I’m not supposed to be blogging this week. It’s my Mum’s 90th birthday on Wednesday and my 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday so I said I’d take two weeks off to focus on family. And yet here I am. It’s my pleasure to share a review of children’s book Meet Mim by Sandra Severgnini and I would like to extend my enormous thanks to Kirsten Knight at EK Books for sending me a copy in return for an honest review.

Published by Exisle Publishing imprint EK Books on 8th August 2023, Meet Mim is available for purchase here.

Meet Mim

The world of the sandy seabed is brought to life in Meet Mim, the story of one of the natural world’s masters of disguise – the mimic octopus.

Sandra Severgnini sets up a delightful guessing game for the reader while showcasing the abilities of this little-known creature. The mimic octopus can change colour, shape and skin texture in all kinds of amazing ways. It deters predators by shapeshifting into creatures that are known to be poisonous, such as the spiked lionfish and the banded sea snake. It can even imitate jellyfish and sea stars.

This book is for everyone from inquisitive little people who love nature to adults who can still be fascinated. Budding marine biologists will delight in the wealth of accurate detail presented in the illustrations. Adult and child readers alike will be left with a new appreciation for the life in our precious yet threatened marine environments.

My Review of Meet Mim

Mim is in disguise.

What an utterly brilliant book. I absolutely adored meeting Mim.

Firstly, as with all the EK children’s books I’ve been privileged to read, Meet Mim is beautifully produced, with thick, glossy pages and a high quality, robust and durable cover that means it will be long lasting in both home and educational settings. More than that, it’s such a glorious book that I can envisage Meet Mim being much cherished and held onto long after the target age group of 4-8 year olds have grown up. 

Each double page spread has Mim, a mimic octopus, changing to blend with her environment, creating a sense of fun to the book, but also introducing young readers to all kinds of marine creatures that are fascinating. I could envisage all manner of classroom activities and research for older readers, perhaps leading to oral presentations, as well as a developing understanding of what is an unfamiliar natural environment under the sea. Younger readers might find themselves counting the little fish watching Mim adapt to her surroundings, and the language used is perfect for developing writing. There are super compound words like ‘side-winding’, with ellipsis to show confusion and doubt, alliteration and assonance all sprinkled through the writing. I love the fact that there is far more illustration than text so that reluctant readers are drawn in without realising they are learning so much about the craft of writing as well as the natural environment.

At the end of this wonderful book are ‘5 Fabulous Facts about the Mimic Octopus’ that could be the catalyst for so much more investigation of other creatures. 

All of those elements make Meet Mim a delight, but the real beauty, the absolute triumph of this book, comes through the illustrations that are, quite simply, wonderful. There’s a looseness in them that creates a wateriness just right for Mim’s ocean setting. There are small details, like a bottle on the seabed, that raise awareness of the threat to our seas too.

I loved Meet Mim. It may be aimed at readers about half a century younger than me, but I thought it was wonderful. 

About Sandra Severgnini

I’m doing things a bit differently today, as, instead of staying in with an author, I welcome translator Quentin Bates, who has translated Murder at the Residence by the mystery Stella Blómkvist. My enormous thanks go to Emily Burns for putting us in touch with one another. Lets find out what Quentin has to say about this fascinating role:

Staying in with Quentin Bates

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Quentin and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

This isn’t exactly my book! We translators normally tend to lurk quietly in the background without saying too much. Usually the author is the one who gets to stand up and shout about their work – but this one’s unusual, because Stella Blómkvist is strictly anonymous. So no appearances, no interviews, no comments, no pictures – and nobody knows if the person behind Stella is a man or a woman, or a collaboration of some kind. All we can be sure of is that this person’s name isn’t Stella Blómkvist.

I bet you know much more than you’re letting on Quentin! Mid you, it’s brilliant to have a translator in the spotlight but what else can you tell us about Stella?

What’s remarkable is that the person behind Stella Blómkvist has been writing these snappy, sharp crime stories since the nineties, and has managed to maintain the secrecy all through those years. That’s practically unheard of in a close-knit place like Iceland where everyone knows everyone, and secrets rarely stay secret for long.

In fact, there are two Stellas – Stella the mysterious author, and Stella the protagonist, the razor-tongued, single-parent, hard-nosed, quick-tempered, often morally ambiguous legal eagle who has been the central character in a dozen books over the years, as well as the star of a TV series that’s fairly loosely based on the books.

