Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace #LoveBooksTours

I'm pleased to be on the blog tour for this book today. 

Blurb

The intrepid librarian Shona McMonagle, erstwhile Marcia Blaine Academy prefect and an accomplished linguist and martial artist, finds herself in an isolated French mountain village, Sans-Soleil, which has no sunlight because of its topography. It’s reeling from a spate of unexplained deaths, and Shona has once again travelled back in time to help out.

Forging an uneasy alliance with newly widowed Madeleine, Shona is soon drawn into a full-blown vampire hunt, involving several notable villagers, the world-renowned soprano Mary Garden – and even Count Dracula himself. Will Shona solve the mystery, secure justice for the murder victims and make it through a deathly denouement in the hall of mirrors to return to present-day Morningside Library?

Review

The book begins with Shona McMonagle finding herself in the past not knowing when or where in the world she is, but finds a note saying "Remember you must die"........ after stepping out of a coffin. So begins the mystery!

Shona is definitely her own woman and it was nice to have a heroine who was in the 50+ age bracket for a change. Goodness what a fabulous school Marcia Blaine Academy must be as Shona can turn her hand to anything and knows no fear. When I began the book I was wondering if she was going to be more of a Johnny English character. But I was wrong, as she can take on an assassin not only with bare hands but also with her acerbic tongue. Fearing she had been cast to the past by Miss Blaine with no safety net, I was reassured when Shona tried to spend to freely and her purse became firmly shut! Miss Blaine it would appear did have her back.

Keen to establish she is Scottish and not English, her witticisms were unparalleled in my reading experience. She also has a ready knowledge of history which was an education in itself. Not to mention the clarification provided around vampires.

Having read Jasper Fford I can see why the author has been compared to him, she has the same quirky, other world presence in the book. This is the second book in the series - however, I had not read the first one and the book can be read as a standalone.

If you are looking for an escapist read which has been written with intellect and wit, then this is the book for you. I miss Shona already and look forward to meeting with her again.

I'm giving this fabulous book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Love Book Tours for the invite to the blog tour.

Author

Olga Wojtas is an unconventional – and very witty – writer of postmodern crime fiction whose surrealist humour has been compared to the likes of PG Wodehouse, Jasper Fforde and the Marx Brothers. Her debut novel, Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar, has been published in the UK and US to great critical acclaim – being longlisted for the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize 2019, shortlisted for a CrimeFest Award, and named as one of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year by Kirkus.

A journalist for more than 30 years, Olga was Scottish editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement before she began adding creative writing to her portfolio. She won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2015 and has had numerous short stories and several novellas published. Olga lives in Edinburgh, where she once attended James Gillespie’s High School – the model for Marcia Blaine School for Girls, which appears in Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the novel that inspired the Miss Blaine’s Prefect series.

Buy Link 

https://amzn.to/37FoOVP

The Coming Age of Imagination - Phil Teer

Description

Every adult paid a living wage. No strings attached.

Universal basic income is a very old idea that is fast becoming the radical idea of the twenty-first century. It could eradicate poverty and avoid a much-predicted dystopian future of automation and high unemployment – but it could also have an unexpected effect: an explosion of mass creativity.

Phil Teer draws insights from the creative and entrepreneurial effects of basic income experiments and weaves them into stories of how the Romantic poets invented consumerism; artists regenerated cities like New York, Glasgow and Berlin; and creative geniuses like David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Kurt Vonnegut, Haruki Murakami and many others liberated their creative spirits and transformed their lives.

The Coming Age of Imagination is a creative manifesto for universal basic income. When we no longer have to worry about money, we have the opportunity to be creative on a mass scale. Simply put, basic income changes everything.

Review

I was intrigued by the description of this book and was eager to find out more. Although the book could certainly be used in academic research as there is lengthy citation to back up what is written, I enjoyed it as a non fiction read. 

I liked the style of Phil Teer - it put me in mind of my lectures when I did my Masters degree and felt it was not preaching but just discussing "what if". As soon as I had a thought - the reference appeared! Maslows hierachy and Charles Handy were both referenced and so I felt like my own thinking was being acknowledged.

I hadn't realised that this universal basic income idea had already been trialled in other parts of the world and the stats made interesting reading. Again - this was not put over in some academic way with charts and diagrams, but in an easy read. 

The part of the book I enjoyed the most was the background to modern entrepreneurs and musicians. Also how the romantic poets invented consumerism. This part of the book is worth reading even if you are not interested in the universal basic income idea. In fact I think it would make a book in it's own right.

I'm giving this book four out of five stars. I did notice a little repetition in the writing. I did read the book right through, maybe if you dip in and out that won't be a problem and it is a reminder of what you've read.

My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review. It's out on 27 February 2020.

The New Girl - Harriet Walker

Description
How far would someone go to replace you? A new mother on maternity leave grows increasingly paranoid about her ambitious young temp in this Hitchcockian debut from the fashion editor at The Times (UK) .

