My enormous thanks to Victoria Bennett for arranging for All My Wild Mothers to be sent to me well over a year ago. With the paperback publication looming I thought it really was time I got round to reading All My Wild Mothers and sharing my review! I’m delighted to do that today.

All My Wild Mothers is out from Two Roads in paperback on 1st February 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

All My Wild Mothers

An intimate memoir of motherhood, herbal folklore All My Wild Mothers is more than just a memoir. It’s a handbook on survival, and a testimony to radical hope.

At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett learns her sister has died in a canoeing accident. In that moment, her life changes.

Five years later, and struggling with the demands of motherhood, grief and full-time care, Victoria and her family move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria. Here, in the rubble of a former industrial site, she and her young son begin to grow a wild apothecary garden: daisy, for resilience; dandelion, for strength against adversity; sow thistle, to lift melancholy; and borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times.

Stone by stone, seed by seed, they discover that sometimes life grows, not in spite what is broken, but because of it.

All My Wild Mothers is a profound exploration of grief, identity, and rediscovery; a testament that life and love persists, even when we think all is lost.

My Review of All My Wild Mothers

A memoir of plants and grief.

All My Wild Mothers is an astounding book. It’s as unlike a conventional memoir as can be possible and yet it provides the most perfect insight into the life and character of Victoria Bennett. 

The prose is simply beautiful. Weaving the past into a clear chronology as Victoria Bennett and her son create a wasteland garden, All My Wild Mothers is rich with detail, technicolour in vivid description and yet equally pared down and concise so that simple sentences convey the deepest emotions. Every sense is here between the pages of All My Wild Mothers, but somehow there isn’t a jarring note or an extraneous syllable to snag the profound and sensitive writing. It is as if Victoria Bennett has laid herself bare with exquisite skill and honesty.

All My Wild Mothers might initially be an intimate and affecting exploration of Victoria Bennett’s personal grief over lost children and her sister’s accidental death, and later, her mother’s passing, but it also has a universal quality too. The wonderful drawings, the botanical references and the iterative metaphor of the ability of both nature and humankind to rewild and regenerate all add up into a book that is felt every bit as much as it is read. 

Consequently, as well as raw grief there are so many identifiable and relatable situations and emotions here, from frustration to anger but equally there is hope, and deep, deep love – especially in the author’s relationship with her son. As a result All My wild Mothers gives the reader permission to identify and accept their own feelings and to understand themselves better even as they understand the author completely.

To any one of us who has lived, or grieved, or planted a seed or admired the tenacity of weeds, All My Wild Mothers is a siren call of hope. Reading it gives a sense of belonging, an understanding not only of the adaptability and resilience of Nature, but of human nature. Whatever the wastelands of our past, our relationships and the difficulties of our present situations, through sharing her story Victoria Bennett shows we can not just survive, but that, like a small lost seed, we can thrive. 

I thought All My Wild Mothers was a wonderful book. 

About Victoria Bennett

Victoria Bennett was born in Oxfordshire in 1971. A poet and author, her writing has previously received a Northern Debut Award, a Northern Promise Award, the Andrew Waterhouse Award, and has been longlisted for the Penguin WriteNow programme and the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize for under-represented voices. She founded Wild Women Press in 1999 to support rural women writers in her community, and since 2018 has curated the global Wild Woman Web project, an inclusive online space focusing on nature, connection, and creativity. When not juggling writing, full-time care, and genetic illness, she can be found where the wild weeds grow. All My Wild Mothers is her debut memoir.

For further information, visit Victoria’s website, follow her on Twitter/X @VikBeeWyld and find Victoria on Instagram and Facebook.

My enormous thanks to Kirsten Knight at Exisle Publishing for bringing a huge smile to my face when she sent me the children’s book When Grandma Burnt Her Bra by Samantha Tidy and Aśka. I had meant to review some while ago but life got the better of me. However, it’s my pleasure to share my review today.

Published by EK Books on 23rd October 2023, When Grandma Burnt Her Bra is available for purchase here.

When Grandma Burnt Her Bra

When Grandma Burnt Her Bra uses humour to tell the story of feminism and women’s rights, exploring how, throughout history, both men and women have broken down barriers. The illustrations help convey, carefully and quirkily, the complex message that things were not always equal — and that they are not yet equal — which means that each generation faces the continued fight for equality. The call to action is to carry the flame forward. And best of all, this book has dinosaurs!

My Review of When Grandma Burnt Her Bra

Maggie’s grandma has a story to tell!

