyread starting on #twitter on Monday hosted by the publisher. Love the book so far, an aspiring artist longs to be a part of an elite art group named Pine City. Detailed, very vivid descriptions of art, art theory and a gripping storyline. The book is out now if anyone wants to join in. I did the Night Tiger buddy read and it was brilliant.

Well researched historical fiction based on real events, this is set in Ireland during the reign of Charles I. I didn't realise that this was a bridging novel between two books, but it wasn't that tricky to pick up. Some good characters, particularly Faolan who goes to work in Dublin Castle to spy on the Earl of Wentworth, this is an exciting romp of a novel.

Set in Venice, based on an opera about a woman who lives for 300 years, this book blends a present day story about Paul meeting a mysterious older woman and the story of Esme, the opera singer he's researching. Beautiful descriptions of historical Venice and the opera, Esme lives a fascinating life. The magic realism is done subtely and this is a little reminiscent of Orlando.

I love Polly Clark's writing ❤️ Just started this from #NetGalley

I listened to this #audiobook at work and had to switch it off at times as I was getting too worked up! Imagines a #dystopian world where women are prevented from speaking more than 100 words a day, having a job or money and reading and writing. Very well written and imagined. If you liked The Handmaid's Tale you would probably enjoy this.
https://booksihaveneverread.com/2019/05/vox-by-christina-dalcher.html

A fascinating #audiobook about the lives of tge women in Trump's life. I thought it was really well researched and portrayed the women with dignity and humanity. I particularly liked the account if Ivana's life. Here's my full review.

https://booksihaveneverread.com/2019/05/golden-handcuffs-by-nina-burleigh.html

Machine gun full of peas 🤔
The author fires off ideas, writing techniques and words which adds a sense of urgency, but can feel like an assualt to the senses to someone who enjoys more sedate writing!

Trev just followed me on insta 😂
Just started his book, I'll give it a fair go but so far his prose reads like a machine gun full of peas 😁

A bit of a genre buster. I think it was supposed to be satirical but I wasn't quite sure. Stan & Karen, two drunk yuppies, almost run over a woman whom they decide to take in. Stan's identical twin Pickle deveops a thing for her. The characters are really well written but the plot meanders around a bit witb Karen and Pickle musing about the past and the ending drove me nuts!

I think I would have preferred this when I was younger. A retelling of the Romanov story from the point of view of Anastasia with magic realism and romance. I found the world building a little bit of an issue and the pacing alternated between really slow and then everything happening at once! Not for me, but you may love it if you are into ya and it did have some charming little elements.

#audiobook

This is probably going to be one of my top picks this year. Beautifully narrated by a fantastic cast, this tells the story of a family reeling from the aftermath of one of the sisters and her husband being jailed and publically humiliated. The characters are really warmly and realistically drawn and you feel like you know them and will miss them when the book is finished.

Debunking the conspiracy theories surrounding the death of the Romanovs, this is thoroughly researched and filled with illustrations. However, I thought it read a little dry with Cook mainly describing what had happened rather than analysing it. Weird lack of proper footnotes/endnotes too. I think there are probably better books about this out there.

Interesting alternative history novel set in 1980s Britain which is occupied by the Nazis. The story follows Stephen, who works for the Nazi party as a spy, and Thomas who is a resistance fighter. The men developed an illegal relationship. Great world building, you very much get a sense of the world Krender has created and the characters are well written. Not a book to read if you are looking for sexy times though.

Two short hot novels. Twisted is about Shawn who begins an affair with his chilly professor in exchange for money, then realises that he is attracted to him and why he is being so cold. Obsessed is about Alexander, who is forced by his dick of a girlfriend to join in a threesome with Shawn's hot bi friend, and slowly realises that he's more into the hot bi than the gf. I enjoyed both of them as the characters were well written.

This book is so wonderful. A story about a diminutive doll maker going to meet a woman he has never met who lives in a mysterious house on Bodmin Moor. Told in narrative, letters and most uniquely in the stories Andrew reads by the mysterious Ewa Chaplin. Full of magic realism, reoccurring themes and characters who are little people, disabled or disfigured in transgressive love stories. But at the heart is Andrew and Bramber's love story.

A beautifully lyrical historical novel about two brothers in seperate countries set in Vienna and England between the wars. The author has tried to move away from 'the tyranny of plot' in order to make the story more naturalistic, which really suits the setting. It's not necessarily an easy read, but ultimately rewarding. Read on #Pigeonhole

Really entertaining futuristic thriller where someone hijacks eight completely autonomous cars and a jury have to decide who lives and who dies 😮
Full of twists and turns, some great characters and it makes you think about how we judge people without necessarily knowing the facts. It would make a great holiday read and a great tv series!

A beautifully written novel from the point of view of the servant, I won't call this a re-telling as it is so much more than that. Nelly is a fully realised character who has relationships Mr Earnshaw, Hindley and Hareton. The story is heartbreaking at times, but relived by her friend, Bodkin. Although it is a spin off, I think that it would stand alone as a fantastic novel about life below stairs.

Meticulously researched biographies of the women murdered. Hallie shows how easy it was to slip into a life of drink, workhouses, doss houses and tramping the streets, dispelling the myth that these were all prostitutes. If you are looking for speculation about who he was or details of the murders, this book is not it, rather it is the life of women who are usually forgotten and judged for their lifestyles.