I wonder how much the author and character overlap… What can we expect from an evening in with Murder at the Residence?

So – Murder at the Residence is peak Stella… A dodgy financier is found beaten to death right next door to the Presidential residence, a stripper goes missing and nobody but Stella seems to have any inclination to find out what happened to this young woman, and an old man makes a deathbed confession and a request for Stella to find the family he lost all those years ago. Oh, and there’s a drug mule cooling his heels in a cell who refuses to speak to anyone but Stella – although she’s never heard of this guy before.

Not much happening then?

Stella Blómkvist packs a lot into her books. These tales are light on description, but they get straight to the point and zip along. Stella writes less about more… There’s no wasted space here, it’s all plot, dialogue and action –including some steamy action in places.

Does that affect your translation?

For a translator, these stories are a challenge. The original Icelandic is very spare and stripped back, and it’s a challenge to maintain that sharp immediacy in the English version.

I bet! 

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

In daylight, it’s ink-black espresso and after dark Stella (the character) has a taste for neat Jack Daniels, the nectar from Tennessee. Stella Blómkvist (the author) is no slouch at the keyboard, and it’s obvious that whoever is behind these stories knows their stuff, both their Icelandic history and literature, and also owes a lot to dark-and-dirty noir fiction.

So Stella would kick back on the leather sofa with an espresso and a dram of the Tennessee nectar, – and a volume or two of Raymond Chandler, Particia Highsmith or Dashiell Hammett.

I think Stella has the right idea. Thanks so much for chatting with me about Murder at the Residence Quentin. You’ve really made me want to read the book. You pour the Jack Daniels and I’ll give readers a few more details about Murder at the Residence:

Murder at the Residence

It’s New Year and Iceland is still reeling from the effects of the financial crash when a notorious financier is found beaten to death after a high-profile reception at the President’s residence.

The police are certain they have the killer – or do they? Determined to get to the truth, maverick lawyer Stella Blómkvist isn’t so sure.

A stripper disappears from one of city’s seediest nightspots, and nobody but Stella seems interested in finding her. A drug mule cooling his heels in a prison cell refuses to speak to anyone but Stella – although she’s never heard of him. An old man makes a deathbed confession and request for Stella to find the family he lost long ago.

With a sharp tongue and a moral compass all of her own, Stella Blómkvist has a talent for attracting trouble and she’s as at home in the corridors of power as in the dark corners of Reykjavík’s underworld.

Stella Blómkvist delivers an explosive mix of murder, intrigue and surprise, and is one of Iceland’s best-loved crime series.

Published by Corylus on 28th August 2023, and translated by Quentin Bates, Murder at the Residence is available for pre-order here.

About Quentin Bates

Quentin Bates dates back to the year of the Cuban missile crisis, grew up in English suburbia and escaped for a few years. The roots in Iceland run very deep and the pull of this volcanic rock remains strong.

Having been a factory hand, netmaker, trawlerman, truck driver, (briefly) a teacher, he found his way into writing via a series of coincidences and has been tapping at a keyboard ever since, including writing a series of crime novels and novellas set in Iceland and translating the work of many Icelandic writers into English.

For more information, visit Quentin’s website, follow him on Twitter @graskeggur or find him on Facebook and Instagram.

About Stella Blómkvist

The author who calls herself (or himself) Stella Blómkvist has managed to remain anonymous. There has been endless speculation about who really writes the Stella Blómkvist novels, with the spotlight having focused over the years on numerous politicians, authors, journalists and others in the public eye. But so far the pseudonym still hasn’t been cracked.

The question of Stella Blómkvist’s identity is one that crops up regularly, but it looks like it’s going to remain a mystery…

It’s my pleasure today to welcome William Keeling to stay in with me to chat about his writing. My thanks to Alan Jepson for putting us in touch with one another.

Staying in with William Keeling

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag William and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it? 

What can we expect from an evening in with Belle Nash and the Bath Circus (being the second volume of The Gay Street Chronicles)? A long night, but in a good way. Get the candles out.

I will!

Jeanette Winterson declares the book to be “Another triumph!”. Matthew Parris says, “There is a brilliance in The Gay Street Chronicles”.