What a fantastic book! In common with other EK children’s books I’ve read the physical attributes are so pleasing, with a really strong cover that would make When Grandma Burnt Her Bra durable in any setting, be that home or school. There’s real attention to detail in the end papers giving a sensation of quality and I love the fact that there are teaching resources available to support the book on the EK website.

Indeed, When Grandma Burnt Her Bra would be brilliant for classroom use in primary education. The story has a female protagonist appealing to girls and the use of actual dinosaurs as a metaphor for attitudes will draw in boys too. The story would be brilliant for discussion work about equality – and perhaps even afford the opportunity to discuss identity with children not identifying as either male or female, as it challenges stereotypes strongly and effectively. Similarly, I could see research into female emancipation and voting with slightly older children.

There’s a smashing balance of text to image so that When Grandma Burnt Her Bra would be super for whole class sharing as well as for young independent readers. That said, there’s some new vocabulary to develop understanding and lexicon too.

With feminism, ambition and equality as major themes, When Grandma Burnt Her Bra might sound overly political and inappropriate for young readers. Not a bit of it. The text and illustrations are peppered with jokes and humour and there’s a real sense of family so that children can consider their place in the world in a fun and engaging manner.

I thought When Grandma Burnt Her Bra was smashing. It’s funny and entertaining for readers of all ages and I thoroughly recommend it.

About Samantha Tidy

Samantha Tidy is a writer of fiction and non-fiction for both children and adults. She seeks out stories that cultivate connection and resilience and that help build community. She believes strongly that books can help us imagine a better world for the next generation to inherit. She is passionate about libraries, sustainable stewardship of our planet and using hope, action and compassion to regenerate our future. Samantha’s previous titles include The Day We Built the Bridge (Midnight Sun Publishing, 2019) and Cloudspotting (Windy Hollow Books, 2023) among others.

For further information, visit Sam’s website or find her on Instagram and Facebook.

About Aśka

Aśka is an award‐winning visual storyteller, comics maker and science communicator. As a hugely engaging and popular presenter, Aśka is passionate about visual literacy. She has published more than ten books and graphic novels and is a recipient of several grants and fellowships.

Aśka’s illustrations are featured in previous EK Books titles My Storee, The Incurable Imagination and This is NOT a Book!

For further information, visit Aśka’s website and find her on Instagram and Facebook.

My grateful thanks to Komal Patel at Harper Collins for sending me a copy of The Skint Cook by Ian Bursnall in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

The Skint Cook will be published by Harper Collins on 18th January 2024 and is available for pre-order through the links here.

The Skint Cook

Top nosh, less dosh: over 80 affordably delicious recipes you will love

• Use up leftovers
• Knock out showstoppers
• Have cash to spare

From Friday night fake-aways to succulent Sunday roasts, The Skint Cook is all about feel-good food made with ingredients that are accessible at prices that are affordable.

There’s updates on classics, flavour combos to die for and new recipes that are about to become your go-to staples – alongside a showcase of thrifty tips and tricks that are ingeniously simple and incredibly effective.

Whether it’s swapping butter for margarine or turning leftover doughnuts into the bread pudding of your dreams, The Skint Cook shows you how to get resourceful and make your cooking affordably delicious.

My Review of The Skint Cook

A collection of inexpensive recipes. 

If I have one tiny quibble about The Skint Cook, it would be that, in common with just about every cook book I own, I’d like a little greater consistency in the number of people each recipe serves. Some recipes are for two, some for 2-3, some for four and so on. I think new cooks for whom The Skint Cook would be a fabulous starter book might benefit from all the recipes serving two with advice on how to increase the ingredients for more diners. 

That aside, from Ian Bursnall’s potted life history in the introduction throughout the rest of The Skint Cook there is a straightforward, pragmatic approach that means this is a cook book accessible to all. With opening sections on store cupboard basics and essential kitchen equipment or tips for getting children involved with cooking, and an ending giving conversion charts and oven timings, The Skint Cook would make a perfect handbook for a student going to university or someone setting up home for the first time. I really liked the sample menus too. The handwritten section headings and Ian’s scrawled notes all add to the authenticity of the book. 

The six sections of recipes are based on readily accessible ingredients and techniques that are clearly explained and easy to follow. Most ingredients are at the more economical end of the scale although some splash out a bit and there are some twists that add an extra dimension to traditional recipes. Quite honestly, it would never have occurred to me to add balsamic vinegar to a crumble! 

