Tracey's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 11 May 2025 03:20:54 -0700 60 Tracey's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Children of Eve (Charlie Parker, #22)]]> 220160424 The “consistently high-quality� (Booklist) Charlie Parker series continues with a white-knuckled new thriller from New York Times bestselling author John Connolly.

Wyatt Riggins, the boyfriend of rising Maine artist Zetta Nadeau, has gone missing, leaving behind a cell phone containing a single-word RUN. Private investigator Charlie Parker is hired to find out why Riggins has fled, and from whom.

Parker discovers that Riggins, an ex-soldier, has been involved in the abduction of four children from Mexico: three girls and a boy, all belonging to the cartel boss Blás Urrea—except Urrea’s family is safe and well in Mexico, which means the abductees cannot be his children. Yet whoever they are, Urrea wants them back, and has dispatched his agents to secure them, even if it means butchering everyone who stands in their way.

One of those agents is Eugene Seeley, a clever, ruthless solver of other men’s problems. The other is an unknown woman.

Every child has a mother. Now Charlie Parker will face one unlike any other, and learn the terrifying truth about the Children of Eve.]]> 464 John Connolly 1668083949 Tracey 4 4.11 2025 The Children of Eve (Charlie Parker, #22)
author: John Connolly
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/11
date added: 2025/05/11
shelves:
review:
Not sure I found this quite as compelling as some in the series, but I still love Charlie Parker and Connolly is one of the best thriller writers around. This also feels like it's laying interesting groundwork for future books.
]]> The Wedding People 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Tracey 4
The story of a woman who ends up accidentally part of a wedding party ends up being a charming, romantic and even thought provoking novel about life and the choices we make]]> 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/08
date added: 2025/05/08
shelves:
review:
I absolutely wouldn't have chosen this book - academics having a life crisis is one of my least favourite, overdone tropes - but it was recommended to me by a friend and I'm glad I listened.

The story of a woman who ends up accidentally part of a wedding party ends up being a charming, romantic and even thought provoking novel about life and the choices we make
]]> <![CDATA[Thou Savage Woman: Female Killers in Early Modern Britain]]> 216455868 'Popular history at its best' Spectator

'Boisterous� replete with stabbings, bashing and thumping' Daily Mail

'A cocktail of brutal, tragic, and fascinating true crime from the era of the Tudors and Stuarts. This dark history at its best, narrated with empathy and precision' Gareth Russell

LADY KILLERS AND FEMME FATALES � STORIES OF MURDER MOST FOUL � HAVE GRIPPED PUBLIC IMAGINATION FOR CENTURIES

Early Modern Britain was awash with pamphlets, ballads, woodcuts broadcasting bloodthirsty tales of traitorous wives, greedy mistresses, cunning female poisoning lacing the supper with deadly substances; of child killers and spiteful witches, stories of women wholly and unnaturally wicked. These were printed or sung, tacked the walls of alehouses, sold in the streets for pennies and read voraciously to thrill all. But why? When the vast majority of murders then (and now) are committed by men.

In this bold, page-turning new history, former police officer and historian Blessin Adams tells stories of women whose violent crimes shattered the narrow confines of their gender � and whose notoriety revealed a society that was at once repulsed by and attracted to murderous female rebellion. Based on detailed research in court archives, each chapter explores murders that thrilled and terrified the British public; the crimes that caused the most concern and provoked the most debate. Women in this period killed rarely, and when they did it was usually within the context of extreme provocation or domestic violence. Adams has the ability of the best crime novelists in recreating the setting in which each case occurred as well as the motivations of each perpetrator.

Thou Savage Woman reminds us that women in the past had voices, that they sought to control their bodies and their environments and that they also had the capacity for committing acts of unspeakable violence.]]> 240 Blessin Adams 0008500193 Tracey 3 3.60 Thou Savage Woman: Female Killers in Early Modern Britain
author: Blessin Adams
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.60
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/03
date added: 2025/05/03
shelves:
review:
I didn't really click with the writing style, but this was an interesting look at female killers - or, in some cases, women wrongly accused of being killers - and how society perceived them and their crimes, and how they were often disproportionately demonised and punished.
]]> The Hunter (Cal Hooper, #2) 174156145
Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.

A nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.]]> 467 Tana French 0593493435 Tracey 4 3.95 2024 The Hunter (Cal Hooper, #2)
author: Tana French
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:
I don't like the Cal Hooper books as much as the Dublin Murder Squad but French is a slick, compelling writer.
]]> Night and Day 210999992 Following the highly acclaimed Nocturnes and Night Music, Night & Day is filled with eerie surprises and dark delights.

Night & Day takes us from the dusty shelves of an uncanny library filled with fictional characters to a bunker deep beneath the earth where scientists seek revenge on old Nazis, from an English marsh haunted by a mother and her son to a country house where a grieving widower finds comfort from a most unlikely source.

Concluding with the author's account of how an obscure horror film brought him closer to his lost father, and how nostalgia can help to keep us sane, this is a collection that will move, entertain, and keep you reading late into the night.]]> 368 John Connolly 1668081679 Tracey 4
The stories were all fine: whatever he writes, Connolly is an excellent prose stylist, though I admit most of his stories tap into a MR James sense of mystery that I find wears quickly for my personal taste, and I feel like the Caxton library stories sometimes feel like a one-note idea (albeit an excellent one) stretched a little thin.

But the monograph is excellent. Connolly is a great non-fiction writer: witty, dry and informed. He combines the history of the film and the personalities involved - including Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas - with his own personal recollections to great effect. I quite fancy seeing the film now!]]> 3.47 Night and Day
author: John Connolly
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.47
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/17
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves:
review:
This is a slightly odd collection: a mix of short stories and an extended monograph on the cult film Horror Express. I admit I went into it thinking of like the stories and take or leave the monograph (I haven't seen the film) but in the end it was the opposite.

The stories were all fine: whatever he writes, Connolly is an excellent prose stylist, though I admit most of his stories tap into a MR James sense of mystery that I find wears quickly for my personal taste, and I feel like the Caxton library stories sometimes feel like a one-note idea (albeit an excellent one) stretched a little thin.

But the monograph is excellent. Connolly is a great non-fiction writer: witty, dry and informed. He combines the history of the film and the personalities involved - including Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas - with his own personal recollections to great effect. I quite fancy seeing the film now!
]]> <![CDATA[Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music]]> 202246100
As Taylor Swift’s preferred and most trusted music journalist, Rob Sheffield has enjoyed closer access to the mega-star than any other writer working today. His unique insight has afforded him a singular perspective of Taylor’s world and her impact on the world. Inspired by his years of this exclusive access, and the Swiftie response his commentary on their beloved Taylor, Sheffield merges reportage and criticism in a way that only he can.

At once one of the most beloved music figures of the past two decades and one of the most criticized, Taylor Swift is known as much for her life beyond her music as she is for her constant stream of hits—and most of all, how she uses the former to not only create the latter, but market and brand herself throughout the many “eras� of her career. At once both approachable and enigmatic, Taylor Swift has become a master of controlling the narrative surrounding her life and career while keeping fans eager to learn of her every next step.

In the tradition of Sheffield’s award-winning Dreaming the Beatles, Heartbreak Is the National Anthem will inform and delight a legion of fans who hang on every word from Taylor and ever word Rob writes on her.]]> 208 Rob Sheffield 0063351315 Tracey 0 currently-reading 3.58 2024 Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music
author: Rob Sheffield
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) (Vera Wong, #2)]]> 222532785 Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.�

Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer SelenaGray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure Selena's briefcase.Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.

Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.

Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, andthere is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.]]> 326 Jesse Q. Sutanto 0008558884 Tracey 0 to-read 4.11 2025 Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) (Vera Wong, #2)
author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> I, Julian 62093145
From the author of Miles to Go before I Sleep comes I, Julian, the account of a medieval woman who dares to tell her own story, battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations to do so. Compelled by the powerful visions she had when close to death, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up in a small room on the side of a church - and to write of what she has seen. The result, passed from hand to hand, is the first book to be written by a woman in English.

Tender, luminous, meditative and powerful, Julian writes of her love for God, and God's love for the whole of creation. 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'

'Written with profound insight, spiritual and psychological, and a rare sensitivity to the everyday world of the fourteenth century, I, Julian is a brilliantly illuminating companion to one of the greatest works of spiritual writing in English.' Rowan Williams, Magdalene College, Cambridge University]]> 208 Claire Gilbert 1399807528 Tracey 3 4.17 I, Julian
author: Claire Gilbert
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
review:
This was a very well-written historical novel, and I suspect the issue was with me, rather than it: I just didn't particularly engage with the theology of Julian's visions and mindset, and there was little in the way of plot (which is on me, I suppose, given the protagonist spends much of her life bricked up in a room!)
]]> <![CDATA[We Need Your Art: Stop Messing Around and Make Something]]> 214537765 From creative phenom Amie McNee, the creator of @InspiredtoWrite, a manifesto on the vital, human importance of creating, with guidance for all artists in all endeavors, whether they're beginning or need a fresh start

In We Need Your Art, Amie McNee calls artists and aspiring artists of all kinds to do the work they’re meant to create.

Using her own experiences and the inspiration she’s shared with her legions of followers on Instagram, Amie guides you on why we need your art and how you can make it happen—starting with a two-week reset plan to help you kick-start your creative habit. This isn’t about writing your great novel in a month or painting a masterpiece in a flurry of inspiration. Rather, this process is about practicing small, sustainable creative steps every day over time—five hundred words of writing each day, a pencil sketch every evening—so that you avoid burnout, produce consistent, reliable content on your own terms, and begin to see yourself as an artist.

With frank and empowering conversations on the many issues creatives face, including impostor syndrome, perfectionism, procrastination, and the inner critic, as well as invitations to coronate yourself and celebrate your ambition, Amie provides the framework and encouragement you need to begin to take your art seriously. Each chapter also includes journal prompts that help you apply what you have learned to your new life.

We Need Your Art is a revolutionary reprogramming of everything we have been taught and told about being a creative, removing the shame and fear we may feel at dubbing ourselves artists and inviting us to create proudly, with celebration. This book is a warm hug, a pep talk, the wise teacher you always wanted, the loving parent you needed, and the fire in your belly that you need to get roaring.]]> 272 Amie McNee 0593833007 Tracey 0 currently-reading 4.51 We Need Your Art: Stop Messing Around and Make Something
author: Amie McNee
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism]]> 223436601 An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.

From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.

Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.�

Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.]]> 382 Sarah Wynn-Williams 1250391237 Tracey 0 currently-reading 4.28 2025 Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
author: Sarah Wynn-Williams
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Witch 25130532 A terrifying short story from Shirley Jackson, the master of the macabre tale.Shirley Jackson's chilling tales of creeping unease and random cruelty have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. When her story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail. It became known as one of the greatest short stories ever written. Have you read her yet?'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt'An amazing writer ... if you haven't read any of her short stories ... you have missed out on something marvellous' Neil Gaiman'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes Shirley Jackson was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.]]> 11 Shirley Jackson Tracey 2 3.60 1949 The Witch
author: Shirley Jackson
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1949
rating: 2
read at: 2017/09/03
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves:
review:
Ridiculously short to be sold separately - it's about 7 pages long - and too slight to be truly creepy, despite Jackson's always pleasing prose.
]]> <![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Tracey 4 4.60 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves:
review:
Collins's skill is not just that she makes a story compelling even though you know the ending, but that she manages to make this both feel like a rich addition to the world-building yet utterly relevant and timely. Warning: it will break you, a little.
]]> <![CDATA[Write for Life: A Toolkit for Writers from the author of multimillion bestseller THE ARTIST'S WAY]]> 64045957 ONE OF THE WATKINS TOP 100 MOST SPIRITUALLY INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF 2023

From JULIA CAMERON, author of the multimillion bestselling THE ARTISTS WAY comes WRITE FOR LIFE.

Legendary author of The Artist's Way Julia Cameron has pioneered the field of creative recovery, inspiring millions of people around the world to discover their true creative selves. Now in Write for Life, the 'Queen of Creativity' speaks directly to writers - it is an openhearted invitation to begin, stick with, and finish a project.

Write for Life delivers a wonderful balance of firm and inspiring advice, shaped into a 6-week program for writers of all levels. From setting daily writing quotas to changing genres, fighting perfectionism to polishing a first draft, Julia Cameron provides holistic guidance and support every step of the way.