Looks like it's on sale on Kindle

Excited I got auto approved on #NetGalley by Unbound 😁

Somebody needs to tell these two goons they don't need to use italics to show someone else is speaking. President Mary Sue who is war hero (and eveything else hero) with health problems has to disappear in order to stop a computer virus that will potentially destroy the Internet and life as we know it. Maybe I would have preferred it as a holiday read.

A gothic Victorian mystery about a woman with a tragic past who lives with a man who is researching whether you can judge a person by their appearances. The book uses multiple timelines and journal entries to tell Cora's story and the story of her mother from when Cora was a child. The plot is extremely skillful and Cora makes a good central character as she starts off mentally quite violent and grows as a character.

This is probably a candidate for the best book I will read this year. A beautifully written magic realist historical tale set in 1930s Malay. The characters are perfectly written and it's full of Chinese folklore and lush depictions of the setting. Quercus hosted a readalong on Twitter and I have to say I love the author too, she's just been so wonderfully excited about people discussing and enjoying it!

A sweet little romantic novel with a rather passive heroine. I found that the depiction of the relationship between Ryder and Lily was rather one sided. He falls in love with her at first sight, paints a million pictures of her in a relationship with him and when they meet, he doesn't really try to get to know her properly. If you are a fan of romance that wouldn't make Grandma blush, this might be for you.

So...you discover someone has spent years painting flattering images of you in his arms after he met you once by chance. He knows nothing about you. Are you flattered or creeped out?

Fantastic description of a date, really captures the character.

#NetGalley

#NetGalley

I didn't realise until the end that Boleskin is a real house with a pretty similar history. This is a fantastic read. A creepy house, mind control, Alestair Crowley, weird cults, children with supernatural powers...the plot is very skillfully weaved and the characters are spot on. Clara is particularly well drawn as a survivor of domestic violence who is blackmailed by the sinister Oswald Catternach.

I love a bit of Neil Spring, The Ghost Hunters was really good. This new one is brilliant so far. A paranormal psychological thriller about a woman who accidentally kills a man, not realising that there was a witness. It's set in a really creepy house near Loch Ness. Very atmospheric and the plot is excellent.

Hmm, I get the feeling Mr Clinton wrote the 1st person president stuff. This president can do no wrong. He's about to meet a terrorist but first he has to buy a homeless vet a meal and almost stop a man being arrested.

#NetGalley

A cool new cover for The Weeping Woman and the second in the Sarah Bennett series. I found this one more satisfying and a little less bonkers! Sarah developed as a character and there was a little more time spent on the characters. The setting of the private sanitarium with the Dr into the occult worked well and so did Sarah's paranormal problem of overhearing a dead woman weeping. Glad I stucl with the series.

Utterly bonkers gothic historical mystery set in America during WWII. The plot is insane and romps along at a cracking pace. The heroine sees ghosts. It's all you can do as a reader to keep up! It's to the detriment of charactersation tho, and the romance in particular is not exactly dwelt on - they are in love on day two and you don't really get a sense of who Zeke is. Nevertheless, this is a fun read on unlimited.

Four men and about a million animals including an abused toucan! Inevitably it gets a bit complicated during sexy times, and I occasionally had to remind myself which man was narrating. Also, Noah was a bit wet (and mute). Otherwise, the sexy times were pretty hot!

#CymruAmByth 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Currently listening to this little beauty at work. The characters are brilliantly written, you really feel as if you know them and the narration is spot on. #audiobook

#NetGalley

Well I finished it, and it got three stars on my reviews. The author is obviously passionate and very knowledgable about music, but the focus on the music facts and generalisations got rather in the way of the plot and character development.

Would like to be enjoying this but:
1. I hate the cover. When you feel like you could knock up something more accomplished on canva that is not good.
2. This is NOT a mystery. It's a lighthearted book about an orchestra.
3. If I have to read one more in depth analysis of a piece of music or generalisation about a musician I may throw my kindle across the room.
4. The plot is both non existent and glacial.
5. There is no character development.

#Pigeonhole

Maybe a little too frank for me at the beginning, l found the descriptions of bad straight sex and getting high in the toliets a bit depressing rather than funny (altho fellow pigeons thought they were hilarious). However, it did improve and I thought the fpn about coming out and entering into a polyamorous relationship with a controlling lesbian was really convincing. It got funnier, and the side plots were goid too.

#NetGalley

Cute slash romance between a house flipper and a homeless psychic. Sasha can see visions of what happened previously in houses and 'talk' to them. Good characters, a plot that kept me reading and a few nicely written sex scenes, although this is more of a romance than erotic fiction. The psychic elements were fun. Would read more about the characters and more from the author.

Taking part in a #twitter #buddyread about this book led by the publishing company with the author this time, the idea is 10 chapters per week (doable), it takes place on a Monday at 8pm (Uk time). It's also on instagram. Great idea, the hashtag is #nighttigertogether

"We were a chocolate-box family, I thought . Brightly wrapped on the outside and oozing sticky darkness within."

#NetGalley

So far, this book is amazing

#NetGalley

First go at this series, and it wasn't too difficult to pick up without reading the rest. It reminded me a little of the Shardlake series, but it was set during the reign of Richard II. Some intriguing mysteries, including the discovery of the gospel of Judas. Good characters too, I am intending to read some more on Scribd.