I thoroughly enjoyed the way the majority of the recipes are accompanied by mouth watering photographs and many of the entries have little insights into Ian Bursnall’s childhood or family life so that this is partly a biography as well as a cookery book. Another real strength in The Skint Cook for me was the sense of community, family and friendship underpinning the recipe choices. These are dishes that can be made easily but can be used to feed guests in a very pleasing manner.

Whilst anyone with a good knowledge of basic cooking won’t find any challenging recipes or particularly difficult techniques, The Skint Cook gives an entertaining grounding in economical, tasty and nutritious meals that will make catering for an individual, a couple or a family a pleasure. If you’ve someone in the family just starting out on a cooking adventure The Skint Cook is a cracking place for that journey to begin. 

About Ian Bursnall

Hailing from Leicester, Ian Bursnall – aka The Skint Roofer – competed in Jamie Oliver’s ‘Great Cookbook Challenge’ in 2022, where he won the judges over with his inventive twists on crowd-pleasing, budget-friendly recipes for all the family, such as ‘Pimped-up pigs in Blankets’ and ‘Donna’s Spuds: Roasties with Stilton’. Ever since his mum taught him to cook at 16, Ian’s passion has been to make cooking accessible, helping and encouraging people to understand flavours and feel confident in the kitchen.

For more information, find Ian on Instagram.

My enormous thanks to publicist Ruth Killick for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for The Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy. I’m delighted to share my review today.

The Glass Woman was published by Datura on 2nd January 2024 and is available for purchase here.

The Glass Woman

When you wake up without your memories, who can you really trust?

Iris Henderson wakes up in a hospital bed alone, with no memory of why or how she got there. Moments later, she is introduced to her husband Marcus, a man she does not even recognise. And things only get stranger from there.

Iris is told that she volunteered to be the first test-subject for a ground-breaking AI therapy, and that she is the pioneering scientist behind the experimental treatment.

Whilst everyone warns her to leave it alone, a confused Iris continually scratches beneath the surface of her seemingly happy marriage and successful career, setting a catastrophic chain of events in motion.

Secrets will be revealed that have the capacity to destroy her whole life, but Iris can’t stop digging…

My Review of The Glass Woman

Iris is in hospital with no memories.

Before my proper review of The Glass Woman, I feel compelled to comment on how the book is written as much as on what is written. Alice McIroy employs a fantastic style. Her writing is intelligent and nuanced, balanced with perfect poise between beautiful description that is visual and appealing, and stark, concise, taut prose that heightens tension. This sensation is enhanced by realistic speech, wonderful variety of sentence structure and length, and a meticulous vocabulary that is utterly convincing. All these elements combine so that The Glass Woman is edgy, sophisticated in style and heart-thumping to read. There’s also a physical and psychological claustrophobia as Iris finds herself in hospital, and then back home with Marcus, enhanced by the reduced number of characters in Iris’s life.

I found Iris a character who held my attention from the very beginning. She’s a wonderful example of imperfect humanity and the importance of retaining that imperfection. As Alice McIroy examines the concept of memory and its place in identity alongside the potential impact of AI and medicinal advance, the more terrifying the story becomes through Iris’s experiences. Iris truly is a glass woman who might just shatter emotionally or physically at any moment. I thought the changing pronoun from I to you as Iris is shown long lost memories was a stroke of genius because it illustrated the unreliability of memory and distanced the present Iris from her pre Ariel past self.

The plot of The Glass Woman simply races along. Short chapters that drip feed information to the reader in much the same way Iris is given details add pace and drama so that this becomes a narrative that is impossible to put down. I felt completely ensnared by Alice McIlroy’s story. It’s impossible to say too much about what happens as this will spoil the story for others, but if I say I had been unable to concentrate on reading for a while and found myself riveted by The Glass Woman, you’ll have an idea!

Part science-fiction, part horror, part drama and part psychological thriller The Glass Woman is a story that defies categorisation. Its themes resonate with dilemma, with thought-provoking consideration of the morality of medical advance in the world, and with compelling consideration of the self and how we define ourselves not just to others, but to ourselves too. 

All these aspects make The Glass Woman unsettling, darkly realistic, chilling and disturbingly plausible. The Glass Woman is a book that I read with an all pervading sensation of barely suppressed terror and rage as I learned about what had happened in Iris’s life. The story lingers long after it’s been read, challenging the reader’s own perceptions of morality and of what they’ve just read. In short, I thought The Glass Woman was an absolute triumph and possibly one of the best books you’ll read this year!

About Alice McIroy

Alice McIlroy was born in London. She graduated in English and has a post-graduate in Law. She completed Faber Academy’s novel-writing programme and has taught English in state schools in London and Milan. She has taught English in state schools in London and Milan. Her writing has been longlisted for the Stylist Prize for Feminist Fiction and Grindstone International Novel Prize. The Glass Woman is her debut novel.