Write for Life is written for every writer, and every writer should read it. It is Julia Cameron at her best, distilling decades of wisdom and experience in practical lessons on the craft and spiritual practice of writing. Itis an unmissable addition to Julia Cameron's creative canon, destined to sit in the pantheon of classic books on writing.]]> 206 Julia Cameron 1800815220 Tracey 4 3.91 Write for Life: A Toolkit for Writers from the author of multimillion bestseller THE ARTIST'S WAY
author: Julia Cameron
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/03
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves:
review:
There's very little in here you won't get from (superior) The Artist's Way - and you have to read an awful lot about the weather, her dog and her famous friends to get it - but despite the fact I find the padding quite dull and repetitive, her advice is so solid I keep returning to it, and always get something from it.
]]> The Change 61164006
In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment�

After Nessa James’s husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she’s left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn’t take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead—a gift she’s inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.

On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn’t left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriet’s life is far from over—in fact, she’s undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw—until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl’s murder leads to more bodies, and to the town’s most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don’t apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriet will take matters into their own hands…]]> 475 Kirsten Miller 0008494673 Tracey 0 to-read 4.26 2022 The Change
author: Kirsten Miller
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation]]> 200298052 260 Jim O’Heir 0063293501 Tracey 3 3.70 2024 Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation
author: Jim O’Heir
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
Charming collection of anecdotes about the show, with input from other actors and writers. O'Heir isn't a particularly good writer and there's little in the way of depth or surprise, but he's clearly enthusiastic and loves the show and cast, so if you love the show (as I do) you'll definitely enjoy.
]]> The House on the Strand 50246
Alternate cover is available here.]]> 329 Daphne du Maurier Tracey 0 to-read 3.85 1969 The House on the Strand
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)]]> 20893567 The Sketch Book, fictional historian Diedrich Knickerbocker introduces us to Rip van Winkle, the Dutch colonist who slept through the Revolutionary War; Ichabod Crane, the superstitious, social-climbing schoolmaster; and the pumpkin-topped Headless Horseman, ancestor to countless horror film antiheroes. In addition to 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle', The Sketch Book touches on cultural and historical concerns that remain compelling, thanks to Irving's modern outlook and impressive foresight.

This new edition, with an introduction from Elizabeth L. Bradley, demonstrates how inextricably Irving's writings are woven into the fabric of American culture - high and low.]]> 372 Washington Irving 0143107534 Tracey 0 to-read 3.57 1820 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
author: Washington Irving
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1820
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Elektra Lives Again 59971 80 Frank Miller 0785108904 Tracey 4 3.76 Elektra Lives Again
author: Frank Miller
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves:
review:
Stunning artwork, compelling - although brutal story. I love Elektra and thought this was a very enjoyable take on her story.
]]> <![CDATA[Thunderstone: A True Story of Losing One Home and Discovering Another]]> 61117571
In the wake of a traumatic lockdown, Nancy Campbell buys an old caravan and drives it into a strip of neglected woodland between a canal and railway. It is the first home she has ever owned.

As summer begins, Nancy embraces the challenge of how to live well in a space in which possessions and emotions often threaten to tumble � clearing industrial junk from the soil to help wild beauty flourish. But when illness and uncertainty loom once more, it is this van anchored in the woods, and the unconventional friendships forged off -grid, that will bring her solace and hope.

An intimate journal across the space of a defining summer, Thunderstone is celebration of the people and places that hold us when the storms gather; an invitation to approach life with imagination and to embrace change bravely.]]> 224 Nancy Campbell 1783966572 Tracey 0 currently-reading 3.82 Thunderstone: A True Story of Losing One Home and Discovering Another
author: Nancy Campbell
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.82
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise]]> 200869482
But the story of the garden doesn’t always enact larger patterns of privilege and exclusion. It’s also a place of rebel outposts and communal dreams. From the improbable queer utopia conjured by Derek Jarman on the beach at Dungeness to the fertile vision of a common Eden propagated by William Morris, new modes of living can and have been attempted amidst the flower beds, experiments that could prove vital in the coming era of climate change.

The result is a humming, glowing tapestry, a beautiful and exacting account of the abundant pleasures and possibilities of not as a place to hide from the world but as a site of encounter and discovery, bee-loud and pollen-laden.]]> 336 Olivia Laing 0393882004 Tracey 4 3.87 2024 The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise
author: Olivia Laing
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:
I know nothing about gardening but I enjoyed this look at the idea of the English garden, its connections to colonialism and capitalism, as well as rebellion and queerness.
]]> Wool - Holston (Wool, #1) 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]> 56 Hugh Howey Tracey 0 to-read 4.14 2012 Wool - Holston (Wool, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Death at the Vineyard (A Shell House Detectives Mystery, #4)]]> 210163348 As the Shell House Detectives investigate a mystifying death, they discover rumours, betrayal and murder. Will a decades-old secret finally be unearthed too?

At Shoreline Vines, high on the Cornish cliffs, the Harper family are preparing to welcome glamorous investor Celine Chevalier to their vineyard.

They desperately need Celine’s backing to keep their business afloat. But everything is jeopardised when a body is found in one of their fields. Police believe the death was a tragic accident but the victim’s family suspect otherwise and turn to the Shell House Detectives to investigate.

As Ally and Jayden question the community, they discover that Shoreline Vines has always been shrouded in mystery. There are old rumours about buried bones, and even a curse on the land itself. Are these just local myths or is there something sinister hidden in the vineyard’s past?

As tensions reach breaking point, Ally and Jayden must uncover the truth, in a gripping story of family secrets and shocking betrayals.]]> 397 Emylia Hall 1662521766 Tracey 3 4.50 The Death at the Vineyard (A Shell House Detectives Mystery, #4)
author: Emylia Hall
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
Enjoyable installment of an engaging series.
]]> <![CDATA[Papercuts 1: The Dead and the Quick]]> 28641334 50 Colin Bateman Tracey 2 2.67 2016 Papercuts 1: The Dead and the Quick
author: Colin Bateman
name: Tracey
average rating: 2.67
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2016/03/18
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves:
review:
Bateman writes well, but this is basically just an opening chapter, so it's a bit cheeky to be flogging it as a story; it's remarkably slight.
]]> <![CDATA[Bad Taste: Or the Politics of Ugliness]]> 117718205
How did minimalism become a virtue, and who can afford to do it justice?

When did blue-collar jackets become a fashion item?

Who stands to gain from the distinction made between beauty and sex?

Bold, original and provocative, Bad Taste is a revelatory exploration of the intersection between consumerism, class, desire, and power, and a rousing call-to-arms to break free from the restrictive ways we see those around us.]]> 240 Nathalie Olah 0349702233 Tracey 0 currently-reading 3.97 Bad Taste: Or the Politics of Ugliness
author: Nathalie Olah
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.97
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir 205423802 An unflinching memoir about childhood, food, books, and our ability to see, become, and protect ourselves.

My Good Bright Wolf is a memoir about thinking and reading, eating and not eating, privilege and scarcity, the relationships that form us and the long tentacles of childhood.

Pushing at the boundaries of memoir writing, Sarah Moss investigates contested memories of a girlhood with embattled, distracted parents, loving grandparents, and teachers who said she would never learn to read. Then, by the time she was a teenager, Moss developed a dangerous and controlling relationship with food, an illness that continued to affect her as an adult, despite her professional and personal success.

In My Good Bright Wolf, this bright light of contemporary literature explores the trap of postwar puritanism and second-wave feminism, the narratives of women and food that we absorb through our childhoods and adulthoods, and the ways in which our health-care system continues to discount the experiences of women, minorities, and anyone suffering from mental illness. With her characteristic commitment to finding the truths in stories, Moss examines what she thought and still thinks, what she read and still reads, and what she did—and still does—with her hardworking body and her furiously turning mind.]]> 208 Sarah Moss 1035035812 Tracey 3
This is part memoir, part confessional, and unsparing in its examination of tough subjects like anorexia. But ultimately I found the style wearying. It constantly contradicts itself - a narrative voice correcting the story with some iteration of "that never happened, or if it did, you deserved it" which at first feels like an accurate commentary on the unreliability of memories (as someone whose entire childhood is a blur, I can relate) but it starts to wear thin. If this isn't true, does it matter? What are we being fed here?

And while it's always good to have someone own their own privilege, Moss does it to such an extent that it's exhausting and starts to feels performative - she's constantly tying herself in knots to remind us she knows her upbringing was more privileged than many, she knows how unprogressive some of the books she grew up loving were, she knows how unfeminist some of her opinions about bodies and weight and womanhood were / are. Like, we get it.

In the end the quality of the writing wasn't enough to make me care about the content.]]> 4.18 2024 My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir
author: Sarah Moss
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
I'm starting to think Sarah Moss is one of those authors I think I like more than I actually do (it probably doesn't help that I keep confusing her with Sarah Hall, either). But this book felt like my usual experience with her work - on the one hand, she writes exquisite prose, on the other I find myself kept at a distance from the heart of the work and unable to connect with it at anything more than a level of technical admiration.

This is part memoir, part confessional, and unsparing in its examination of tough subjects like anorexia. But ultimately I found the style wearying. It constantly contradicts itself - a narrative voice correcting the story with some iteration of "that never happened, or if it did, you deserved it" which at first feels like an accurate commentary on the unreliability of memories (as someone whose entire childhood is a blur, I can relate) but it starts to wear thin. If this isn't true, does it matter? What are we being fed here?

And while it's always good to have someone own their own privilege, Moss does it to such an extent that it's exhausting and starts to feels performative - she's constantly tying herself in knots to remind us she knows her upbringing was more privileged than many, she knows how unprogressive some of the books she grew up loving were, she knows how unfeminist some of her opinions about bodies and weight and womanhood were / are. Like, we get it.

In the end the quality of the writing wasn't enough to make me care about the content.
]]> Freakslaw 199602729 A travelling funfair of seductive troublemakers arrive in a repressed Scottish town. What could possibly go wrong?

It’s the summer of �97 and the Scottish town of Pitlaw is itching for change.

Enter the Freakslaw � a travelling funfair populated by deviant queers, a contortionist witch, the most powerful fortune teller, and other architects of mayhem. It doesn’t take long for the Freakslaw folk to infiltrate Pitlaw’s grey world, where the town’s teenagers � none more so than Ruth and Derek � are seduced by neon charms and the possibility of escape.

But beneath it all, these newcomers are harbouring a darker desire: revenge.

And as tensions reach fever pitch between the stoic locals and the dazzling intruders, a violence that’s been simmering for centuries is about to be unleashed…]]> 304 Jane Flett Tracey 0 currently-reading 3.74 2024 Freakslaw
author: Jane Flett
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Lucy Undying 203608430 In this epic and seductive gothic fantasy, a vampire escapes the thrall of Dracula and embarks on her own search for self-discovery and true love.

Her name was written in the pages of someone else's story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula's first victims.

But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire, and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula's clutches--and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.

Her undead life takes an unexpected turn when, in twenty-first-century London, she meets another woman who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.

Lucy has long believed she would never love again. But she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris, while Iris is mesmerized by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by forces from without. Iris's mother won't let go of her without a fight, and Lucy's past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl again.

Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?]]> 464 Kiersten White 0593724402 Tracey 3
The frustrating bits: well, it's 450 pages for a start, and could have easily been a lot shorter. The plot is quite regularly ridiculous, even ignoring the vampire angle - there's a bit where a vampire stops the first world war and it barely merits a paragraph. The bits set in England read like they were written by someone who has not only never set foot in the country but has never actually spoken to an English person. The fact that they use all the characters from Dracula but for some reason changed only one name (Godalming to Goldaming - a typo that never got fixed? They wanted the "Gold" bit?) bugged me. Most of the twists were very heavily telegraphed.

Why did I keep reading? Lucy's journals were quite compelling (particularly the fact that she was gay, but lacked the vocabulary to understand her own feelings, and the way she was forced to interact with the men in her life), the whole Multilevel Marketing plot was quite clever, and the queer love story at its heart was pretty charming. I also enjoyed the way it pivoted the plot of Dracula to put a new angle on it.

