The Agathas - Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson

The Agathas - Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson

Mystery (YA)

Rating: 8.5/10

A delight of a book that triumphantly introduces a new generation to the brilliance of Agatha Christie. When “cool” girl Alice’s ex bestie is found murdered, she and Iris, her “nerdy” tutor, launch their own investigation, adopting many of the tenants of crime solving Christie’s detectives did. Along the way they collect oddballs and misfits for the cause!

Read More

Summer Set Reads...

From The Frivolous To The Frightening…

Joyland - Stephen King

Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid

This Time Tomorrow - Emma Staub

Mary Jane - Jessica Anya Blau

This One Summer - Mariko Tamaki

Touch Of Jen - Beth Morgan

Jaws - Peter Benchley

Full Tilt - Neal Shusterman

Saturday Night Ghost Club - Craig Davidson

The Ruins - Scott Smith

We Were Never Here - Andrea Bartz

Every Summer After - Carley Fortune

One Italian Summer - Rebecca Serle

The Summer Job - Lizzie Dent

Book Lovers - Emily Henry

Beautiful Ruins - Jess Walter

Grown Ups - Emma Jane Unsworth

The Long & Faraway Gone - Lou Berney

Who Is Maud Dixon - Alexandra Andrews

Blinded Me With Science...

Go On, Get Smart…

The Puzzler - A.J. Jacobs

The Data Detective - Tim Harford

Braod Band - Claire L. Evans

The Equisite Machine - Sian E. Harding

The Monsters Bones - David K. Randall

A Molecule Away From Madness - Sara Manning Peskin

Wired For Love - Stephanie Cacioppo

The Man Who Tasted Words - Guy Leschiziner

This Mortal Coil - Andrew Doig

HomoDeus - Yuval Noah Harari

The Math Book - DK

The Gene - Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Innovators - Walter Isaacson

The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green

Fuzz - Mary Roach

The God Equations - Michio Kaku

A Taste For Poison - Neil Bradbury

This Is Improbable - Marc Abrahams

Numb & Number - William Harston

Novel Narratives...

Plots That Pivot…

Colour inside the lines, follow the lead, don’t take risks, keep your head down…said nobody ever! When you read as much as I do, you are invariably seeking stories that will scratch the incessant itch you have for something that deviates from the prevailing plot structures. Stories that unfold in uncommon or unexpected ways, that are innovative, that play with you, that provide a much-needed breath of fresh air. The gems I have gathered here will fill that need!

Read More

Ten Thousand Doors Of January - Alix E. Harrow

Ten Thousand Doors Of January - Alix E. Harrow

Fantasy

Rating: 7.5/10

Surrounded by treasures and secrets, one day January discovers a remarkable book. It will turn out that is the least of what it is, and what it will become. Narratives unfold like a nesting doll in this clever and charming read, peeling back priceless gems. We spend time with fierce and fascinating characters and each door teases the reader with a reverential nod to well-known fairytales and fables

Read More

Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

Fiction

Rating: 8/10

Grace may be many things. Murderess, lunatic, naïve servant, manipulative imposter. After a stint in an asylum, she is now serving a life sentence in prison. A young doctor begins to visit her with the hopes of employing his progressive treatments and gaining Grace a pardon. But as we all know, when seeking out the truth we often get much more than we bargained for.

Read More

Pump Up The Volume...

Books For The Music Fan…

The Vinyl Underground - Rob Rufus

This Song Will Save Your Life - Leila Sales

The Music Shop - Rachel Joyce

Beautiful Music For Ugly Children - Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Destroy All Monsters - Jeff Jackson

The Vinyl Detective - Andrew Cartmel (A Series)

A Song For A New Day - Sarah Pinsker

Guitar Notes - Mary Amato

Suzy, Led Zeppelin & Me - Martin Millar

Every Anxious Wave - Mo Daviau

If I Ever Get Out Of Here - Eric Gansworth

Spin - Colleen Nelson

Impossible Music - Sean Williams

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

Reservation Blues - Sherman Alexie

We Sold Our Souls - Grady Hendrix

Solo - Kwame Alexander

Girl - Blake Nelson

Signal To Noise - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Hour Of The Innocents - Robert Paston

How to Kill A Rock Star - Tiffanie DeBartolo

Stone Arabia - Dana Spiotta

Sometime After Midnight - L. Philips

A Beautiful Mind...

Neurodiversity In Literature…

Radiant Minds - Oliver Sacks

NeuroTribes - Steve Silberman

Odd Girl Out - Laura James

If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This - Robin Black

Girl He Used To Know - Tracey Garvis Graves

Big Girl, Small Town - Michelle Gallen

Curious Incident Of The Dog & The Night-time - Mark Haddon

The Maid - Nita Prose

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completey Fine - Gail Honeyman

Convience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

On The Edge Of Gone - Corrine Duvvis

Motherless Brooklyn - Jonathan Lethem

Ginny Moon - Benjamin Ludwig

Still Alice - Lisa Genova

Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

Pathological - Sarah Fay

Divergent Mind - Jenara Nerenberg

Normal Sucks - Jonathan Mooney

A Gut Feeling...

Fiction To Devour…

Kitchens Of The Great Midwest - J. Ryan Stradel

Serving Crazy With Curry - Amulya Malladi

The Kitchen Daughter - Jael McHenry

Miss Cecily’s Recipes For Exceptional Ladies - Vicky Zimmerman

Sourdough - Robin Sloan

The School Of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister

Food Whore: A Novel - Jessica Tom

The Kitchen Front - Jennifer Ryan

Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler

Crescent - Abu Diana Jaber

A Moveable Feast - Anthony Bourdain

The Hundred,Foot Journey - Richard C. Morais

Recipe For Persuasion - Sonali Dev

Season To Taste - Natalie Young

A Certain Hunger - Chelsea G. Summers

Mistress Of Spices - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Gourmet Rhapsody - Muriel Barbery

Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe - Fannie Flagg

All Four Stars - Tara Dairman

The Kitchen God’s Wife - Amy Tan

The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender

Little Coffee Shop Of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez

Chocolat - Joanne Harris

The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe - Mary Simses

The Coincidence Of Coconut Cake - Amy E. Reichert

Taste: My Life Through Food - Stanley Tucci

Garlic & Sapphires: The Secret Life Of A Critic In Disguise - Ruth Reichl

Yes, Chef - Marcus Samuelsson

Notes From A Young Black Chef - Kwame Onwuachi

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History - Michael W. Twitty

Comfort Food Diaries: Quest For The Perfect Dish To Mend A Broken Heart - Emily Nunn

Our Lady Of Perpetual Hunger - Lisa Donovan

Book Of Eating - Adam Platt

Miss Cecily's Recipes For Exceptional Ladies - Vicky Zimmerman

Miss Cecily's Recipes For Exceptional Ladies - Vicky Zimmerman

Fiction

Rating: 9/10

Besieged by men who don’t know what they want and have no idea when they might figure it out, Kate decides that’s enough indecisiveness for her. With a boyfriend flip flopping on commitment and a dead-end job meant only to pay the bills she finds herself keeping company with a cantankerous Cecily, a senior citizen with no shortage of opinions. A charming story of an unusual friendship.

Read More