BOOKSIMO

  Description ‘An exquisitely poignant tale of life, friendship and facing death… Everyone should read this book’ Ruth Hogan,  Sunday Times  bestselling author of  The Keeper of Lost Things If I can choose how to live my own life, why can’t I choose how to die my own death? Eudora Honeysett is done – with all of it. Having seen first-hand what a prolonged illness can create, the eighty-five-year-old has no intention of leaving things to chance. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland she takes her life into her own hands. But then ten-year-old Rose arrives in a riot of colour on her doorstep. Now, as precocious Rose takes Eudora on adventures she’d never imagined she reflects on the trying times of her past and soon finds herself wondering – is she ready for death when she’s only just experienced what it’s like to truly live? A heartfelt story of life, death, friendship and family perfect for fans of Gail Honeyman Review Trigger warning - assisted dying. I really en...

I'm on the blog tour today for this wonderful book. Description Where are the women philosophers? The answer is right here. The history of philosophy has not done women justice: you've probably heard the names Plato, Kant, Nietzsche and Locke but what about Hypatia, Arendt, Oluwole and Young? The Philosopher Queens  is a long-awaited book about the lives and works of women in philosophy  by  women in philosophy. This collection brings to centre stage twenty prominent women whose ideas have had a profound but for the most part uncredited impact on the world. You'll learn about Ban Zhao, the first woman historian in ancient Chinese history; Angela Davis, perhaps the most iconic symbol of the American Black Power Movement; Azizah Y. al-Hibri, known for examining the intersection of Islamic law and gender equality; and many more. For anyone who has wondered where the women philosophers are, or anyone curious about the history of ideas it's time to meet the philosopher queen...

Happy to be on the blog tour today for this amusing book. Summary The book takes the form of a journey through one English county a day. Rather than having a plan, other than a rough anticlockwise direction of travel, the trip was largely spontaneous. This unplanned nature is what drives the narrative, similar to the way a MacGuffin drives a story, and opens the possibility of stumbling across unintended experiences. The journey is taken in a fifteen-year-old 4x4 referred to throughout as The Truck , along with a sat nav referred to as Kathy (actually the voice of Kathy Clugston from Radio 4). Rather than paying for hotels this was a camping trip to keep the costs down. The logistics of finding somewhere to camp each night provided further challenges. All of these inconveniences, and the unexpected solutions that followed, provided useful metaphors for concepts that arose in the philosophical exploration. The result of this unplanned approach is that the story only covers the are...

So pleased to be on the Book Tour today. Description 'The Unravelling combines sinister atmosphere with witty insight, and characters we can relate to facing the supernatural fear of our most human nightmares' - Helen Sedgwick, author of  The Comet Seekers ‘A cappuccino.’ He spoke clearly but slowly, as if he were a stranger here. ‘One shot or two?’ He gazed at me with thinly veiled contempt. ‘Oh, you only get one shot.’ For Ella Aldridge, a brilliant Classics student, life was supposed to be exciting. Thirty years on, she’s stuck in the suburbs in a boring job and a failing marriage. Even her daughter, the one she gave it all up for, seems distant. But a sinister encounter on platform three is about to change everything. Under the watchful eye of a shadowy ticket inspector and his mysterious associate, Ella finds herself spiralling into a murky underworld where portentous signs appear from nowhere, thoughts are stored on memory sticks and speeding express trains may be more th...

  Description Amy has a normal life. That is, if you were to go by a definition of 'no obvious indicators of peculiarity', and you didn't know her very well. She has good friends, a good job, a nice enough home. This normality, however, is precariously plastered on top of a different life. A life that is Amy's real life. The only one her brain will let her lead. A fictional story that depicts the reality of mental illness behind a perception of normality. Review When I began the book I wasn't sure it was going to be for me as Chapter 1 was a first hand experience of Amy's bus journey. I had empathy with her issues on the journey, but I worried it was going to be a little depressive to read. Chapter 2 came and I was hooked! Over the years I have met and worked with many people who others have considered not "normal". I've been laughed at for giving them the time of day or even being friends with them. When Chapter 2 begins Amy is at the office and I...

I'm on the blog tour for this book today - yeah! About the book A runaway bride. A handsome stranger. Two pasts to put behind them. Parker is ready to marry the man of her dreams. But he isn't ready to marry her. It would be helpful if he didn't choose their wedding day to tell her this. But as she flees from the travesty behind her, she literally runs into the arms of a handsome stranger. The southern drawl, the dreamy eyes, she can't fall for another man after being left at the altar – can she? When Liam agreed to go to go on a date he didn't expect to leave with the bride. Nor did he expect to take her the emergency room. Immediately he's drawn to her fiery spirit, her kind heart and beautiful smile. Liam's got a whole host of problems and a past that keeps coming back, now can't be the time to fall in love, but Parker might just be the one to break down his barriers and let him live a little – if she'll let him in. Will these two strangers allow ...

  Description Another murder. Another mystery.   The brand new thriller from the No. 1  Sunday Times  bestselling author of  The Hunting Party . On a remote island, guests gather for the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater.   Old friends. Past grudges.   Happy families. Hidden jealousies.   Thirteen guests. One body.   The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of the guests is found dead. And as a storm unleashes its fury on the island, everyone is trapped. All have a secret. All have a motive. One guest won’t leave this wedding alive . . . Review I was eager to read this book after loving the author's previous book The Hunting Party. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much though. It has again the classic Agatha Christie feel to the plot. A Wedding party on a remote island - bad weather and not too good a phone signal, help to make it feel more like the 1920's than the 2020's and ensure that the plot thickens...

  I am absolutely delighted to be on the book tour today. Published in hardback by Gollancz on 3 rd September 2020, £14.99   The stunning new novella from No 1 bestselling author Joanne Harris: Orfeia is a  gender-flipped retelling of the Orpheus Myth, beautifully illustrated by  Bonnie Helen Hawkins  Description When you can find me an acre of land, Every sage grows merry in time, Between the ocean and the sand Then will you be united again. (Inspired by The Child Ballads 2 & 19) So begins a beautiful and tragic quest as a heartbroken mother sets out to save her lost daughter, through the realms of the real, of dream, and even into the underworld itself. But determination alone is not enough. For to save something precious, she must give up something precious, be it a song, a memory, or her freedom itself . . . Beautifully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, this is a stunning and original modern fairytale. Review I recommend getting the hardback copy of t...

  Description When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him, and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other... My Sister, the Serial Killer  is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker - and more difficult to get out of the carpet - than water... Review At 240 pages this didn't take me long to read. But is there ever a lot packed into thos...

  Description 'Entertaining, erudite, eccentric -  The Bookseller's Tale  is a delight' Alison Light, author of  Common People: The History of an English Family 'The right book has a neverendingness, and so does the right bookshop.' This is the story of our love affair with books, whether we arrange them on our shelves, inhale their smell, scrawl in their margins or just curl up with them in bed. Taking us on a journey through comfort reads, street book stalls, mythical libraries, itinerant pedlars, radical pamphleteers, extraordinary bookshop customers and fanatical collectors, Canterbury bookseller Martin Latham uncovers the curious history of our book obsession - and his own. Part cultural history, part literary love letter and part reluctant memoir, this is the tale of one bookseller and many, many books. Review I'm not sure I am going to be able to do this book justice in my review, because it is just absolutely brilliant. Straightaway the book led me to ot...

  Description Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live? Review The Midnight Library is a place between life and death and so to get there you must be about to die and that is what Nora has chosen to do. Except she doesn't realise that she will end up in the library with Mrs Elm the librarian, who  helps her to choose a...