So... An ambivalent 3 stars it is!]]> 3.70 2024 Lucy Undying
author: Kiersten White
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves:
review:
I honestly struggle with how to rate this book because on the one hand, I spent most of it going, "I can't believe I'm still reading this!". But on the other, as a chronic DNF-er who has zero problem ditching a book I'm not enjoying, I *did* keep reading, all 450 pages of it. So ..

The frustrating bits: well, it's 450 pages for a start, and could have easily been a lot shorter. The plot is quite regularly ridiculous, even ignoring the vampire angle - there's a bit where a vampire stops the first world war and it barely merits a paragraph. The bits set in England read like they were written by someone who has not only never set foot in the country but has never actually spoken to an English person. The fact that they use all the characters from Dracula but for some reason changed only one name (Godalming to Goldaming - a typo that never got fixed? They wanted the "Gold" bit?) bugged me. Most of the twists were very heavily telegraphed.

Why did I keep reading? Lucy's journals were quite compelling (particularly the fact that she was gay, but lacked the vocabulary to understand her own feelings, and the way she was forced to interact with the men in her life), the whole Multilevel Marketing plot was quite clever, and the queer love story at its heart was pretty charming. I also enjoyed the way it pivoted the plot of Dracula to put a new angle on it.

So... An ambivalent 3 stars it is!
]]> <![CDATA[Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness]]> 201805652 A new investigation from Dr Mark Aldridge, exploring a lifetime of Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple.

In Agatha Christie’s Expert on Wickedness, ‘Agathologist� Dr Mark Aldridge looks at nearly a century of St Mary Mead’s most famous resident and uses his own detective skills to uncover new information about Miss Jane Marple’s appearances on page, stage, screen and beyond.

Drawing on a range of material, some of which is newly discovered and previously unpublished, this book explores everything about Miss Marple, from her origins in a series of short stories penned by Christie, to the recent bestselling HarperCollins collection Twelve New Stories.

This accessible, entertaining and illustrated guide to the world of Miss Marple pieces together the evidence in order to tell you everything you need to know about the world’s favourite female detective.]]> 403 Mark Aldridge 0008522707 Tracey 4 4.18 2024 Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness
author: Mark Aldridge
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
A thorough and fascinating look at Miss Marple's depictions in books, radio, stage and screen. Highly readable.
]]> <![CDATA[Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate]]> 61492455
Today, unlikeable female characters are everywhere in film, TV, and wider pop culture. For the first time ever, they are being accepted by audiences and even showered with industry awards. We are finally accepting that women are―gasp―fully fledged human beings. How did we get to this point?

Unlikeable Female Characters traces the evolution of highly memorable female characters, examining what exactly makes them popular, how audiences have reacted to them, and the ways in which pop culture is finally allowing us to celebrate the complexities of being a woman.

Anna Bogutskaya, film programmer, broadcaster, and co-founder of the horror film collective and podcast The Final Girls, takes us on a journey through popular film, TV, and music, looking at the nuances of womanhood on and off-screen to reveal whether pop culture―and society―is finally ready to embrace complicated women.]]> 340 Anna Bogutskaya 1728274745 Tracey 4 3.70 2023 Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate
author: Anna Bogutskaya
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves:
review:
Engaging, thought-provoking look at "unlikeable" women in movies and TV, divided into common archetypes.
]]> <![CDATA[Joe Country (Slough House, #6)]]> 123229152
In Slough House, the London outpost for disgraced MI5 spies, memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him an outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process.

Meanwhile, in Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner’s tenure as First Desk is running into difficulties. If she’s going to make the Service fit for purpose, she might have to make deals with a familiar old devil . . .

And with winter taking its grip, Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible for killing a slow horse breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score.]]> 337 Mick Herron 1641291338 Tracey 4 4.22 2019 Joe Country (Slough House, #6)
author: Mick Herron
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:
Solid, smartly written thriller.
]]> <![CDATA[The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #3)]]> 199605514
Someone is trying to kill Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Esteemed aunt of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, generous patroness of Mr. William Collins, a woman of rank who rules over the estate of Rosings Park with an unimpeachable sense of propriety—who would dare ? Lady Catherine summons her grand-nephew, Mr. Jonathan Darcy, and his investigative companion, Miss Juliet Tilney, to find out.

After a year apart, Jonathan and Juliet are thrilled to be reunited, even if the circumstances—finding whoever has thus far sabotaged Lady Catherine's carriage, shot at her, and nearly pushed her down the stairs—are less than ideal. Also less than their respective fathers, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mr. Henry Tilney, have accompanied the young detectives to Rosings, and the two men do not interact with the same felicity enjoyed by their children.

With attempts against Lady Catherine escalating, and no one among the list of prime suspects seemingly capable of committing all of the attacks, the pressure on Jonathan and Juliet mounts—even as more gentle feelings between the two of them begin to bloom. The race is now on to provoke two one from the attempted murderer before it is too late—and one, perhaps, of love.]]> 335 Claudia Gray 0593686586 Tracey 3 3.99 2024 The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #3)
author: Claudia Gray
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves:
review:
Engaging series set in Austenland.
]]> <![CDATA[Midnight and Blue (Inspector Rebus #25)]]> 208855032 John Rebus spent his life as a detective putting Edinburgh’s most deadly criminals behind bars.Now, he’s going to join them� In this tense, gripping game of cat and mouse, the ‘lodestone of the crime genre' (Financial Times) returns to his much-loved creation, the inimitable John Rebus, as he faces a case unlike any other...]]> 352 Ian Rankin 0316473855 Tracey 4 Solid addition to the series. 4.17 2024 Midnight and Blue (Inspector Rebus #25)
author: Ian Rankin
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves:
review:
Solid addition to the series.
]]> <![CDATA[A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3.1)]]> 768889
The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud. In the northern wastes, a horde of hungry, savage people steeped in the dark magic of the wilderness is poised to invade the Kingdom of the North where Robb Stark wears his new-forged crown. And Robb's defences are ranged against the South, the land of the cunning and cruel Lannisters, who have his young sisters in their power.

Throughout Westeros, the war for the Iron Throne rages more fiercely than ever, but if the wall is breached, no king will live to claim it.]]> 663 George R.R. Martin 0006479901 Tracey 0 to-read 4.47 2000 A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3.1)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[London Rules (Slough House, #5)]]> 59336985 The fifth entry in CWA Gold dagger-winning Slough House series.

London Rules might not be written down, but everyone knows rule one: Cover your arse.

At MI5 headquarters Regent's Park, First Desk Claude Whelan is learning this the hard way. Tasked with protecting a beleaguered prime minister, he's facing attack from all directions himself: from the showboating MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote, and now has his sights set on Number Ten; from the showboat's wife, a tabloid columnist, who's crucifying Whelan in print; from the PM's favorite Muslim, who's about to be elected mayor of the West Midlands, despite the dark secret he's hiding; and especially from his own deputy, Lady Di Taverner, who's alert for Claude's every stumble. Meanwhile, the country's being rocked by an apparently random string of terror attacks.

Over at Slough House, the MI5 satellite office for outcast and demoted spies, the agents are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis, and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. Plus someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho. But collectively, they're about to rediscover their greatest strength - that of making a bad situation much, much worse.]]> 383 Mick Herron Tracey 4 Smart, taut thriller. 4.36 2018 London Rules (Slough House, #5)
author: Mick Herron
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:
Smart, taut thriller.
]]> Ushers 218362004 A young man who has improbably escaped death twice reveals his secret in a spine-tingling short story by New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill.

Martin Lorensen is a twenty-three-year-old counselor for disturbed teenagers. He’s bright, compassionate, attractive, and outgoing. He’s also—and this is the most interesting thing—not dead. Martin has improbably survived not one but two deadly disasters that claimed dozens of lives. The kid is riding one hell of a lucky streak. Two federal agents think there is something darker at play. Now that they’ve arranged to interview Martin, they want answers. Martin is ready to share everything he knows. One thing is for certain: when it comes to escaping death, luck doesn’t figure into it at all.]]> 29 Joe Hill 1662527942 Tracey 4 Smart, slickly written short. 4.23 2024 Ushers
author: Joe Hill
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves:
review:
Smart, slickly written short.
]]> The Cracked Mirror 197023868 THIS IS NOT THAT CRIME NOVEL

You know Johnny Hawke. Hard-bitten LAPD homicide detective. Always in trouble with his captain, always losing partners, but always battling for the truth, whatever it takes.

You know Penny Coyne. The little old lady who has solved multiple murders in her otherwise sleepy village, despite bumbling local police. A razor-sharp mind in a Sunday best hat.

Against all the odds, against the usual story, their worlds are about to collide. It starts with a dead writer and a mysterious wedding invitation. It will end with a rabbit hole that goes so deep, Johnny and Penny might just come to question not just whodunnit, but whether they want to know the answer.

A cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly, The Cracked Mirror is the most imaginative and entertaining crime novel of the year, a genre-splicing rollercoaster with a poignantly emotional heart.]]> 480 Chris Brookmyre 0349145792 Tracey 3
It's also long and convoluted: I felt by the end I was just slogging to find out the details of the crime.]]> 3.93 The Cracked Mirror
author: Chris Brookmyre
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/10
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:
I'm (mostly) a big Brookmyre fan so I went into this with high expectations but it just didn't click for me. It's smart, well plotted and layered but once I guessed the main conceit (about halfway through) I stopped caring so much about the characters.

It's also long and convoluted: I felt by the end I was just slogging to find out the details of the crime.
]]> <![CDATA[Style and Substance: Why What We Wear Matters]]> 137984300 'Compelling' HARPER'S BAZAAR
'Richly textured' GRAZIA
'Completely riveting . . . an eclectic compendium of style, subversion and literary snippets . . . all about the magical meaning of clothes' CALENDAR MAGAZINE

Maya Angelou imagined she'd feel like a movie star in a dress of lavender taffeta. Rachel Weisz loves the democracy of denim. Zadie Smith's look differs depending on whether she's in New York or London, while Joan Didion always packed the same clothes. Jarvis Cocker found inspiration at jumble sales, Bella Freud in Colette's novels and Harris Reed in the gender fluidity of Virginia Woolf's Orlando. Oscar Wilde understood the importance of proportions, Stanley Tucci favours a narrow stripe and Chloë Sevigny delights in traditional, with a twist.

For Bernardine Evaristo style is about a refusal to be stereotyped. Jilly Cooper and AJ Tracey appreciate retail therapy. Sienna Miller misses the freedom of a less self-conscious age. For Davina McCall, an outfit begins with underwear; for Sophie Dahl it's not complete without scent. Clothes allow Susie Cave to hide and Charlotte Tilbury to feel empowered.

With over sixty pieces on everything from thrifting to modesty dressing, drag to vintage sportswear, Style and Substance is a gloriously eclectic celebration of self-expression. ]]> 232 Bay Garnett 1399812467 Tracey 3 3.65 Style and Substance: Why What We Wear Matters
author: Bay Garnett
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves:
review:
A compilation of interviews and extracts about clothes and fashion. As with all such compilations, some are more interesting than others - some, such as Pam Grier writing about the first time she, a Black woman, was allowed to try on clothes in a shop, have real power, some are a fascinating insight into history, some are as shallow as throwaway magazine interview. The hardback itself is suitably lovely, though, and overall this is a well-chosen assortment.
]]> <![CDATA[The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney, #2)]]> 62926935 The suspenseful sequel to The Murder of Mr. Wickham, which sees Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney reunited, and with another mystery to solve: the dreadful poisoning of thescoundrel Willoughby's new wife.

“An absolute page-turner full of well-plotted mystery and hints of simmering romance. . . . More of the Jane Austen characters we love (as well as those we love to hate).� —Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo

Catherine and Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey are not entirely pleased to be sending their eligible young daughter Juliet out into the world again: the last house party she attended, at the home of the Knightleys, involved a murder—which Juliet helped solve. Particularly concerning is that she intends to visit her new friend Marianne Brandon, who's returned home toDevonshire shrouded in fresh scandal—made more potent by the news that her former suitor, the rakish Mr. Willoughby, intends to take up residence at his local estate with his new bride.

Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley are thrilled that their eldest son, Jonathan—who, like his father, has not always been the most socially adept—has been invited to stay with his former schoolmate, John Willoughby. Jonathan himself is decidedly less taken with the notion of having to spend extended time under the roof of his old bully, but that all changes when he finds himself reunited with his fellow amateur sleuth, the radiant Miss Tilney. And when shortly thereafter, Willoughby's new wife—whom he married for her fortune—dies horribly at the party meant to welcome her to town.