Those are pretty good endorsements William!

I could have brought along the first volume, Belle Nash and the Bath Soufflé but Bookaholic Bex has issued an UNMISSABLE BOOK ALERT on Twitter for Vol 2: “A masterpiece. Funny, clever and even more entertaining than the first one.”

Oo. I have a lot of respect for fellow blogger Bex!

With “unforgettable characters and a brilliant plot” (thank you, Bex), the Chronicles is a series of satirical-historical novels set in late Regency Bath. Imagine Tales of the City meets Jane Austen. The books are comic but do not shy away from the misogyny, racism and homophobia of the era.

“A real romp of a book – full of surprises!” said Alexander McCall Smith of the first volume, and the second is even better! I’ll leave the final word to N.J. Cooper, crime critic of the Literary Review: “Another moving, funny and shocking instalment of Belle Nash’s story. Unmissable.”

I have a feeling my towering TBR pile needs to get a bit taller. Both books sound great.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought along a Queen Anne silver toast rack. My late uncle, a former resident of Gay Street in Bath whose undiscovered manuscripts make up The Gay Street Chronicles, bequeathed me the toast rack. Like any decent, self-entitled, person, I only eat toast from a rack.

Well quite!

I’ve also brought along the tea cosy that Mr Quigley, the nonagenarian music master, used for his hat; and a bag of half-finished knitting left by the spinster Miss Prim. It includes her knitted Final Will & Testament. If you could provide the tea, I’ve made an array of finger sandwiches for us to enjoy whilst we tittle-tattle the evening away.

I can ALWAYS provide tea. There’s never a moment without a pot brewing in this house.

As for music. I have a recording of The Anonymous Lover, the sole surviving opera by Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799). The son of a French plantation owner and Nanon, an enslaved Senegalese woman, Saint-Georges was the leading composer, conductor, violinist, fencer and lover of his era in France. Largely forgotten, the genius Saint-Georges is a testament as to why we must combat bigotry if only to understand our own history. Mr Quigley also had the hots for Saint-Georges, so it would be remiss not to listen to the great man’s music.

Guests? Anyone who has a petticoat is welcome to attend – but how many petticoats should ladies wear? As many as they dare. There is, after all, nothing worse than a limp frock.

Ah – there you have me. I don’t think I possess a petticoat. However, I’ll sit in the corner and eat the sandwiches whilst you entertain the guests with tales of Gay Street. Thanks so much for staying in with me William. And good luck with the new book!

Belle Nash and the Bath Circus

When a souffle fails to rise, friends try to find out why and uncover a web of corruption that spreads throughout Bath’s legal system. Set in the early 1830s, this comic gay historical novel exposes the bigotry of the times but also introduces a new literary and moral hero-Belle Nash, city councillor and bachelor. About time!

Belle Nash and the Bath Circus is available for purchase here.

About William Keeling

William Keeling is a former foreign correspondent of the Financial Times best known for exposing a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal in Nigeria. Accused of being a CIA spy by the Nigerian government, he was arrested, interrogated, and summarily deported. Alarmed by real world horrors, William turned to fiction with The Gay Street Chronicles, a series of satirical-historical novels. William lives and writes in Bath.

For further information about William, visit his website and follow him on Twitter @TheGayStreetCH1 or find him on Instagram. There’s a Facebook page too!

My enormous thanks to the lovely team at Sweet Cherry publishing for sending me a surprise copy of 100 First Words Exploring Our Planet illustrated by Kathryn Selbert. I’m delighted to share my review today.

100 First Words Exploring Our Planet was published by Sweet Cherry on 3rd August 2023 and is available for purchase through the links here.

100 First Words Exploring Our Planet

Let’s explore our world!

With fun words and vibrant illustrations, this 100 First Words book is the perfect resource to help young children develop their early language and communication skills.

The vocabulary encourages readers to explore and observe the world around them, and learn all about the animals, plants and people on our wonderful planet.

My Review of 100 First Words Exploring Our Planet 

An ecological first vocabulary book.

What a charming book. Firstly, I must comment on the strong, robust physical attribute of 100 First Words Exploring Our Planet because it is a book that will withstand much handling, making it excellent value for money in any setting. 

