Books read in 2024.
With 2024 firmly behind us, I thought reviewing my year in books would be a cool idea. 2024 continued as 2023 ended, my head firmly back in the world of fiction.
Book Review – Home
Ten years ago, two schoolboys are kidnapped from their family home. The kidnappers demand a ransom but go silent. No trace of the boys is ever found until, one day, one of the two boys turns up in London. What does he remember from that tragic day? What does he know about the fate of…
Book Review – White Chrysanthemum
Two sisters who are torn apart by the atrocities committed during World War II. In 1943, Hana, a haenyeo (a Korean female diver of the sea), is captured by Japanese soldier Morimoto while trying to protect her younger sister Emi. In 2011, Emi now an elderly lady with children and grandchildren is still searching for…
Book Review – Redemption
Redemption follows the team’s investigation of a letter in a bottle found 19 years earlier. Little do they know that the cold case will have direct consequences in the present.
Book Review – The Girl Who Lived Twice
The Girl Who Lived Twice is the sixth instalment in the Millenium series, initially written by Stieg Larsson.
Lisbeth Salander has vanished to confront her dark past and settle scores with her estranged twin sister, Camilla. At a loose end, Mikael Blomkvist investigates the death of a homeless man linked to a political conspiracy.
Book Review – World War Z
It began with rumours—another pandemic with mysterious origins. Cases started to multiply until the planet was overrun with mindless, man-eating creatures. World War Z is tale of survivors and key players in the 10-year fight against the horde.
Book Review – The Dark Half
Thad Beaumont, a critically acclaimed author, has been writing best-selling novels under the pseudonym George Stark. After a good run, Thad decides to publicly retire the pseudonym and starts writing under his own name again. But getting rid of his super-violent pulp thriller writing alter ego isn’t as easy as Thad imagines. The brutal public…
ARC Review – The Hummingbird Kiss: My Life as an Addict in the 1970s
Through this memoir, the author tells her story, that is, being a drug addict in the 1970s.
Nordic Noir Novels
Nordic Noir is a subgenre of Crime Fiction. It’s also called Scandinavian crime fiction, as the novels are set in Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland). These novels usually revolve around murder, corruption, societal issues, and, more generally, the darker side of human nature. They are set in bleak landscapes that reflect the harsh…
Book Review – A Man Called Ove
After reading Anxious People (and falling in love with it), I decided to try another of Fredrik Bachman’s novels. Needless to say, I had high hopes for this novel. It didn’t disappoint, but it didn’t quite meet expectations, either.
Book Review – That Old Cape Magic
Jack and Joy are on the Cape to celebrate the wedding of their daughter Laura’s best friend. Being on the Cape drags up childhood memories for Jack, as it is where he used to vacation every year with his parents. As the past spills into the present, the cracks in his own happy marriage begin…
Book Review – Before I Go to Sleep
Christine Lucas is an amnesiac. She’s incapable of either forming new memories or retaining old ones. Every time she goes to sleep, she forgets everything. But as Christine searches for a cure, things at home aren’t what they seem. The novel follows Christine’s search for her path and the truth, no matter how ugly it…
Book Review – Devolution
This is the first-hand account of a Sasquatch Massacre after the eruption of Mount Rainier, Washington State, USA. It is a chilling tale of survival.
Book Review – American Gods
Shadow is released from prison early for good behaviour. The downside? His wife is dead… or is she? At a loose end, Shadow meets Mr Wednesday, who hires him as a sort of bodyguard/driver/companion. They embark on a journey across the United States, attempting to convince the Gods of Old to join their cause.
Book Review – Merging the Drift
The story follows the lives of four main characters, Ali, Kerri, Danny and Kitty, over a week. Ali is an inhabitant of the Drift, where people who died before their 18th birthday “live out” the rest of their existence. Kitty is a 17-year-old girl who lives with her mother. Kerri, a ghost, befriends her. Kerri…
What I’ll be reading in 2024
My 2024 TBR list. Well, at least the ones I plan on reading, there are always some unexpected reads along the way!
Books read in 2023.
With 2023 firmly behind us, I thought reviewing my year in books would be a cool idea. 2023 was the year I managed to get back into reading.
Graphic Novel Review – Intelligences Artificielles – Miroirs de nos vies
The story is set in the near future. At the very beginning, Yurie competes in a poetry improvisation TV Show and wins over the judges until they realise it’s an AI.
ARC Review – Killer Dead, Victim Alive
As the title indicates, the story relates the tale of a victim who manages to escape the clutches of a renowned serial killer.
The premises for the story had me intrigued from the beginning. How did the victim escape?
Book Review – Circe
Circe is a retelling of the life of the mythical witch of the same name. As a daughter of Helios, Circe is different from her brothers and sisters. When she discovers her witchcraft, Circe is banished to the deserted island of Aiaia.
Book Review – Half of a Yellow Sun
The 1960s, Nigeria. Post-colonial optimism to the end of the Biafran war.
Current reads – September, October, and November
Autumn has well and truly settled in. The temperatures dropped drastically in the second half of October. We went from warm, sunny days to cold, drizzly ones. Here’s a list of what I’ve been reading and am currently reading.
Book Review – Anxious People
A failed bank robber, armed with what they believe to be a fake gun, accidentally turns an apartment viewing into a hostage situation.
ARC Review – Sins of the Lines
At Kappa Theta Theta all systems are go as the sorority prepares to reveal their latest line sisters. However, tragedy strikes as one of the sisters, Miss Nia Bryant, is missing from the line up and nobody has seen or heard from her since the night before. Detective Chris Evans and his partner must race…
Fantasy Novels
Fantasy is a genre that encompasses many different features but usually always contains elements of magic, supernatural creatures, and imaginary worlds. Unlike other genres of fiction, which portray events that could happen in the real world, fantasy novels embrace elements of the impossible or the improbable. Despite never playing a significant role in my literary…
Book Review – Bag of Bones
Mike Noonan, a bestselling author from Derry, Maine, suffers from terrible writer’s block after his pregnant wife dies unexpectedly. Years pass, and he is drawn to his beautiful lakeside retreat, Sara Laughs. But the once peaceful town is threatened by human and ethereal sinister forces.
Current reads – May & June
Here is my current reads list, the reasons I picked the book up, and my in-progress thoughts.
Book Review – How to Kill Your Family
When a young Grace Bernard discovers her father, a wealthy businessman, rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows to get revenge on the Artemis clan. However, Grace ends up wrongfully imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit. During her time at Limestone Prison, Grace decides to ‘regale’ the reader with her real crimes;…
Book Review – A Game of Thrones
The fragile peace that reigns over the Seven Kingdoms is threatened when Lord Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, dies unexpectedly. King Robert Baratheon is in dire need of counsel, as the exiled Targaryens are searching for an army in the Free Cities beyond the Narrow Sea, and the Wildlings and other forces are amassing…
Summer Book Challenge
As I plough through my Spring current reads, I can’t help but think ahead. I have just finished reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (review coming soon) so there is an space in my ‘currently reading’ pile.
Current reads – March & April
Here’s my current reads list, the reasons I picked the book up and my in-progress thoughts.
ARC Review – Fool Me Twice
Shelby Cooper lives with her husband and 2 children in a rich suburban town outside of Boston. One day, she gets pulled over for having a broken taillight and is arrested for the murder of Alessandro Rossi, her physical therapist.
Book Review – Chasing The Stars
Anna is a single mum of two teenage daughters, who she barely sees because of her heavy workload. She struggles to make ends meet despite working more hours than she can cope with. But when she realises her daughters are unhappy, she drops everything and takes them on a journey to the Northern most point…
The Book Bump 