With rumors flying and Marianne—known to be both unstable and previously jilted by the dead woman's newly made widower—under increased suspicion, Jonathan and Juliet must team up once more to uncover the murderer. But as they collect clues and close in on suspects, eerie incidents suggest that the killer may strike again, and that the pair are in far graver danger than they or their families could imagine.

A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.]]> 385 Claudia Gray 0593313836 Tracey 3 3.86 2023 The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney, #2)
author: Claudia Gray
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves:
review:
Enjoyable murder mystery set in the world of Jane Austen.
]]> <![CDATA[The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School]]> 27258240 446 Kim Newman 1781165734 Tracey 0 to-read 3.60 2015 The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School
author: Kim Newman
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Keanu Reeves is Not in Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud]]> 194028309 288 Becky Holmes 1789651638 Tracey 3
The book starts with a bunch of the author's interactions with scammers, which are initially funny but start to feel like one of those BuzzFeed articles "20 times people had hilarious responses to scammers." It then veers into the serious, when it starts talking to those affected and (to a far lesser degree) investigates the rise of scamming and how there are victims at both ends.

The subject itself is fascinating, though. It's hard not to sympathise with the victims and the lack of support offered.]]> 3.76 2024 Keanu Reeves is Not in Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud
author: Becky Holmes
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
This is quite an odd book. It was crowdfunded by someone with a big Twitter following and reads like that - it's tonally all over the place, the actual writing is fairly repetitive and heavy handed (it could have done with a much sharper edit) and by the end the author's humour had started to grate. (Also shout out to the irony of someone insisting language matters and that we need to be careful how we refer to scammers and victims, yet referring to prostitutes / prostitution throughout, in 2024...)

The book starts with a bunch of the author's interactions with scammers, which are initially funny but start to feel like one of those BuzzFeed articles "20 times people had hilarious responses to scammers." It then veers into the serious, when it starts talking to those affected and (to a far lesser degree) investigates the rise of scamming and how there are victims at both ends.

The subject itself is fascinating, though. It's hard not to sympathise with the victims and the lack of support offered.
]]> <![CDATA[Further Adventures of Carlotta Carlyle: Three Mystery Stories]]> 25864201
Struggling PI Carlotta Carlyle drives a cab at night to make ends meet. She’s almost done with the night shift when a fare tries to rob her, and her moonlighting gig becomes a crime scene. Unfortunately for the thief, nothing ruffles Carlotta. As she figures out why she was targeted, she uncovers startling information. Whether Carlotta is flying cross-country to safeguard a blues musician’s priceless guitar or stopping a killing at Fenway Park, this flame-haired, six-foot-one detective knows to never let a felony get in the way of a good time.
In these three stories—“Lucky Penny,� “Miss Gibson,� and “Stealing First,”—acclaimed author Linda Barnes demonstrates precisely what makes Carlotta Carlyle one of mystery fiction’s most distinctive and engaging private detectives.

]]> 56 Linda Barnes 1504014537 Tracey 0 to-read 4.02 2015 Further Adventures of Carlotta Carlyle: Three Mystery Stories
author: Linda Barnes
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Art and Fear 187633 122 David Bayles 0961454733 Tracey 3
I'm usually a sucker for books about creativity but this left me fairly unmoved and, worse, completely uninspired.]]> 3.77 1994 Art and Fear
author: David Bayles
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/26
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves:
review:
Overall I'd probably give this 2 stars but I'm rounding up because the first few chapters feel like they make some valid and / or useful points. But then it goes off in a lot of different directions that seem to stray away from the central premise and feel a bit rambling, ponderous and not that helpful.

I'm usually a sucker for books about creativity but this left me fairly unmoved and, worse, completely uninspired.
]]> <![CDATA[Trouble in Paradise (Rachel Knight, #2.5)]]> 18875575 In this digital-only short story, DA Rachel Knight and her besties take a Caribbean vacation and end up solving a crime. With her besties Bailey and Toni in tow, Rachel leaves work and rainy LA behind and sets off for a much needed vacation in Aruba. Greeted by glittering sand and a balmy breeze, the three friends can't imagine anywhere more perfect. But just minutes after hitting the beach, they're approached by a panicked young woman. A gofer on the biggest reality hit since "Survivor," she's lost the show's child star and must find her, now, before anyone else realizes she's gone. Rachel, Bailey, and Toni put their dreams of paradise on hold and embark on a whirlwind search for the girl -- a search that ends with a twist so disturbing no one, not even a fortune-teller, could have seen it coming . . .]]> 0 Marcia Clark 0316253987 Tracey 3
Merged review:

If you can get past the fact that Rachel is approached to find a missing 9 year old girl and doesn't call the poilce straight away, an enjoyable if slightly silly and slight short story for Knight fans.]]> 3.59 2013 Trouble in Paradise (Rachel Knight, #2.5)
author: Marcia Clark
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2013/06/10
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:
If you can get past the fact that Rachel is approached to find a missing 9 year old girl and doesn't call the poilce straight away, an enjoyable if slightly silly and slight short story for Knight fans.

Merged review:

If you can get past the fact that Rachel is approached to find a missing 9 year old girl and doesn't call the poilce straight away, an enjoyable if slightly silly and slight short story for Knight fans.
]]> <![CDATA[Thud! (Discworld, #34; City Watch, #7)]]> 62530
But if he doesn't solve the murder of just one dwarf, Commander Sam Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch is going to see it fought again, right outside his office.

With his beloved Watch crumbling around him and war-drums sounding, he must unravel every clue, outwit every assassin and brave any darkness to find the solution. And darkness is following him.

Oh... and at six o'clock every day, without fail, with no excuses, he must go home to read "Where's My Cow?," with all the right farmyard noises, to his little boy.

There are some things you HAVE to do!]]> 439 Terry Pratchett Tracey 5 4.34 2005 Thud! (Discworld, #34; City Watch, #7)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:
As excellent as usual. I reread this regularly and it never gets old.
]]> <![CDATA[I'll Be There For You: The One about Friends]]> 42101916 This definitive retrospective of Friends incorporates interviews, history and behind–the–scenes anecdotes to offer a critical analysis of how a sitcom about six twentysomethings changed television forever

When Friends debuted in 1994, no one expected it to become a mainstay of NBC's “Must See TV� lineup, let alone a global phenomenon. In the years since, Friends has gone through many phases of cultural relevancy, from prime–time hit to '90s novelty item to certified classic. Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe have entered the pantheon of great television characters, and millions of people around the globe continue to tune in or stream their stories every day.

I'll Be There for You is the definitive retrospective of Friends, exploring all aspects of the show from its unlikely origins to the elusive reasons why we still watch it. Journalist and pop culture expert Kelsey Miller relives the show's most iconic moments, analyses the ways in which Friends is occasionally problematic and examines the many trends it inspired, from the rise of coffee–shop culture to “Friendsgivings� to the ultimate '90s haircut, The Rachel.

Weaving incisive commentary, revelatory interviews and behind–the–scenes anecdotes involving high–profile guest stars, I'll Be There for You is the most comprehensive take on Friends, and the ultimate book for fans everywhere.

]]> 303 Kelsey Miller 1489267689 Tracey 0 to-read 3.81 2018 I'll Be There For You: The One about Friends
author: Kelsey Miller
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hattie Brings the House Down (Theatreland Mystery)]]> 202897917 Get ready for a thrilling backstage ride in the world of theatre as seasoned stage manager Hattie embarks on a new production at London's Tavistock pub theatre. Here, the drama doesn't just occcur on stage.

Troublesome directors and fastidious assistants soon become the least of Hattie's worries as, a week into rehearsals, an actress is found dead backstage on the same day that an extremely valuable theatrical mask goes missing.

Hattie begins investigating both mysteries, all the while trying to keep the dysfunctional cast and crew on track for opening night. As she delves deeper into the secrets behind the scenes, her allegiance to her theatre, cast and crew will be tested to destruction.

Follow this unconventional detective as she delves into the alluring and exquisitely perilous world of the theatre.]]> 309 Patrick Gleeson 1835010040 Tracey 3 Engaging theatrical mystery. 4.03 2024 Hattie Brings the House Down (Theatreland Mystery)
author: Patrick Gleeson
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/19
date added: 2024/09/19
shelves:
review:
Engaging theatrical mystery.
]]> <![CDATA[Down Cemetery Road (The Oxford Investigations, #1)]]> 3016973 CWA Gold Dagger winner Mick Herron's debut novel introduces Sarah Tucker, whose search for a missing child unravels a murderous conspiracy.

When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a young girl disappears in the aftermath, Sarah Tucker—a young married woman, bored and unhappy with domestic life—becomes obsessed with finding her. Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband’s wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew, as her investigation reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead. What begins in a peaceful neighborhood reaches its climax on a remote, unwelcoming Scottish island as the search puts Sarah in league with a man who finds himself being hunted down by murderous official forces.]]> 288 Mick Herron 1841199346 Tracey 4 Smart, slick thriller 3.65 2003 Down Cemetery Road (The Oxford Investigations, #1)
author: Mick Herron
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves:
review:
Smart, slick thriller
]]> <![CDATA[Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold on Us]]> 209527753 228 Anna Bogutskaya 0571385788 Tracey 4
But even though I'm not a hardcore horror fan and haven't seen a lot of the films she talked about (though I had seen more than expected) this was an interesting, informed and sometimes thought-provoking look at the genre written in an engaging style.]]> 3.98 2024 Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold on Us
author: Anna Bogutskaya
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves:
review:
I'm not sure I agree with all of Bogutskaya's starting points or the conclusions she draws from them, and the book shares a common problem in contemporary publishing of being slightly under-edited.

But even though I'm not a hardcore horror fan and haven't seen a lot of the films she talked about (though I had seen more than expected) this was an interesting, informed and sometimes thought-provoking look at the genre written in an engaging style.
]]> <![CDATA[The Virgin in the Ice (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #6)]]> 847860 202 Ellis Peters 0446404284 Tracey 3 4.13 1982 The Virgin in the Ice (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #6)
author: Ellis Peters
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World]]> 57771229
What you believe can make it so.

You’ve heard of the placebo effect and how sugar pills can accelerate healing. But did you know that sham heart surgeries often work just as well as placing real stents? Or that people who think they’re particularly prone to cardiovascular disease are four times as likely to die from cardiac arrest? Such is the power and deadly importance of the expectation effect—how what we think will happen changes what does happen.

Melding neuroscience with narrative, science journalist David Robson takes readers on a deep dive into the many life zones the expectation effect permeates. We see how people who believe stress is beneficial become more creative when placed under strain. We see how associating aging with wisdom can add seven plus years to your life. People say seeing is believing but, over and over, Robson proves that the converse is truer: believing is seeing.

The Expectation Effect is not woo-woo. You cannot think your way into a pile of money or out of a cancer diagnosis. But just because magical thinking is nonsense doesn’t mean rational magic doesn’t exist. Pointing to accepted psychology and objective physiology, Robson gives us the practical takeaways we need to improve our fitness, productivity, intelligence, and happiness.]]> 336 David Robson 1250827639 Tracey 0 currently-reading 4.14 2022 The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World
author: David Robson
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Queen Macbeth 205744339 Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history. Expect the unexpected . . .

A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three companions � a healer, a weaver and a seer. The men hunting her will kill her � because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth.

As the net closes in, we discover a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland. At the heart of it is one strong, charismatic woman, who survived loss and jeopardy to outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and power-hungry men. Her struggle won her a country. But now it could cost her life.]]> 122 Val McDermid 1788856724 Tracey 3
Spilt between the 'present', when Queen Macbeth is in hiding with her small band of women, and flashbacks that recount how she met and married Macbeth, this is an interesting take on a historical figure. But at around the length of a novella, it often feels rushed - major events and character deaths feel like they happen and are moved on from in instants, and none of the characters bar the narrator feel particularly well drawn.

On a style point it also bugged me that the flashbacks were in italics - this seems to be a trend in publishing at the minute and it annoys me. It's harder to read long stretches of text in italics - there's a reason we don't use them as standard text - and it also feels like not trusting the reader to figure out what's a flashback and what isn't, despite the switch in tenses making that obvious.]]> 3.68 2024 Queen Macbeth
author: Val McDermid
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/03
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves:
review:
Macbeth is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays and I loved the novel Lady Macbethad, so I had high hopes for this, as I generally enjoy McDermid's novels. But overall it left me a little underwhelmed.