Margot is the object of every woman's envy: as an editor at Haute, she has a glamorous job, a beautiful new baby girl, a seemingly perfect life. But when Margot's lifelong friend, Winnie, loses her own newborn boy, their shared dream of pushing strollers together turns to ash. And then there is the matter of Margot's maternity temp: bright, plucky, ambitious Maggie--the young woman Margot chose, but who now seems to be trying to eclipse her in every possible way.

When a cyber-stalker emerges, mocking Margot's façade of perfection and threatening to expose a dark secret she's spent years repressing, Margot feels attacked from all sides. Soon, the innocent preoccupations of motherhood spiral quickly--and perhaps lethally--into a frightening and irretrievable paranoia.

The New Girl is whiplash-paced, and a harrowing look into the profound sense of insecurity that prowls deep in the psyches of women everywhere. 

Review
As I love The Devil Wears Prada and Ugly Betty I was attracted to this novel set in a fashion magazine. It didn't disappoint as Maggie began the maternity cover for Margot and was like a child in a sweet shop, not believing her good fortune with designer clothes, shoes etc, all hers for the taking (as long as she gives them back!).

The thriller aspect comes from a cyber-stalker who seems to know a lot about Margot and her past. The stalker begins to leave unwelcome comments on Maggie's social media where they know Margot is following every step her temporary replacement is taking in her shoes.

The book is told from the perspective of Margot, then Maggie and then Winnie, who is Margot's childhood friend. Hearing the story told through each voice gave such depth to the story. Especially when Margot is bemoaning her figure whilst looking at Maggie's curves online, whilst Maggie is worried about her curves against the pre pregnancy figure of willow like Margot. All the nuances of social media insecurity are here and highlighted, although in truth they were always there just not publicised.

There is a fraught ending which had me re evaluating all I had previously read. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to Bookends for an advance copy of the book. The book is out on 14 May 2020.

Mix Tape - Jane Sanderson

Description

You never forget the one that got away. But what if ‘what could have been’ is still to come?

Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix tape.

But that was years ago and Ali hasn’t thought about him in a very long time. Even if she had, she might not have called him ‘the one that got away’; she’d been the one to run away, after all.

Then Dan’s name pops up on her phone, with a link to a song from their shared past.

For two blissful minutes, Alison is no longer an adult in Adelaide with temperamental daughters; she is sixteen in Sheffield, dancing in her too-tight jeans. She cannot help but respond in kind.

And so begins a new mix tape.

Ali and Dan exchange songs – some new, some old – across oceans and time zones, across a lifetime of different experiences, until one of them breaks the rules and sends a message that will change everything…

Because what if ‘what could have been’ is still to come?

Review

I chose to read this book as the title was a blast from the past for me and reminded me of the many mix tapes I used to make. I wasn't really prepared for what I went on to read; thinking the book was going to be just a straightforward lighthearted retro look at the 1970s.

Alison was Daniel's girlfriend in Sheffield in the late 1970s - their ages were similar to my own, all the music they listened to was my music - apart from Daniel's favourite band the Comsat Angels who seem to have passed me by. But my fave band Echo and the Bunnymen and the Human League get lots of mentions - it took me right back.

The first hard hitting part of the book was when we find out the reason for Alison leaving Sheffield in the 1970s and more about her brother Peter. Never even saying goodbye to Daniel she left him at a loss as to what happened. I thought back to that time and how different things were then and how you had no way to contact someone with no mobile phones. 

I was surprised and saddened by the events in Alison's young life wondering how in those different times I would have coped. We get to fast forward to 2012/13 to the lives of Ali as she has become, and Dan. On different sides of the world each with their own life to live, and yet through the power of music they become united once again.

I found it clever of the author to set the book in 2012/13 as it made the events more realistic at the age Ali and Dan would have been. I thought the book was very well researched even down to Huey Morgan being on Radio 6 at the right time of day!

The book is rich with dialogue and description, but not an unnecessary word appears. It was a joy to read and will stay with me for a long time to come.

I'm giving the book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the ARC 

Baxter's Requiem - Matthew Crow

Description

'The fact that this novel is so witty is incidental to how good it is - it has characters you care about deeply and a heart as big as a cathedral' Miles Jupp

'The finest love story I have read in years. Perfect I'd say.' Phyllida Shrimpton, author of Sunflowers in February

Mr Baxter is ninety-four years old when he falls down his staircase and finds himself resident at Melrose Gardens Retirement Home.

Baxter is many things - raconteur, retired music teacher, rabble-rouser, bon viveur; but 'good patient' he is not. Indeed, Melrose Gardens is his worst nightmare. Then he meets Gregory.

Greg is just nineteen years old, but he has already suffered a loss so heavy that he is in danger of giving up on life before he even gets going. Seeing the boy's pain, Baxter decides to take him under his wing.

Together they embark on a spirited journey to the war graves of Northern France, for Baxter to pay tribute to the love of his life; the man he waved off to fight in a senseless war; the man who never returned.