For further information, follow Alice on Twitter/X @alice_mcilroy, find her on Instagram and Facebook or visit her website.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

 

My huge thanks to the lovely publicists at Orion for sending me a copy of The Paris Affair by Anton du Beke in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

(And I might just be stalking Anton to sign my copy on a cruise trip later in the spring!)

Already available in other formats, The Paris Affair will be released in paperback on 1st February 2024 and is available for pre-order through the links here.

The Paris Affair

March 1941. As the war rages on, the Buckingham Hotel has become a microcosm of the world. Its ballroom and restaurant are peopled with exiled royal families, politicians and dignitaries, but the beating heart of the Buckingham remains its hardworking, talented staff.

With the heroic Raymond de Guise away fighting in North Africa, his beloved wife Nancy must balance her new position in life- as Head of Housekeeping at the Buckingham, but also as a new mother to their child.

And all the while, mysterious new figures are beginning to take centre stage: a secretive new bandleader from across the Atlantic, an unknown thief pilfering luxury goods from the Buckingham’s larders, and a charismatic ghost from Raymond’s past, stirring up old memories from his time on the circuit in 1920s Paris.

As tensions flare and dark secrets rise to the surface, it’s all the Buckingham staff can do to retain their trademark elegance and poise…

My Review of The Paris Affair

The Buckingham Hotel is surviving the war. 

Not having read the previous books in this series it took me a while to familiarise myself with the various characters in The Paris Affair, their circumstances and their relationships with one another. If I’m brutally honest I was unsure if I would actually enjoy the story because there seemed so many people to meet. 

I needn’t have worried. The plot is certainly multi-faceted and layered with a large cast of characters that initially felt daunting, but with every page turned I was drawn into the narrative and by the end of The Paris Affair I found it had had quite an emotional impact, particularly because of Raymond and Annie. Annie is an important character in introducing light relief and humour as well as anxiety and realism. However, it was Nancy who felt most relatable to me, because she is a woman doing her best in adverse circumstances with a universality to her character I found pragmatic, endearing and relatable. 

There’s so much to absorb the reader, with real events and people introduced into Anton du Beke’s story to give it a feeling of authenticity, and the excitement and danger build convincingly throughout so that the denouement made my heart beat rather faster. There are some profound themes in The Paris Affair as well as an entertaining plot. National security, war, betrayal, duty, organised crime, identity and so on all swirl through the pages making for an intriguing read.

That said, with famous faces, glamorous evenings and a hedonistic atmosphere in the Buckingham ballroom presented so clearly through evocative and vivid descriptions, what works so well here is the prosaic, the ordinary. In The Paris Affair Anton du Beke explores how good people can do bad things but for positive reasons, and how family, friendship, support and loyalty can drive people apart as well as bring them together, so that there is much to ponder whilst enjoying the story. I loved the concept that whilst war rages and dreadful things are happening in the world, there are small comforts to be had at home. This is a message not just balancing the events in this narrative, but one much needed in today’s real world.

I thought the dance and musical aspects were wonderful, and very much what I would expect from this author, creating a sense of golden age glamour that is incredibly vivid. Having begun The Paris Affair slightly bewildered and a bit daunted by all the characters, I finished this smashing read feeling hugely engaged and entertained and believing it is crying out for a Sunday night television series. Now, having so enjoyed this story, all I need to do is read the other books in the series because I want to know more about the warm, realistic folk of the Buckingham Hotel.

About Anton du Beke

Anton Du Beke – the King of Ballroom, ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ royalty, and household name – is one of this generation’s all-round entertainers. In 2018, he realised his boyhood ambition and published the first in a series of bestselling novels set in the 1930s world of the exclusive Mayfair hotel, The Buckingham.

A consummate storyteller adept at captivating audiences, he is now captivating readers as he whisks them away to worlds of dance, intrigue, high society and scandal… bringing the golden age of dance to life, page by page.

As Strictly’s longest running professional dancer, and now Judge, Anton is the perfect author to lead the reader to the dancefloor as never before.

For further information, visit Anton’s website, and find him on Twitter/X @TheAntonDuBeke and Facebook. You’ll also find Anton on Instagram.

It was my very great pleasure to meet Kate Storey just under a year ago at a bookish event so when Becky Hunter sent me a surprise copy of her debut in this genre, The Memory Library, I was delighted. I know it’s way too early, but I couldn’t wait any longer to shout about this book and it’s my absolute pleasure to share my review of The Memory Library today.