Spilt between the 'present', when Queen Macbeth is in hiding with her small band of women, and flashbacks that recount how she met and married Macbeth, this is an interesting take on a historical figure. But at around the length of a novella, it often feels rushed - major events and character deaths feel like they happen and are moved on from in instants, and none of the characters bar the narrator feel particularly well drawn.

On a style point it also bugged me that the flashbacks were in italics - this seems to be a trend in publishing at the minute and it annoys me. It's harder to read long stretches of text in italics - there's a reason we don't use them as standard text - and it also feels like not trusting the reader to figure out what's a flashback and what isn't, despite the switch in tenses making that obvious.
]]> <![CDATA[What's Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service]]> 147369131 A behind-the-scenes look into the creation and legacy ofThe West Wing as told by cast members Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, with compelling insights fromcast and crewexploringwhat made the show what it was and how its impassioned commitment to service has made theseries and relationships behind it endure.

Step back inside the world of President Jed Bartlet’s Oval Office with Fitzgerald and McCormack as they reunite the West Wing cast and crew in a lively and colorful “backstage pass� to the timeless series. This intimate, in-depth reflection reveals how The West Wing was conceived, and spotlights the army of people it took to produce it, the lifelong friendships it forged, and the service it inspired.

From cast member origin stories to the collective cathartic farewell on the show’s final night of filming, What’s Next will delight readers with on-set and off-camera anecdotes that even West Wing superfans have never heard. Meanwhile, a deeper analysis of the show’s legacy through American culture, service, government, and civic life underscores how the series envisaged an American politics of decency and honor, creating an aspirational White House beyond the bounds of fictional television.

What’s Next revisits beloved episodes with fresh, untold commentary; compiles poignant and hilarious stories from the show’s production; highlights initiatives supported by the cast, crew, and creators; and makes a powerful case for competent, empathetic leadership, hope, and optimism for whatever lies ahead.]]> 608 Melissa Fitzgerald 0593184548 Tracey 5
I absolutely loved this book. An insider's view of the West Wing - both authors worked on the show - this tells the story of how it came about, the core cast, and analyses a handful of key episodes. All of this is interwoven with the themes the show stands for - service to the greater good.

It's packed with interviews with cast and crew and is really insightful. Inevitably given the perspective it glosses over some things slightly - including both Sorkin and Lowe's departure - but it does so in a self-aware way.

An absolute joy to read - though it actually made me cry more than once, especially when talking about John Spencer - it made me want to go back and rewatch the whole show.]]> 4.39 2024 What's Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service
author: Melissa Fitzgerald
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves:
review:
Important caveat: the first run of the UK edition comes without photos, so if that matters you might want to try and get hold of the US one.

I absolutely loved this book. An insider's view of the West Wing - both authors worked on the show - this tells the story of how it came about, the core cast, and analyses a handful of key episodes. All of this is interwoven with the themes the show stands for - service to the greater good.

It's packed with interviews with cast and crew and is really insightful. Inevitably given the perspective it glosses over some things slightly - including both Sorkin and Lowe's departure - but it does so in a self-aware way.

An absolute joy to read - though it actually made me cry more than once, especially when talking about John Spencer - it made me want to go back and rewatch the whole show.
]]> Fair Rosaline 86174897
The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.

Soon though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, thirteen-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life .With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?

Shattering everything we thought we knew about Romeo and Juliet, Fair Rosaline is the spellbinding prequel to Shakespeare's best known tale, which exposes Romeo as a predator with a long history of pursuing much younger girls. Bold, lyrical, and chillingly relevant, Fair Rosaline reveals the dark subtext of the timeless story of star-crossed lovers: it's a feminist revision that will enthrall readers of bestselling literary retellings such as Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese]]> 336 Natasha Solomons 1728281237 Tracey 0 currently-reading 3.56 2023 Fair Rosaline
author: Natasha Solomons
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Heads Will Roll 201102396 Willow’s worst nightmare was being cancelled. But the woods of Camp Castaway might destroy more than her reputation.After sitcom star Willow tweeted herself into infamy and had to be dragged blind-drunk out of a swimming pool, her agent shipped her off to the woodsy and wonderfully anonymous confines of Camp Castaway. Tucked away in the trees of upstate New York, Castaway is a summer camp for adults in desperate need of leaving behind their mistakes, their social media accounts, their lives. No real names, no phones…no way to call for help.Willow is relieved to find that her fellow campers seem okay. To her shock, her own favorite actress is here, sitting by the campfire and roasting a s’more. And did that jaded writer, Dani, just wink at her? But the peaceful vibe is shattered when a terrifying woman pops shrieking from the wardrobe in Willow’s room. Soon after, one of the campers vanishes.Is Willow about to get cancelled all over again, this time for good?Soon, terror grips the group, campers begin to lose their heads—literally!—and Willow and her new friends are on the run.As paranoia grows and disturbing past deeds come to light, this escape from their shallow lifestyles might just lead to a set of shallow graves.]]> 314 Josh Winning 0593544692 Tracey 3 3.51 2024 Heads Will Roll
author: Josh Winning
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:
Engaging slasher novel with a modern twist. It didn't completely work for me - it took too long to get going, I think it could have been tighter and I wasn't totally convinced by the reveal - but the pace quickened enough that I read through the last 100 pages in one sitting. The cover of the UK hardback is great, too - a vintage 'video nasties' style poster so it's a great looking book.
]]> <![CDATA[Queen B: The Story of Anne Boleyn, Witch Queen (Her Majesty's Royal Coven, #0.5)]]> 200555208
BOW DOWN WITCHES

It’s 1536 and the Queen has been beheaded.

Lady Grace Fairfax, witch, knows that something foul is at play � that someone had betrayed Anne Boleyn and her coven.

Wild with the loss of their leader � and her lover, a secret that if spilled could spell Grace’s own end � she will do anything in her power to track down the traitor.

But there’s more at stake than revenge: it was one of their own, a witch, that betrayed them, and Grace isn’t the only one looking for her. King Henry VIII has sent witchfinders after them, and they’re organized like they’ve never been before under his new advisor, the impassioned Sir Ambrose Fulke, a cold man blinded by his faith. His cruel reign could mean the end of witchkind itself.

If Grace wants to find her revenge and live, she will have to do more than disappear.

She will have to be reborn.

In this gripping, propulsive, sultry novella, Juno Dawson takes us back to the bloody beginnings of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven to show us the strength, steel and sacrifice it takes to make a sisterhood.
©2024 Juno Dawson (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers]]> 224 Juno Dawson 0143138340 Tracey 3
I haven't read any of Dawson's other books so imagine those who have will enjoy this 'prequel' more, but this novella also serves as a fairly standalone introduction. The hardback also has some nice illustrations so as a physical object it's rather lovely.]]> 3.63 2024 Queen B: The Story of Anne Boleyn, Witch Queen (Her Majesty's Royal Coven, #0.5)
author: Juno Dawson
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/15
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves:
review:
Engaging (if fairly slight) historical fantasy that reimagines Anne Boleyn as a witch.

I haven't read any of Dawson's other books so imagine those who have will enjoy this 'prequel' more, but this novella also serves as a fairly standalone introduction. The hardback also has some nice illustrations so as a physical object it's rather lovely.
]]> <![CDATA[The Theatre of Glass and Shadows]]> 204237435
In an alternate London, the city's Theatre District is a walled area south of the river where an immersive production - the Show - has been running for centuries, growing ever bigger, more sprawling and lavish. The Show is open to anyone who can afford a ticket but the District itself is a closed world; even the police have no jurisdiction within its walls.

Juliet's mother died when she was a baby. Brought up by her emotionally distant father and even more distant stepmother, she has never felt wanted. It's only when her father passes away that Juliet - now nineteen - learns her birth was registered in the District. Desperate to belong somewhere at last, she travels to London where she hopes to unearth the truth about her identity, her mother's death and her father's years of silence - and claim her birthright.

But in the District, there is only one central truth: the Show must go on. And in a world where illusions abound, and powerful men control the narrative, Juliet has no idea of just how far some will go to ensure certain stories are never told . . .]]> 400 Anne Corlett 1785305522 Tracey 3
I suspect if you like "alternative histories" fantasy this might be very much your bag, as the author has crafted a recognisable alternative London where a sprawling theatre district runs a non-stop show that hides dark secrets.]]> 3.76 The Theatre of Glass and Shadows
author: Anne Corlett
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves:
review:
A clever idea and some well thought out world building make for an original read. But the prose was too breathless and florid for my taste (and it felt under-edited, which is less the fault of the author and more a symptom of modern publishing, but made the prose feel repetitive sometimes).

I suspect if you like "alternative histories" fantasy this might be very much your bag, as the author has crafted a recognisable alternative London where a sprawling theatre district runs a non-stop show that hides dark secrets.
]]> <![CDATA[The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories]]> 99300
Written from a feminist perspective, often focusing on the inferior status accorded to women by society, the tales include "turned," an ironic story with a startling twist, in which a husband seduces and impregnates a naïve servant; "Cottagette," concerning the romance of a young artist and a man who's apparently too good to be true; "Mr. Peebles' Heart," a liberating tale of a fiftyish shopkeeper whose sister-in-law, a doctor, persuades him to take a solo trip to Europe, with revivifying results; "The Yellow Wallpaper"; and three other outstanding stories.

These charming tales are not only highly readable and full of humor and invention, but also offer ample food for thought about the social, economic, and personal relationship of men and women � and how they might be improved.

Collects:
—The Yellow Wallpaper
—Three Thanksgivings
—The Cottagette
—TܰԱ
—Making a Change
—If I Were a Man
—Mr. Peebles' Heart]]> 129 Charlotte Perkins Gilman 0486298574 Tracey 0 to-read 4.05 1892 The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories
author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1892
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Watchman 118829 254 Ian Rankin 0752859153 Tracey 4 3.53 1988 Watchman
author: Ian Rankin
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Mansfield Park 45032 488 Jane Austen Tracey 4 3.86 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Killer (Alex Delaware, #29) 17910538
The City of Angels has more than its share of psychopaths, and no one recognizes that more acutely than the brilliant psychologist and police consultant Dr. Alex Delaware. Despite that, Constance Sykes, a sophisticated, successful physician, hardly seems like someone Alex needs to fear. Then, at the behest of the court, he becomes embroiled in a bizarre child custody dispute initiated by Connie against her sister and begins to realize that there is much about the siblings he has failed to comprehend. And when the court battle between the Sykes sisters erupts into cold, calculating murder and a rapidly growing number of victims, Alex knows he’s been snared in a toxic web of pathology.

Nothing would please Alex more than to be free of the ugly spectacle known as Sykes v. Sykes. But then the little girl at the center of the vicious dispute disappears and Alex knows he must work with longtime friend Detective Milo Sturgis, braving an obstacle course of Hollywood washouts, gangbangers, and self-serving jurists in order to save an innocent life.

Killer is Kellerman—and Delaware—at their finest.]]> 335 Jonathan Kellerman 0345505751 Tracey 4 3.89 Killer (Alex Delaware, #29)
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2014/07/20
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
Enjoyable, slickly written. Can't say I was completely convinced by the denouement but enjoyed it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Trouble with Goats and Sheep]]> 26141706
Mrs. Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands.

And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives will find much more than they imagined…]]> 453 Joanna Cannon 000813216X Tracey 0 to-read 3.71 2016 The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
author: Joanna Cannon
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cunning Women : When Women are Cast Out, They Must Find Their Own Power]]> 54633170 Lee is a magnetic new voice in historical fiction and CUNNING WOMEN is sure to be loved by fans of The Essex Serpent and The Mercies.

Spring of 1620 in a Lancashire fishing community and the memory of the slaughter at Pendle is tight around the neck of Sarah Haworth. A birthmark reveals that Sarah, like her mother, is a witch. Torn between yearning for an ordinary life and desire to discover what dark power she might possess, Sarah’s one hope is that her young sister Annie will be spared this fate.

The Haworth family eke out a meagre existence in the old plague village adjoining a God-fearing community presided over by a seedy magistrate. A society built upon looking the other way, the villagers� godliness is merely a veneer. But the Haworth women, with their salves and poultices, are judged the real threat to morality.