As Baxter shares his memories, Gregory starts to see that life need not be a matter of mere endurance; that the world is huge and beautiful; that kindness is strength; and that the only way to honour the dead, is to live every last second we have while we're here.

Review

This book had slipped down my TBR but once I rediscovered it I dived right in and loved it. I was laughing out loud in just a few pages and that carried on for most of the book. It takes a lot to make me actually vocalise my laughing rather than just a "ah that's funny" internal vocalisation.

The main character in the book is Mr Baxter, he's 94 and got the best sense of humour, although others in the book may not agree with that. To give you a little flavour - Mr Baxter asks "are you fond of music" and the reply is "I like Jazz". To which Mr Baxter replies "So that's a no then".

Apart from the wit of Mr Baxter and his exploits in the retirement home, the book has several other levels to it. Greg who works at the retirement home becomes a sidekick to Mr Baxter. At only 19 years old Greg has his own inner battles to fight but surprisingly finds an alliance with Mr Baxter.

The two of them take off to France and find out a lot more about each other and the loss they've both experienced gives them a bond. Whilst in France Mr Baxter opens up more about exactly why he wanted to visit the war graves and the story begins to be told from the perspective of the man he came to France to honour in a flashback to the second world war. At this point the book takes a very poignant turn, with no spoilers I will say no more about how that turns out.

All of the characters in the book are so vivid in their descriptions and actions that you begin to feel you've met all of them. It's a very amusing book, but with a deep message, it takes no effort to read. What appears on the surface to be a tale of every day life suddenly grabs you and makes you wish you could re write history. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

The Memory Police - Yoko Ogawa

Description

'A masterpiece' Guardian

A compelling speculative mystery by one of Japan's greatest writers.

Hat, ribbon, bird, rose. To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed.

When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn’t forget, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next?

The Memory Police is a beautiful, haunting and provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, from one of Japan’s greatest writers.

'One of Japan’s most acclaimed authors explores truth, state surveillance and individual autonomy. Echoes 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and 100 Years of Solitude, but it has a voice and power all its own' Time Magazine

Review

I just loved this book, the writing is absolutely mesmerising, I just couldn't put it down. 

The book is set on an island in Japan. Things are disappearing from the island and once gone no one remembers they even existed - except for the few, and they must hide from the Memory Police.

Whilst I was reading this book it reminded me of so many other stories and experiences. The way the characters can't remember items once they disappear reminded me so much of someone with Alzheimer's. At first I thought that all the islanders must have Alzheimers disease. The people that go into hiding and are hunted down by the Memory Police reminded me of Anne Frank and the persecution as people were led away. 

The book is set in Winter and you can feel the chill as you read, both in the weather and the storytelling. I found it most atmospheric to be reading it at Winter time as the author is describes the snow scenes. Although you don't get to know the characters too well what you do get is their thoughts and feelings and their experiences of loss at a very deep level. 

There is also a book within the book. It's one that the novelist is writing and soon there are similarities between her writing and what is happening on the island. I loved the book within just as much as the main story especially as it brought back memories of typing school and the use of typewriters.

I really could just read it all over again as it was such a lovely experience.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley and Vintage Books for the ARC to review. 

The Sisters Grimm - Menna Van Praag

Description

'Absorbing and beautiful - a great achievement' Bridget Collins, bestselling author of The Binding

There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of sisters Grimm on Earth.
You may well be one of them, though you might never know it.

This is the story of four sisters Grimm – daughters born to different mothers on the same day, each born out of bright-white wishing and black-edged desire.

They found each other at eight years-old, were separated at thirteen and now, at nearly eighteen, it is imperative that they find each other once again.

In thirty-three days they will meet their father in Everwhere. Only then will they discover who they truly are, and what they can truly do. Then they must fight to save their lives and the lives of the ones they love. Three will live, one will die.

You’ll have to read on to find out who and why . . 

Review

I've previously read and reviewed two of the author's other books, and for me this book whilst an epic masterpiece deviated from what I was expecting. It's certainly more far reaching in terms of themes and the spectrum of the previous books I read. 

Some of the themes touched upon are child abuse, rape and self harming. Whilst the book is set both in the real world and a world called Everwhere the events in the real world could be a little alarming for some if not warned about.

The book features four sisters about to turn 18 years of age, and yet none of the know they have a sister. They had previously known one another but due to what happens to Grimm sisters they forgot each other as they turned 13 years old. Intriguing......

At first I got a little confused with which sister was which - although clearly labelled in the book,  I do like to keep track in my own head. Then the timeline jumped around and I got confused again. However, I did stick with it as I really wanted to know how this was all going to work out.

The last quarter of the book was really good and the sisters embraced the strong women they were but had maybe for one reason or another hidden. The story line became unputdownable and I was glad I had stuck with it. I was also surprised by the ending as it didn't turn out as I thought it would. 

Beautifully descriptive writing, but I do think it could have been edited down. There were long passages where I thought it repeated itself a little.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC for review. The book is out on 6 February 2020.