The vocabulary is well chosen and grouped effectively, with not just words associated with nature, the weather, animals and food, but there are activities like running, jumping, reading and playing that are relatable for all children with jobs and families included too. I loved the inclusion of words like ‘helping’, ‘hugging’ and ‘sharing’ that create positivity too. There’s an engaging activity to find items listed at the end of the book.

However, it is the glorious illustration that truly makes 100 First Words Exploring Our Planet a lovely picture book for young children. Whilst the style is naïve so that children will love it, items are completely recognisable. I thought it was so important to have a range of ethnicity represented in the people too so that the book feels inclusive. 

I’m highly impressed by 100 First Words Exploring Our Planet because it is jam packed with variety and interest across a range of topics and can be used beyond the original intention of expanding a child’s vocabulary; for example, by supporting numeracy as children count how many sheep or cherries they can see, or by increasing oracy as children speak about which of the activities they enjoy the most. It’s a cracker of an early vocabulary picture book and I highly recommend it. 

About Kathryn Selbert

Kathryn Selbert is a freelance illustrator currently living in New York City with her French bulldog, Margot. She earned her BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and now happily creates illustrations for children, pattern, greeting cards, stationery and events. Her work is inspired by the people she meets in her everyday life, our colourful world, flora and fauna and having fun.

For further information, visit Kathryn’s website follow her on Twitter @kathrynselbert or find her on Instagram. 

I’ve had Tiny Pieces of Enid by Tim Ewins calling to me from my TBR for months and I’m delighted finally to be able to share my review today. My enormous thanks to Simon Edge for sending Tiny Pieces of Enid to me all those months ago. I’m still playing catch up with reviews after a relatives busy time of late!

Tiny Pieces of Enid was published by Lightning Books on 9th May 2023 and is available for purchase here. 

Tiny Pieces of Enid

Enid isn’t clear about much these days. But she does feel a strong affinity with Olivia, a regular visitor to her dementia home in a small coastal town. If only she could put her finger on why.

Their silent partnership intensifies when Enid, hoping to reconnect with her husband Roy, escapes from the home. With help from an imaginary macaw, she uncovers some uncomfortable truths about Olivia’s marriage and delves into her own forgotten past.

A deeply touching story of love, age and companionship, evoking the unnoticed everyday moments that can mean the world to the people living them, Tim Ewins’ second novel will delight fans of his acclaimed debut, We Are Animals.

My Review of Tiny Pieces of Enid

Enid is in a dementia care home.

Tiny Pieces of Enid is exquisite. The way Tim Ewins writes ensnares the reader immediately, drawing them in to the narrative and mesmerising them with both gentleness and razor-sharp observation. I loved the fairly fragmentary structure of the chapters because this fits the way Enid’s mind works and how her memories present themselves. 

Enid could be any one of us. In a sense, her story is a prosaic one and as her memory fails, she succumbs to life in her care home. She has lived a relatively ordinary life and her dementia is recognisable to so many of us. But that doesn’t describe the warm, sensitive and humane insight Tim Ewins has and nor does it convey the beautiful, convincing and heart-breaking manner with which he uncovers Enid’s personality and experiences to the reader. Certainly there’s a quietness in the narrative, but there are times of high drama too that affect the reader so deeply. There’s something unquantifiable about the profound impact Tiny Pieces of Enid has and how meeting Enid, and Olivia, shines a light onto human nature and the realities behind so many seemingly ordinary lives. 

As the characters are relatively few in number and much of the action takes place in just a couple of settings, Tiny Pieces of Enid has an intimacy that enhances the themes of family and relationships, of physical and mental health, of love and warmth as well as of control and violence. The book is so convincing that it is hard to imagine that Enid, Olivia et al are not real people. They permeated my thoughts and I found myself wondering what was happening to them when I wasn’t reading the book. I lived their lives alongside them. I thought the balance of Enid and Roy’s lives compared with Olivia and David’s in the sub-plot was perfect. There are echoes and similarities between them all that I thought were utterly compelling but to say more is to spoil the read for others.

Tiny Pieces of Enid is not merely a good book. It is, rather, a truly magnificent one. It’s a book that touches the reader, heart and soul. I thought it was magnificent because it is imbued with love and compassion – and what more could we aspire to or need in life? I absolutely adored it.