Published by Harper Collins’ imprint Avon on 1st February 2024, The Memory Library is available for pre-order through the links here.

The Memory Library

For forty-two years, Sally Harrison has been building a library.

Each year, on her daughter’s birthday, she adds a new book to her shelves – with a note in the front dedicated to her own greatest work.

But Ella – Sally’s only child – fled to Australia twenty-one years ago after a heated exchange, and never looked back. And though Sally still dutifully adds a new paperback to the shelves every time the clock strikes midnight on July 11th, her hopes of her daughter ever thumbing through the pages are starting to dwindle.

Then disaster strikes and Ella is forced to return to the home she once knew.

She is soon to discover that when one chapter ends, another will soon follow.

All you have to do is turn the page…

Journey through the pages of this heartwarming novel, where hope, friendship and second chances are written in the margins. Perfect for book lovers everywhere and fans of Sally Page’s The Keeper of Stories.

My Review of The Memory Library

Ella’s mother has had a fall.

Now, if you’re thinking of reading The Memory Library without a box of tissues close by, think again. Let me tell you, you’re going to need a boxful. This is a glorious story of the dynamics between Ella and her mother Sally, with a hint of mystery running through as we discover just why their relationship fractured in the first place.

Because much of The Memory Library revolves around the relationship between Sally and Ella there is an intense intimacy that heightens the impact on the reader. So many aspects of family relationships resonate with the reader, making this an almost visceral reading experience. What works so profoundly is the way Ella develops over the story. Whilst Sally’s life is undergoing the major change precipitating the accident that brings Ella home from Australia, she remains ironically constant like a kind of lode star. As a result, it is Ella who, always wanting to be Queen of the World, unyieldingly thinks she knows everything there is to know about Sally, and consequently it is Ella who finds herself in the greatest state of flux, change and self-awareness. The balance created by Kate Storey is simply wonderful as both women are gradually revealed to the reader and to one another in a convincing, relatable and affecting way. 

A wider supporting cast of characters adds humour, a sense of community and further layers to Sally and Ella’s personalities. Each one of these secondary people feels absolutely real, as if they could be living next door or could be encountered in the local library. Even Hadron the cat is as vivid as any human.

The central plot of The Memory Library is essentially simple – a daughter returns temporarily to take care of her mother following a fall. However, that belies the absolutely wonderful themes of the story, from prejudice and acceptance, through friendship, family, marriage and relationships of all kinds, to a deep and glorious celebration of books and reading. Reading The Memory Library is not only completely absorbing, but it is a healing, supportive book for the reader every bit as much as it is the story of Sally and Ella’s relationship. 

I loved everything about The Memory Library. I loved the concept of personal grief and difficulty hidden behind a public persona. I loved the understanding of loneliness both for those living alone and within relationships. I loved the concept that it’s never too late for healing and hope, especially with a little help from your friends. 

Written with humanity and deep emotion, Kate’s Storey’s The Memory Library is affecting and enlightening. Steeped in love of many kinds with a beautifully explored need for human connection, and an underpinning theme of books and literature, this is a story to break your heart and mend it again. I absolutely adored it!

About Kate Storey

Kate Storey started her career teaching English and Drama, and when she had her family, combined all three to write novels about family drama. Originally from Yorkshire, she now lives in a London suburb with her husband and two teenage daughters, so expects there’s plenty more drama to come.

Also writing as Lisa Timoney, you can find out more about Kate by visiting her website, finding her on Facebook and Instagram or following her on Twitter/X @LTimoneyWrites.

2023 has been a year of exceptional reading and looking ahead to the 100 or so books I already have coming out in 2024 I think that’s going to be a bumper year too.

It’s always a dilemma whether to blog a round up of my favourite reads as I always feel concerned for those authors whose books don’t appear on any lists, or whose books I have and would adore but haven’t quite got round to reading yet. At the same time I want to thank those writers who’ve brought me personal reading happiness. As you may know, when I read a book I immediately award an emotional ‘gut reaction’ mark out of 100 and any book getting 95 or above is a book of the year for me.

As I don’t think reading should be a competitive sport, I set my Goodreads challenge to read one book in 2023. Goodreads says I’ve read 138 books this year, but not all the ones I’ve read are on Goodreads and others I’ve read are coming out in 2024 so I haven’t put out my reviews yet. I also read several for My Weekly and The People’s Friend magazines that I haven’t got round to reviewing on the Linda’s Book Bag as my personal life rather overwhelmed me at times so sadly they don’t appear here either.