When Sarah meets lonely farmer’s son Daniel, she begins to dream of a better future. Daniel is in thrall to the wild girl with storms in her eyes, but their bond is tested when a zealous new magistrate vows to root out sins and sinners. In a frenzy of fear and fury, the community begins to turn on one another, and it’s not long before they direct their gaze towards the old plague village � and does Daniel trust that the power Sarah wields over him is truly love, or could it be mere sorcery?]]> 384 Elizabeth Lee 178609116X Tracey 3 3.64 2021 Cunning Women : When Women are Cast Out, They Must Find Their Own Power
author: Elizabeth Lee
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/02
date added: 2024/08/02
shelves:
review:
Atmospheric historical novel about rural witches and forbidden love.
]]> The King’s Mother 205438600
But to win a throne is not to keep it and war is come again. As brother betrays brother, and trusted cousins turn treacherous, other mothers rise up to fight for other sons. Cecily must focus her will to defeat every challenge. Wherever they come from. Whatever the cost.

For there can be only one King, and only one King’s Mother.

From the Wars of the Roses to the dawn of the Tudor age, this is a story of mothers and sons; of maternal ferocity and female ambition � of all they can build and all they can destroy.]]> 381 Annie Garthwaite 0241998670 Tracey 4 4.46 The King’s Mother
author: Annie Garthwaite
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:
Cecily was one of the most accomplished debuts I've read - evidence that older writers can bring a richness of experience to mature characters that their younger peers can't always manage. This is a corking follow up, giving a compelling interiority to a complex older woman.
]]> Bookshop Tours of Britain 55819106
Across 18 bookshop tours, the reader journeys from the Jurassic Coast of southwest England, over the mountains of Wales, through England’s industrial heartland, up to the Scottish Highlands and back via Whitby, the Norfolk Broads, central London, the South Downs and Hardy’s Wessex. On their way, the tours visit beaches, castles, head down coal mines, go to whiskey distilleries, bird watching, hiking, canoeing, to stately homes and the houses of some of Britain’s best-loved historic writers � and last but not least, a host of fantastic bookshops.]]> 272 Louise Boland 1912054477 Tracey 4
Focused on shops selling new rather than second hand or antique books (so Wigtown only gets a passing mention, and Barter Books doesn't feature) this is a charming meander around the UK. I've been to quite a few of these bookshops, which was nice - I got a buzz from her mentioning a favourite - but I also enjoyed reading about areas I will likely never visit. The book is packed with photos - including of bookshop dogs, cats and even chickens!]]> 4.15 Bookshop Tours of Britain
author: Louise Boland
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/27
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves:
review:
I admit I occasionally buy books for the person I might be in a different life. A book of fancy cocktails when I never have anything but wine in the house (and Bailey's at Christmas), or a recipe book when I have the world's worst store cupboard and never eat anything that has more than 3 ingredients and can't be cooked in one pan. This definitely falls into that category: a world in which I am organised enough to plan trips around the country to visit bookshops.

Focused on shops selling new rather than second hand or antique books (so Wigtown only gets a passing mention, and Barter Books doesn't feature) this is a charming meander around the UK. I've been to quite a few of these bookshops, which was nice - I got a buzz from her mentioning a favourite - but I also enjoyed reading about areas I will likely never visit. The book is packed with photos - including of bookshop dogs, cats and even chickens!
]]> <![CDATA[New Yorkers: A City and Its People in Our Time]]> 53404229 New Yorkers weaves the voices of some of the city’s best talkers into an indelible portrait of New York in our time—and a powerful hymn to the vitality and resilience of its people.


Best-selling author Craig Taylor has been hailed as “a peerless journalist and a beautiful craftsman� (David Rakoff), acclaimed for the way he “fuses the mundane truth of conversation with the higher truth of art� (Michel Faber). In the wake of his celebrated book Londoners, Taylor moved to New York and spent years meeting regularly with hundreds of New Yorkers as diverse as the city itself. New Yorkers features 75 of the most remarkable of them, their fascinating true tales arranged in thematic sections that follow Taylor’s growing engagement with the city.


Here are the uncelebrated people who propel New York each day—bodega cashier, hospital nurse, elevator repairman, emergency dispatcher. Here are those who wire the lights at the top of the Empire State Building, clean the windows of Rockefeller Center, and keep the subway running. Here are people whose experiences reflect the city’s fractured realities: the mother of a Latino teenager jailed at Rikers, a BLM activist in the wake of police shootings. And here are those who capture the ineffable feeling of New York, such as a balloon handler in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or a security guard at the Statue of Liberty.


Vibrant and bursting with life, New Yorkers explores the nonstop hustle to make it; the pressures on new immigrants, people of color, and the poor; the constant battle between loving the city and wanting to leave it; and the question of who gets to be considered a "New Yorker." It captures the strength of an irrepressible city that—no matter what it goes through—dares call itself the greatest in the world.]]> 432 Craig Taylor 0393242323 Tracey 0 currently-reading 4.10 2021 New Yorkers: A City and Its People in Our Time
author: Craig Taylor
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Starter Villain 61885029
Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.]]> 264 John Scalzi 0765389223 Tracey 4 4.09 2023 Starter Villain
author: John Scalzi
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves:
review:
Smart, slick and deliciously fun take on the world of super villains.
]]> Barrowland 18300276 304 Nuala Naughton 1780576757 Tracey 0 to-read 3.65 2013 Barrowland
author: Nuala Naughton
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> When I Arrived at the Castle 42198117
Like many before her that have never come back, she's made it to the Countess' castle determined to snuff out the horror, but she could never be prepared for what hides within its turrets; what unfurls under its fluttering flags. Emily Carroll has fashioned a rich gothic horror charged with eroticism that doesn't just make your skin crawl, it crawls into it.]]> 72 Emily Carroll Tracey 4
The plot (such as it is) is deliberately ambiguous, so don't go into expecting a tightly plotted horror story, but the art is gorgeous and there's a distinctly Angela Carter vibe (whether intentional or not), making for a book that will beguile you if you let it.]]> 3.68 2019 When I Arrived at the Castle
author: Emily Carroll
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/21
date added: 2024/07/21
shelves:
review:
Erotic and eerie, this blood soaked vampire tale is a slippery story of desire and revenge.

The plot (such as it is) is deliberately ambiguous, so don't go into expecting a tightly plotted horror story, but the art is gorgeous and there's a distinctly Angela Carter vibe (whether intentional or not), making for a book that will beguile you if you let it.
]]> Bury Your Gays 195790870 From Chuck Tingle, author of the USA Today bestselling Camp Damascus, comes a new heart-pounding story about what it takes to succeed in a world that wants you dead.

Misha is a jaded scriptwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has just been nominated for his first Oscar. But when he's pressured by his producers to kill off a gay character in the upcoming season finale�"for the algorithm"―Misha discovers that it's not that simple.

As he is haunted by his past, and past mistakes, Misha must risk everything to find a way to do what's right―before it's too late.]]> 295 Chuck Tingle 1250874653 Tracey 4 4.13 2024 Bury Your Gays
author: Chuck Tingle
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/20
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
review:
Clever and fun queer horror that takes a big swing at Hollywood hypocrisy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Fifth Elephant (Discworld, #24; City Watch, #5)]]> 63720
Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberworld.

Now he was nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). It's snowing. It's freezing. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilisation there's going to be a terrible war.

But there are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves - and they're catching up. Sam Vimes is out of time, out of luck and already out of breath...]]> 464 Terry Pratchett 0552154229 Tracey 5 Excellent as usual. 4.29 1999 The Fifth Elephant (Discworld, #24; City Watch, #5)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:
Excellent as usual.
]]> <![CDATA[Jingo (Discworld, #21; City Watch, #4)]]> 47990
A new land has surfaced, and so have old feuds.

And as two armies march, Commander Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch has got just a few hours to deal with a crime so big that there's no law against it. It's called "war."

He's facing unpleasant foes who are out to get him... that's just the people on his side. The enemy might even be worse. And his pocket Dis-organiser says he's got to DIE under "Things To Do Today."

But he'd better not, because the world's cleverest inventor and its most devious politician are on their way to the battlefield with a little package that's guaranteed to stop a battle...

Discworld goes to war, with armies of sardines, warriors, fishermen, squid, and at least one very camp follower.]]> 461 Terry Pratchett 0552154164 Tracey 4 4.17 1997 Jingo (Discworld, #21; City Watch, #4)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
review:
It's dated in places - the cultural stereotypes jar (even if, in fairness, what he is mocking is not 'foreigners' but Ankh Morporkian (and by extension, British / Western) misconceptions about them - but at its heart humane and I can't resist a Vimes book.
]]> <![CDATA[Feet of Clay (Discworld, #19; City Watch, #3)]]> 34527
But for Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City Watch, that's only the start...

There's treason in the air.
A crime has happened.

He's not only got to find out whodunit, but howdunit too. He's not even sure what they dun. But as soon as he knows what the questions are, he's going to want some answers.]]> 411 Terry Pratchett 0552153257 Tracey 5 4.31 1996 Feet of Clay (Discworld, #19; City Watch, #3)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
review:
Another excellent read, with big ideas about humanity at its heart.
]]> <![CDATA[Men at Arms (Discworld, #15; City Watch, #2)]]> 400354
But what it's got includes Corporal Carrot (technically a dwarf), Lance-constable Cuddy (really a dwarf), Lance constable Detritus (a troll), Lance constable Angua (a woman... most of the time), and Corporal Nobbs (disqualified from the human race for shoving).

And they need all the help they can get. Because they've only got twenty-four hours to clean up the town and this is Ankh-Morpork we're talking about...]]> 377 Terry Pratchett 0061092193 Tracey 5 Excellent as usual. 4.39 1993 Men at Arms (Discworld, #15; City Watch, #2)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/13
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves:
review:
Excellent as usual.
]]> <![CDATA[Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch, #1)]]> 64216 376 Terry Pratchett 0061020648 Tracey 5 4.33 1989 Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves:
review:
The start of the City Watch books, introducing Sam Vimes. Smart, funny and utterly re-readable. Although it doesn't quite reach the standards of the later Watch books, it is a great introduction.
]]> Skin 41448931
Natalie travels to Bali, New Zealand, Australia, Dublin, rural Ireland and the Netherlands to try and find her place, but her isolation abroad only heightens her sense of unease. Her journey is psychological as well as physical � she is obsessed with her shape, believing herself to be awkward and over-large, recoiling from relationships with men and eating compulsively as a self-destructive reaction to her issues with her weight.

As the narrative unfolds, we gradually become aware of a crucial development in Natalie beginning to take place. This novel engages powerfully with issues that are important to women, and also to people in general, via an incredibly beguiling protagonist � she is intelligent and self-aware, sharp and acute, and able to see the comic side of her predicament. An intensely enjoyable and thought-provoking read.]]> 338 E.M. Reapy 1789540941 Tracey 0 currently-reading 3.51 2019 Skin
author: E.M. Reapy
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Scandal of the Century 205438576
To the playwright and poet Aphra Behn � herself condemned as a scarlet woman of loose morals � Henrietta’s trial would be more than a source of intrigue and entertainment: it would inspire her to write Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister, a thinly veiled fiction and arguably the first novel in English literature. An immediate bestseller, it propelled Behn, if only temporarily, out of poverty and disgrace � yet for all her notoriety, Aphra Behn is an enigma, the facts about her life continually disputed.

In The Scandal of the Century, Lisa Hilton interweaves the story of these two rebellious and ruthless women. Against the backdrop of seventeenth-century England, with its strict traditional conventions of love, duty and identity, she shows just how far these women would go to break free.]]> 328 Lisa Hilton 1405953357 Tracey 3
I felt that made the first third, which traces all of Behn's possible origins, a bit of a slog.]]> 3.26 The Scandal of the Century
author: Lisa Hilton
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.26
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves:
review:
Interesting land pleasingly opinionated ook at a fascinating figure, although hampered by the fact so little is known about Behn that much of this is based on informed speculation.

I felt that made the first third, which traces all of Behn's possible origins, a bit of a slog.
]]> The Man in Black: Stories 199743712 From the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries, an eclectic, thrilling collection of short stories, featuring many characters that readers have come to know and love.

