Book Reviews

I very much enjoyed reading this volume of Sue’s McFarlane's poetry. She outlines in the introduction her reasons and motivations for writing it, alluding to the year 2020 as a one of profound change, reflection and catharsis. We read how she discovered her creative side and she has deployed this to considerable effect. Sue invites us to think of the volume as a chocolate box and this is apt - the contents are all worth a taste but we are bound, as she says, to have a few fav

Evelyn is a widower who no longer wants to be bystander in life. Though she loved her husband, George, dearly, was she ever her own woman? Wanting to live whatever life she has left in the beautiful setting of a book she read many years ago, she cashes in her savings, hands the keys to her home to her son Tim and heads off for her own adventure. Evelyn is a wonderfully normal and warm character, who endears anyone who crosses her path including grumbly old Jane. These two unl

Chasing a Dream is a historical fiction book set in 1950 in a small mining village in Derbyshire. We are introduced to Stella, who has a...

Alison J. Barley's Chasing a Dream is a powerful, emotionally charged book that poignantly relates the grit and determination of a young...

Where do I start! The cover, it just drew me to this book, then the blurb sounded interesting. Nothing could of prepared me for the...

I thought the blurb and cover to this were both lovely and very inviting. It gives us the feeling that we get to know an entire life, and...

The coming-of-age novel of a weaponised human, Artemisa Can’t Stop Killing People is an often cold and brutal tale; as our protagonist’s...

This is such a lovely, family historic fiction. Set in 1950 Stella has a simple life with a loving mum and a difficult father with her...

Chasing a Dream is a historical fiction book set in 1950 in a small mining village in Derbyshire. We are introduced to Stella, who has a...

One Paw At A Time is written in diary form. Each day we follow Reba's progress from quadriplegic to restored mobility (up to a point)....

I will start by saying that this isn't my usual chosen genre being a memoir but I'm an eclectic reader and happy to read most books. Not...

This was my first read by this author and I wasn't sure what to expect at all. The cover also doesn't give too much away - and I never...

Anyone who knows me will know instantly, that this is most definitely not my kind of read! I shy away from anything remotely historical...

Radcliffe Road by Betty Valentine, is told in the form of a diary, written by male protagonist, George. George is in a care home and is...

Not my usual read, but One Day in May was an interesting trip into 18th-century life and one man’s tragic journey. Told through the eyes...

What a delightful yet emotional story. Rob is born into a world with limited opportunities for someone such as him. Mocked and ridiculed,...

This life-affirming story follows the lives of George and Henry. George and Henry are best friends, until a kiss in a garden shed changes...

I have always enjoyed books where there are mintrels, but I have always been aware that they are often built to a beauty of the...

I will start by saying that this isn't my usual chosen genre but I'm an eclectic reader and happy to read most books. I must say that if...

I was recommended this book by the author's son. A quick read of the synopsis and I realised it was my type of book. I won't add any...