So, with apologies if I’ve read a hardback and the cover has changed for a newer paperback version, and with additional apologies to all the other wonderful authors I’ve read, here are the books I enjoyed the most in the order I read them and if you click on the title you’ll be taken to my review:

When I First Held You by Anstey Harris

Silence tore them apart. Can the truth bring them back together?

In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief.

More than half a century later, Judith’s Mending Shop restores broken treasures, just as Judith herself has been bound back together by her late, much-missed partner, Catherine. But her tranquillity is shattered when Jimmy―so different and yet somehow the same―reappears, yearning to unpick the painful past.

Realising they each know only half of the other’s story, Jimmy and Judith finally break the silence that tore apart what might have been their family. Amid heartbreak and hope, how much can now be mended?

In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan

In the Blink of an Eye is coming out with a new cover in paperback on 4th January.

In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds.
Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye. 

DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat’s instincts come up against Lock’s logic. But when the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal.

AI versus human experience.
Logic versus instinct.
With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic?

In the Blink of an Eye is a dazzling debut from an exciting new voice and asks us what we think it means to be human.

The Best Days of Our Lives by Lucy Diamond

When 35-year-old Leni McKenzie is knocked off her bike, her family’s world is turned upside down.

Leni and her sister Alice were best friends as well as siblings. But did they know each other as well as Alice thought? In the hope of coming to terms with her grief, she tries to piece together Leni’s last weeks – but her discoveries only lead to more questions. And that’s before the surprise reappearance of someone from the past. Life is certainly getting very complicated …

Meanwhile, the rest of the family seem to be falling apart. Belinda, Alice’s mum, has developed an unhealthy obsession with a clairvoyant, and Tony, her dad, is stressed about becoming a father all over again, what with three failed marriages stacking up behind him.

As for Will, the youngest McKenzie, he’s in denial, having hopped onto a plane to Thailand days after the funeral. Secretly, he’s tormented by the part he played in Leni’s death … and the thing about secrets is, they always come out eventually …

Full of hope and heartache, love and truths, Lucy Diamond’s new novel is the big-hearted and relatable story of one unforgettable year in the life of the McKenzies.

A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella

From the author of A Little Hope – a Read with Jenna Bonus Pick – comes another “heartwarming, character-driven” (Booklist) life-affirming novel about three individuals whose lives intersect in unforeseen ways.

Set in a close-knit suburb in the grip of winter, A Quiet Life follows three people grappling with loss and finding a tender wisdom in their grief.

Chuck Ayers used to look forward to nothing so much as his annual trip to Hilton Head with his wife, Cat – that yearly taste of relaxation they’d become accustomed to after a lifetime of working and raising two children. Now, just months after Cat’s death, Chuck finds that he can’t let go of her belongings- her favourite towel, the sketchbooks in her desk drawer–as he struggles to pack for a trip he can’t imagine taking without her.

Ella Burke delivers morning newspapers and works at a bridal shop to fill her days while she anxiously awaits news – any piece of information – about her missing daughter. Ella adjusts to life in a new apartment and answers every call on her phone, hoping her daughter will reach out.

After the sudden death of her father, Kirsten Bonato set aside her veterinary school aspirations, finding comfort in the steady routine of working at an animal shelter. But as time passes, old dreams and new romantic interests begin to surface – and Kirsten finds herself at another crossroads.

In this beautiful and profoundly moving novel, three parallel narratives converge in poignant and unexpected ways, as each character bravely presses onward, trying to recover something they have lost.

One Moment by Becky Hunter

One moment in time can change everything…

The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn’t feel fair that she’ll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams. And now, she’s still … here – wherever here is – watching the ripple effect of her death on the lives of those she loved the most.

Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend’s death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie’s life in directions she’d never let herself imagine possible. Ways, perhaps, even those closest to her had long since given up on.

If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of that one moment in time, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?

So Pretty by Ronnie Turner

Fear blisters through this town like a fever…

When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.

Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.

Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it.

As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife edge.

Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it has always found him before. And before long, it will find Ada too.

Thirty Days in Paris by Veronica Henry

Because Paris is always a good idea…

Years ago, Juliet left a little piece of her heart in Paris – and now, separated from her husband and with her children flying the nest, it’s time to get it back!

So she puts on her best red lipstick, books a cosy attic apartment near Notre-Dame and takes the next train out of London.

Arriving at the Gare du Nord, the memories come flooding back: bustling street cafés, cheap wine in candlelit bars and a handsome boy with glittering eyes.