Elly Griffiths has always written short stories to experiment with different voices and genres as well as to explore what some of her fictional creations such as Ruth Galloway, Harbinder Kaur, and Max Mephisto might have done outside of the novels. The Man in Black gathers these bite-sized tales all together in one splendid volume.

There are ghost stories, cozy mysteries, tales of psychological suspense, and poignant vignettes of love and loss.

In the title story, Ruth Galloway crosses paths with a mysterious man in a bookstore, setting in motion a rescue mission that hinges on the legends and lore of Norfolk.

Looking into the past, a young magician in 1920s Leeds wonders just what happened to his missing landlady in Max Mephisto and the Disappearing Act.

In Justice Jones and the Etherphone, a witty girl detective investigates the dire prediction of a fortune teller in dreary postwar London.

A flashback in time reveals Harbinder Kaur as a Detective Sergeant surviving her first day on the job at Shoreham DCI.

To celebrate the holidays, Ruth gets her very first Christmas tree, and her beloved cat narrates his own seasonal story in Flint’s Fireside Tale.

And readers can armchair travel with stories set on the Amalfi Coast, in Capri, and in Egypt as Ruth and DCI Nelson experience their very own version of Death on the Nile.

The Man in Black illustrates the breadth and variety of Elly Griffiths’s talent for blood-chilling, page-turning stories all with her trademark humor and heart.]]> 320 Elly Griffiths 0063289334 Tracey 4 3.85 2024 The Man in Black: Stories
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/04
date added: 2024/07/04
shelves:
review:
I am sometimes slightly sceptical about crime short stories - I like a plot to have time to get twisty - but I really enjoyed this. Lots of familiar faces - there are stories featuring Harbinder Kaur, Ruth and Nelson and Max Mephisto, with some nice in-universe mingling - and some clever standalone stories makes for a good mix, and Griffiths is always very readable.
]]> <![CDATA[The Bookstore Wedding (The Once Upon a Time Bookshop, #2)]]> 214128304
Isabel, the long-lost Gibson sister, is finally back home on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. With Sophie and Violet, her sister and her niece, she’s got the family bookstore—and with Johnny Lenox, she’s got something even more special.

But even as life settles, not everything is falling into place. Isabel and Johnny have set the date three times, baked three wedding cakes, invited the whole island to three parties, only to have each attempt at matrimony fall apart at the last minute. Disasters seem to be conspiring against their happy ending, and Isabel is starting to wonder if their love is meant to be.

When family history comes back to haunt the Gibson sisters, Isabel knows that if she wants to make it down the aisle with Johnny, first she and Sophie will have to face the pain of their past and their present, and decide what it means for their future.]]> 39 Alice Hoffman 1662522037 Tracey 4 3.93 2024 The Bookstore Wedding (The Once Upon a Time Bookshop, #2)
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/04
date added: 2024/07/04
shelves:
review:
Charming and surprisingly moving sequel to The Bookstore Sisters.
]]> <![CDATA[Maskerade (Discworld, #18; Witches, #5)]]> 78876
... a huge, rambling building, where masked figures and hooded shadows do wicked deeds in the wings...
... where dying the death on stage is a little bit more than just a metaphor...
... where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by an evil mastermind in a hideously deformed evening dress..

Where...

... there's a couple of old ladies in pointy hats eating peanuts in the gods and looking up at the big chandelier and saying things like: "There's an accident waiting to happen if I ever saw one."

Yes... Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the Discworld's greatest witches, are back for an innocent night out at the opera.

So there's going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evening's entertainment with murders you can really hum...)]]> 285 Terry Pratchett 0575058080 Tracey 4 4.10 1995 Maskerade (Discworld, #18; Witches, #5)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves:
review:
Bits of this have dated poorly - there's a LOT of fat jokes - but an outing for Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg is always a fun time.
]]> <![CDATA[Lords and Ladies (Discworld, #14; Witches, #4)]]> 34529
Granny Weatherwax and her tiny coven are up against real elves.

It's Midsummer Night.

No time for dreaming...

With full supporting cast of dwarfs, wizards, trolls, Morris dancers and one orang-utan. And lots of hey-nonny-nonny and blood all over the place.]]> 352 Terry Pratchett 055215315X Tracey 4 4.19 1992 Lords and Ladies (Discworld, #14; Witches, #4)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
review:
Thoroughly enjoyable witches book, though much like the Shakespeare it takes inspiration from the bits with the comedy rustics aren't that funny.
]]> <![CDATA[Witches Abroad (Discworld, #12; Witches, #3)]]> 2442
Once upon a time there was a fairy godmother named Desiderata who had a good heart, a wise head, and poor planning skills—which unfortunately left the Princess Emberella in the care of her other (not quite so good and wise) godmother when DEATH came for Desiderata. So now it's up to Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg to hop on broomsticks and make for far-distant Genua to ensure the servant girl doesn't marry the Prince.

But the road to Genua is bumpy, and along the way the trio of witches encounters the occasional vampire, werewolf, and falling house (well this is a fairy tale, after all). The trouble really begins once these reluctant foster-godmothers arrive in Genua and must outwit their power-hungry counterpart who'll stop at nothing to achieve a proper "happy ending"—even if it means destroying a kingdom.]]> 374 Terry Pratchett 0061020613 Tracey 4 4.24 1991 Witches Abroad (Discworld, #12; Witches, #3)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:
Bits of this feel slightly dated, but it's mostly a delightful outing for our favourite witches.
]]> <![CDATA[Carpe Jugulum (Discworld, #23; Witches, #6)]]> 34541
There're the witches - young Agnes, who is really in two minds about everything; Magrat, who is trying to combine witchcraft and nappies, Nanny Ogg, who is far too knowing,.. and Granny Weatherwax, who is big trouble.

And the vampires are intelligent - not easily got rid of with a garlic enema or by going to the window, grasping the curtains and saying, "I don't know about you, but isn't it a bit stuffy in here?" They've got style and fancy waistcoats. They're out of the casket and want a bite of the future.

Mightily Oats knows he has a prayer, but he wishes he had an axe.]]> 296 Terry Pratchett 0061051586 Tracey 4 4.16 1998 Carpe Jugulum (Discworld, #23; Witches, #6)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:
An enjoyable outing for the witches, with some ever-relevant commentary on the nature of evil and how it can come 'animal sharp at night, or greyly by day with a list'.
]]> <![CDATA[The Library of the Dead (Edinburgh Nights, #1)]]> 53205876
When ghosts talk, she will listen...

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker. Now she speaks to Edinburgh's dead, carrying messages to the living. A girl's gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone's bewitching children--leaving them husks, empty of joy and life. It's on Ropa's patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns will change her world.

She'll dice with death (not part of her life plan...), discovering an occult library and a taste for hidden magic. She'll also experience dark times. For Edinburgh hides a wealth of secrets, and Ropa's gonna hunt them all down.]]> 330 T.L. Huchu 1250767768 Tracey 3 3.43 2021 The Library of the Dead (Edinburgh Nights, #1)
author: T.L. Huchu
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/23
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves:
review:
Great world building and an imaginative idea. But I felt like the plot took a long time to kick in.
]]> <![CDATA[Pay Dirt (V.I. Warshawski, #22)]]> 181109994 400 Sara Paretsky 0063010933 Tracey 3 Solid addition to the series. 3.88 2024 Pay Dirt (V.I. Warshawski, #22)
author: Sara Paretsky
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
review:
Solid addition to the series.
]]> <![CDATA[Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights]]> 46041157 Well-behaved women don’t make history: difficult women do.

Feminism’s success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Helen Lewis argues that too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It’s time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women.

In this book, you’ll meet the working-class suffragettes who advocated bombings and arson; the princess who discovered why so many women were having bad sex; the pioneer of the refuge movement who became a men’s rights activist; the ‘striker in a sari� who terrified Margaret Thatcher; the wronged Victorian wife who definitely ɲ’t sleeping with the prime minister; and the lesbian politician who outraged the country. Taking the story up to the present with the twenty-first-century campaign for abortion services, Helen Lewis reveals the unvarnished � and unfinished � history of women’s rights.

Drawing on archival research and interviews, Difficult Women is a funny, fearless and sometimes shocking narrative history, which shows why the feminist movement has succeeded � and what it should do next. The battle is difficult, and we must be difficult too.]]> 368 Helen Lewis 1473562252 Tracey 4
Nonetheless I found this an interesting insight into the history of feminism told through the stories of individual women.]]> 4.21 2020 Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights
author: Helen Lewis
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/11
date added: 2024/06/11
shelves:
review:
I suspect I have some fundamentally different views to Lewis on some key issues - there's a weird unnecessary segue in one of the chapters about her experience with internet trolls in which she aligns herself with a whole bunch of writers I neither admire nor respect - and I don't agree with some of her conclusions.

Nonetheless I found this an interesting insight into the history of feminism told through the stories of individual women.
]]> <![CDATA[Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond]]> 102187969 The new book by Sunday Times bestselling author of Ancestors and Buried - the final instalment in Professor Alice Roberts' acclaimed trilogy. In her previous two bestsellers, Professor Alice Roberts powerfully and evocatively revived people of the past through examining their burial rites, bringing a fresh perspective on how they lived. In Crypt, Professor Roberts brings us face to face with individuals who lived and died between ten and five centuries ago. The stories in this book are not comforting tales; there’s a focus on pathology, on disease and injury, and the experience of human suffering in the past. We learn of an episode of terrible brutality, when hate speech unleashed a tide of violence against an ethnic minority; of the devastation caused by incurable epidemics sweeping through medieval Europe; of a protracted battle between Church and State for the heart of England � a battle that saw the most famous tomb in the country created and destroyed; and a tumultuous story, forged in the heat of warfare, that takes us out of the Middle Ages into the sixteenth century and the reign of Henry VIII. In the Middle Ages, there’s barely a written note for most people’s lives. The information we can extract from archaeological human remains represents is an essential tool for understanding our history. Most of these dead will remain anonymous. But, in the thrilling final chapter, Professor Roberts introduces an individual whose life and bones were marked by chronic debilitating disease � and whose name might just be found in history� Beautifully written, vividly drawn, and expertly researched, this is a brilliant and unexpected portrait of modern Britain.]]> 342 Alice Roberts 1398519235 Tracey 0 to-read 4.10 2024 Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond
author: Alice Roberts
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Fragile Animals 201036078
Struggling to deal with the familial trauma of her Catholic upbringing, hotel cleaner, Noelle, travels to the Isle of Bute. There, she meets a man who claims to be a vampire, and a relationship blooms between them based solely on confession. But as talk turns sacrilegious, and the weather outside grows colder, Noelle struggles to come to terms with her blasphemous sexuality. She becomes hounded by memories of her past: her mother’s affair with the local priest, and the part she played in ending it.]]> 336 Genevieve Jagger 1912489961 Tracey 3
But it's vivid and I can see why many readers have found it moving. I just found I couldn't engage with it enough to care about what was happening.]]> 3.49 2024 Fragile Animals
author: Genevieve Jagger
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/05
date added: 2024/06/05
shelves:
review:
This is definitely one of those "not a bad book, just not for me". It reads very much like the debut it is - so heavy on the description it gets bogged down with it, and a little self-indulgent.

But it's vivid and I can see why many readers have found it moving. I just found I couldn't engage with it enough to care about what was happening.
]]> <![CDATA[I Shall Wear Midnight (Discworld, #38; Tiffany Aching, #4)]]> 7576115
Then someone picks up a stone.

Finally, the fires begin.

When people turn on witches, the innocents suffer. . .

Tiffany Aching has spent years studying with senior witches, and now she is on her own. As the witch of the Chalk, she performs the bits of witchcraft that aren't sparkly, aren't fun, don't involve any kind of wand, and that people seldom ever hear about: She does the unglamorous work of caring for the needy.

But someone or something is igniting fear, inculcating dark thoughts and angry murmurs against witches. Aided by her tiny blue allies, the Wee Free Men, Tiffany must find the source of this unrest and defeat the evil at its root before it takes her life. Because if Tiffany falls, the whole Chalk falls with her.