About Tim Ewins

Alongside his accidental career in finance, Tim Ewins performed in stand-up comedy for eight years. He also had a very brief acting stint (he’s in the film Bronson, somewhere in the background) before turning to writing fiction. His first novel, We Are Animals, was published by Lightning Books in 2021. He lives with his wife, son and dog near Bristol.

For further information, follow Tim on Twitter @EwinsTim or find Tim on Facebook.

I know, I know! I’m a few years late getting round to reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I was sent a proof well before publication, but never had chance to read it. Consequently, when the book appeared on a list of potential reads for the U3A book group to which I belong, I chose it along with another group member and it was this month’s read.

Published in paperback by Harper Collins in 2018, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is available for purchase through the links here.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than…. fine?

My Review of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor’s life is about to change.

I have been desperate to read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine since its publication but somehow never quite managed it.

I confess that initially I was a little underwhelmed by Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, but the more I read, the more I was drawn into the narrative until I realised what a brilliant technique Gail Honeyman had employed. My response to Eleanor was exactly the response her co-workers have to her – that she’s somewhat unremarkable – and it isn’t until the story unfolds, the true Eleanor emerges and her past is uncovered, that the impressive impact is revealed. I thought this was such skilful writing.

The plot seems relatively simple as Eleanor describes her daily life, but gradually, as the narrative progresses, we discover Eleanor’s past is incredibly dramatic and is the reason for her life being as it is. And that’s one of the most important themes of the story for me – the demonstration that we never truly know what others have experienced or what they have dealt with. There’s a surprising depth to the story that I simply wasn’t expecting.

Eleanor’s first person voice is clear, intelligent and witty. As she learns more about social niceties, we learn more about her, so that she takes on a satisfying credence. Having felt rather indifferent to Eleanor to begin with, I ended the book absolutely invested in her and her potential for future happiness. 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine tackles important themes in today’s society, with loneliness, mental health, friendship and the need for companionship resonant to the extent the reader begins to question their own attitudes to others similar to Eleanor. I found the book thought-provoking as well as entertaining. 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine turned out not to be the book I was expecting to read and it took me a while to adjust my mindset. Once I had, I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. 

About Gail Honeyman

Gail Honeyman’s debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, won the Costa First Novel Award 2017, the British Book Awards Book of the Year and the Specsavers National Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year.

Since publication, translation rights have sold to over thirty territories worldwide, Reese Witherspoon has optioned it for film and it was chosen as one of the Observer’s Debuts of the Year for 2017. Gail was also awarded the Scottish Book Trust’s Next Chapter Award in 2014, and has been longlisted for BBC Radio 4’s Opening Lines and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize.

Gail lives in Glasgow.

For further information, visit Gail’s website or follow her on Twitter @GailHoneyman.

It’s been an exciting time of late, putting together fiction pages for for My Weekly and People’s Friend print magazine but today I’m delighted to share detail of another of my online My Weekly reviews, this time of The Dive by Sara Ochs.

Published by Penguin on 20th July 2023, The Dive is available for purchase through the links here.

The Dive

Escape to paradise.
Scuba diving instructor Cass leads her students out for their first dive off the beautiful coast of Koh Sang, Thailand’s world-famous party island. It’s supposed to be a life-changing experience, but things quickly spiral out of control…

Leave your secrets behind.
By the time she gets back to the shore, one of her students is dead, another badly injured, and she knows that her idyllic life is about to be smashed to pieces on the rocks.

But don’t get lost for ever…
Because someone is making sure that backpackers never leave paradise – one murder at a time. And Cass has a feeling she might be next…

My Review of The Dive

My full review of The Dive can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that it’s no wonder The Dive is billed as the debut thriller of 2023.  It’s fast paced, claustrophobic and a cracking read – unless you were thinking of attending a dive school in Thailand in which case, go somewhere else!

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here..

About Sara Ochs

A self-admitted travel addict, Sara Ochs has built a life around visiting beautiful and sometimes dangerous destinations. While learning to scuba dive on a remote island off the coast of Thailand, Sara heard that two backpackers had recently been murdered not far from her hotel. Horrified that something so terrible could happen in such an idyllic location, she knew she had found the inspiration for her debut novel, The Dive.

As well as being an author, Sara is an attorney and law professor, who splits her time between the United States and Sweden.

For more information, find Sara on Instagram or follow her on Twitter @OchsWrites.