But Juliet has also been keeping a secret for over two decades – and she begins to realise it’s impossible to move forwards without first looking back.

Something tells her that the next thirty days might just change everything…

Eighteen Seconds by Louise Beech

Family is the best thing in your life. And the worst.

My mother once said to me, ‘I wish you could feel the way I do for eighteen seconds. Just eighteen seconds, so you’d know how awful it is.’

I thought about it. Realised we could all learn from being in another person’s head for eighteen seconds. Eighteen seconds inside Grandma Roberts’ head as she sat alone with her evening cup of tea, us girls upstairs in bed. Eighteen seconds inside one-year-old Colin’s head when he woke up in a foster home without his family. Eighteen seconds inside the head of a girl waiting for her bedroom door to open.

Writer, Louise Beech, looks back on the events that led to the day her mother wrote down her last words, then jumped off the Humber Bridge. She missed witnessing the horror herself by minutes.

Louise recounts the pain and trauma of her childhood alongside her love for her siblings with a delicious dark humour and a profound voice of hope for the future.

Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks by Sally Fetouh

Cheerful text and whimsical illustrations bring alive this heart-warming story of kindness and inclusion featuring a character with Down syndrome.

When young Jana receives heaps of beautiful socks from her parents after learning how to put on socks all by herself, she can’t wait to show her friends at school. They are always kind and patient with Jana when they play together. Jana decides to share a pair of her new socks with each and every friend. This calls for a school sock parade! All of the children had so much fun showing off their colourful socks together that they gave a very special and huge gift for their kind and generous friend, Jana, a box of more socks!

Author Sally Fetouh was inspired to write this touching story by her own daughter who has Down syndrome, feeling it was important for her and other children like her to be able to see themselves in literature. Two years ago, after reading a different story about a girl with Down syndrome to her daughter’s preschool class, Sally says, “The children were so engaged in the story and asked questions. They were very accepting and loving of their friend—my daughter. I left with a heart overflowing with emotion and that inspired me to write my story.”

Coming to Find You by Jane Corry

You can run away from your life.
But you can’t run away from murder.

When her family tragedy is splashed across the newspapers, Nancy decides to disappear. Her grandmother’s beautiful Regency house in a quiet seaside village seems like the safest place to hide. But the old house has its own secrets and a chilling wartime legacy . . .

Now someone knows the truth about the night Nancy’s mother and stepfather were murdered. Someone knows where to find her. And they have nothing to lose . . .

So what really happened that night? And how far will she go to keep it hidden?

The Other Couple by Diane Jeffrey

Two couples. A fatal accident. And a decision that changes everything…

Kirsten and Nick are enjoying a weekend away until, on their drive home, they accidentally run over and kill a man. They should call for help – but they have too much to lose, and no one can know the real reason they’re here. Instead, they make a split-second decision to conceal the accident.

Amy and Greg have just celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. Amy is expecting a baby, and they couldn’t be happier. So when Greg fails to come home from a dog walk one weekend, Amy knows the police are wrong to believe he left of his own accord. Someone must be behind Greg’s disappearance, and Amy won’t give up until she gets justice – or revenge.

If you had nothing left to lose, how far would you go to find the truth?

The Fall by Louise Jensen

She promised not to tell. They made sure she couldn’t…

At her surprise 40th birthday party, Kate Granger feels like the luckiest woman in the world but just hours later her fifteen-year-old daughter, Caily, is found unconscious underneath a bridge when she should have been at school.

Now, Caily lies comatose in her hospital bed, and the police don’t believe it was an accident. As the investigation progresses, it soon becomes clear that not everyone in the family was where they claimed to be at the time of her fall.

Caily should be safe in hospital but not everyone wants her to wake up. Someone is desperate to protect the truth and it isn’t just Caily’s life that is in danger.

Because some secrets are worth killing for…

Wonderfully Wired Brains by Louise Gooding

An informative and inclusive children’s guide to neurodiversity for those not in the know and to inspire children who are neurodivergent.

Our brains are unique in the way they function, work, and think. Neurodiversity is still a relatively ‘new’ concept that can be tricky to understand, but this book is here to help! This inspirational book written by neurodiverse author Louise Gooding challenges misconceptions and shows how neurodivergent brains work a little differently.

It is common for neurodiverse people and those with neurological differences to feel as though they don’t fit in, but their extraordinary differences should be embraced. Wonderfully Wired Brains teaches children aged 7-9 all about the awesome abilities that neurodiverse individuals have, introduces them to advocates who are challenging neurodiversity stereotypes, and most importantly gives them a safe space to feel accepted.