Chilling drama combines with laugh-out-loud humor and searing insight as beloved and bestselling author Terry Pratchett tells the high-stakes story of a young witch who stands in the gap between good and evil.]]> 349 Terry Pratchett 0385611072 Tracey 5 4.34 2010 I Shall Wear Midnight (Discworld, #38; Tiffany Aching, #4)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/02
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves:
review:
Another excellent outing for Tiffany Aching, albeit it darker in places than you might expect.
]]> <![CDATA[Wintersmith (Discworld, #35; Tiffany Aching, #3)]]> 34492 Tiffany Aching is a trainee witch � now working for the seriously scary Miss Treason. But when Tiffany witnesses the Dark Dance � the crossover from summer to winter � she does what no one has ever done before and leaps into the dance. Into the oldest story there ever is. And draws the attention of the Wintersmith himself.

As Tiffany-shaped snowflakes hammer down on the land, can Tiffany deal with the consequences of her actions? Even with the help of Granny Weatherwax and the Nac Mac Feegle � the fightin�, thievin� pictsies who are prepared to lay down their lives for their “big wee hag.�

Wintersmith is the third title in an exuberant series crackling with energy and humour. It follows The Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky.


]]> 325 Terry Pratchett 0060890312 Tracey 5 4.23 2006 Wintersmith (Discworld, #35; Tiffany Aching, #3)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/02
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves:
review:
The usual big-hearted, cleverly written and imaginative story.
]]> <![CDATA[A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld, #32; Tiffany Aching, #2)]]> 34501
No real witch would casually step out of their body, leaving it empty.

Tiffany Aching does. And there’s something just waiting for a handy body to take over. Something ancient and horrible, which can’t die.

To deal with it, Tiffany has to go to the very heart of what makes her a witch . . .]]> 352 Terry Pratchett 055255264X Tracey 5 4.31 2004 A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld, #32; Tiffany Aching, #2)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
review:
Another welcome visit to the Chalk. Enjoyable at every reread and full of wisdom.
]]> <![CDATA[Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad (Austin Kleon)]]> 40591677
In his previous books Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work! , both New York Times bestsellers, Austin Kleon gave readers the keys to unlock their creativity and showed them how to become known. Now he offers his most inspiring work yet, with ten simple rules for how to stay creative, focused, and true to yourself—for life.

The creative life is not a linear journey to a finish line, it’s a loop—so find a daily routine, because today is the only day that matters. Disconnect from the world to connect with yourself—sometimes you just have to switch into airplane mode. Keep Going celebrates getting outdoors and taking a walk (as director Ingmar Bergman told his daughter, ”The demons hate fresh air�). Pay attention, and especially pay attention to what you pay attention to. Worry less about getting things done, and more about the worth of what you’re doing. Instead of focusing on making your mark, work to leave things better than you found them.

Keep Going and its timeless, practical, and ethical principles are for anyone trying to sustain a meaningful and productive life.
]]> 224 Austin Kleon 1523506644 Tracey 4 4.26 2019 Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad (Austin Kleon)
author: Austin Kleon
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:
Brisk and punchy advice for creativity. There's nothing in here you won't have read before - the advice isn't groundbreaking. But it's presented in an engaging, digestible way that is just the ticket if you're in a slump.
]]> The Bounds (NHB Modern Plays) 213690378 This is the big game, and it's been raging for hours. Percy and Rowan are out in the middle of nowhere, miles from the action, when a stranger joins them. A stranger with tidings that will blow their world apart.
Time passes. Night falls. The great chain of being collapses. And they're losing the bloody football�
Stewart Pringle's play The Bounds is a darkly comedic tale of national divides, folk horror and the end of the world as we know it. It was first co-produced by Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Royal Court Theatre, London, and performed at both theatres in 2024, directed by Jack McNamara.]]> 140 Stewart Pringle 1788507983 Tracey 4 3.78 The Bounds (NHB Modern Plays)
author: Stewart Pringle
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves:
review:
I don't normally read play scripts after I've seen a show but I ended up reading this whole thing trying to find a line I remembered. Dark, funny and strange in the best way.
]]> Lady MacBethad 63070795
Daughter of an ousted king, descendant of ancient druids, as a child it is prophesied that one day Gruoch will be queen of Alba.

When she is betrothed to Duncan, heir elect, this appears to confirm the prophecy. She leaves behind her home, her family and her close friend MacBethad, and travels to the royal seat at Scone to embrace her new position.

But nothing is as Gruoch anticipates. Duncan's court is filled with sly words and unfriendly faces, women desperate to usurp her position, and others whose motives are shrouded in mystery. As her coronation approaches, a deadly turn of events forces Gruoch to flee Duncan and the capital, finding herself alone, vulnerable and at the mercy of an old enemy. Her hope of becoming Queen all but lost, Gruoch does what she must to survive, vowing that one day she will fulfill her destiny and take up the future owed to her. Whatever it may take.

A suspenseful, sweeping historical epic, Lady MacBethad is the origin story of the woman who inspired one of Shakespeare's most iconic characters.]]> 363 Isabelle Schuler 1526647257 Tracey 4 4.04 2023 Lady MacBethad
author: Isabelle Schuler
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/24
date added: 2024/05/24
shelves:
review:
Vivid and gripping historical novel that brings to life one of Shakespeare's most famous women, and the inspiration for her.
]]> <![CDATA[The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch]]> 83823784 A sparkling, witchy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and—according to her—much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia.

In this exuberant reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story from her own perspective. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves; Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs.

But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns: her best-loved sister Kitty is really a barn cat, and Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would you expect from a demon? And if you think Mr. Darcy was uptight about dancing etiquette, wait till you see how he reacts to witchcraft. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that when you’re a witch, promises have power . . .

Full of enchantment, intrigue, danger, and boundless magic, The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, has all the irreverent wit, strength, and romance of Pride and Prejudice—while offering a highly unexpected redemption for the wildest Bennet sister.]]> 400 Melinda Taub 1538739208 Tracey 3 3.73 2023 The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch
author: Melinda Taub
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/22
date added: 2024/05/22
shelves:
review:
A really fun idea, mostly very well executed, although it got a little busy towards the end.
]]> Pageboy 60473073 Pageboy is a groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page. A generation-defining actor and one of the most famous trans advocates of our time, Elliot will now be known as an uncommon literary talent, as he shares never-before-heard details and intimate interrogations on gender, love, mental health, relationships, and Hollywood.]]> 271 Elliot Page Tracey 3 3.72 2023 Pageboy
author: Elliot Page
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/18
date added: 2024/05/18
shelves:
review:
Page tells an important and timely story in a heartfelt way - and lord knows we need more trans voices right now - but the non-linear timeline and the short chapters made this too bitty for me. It felt like it jumped around so much that it never really gripped me: I would read one chapter, think, this is interesting, then put it down and not pick it up again for ages.
]]> <![CDATA[A Vampire in New York and Other Stories (Dark Dates Short Stories Book 5)]]> 28677558 156 Tracey Sinclair Tracey 5 4.50 A Vampire in New York and Other Stories (Dark Dates Short Stories Book 5)
author: Tracey Sinclair
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/18
date added: 2024/05/18
shelves:
review:
I wrote them so obvs biased but I love these stories and loved introducing Bram to the world.
]]> <![CDATA[Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening]]> 55883882
Collects MONSTRESS #1-6

About the Creators:

New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. Ms. Liu's extensive work includes the bestselling "Astonishing X-Men" for Marvel Comics, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Prior to writing full-time, Liu was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.

Sana Takeda is an illustrator and comic book artist who was born in Niigata, and now resides in Tokyo, Japan. At age 20 she started out as a 3D CGI designer for SEGA, a Japanese video game company, and became a freelance artist when she was 25. She is still an artist, and has worked on titles such as "X-23" and "Ms. Marvel" for Marvel Comics, and is an illustrator for trading card games in Japan.]]> 192 Marjorie M. Liu 1632157098 Tracey 4 3.96 2016 Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening
author: Marjorie M. Liu
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/18
date added: 2024/05/18
shelves:
review:
Imaginative and ambitious world-building, slick storytelling and luscious art combine to make this a compelling story.
]]> Penance 62898932 Do you know what happened already?
Did you know her?
Did you see it on the internet?
Did you listen to a podcast?
Did the hosts make jokes?

Did you see the pictures of the body?

Did you look for them?

It's been nearly a decade since the horrifying murder of sixteen-year-old Joan Wilson rocked Crow-on-Sea, and the events of that terrible night are now being published for the first time.

That story is Penance, a dizzying feat of masterful storytelling, where Eliza Clark manoeuvres us through accounts from the inhabitants of this small seaside town. Placing us in the capable hands of journalist Alec Z. Carelli, Clark allows him to construct what he claims is the 'definitive account' of the murder - and what led up to it. Built on hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, painstaking historical research, and most notably, correspondence with the killers themselves, the result is a riveting snapshot of lives rocked by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil.

The only question is: how much of it is true?]]> 336 Eliza Clark 0571371795 Tracey 3
Clark treads familiar ground with this faux true crime novel recounted by an unreliable narrator (ground covered better - and certainly with more brevity - by books such as True Crime Story and the Six Stories series - the latter also similarly tackles the idea of crime in a small Northern town and folds in local mythology).

The central premise requires a certain suspension of disbelief - hard to accept the fact that the UK's misogynistic tabloids wouldn't have had a field day with a grisly murder committed by teenage girls, Brexit vote or no. But at its core is the story of teen tensions gone horribly wrong.

Clark's own skill sometimes works against her: she perfectly captures the flat, slightly sanctimonious tone that lower quality true crime writers sometimes have - but unfortunately that means for most of the (very long) book it feels like you are reading a book written by a mediocre crime writer. The novel tries to cram together so many strands and topics the story wanders and any narrative tension is diluted.

And it's a shame because a tighter edit could let the bits where Clark excels really shine. She has a keen eye for the excesses and absurdities of online fandom (the Tumblr bits are pitch perfect) and the emotional vagaries of teenage girls, the highs and lows of youthful relationships. These bits really stand out, and I imagine are what drives the popularity of the book on platforms like TikTok. But it just felt like a slog to get to them.

Or maybe, like I said, I'm just too old to get it...!]]> 3.87 2023 Penance
author: Eliza Clark
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves:
review:
I admit I've rarely been as baffled by the hype for a book as I was with this, and can only conclude I'm at least a generation too old to be the target audience.

Clark treads familiar ground with this faux true crime novel recounted by an unreliable narrator (ground covered better - and certainly with more brevity - by books such as True Crime Story and the Six Stories series - the latter also similarly tackles the idea of crime in a small Northern town and folds in local mythology).

The central premise requires a certain suspension of disbelief - hard to accept the fact that the UK's misogynistic tabloids wouldn't have had a field day with a grisly murder committed by teenage girls, Brexit vote or no. But at its core is the story of teen tensions gone horribly wrong.

Clark's own skill sometimes works against her: she perfectly captures the flat, slightly sanctimonious tone that lower quality true crime writers sometimes have - but unfortunately that means for most of the (very long) book it feels like you are reading a book written by a mediocre crime writer. The novel tries to cram together so many strands and topics the story wanders and any narrative tension is diluted.

And it's a shame because a tighter edit could let the bits where Clark excels really shine. She has a keen eye for the excesses and absurdities of online fandom (the Tumblr bits are pitch perfect) and the emotional vagaries of teenage girls, the highs and lows of youthful relationships. These bits really stand out, and I imagine are what drives the popularity of the book on platforms like TikTok. But it just felt like a slog to get to them.

Or maybe, like I said, I'm just too old to get it...!
]]> <![CDATA[Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick]]> 19536001
Collecting: Sex Criminals 1-5]]> 128 Matt Fraction 1607069466 Tracey 3 3.91 2014 Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick
author: Matt Fraction
name: Tracey
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2024/05/15
shelves:
review:
Wildly original idea, well executed: that certain people can stop time when they have sex, and two of those people meet and decide to use their powers for crime (albeit justified crime). Some great lines and clever moments, but it felt a little cluttered and overly self-satisfied with it's own cleverness and / or rudeness sometimes which stopped me loving it as much as I love some of Fraction's other stuff.
]]> Circe 35959740
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 Tracey 5
Gorgeous, vivid prose, a fascinating protagonist and a story that is in places achingly romantic, this is a triumph.]]> 4.22 2018 Circe
author: Madeline Miller
name: Tracey
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/14
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
I nearly four-starred this, as I didn't love it as much as I loved Song of Achilles, but then I realised I have rarely loved a book as much as I loved Song of Achilles.

Gorgeous, vivid prose, a fascinating protagonist and a story that is in places achingly romantic, this is a triumph.
]]>