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Category Archives: Fiction
Recommendation: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
English Bell Ringing, Stolen Emeralds and Murder My memories from my first reading of The Nine Tailors was that it was a bit slow and there was way too much detail about English change-ringing of church bells. I think that … Continue reading
Posted in 20th Century, British, Crime fiction, Fiction, General adult audience, Mystery, Novel
Tagged bell ringing, church life, clergymen, Dorothy L Sayers, Engish fen country, intricate, Lord Peter Wimsey, Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Murder, mystery, Plot-driven, rich setting, slow starter
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Recommendation: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers
PTSD and generational tensions regarding war service didn’t start with the Vietnam War. Both are explored in Sayer’s Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers is another delightful Lord Peter Wimsey novel. … Continue reading
Posted in 20th Century, British, Crime fiction, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Uncategorized
Tagged about more than just murder, convoluted plot, death, effects of war, good out loud, good place to start, intricate, Lord Peter Wimsey, Lord Peter Wimsey novel, men and women, mental illness, moral injury, Murder, mystery, observant, plot driven, police, rich setting, well written, wills and inheritance, WWI
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The Fourth Thursday Next Took Me a While to Appreciate: Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde is the fourth book in the Thursday Next series. Thursday and her young son Friday leave their life in the Well of Lost Plots and return to Swindon where Thursday attempts to get her husband … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, British, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction
Tagged adventure, comedy, croquet, greed, Hamlet, Jasper Fforde, prophecy, Shakespeare, single-parent, supernatural, Thursday Next, Wales, witty, Wordplay
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Quintessential Diana Wynne Jones: Archer’s Goon is about a boy, a family, a town and a threatening goon who takes up residence in the kitchen
Archer’s Goon is classic Diana Wynne Jones with various mysteries and characters gradually converging. The arrival of the Goon in Howard and Awful’s kitchen, demanding mysterious payment in the form of written words from their author-father, leads them to the … Continue reading
Posted in 10 years and up, 11 years and up, 13 years and up, 20th Century Children's, Adventure, British, Children's Classic, Comedy, Fantasy, Fiction, Novel, Speculative Fiction, YA Classic, Young Adult
Tagged a little dated, adversity, Diana Wynne Jones, engaging characters, humour, siblings, the town is a character, well paced, well written
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Comforting her father and organising the wellbeing of the town of Carlingford – whether they want it or not: Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant is a gently ironic novel of the Victorian era
Miss Marjoribanks is probably the best known work by Margaret Oliphant. An enjoyable choice for anyone who enjoys slightly tongue-in-cheek Victorian novels of manners. Continue reading
Posted in 18th Century, British, Classic, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Novel of Manners, Victorian
Tagged Carlingford series, daughter, doctor, etiquette, fashion, renovations, satire, society, widowhood
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My Favourite Thursday Next Novel: The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots in the third installment of the speculative, absurdist Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde… Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, British, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction
Tagged absurdist, action, adventure, British, bureaucracy, classics, convoluted plot, fantasy, fiction, greed, humour, Jasper Fforde, literature, memory troubles, novel writing, publishing, quirky, rich setting, satire, shady business practices, society, Thursday Next, well written, Wordplay
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Small Steps by Louis Sachar: An engaging, amusing and compassionate sequel to Holes
The sequel to Sachar’s Holes is as hilarious, enjoyable carefully-woven and heart-warming as the original. Continue reading
A children’s series that ages with its audience: Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill captures 10 year old life well
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill is the third in Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy series. The girls are now 10 years old and the largely standalone chapters of the first two books smoothly transition into larger story arcs … Continue reading
Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, American, Children's, Children's Classic, Children's Classics, Coming of Age/Rites of Passage, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novel, Uncategorized
Tagged Betsy-Tacy books, childhood, children's classic, early 20th century, fiction, friendship, good out loud, growing up in America, historical, humour, illustrated, imagination, Maud Hart Lovelace, mid-western United States, play, school, semi-autobiographical, siblings, society, starting school
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Would you like world-ending pink topping with that? Lost is a Good Book is a generous second helping of Thursday Next from Jasper Fforde
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde is the second book in the Thursday Next series. Despite a sudden celebrity for saving Jane Eyre and improving the ending, not every one is happy with what Thursday has done. A … Continue reading
Posted in British, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction
Tagged absurdist, action, adventure, apocalypse, British, bureaucracy, convoluted plot, fantasy, fiction, greed, humour, Jasper Fforde, legal trouble, literature, novel writing, probability, quirky, rich setting, satire, shady business practices, society, supernatural, Thursday Next, vampires, well written, Wordplay
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Deadly lizards, delinquent boys, a sinister warden and a whole lot of HOLES feature in Louis Sachar’s acclaimed YA novel
When Stanley Yelnats gets caught holding a celebrity’s stolen sneakers which have just fallen on him out of the sky, he knows that it’s because of the family curse acquired by his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake, … Continue reading
Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century, 20th Century YA, Adventure, American, Coming of Age/Rites of Passage, Family Drama, Fiction, Light Fiction, Novel, YA Classic, Young Adult
Tagged boys, camping, friendship, good out loud, growing up, hardship, history, Louis Sachar, overcoming adversity, resourcefulness, summer camp, survival, Texas, well written
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