This informative and educational book for children features:

– Accurate, understandable explanations of diagnoses that impact the brain, including each area of neurodiversity and what it can or does mean for anyone with that particular neurological difference.
– A positive, friendly look at neurodiverse brains that debunks myths and stereotypes.
– Informative, inclusive text is accompanied by colourful, modern illustrations.

The font and colours used have been selected to accommodate a range of neurodiverse readers. Combining neurodiverse experiences with science, history, and brain-bursting facts, Wonderfully Wired Brains has something for everyone!

Whether your child is neurodiverse or not, this book will inspire inquisitive young readers and show them that no two brains function in the same way and that everyone’s differences should be celebrated. There really is no other book like it.

The Fascination by Essie Fox

Victorian England. A world of rural fairgrounds and glamorous London theatres. A world of dark secrets and deadly obsessions…

Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn’t grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father’s quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as ‘Captain’.

Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name.

Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts.

But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a web of deceits, exposing the darkest secrets and threatening everything they know…

Exploring universal themes of love and loss, the power of redemption and what it means to be unique, The Fascination is an evocative, glittering and bewitching gothic novel that brings alive Victorian London – and darkness and deception that lies beneath…

The Truth Has Arms And Legs by Alice Fowler

Delve into a world of change and reinvention.

Where relationships are as delicate as turtle eggs, and just as easily smashed.

This poignant short story collection explores the pivotal moments that transform our lives. Jenny, whose life is defined by small disasters, discovers a bigger, more generous version of herself. A traveller girl might just win her race and alter her life’s course. A widow, cut off in a riverside backwater, opens her heart to a stranger.

In this captivating collection by award-winning writer, Alice Fowler, readers will be moved by the raw vulnerability of human connection, and the resilience that allows us to grow and thrive in the face of hardship. In change, Fowler’s characters find the ability to be truly free.

A Song of Me & You by Mike Gayle

Helen and Ben parted as heartbroken 18-year-olds and went their very separate ways.

Twenty years later, mother-of-two-teenagers Helen is still in Manchester, a part-time primary teacher, stunned by the behaviour of her love-rat husband. In an old T shirt and scruffy jeans, she feels at the lowest point in her life.

And suddenly, impossibly, Ben is standing on her doorstep. Tired maybe, lonely even, but clearly still the world-famous, LA-based multi-millionaire rockstar he has become.

Can you ever go back?

For Helen and Ben, so much has happened in the years between. But just to sit in the kitchen for a while and talk – that would be nice.

Before the world comes crashing in.

Friendship, love, heartache and hope collide in this unforgettable emotional journey, from the author of Half A World Away.

The Unheard by Anne Worthington

The Unheard is the powerful and intensely moving debut novel by acclaimed documentary photographer Anne Worthington. It is a novel about memory, and what happens to the experiences that are too much for us, but we are unable to leave behind.

We meet Tom Pullan in 1999 when he has dementia. He lives with his wife, May. The visitors who come to the house aren’t the people he remembers. He would like to see the people that remain in his memory. The visitors say they have come to help but they only seem to cause trouble.

Fifteen years earlier, in 1984, Tom is working in an office amid sweeping redundancies across the country. His office is told there are going to be cuts and Tom is convinced he will be one of those who will lose their job. And he is sure that at the root of this, the person who’s orchestrating these changes is the prime minister. He watches her every day talking about cuts, all the while wielding an axe in her hands.

In 1931, Tom’s family walked away from their house leaving everything behind. They not only lost a home, but his brother has gone, and no one says a word. Now, he must do what he can to keep his father happy, and his father is never happy. Tom goes looking for his brother every day. He waits for his brother to come home because people don’t just disappear. Sometimes, waiting is all you can do when you can’t make sense of the world.

Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen

It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to kill them . . .

Saffy has a secret. A secret that she is deeply ashamed of. It’s not the fact that she’s a serial killer in her free time. In fact, she’s quite proud of that. After all she’s only killing the bad men. She is making the world a better place.

No, her secret is far worse than that. Saffy has a messy, inexplicable, uncontrollable crush. So while she’s busy plotting her next murder, she also has the much harder task of figuring out how to get a boyfriend.

But if there’s one thing Saffy knows, it’s how to get her man . . .

The Lodgers by Eithne Shortall

One house. Three strangers. A second chance at happiness.

Tessa’s life as an activist and volunteer worker takes a hit after a fall. At the ripe young age of 69, she’s no longer able to live alone and decides to take in two lodgers for free.

After the recent death of his brother, Conn is riddled with grief and determined to make amends. A free room seems too good to be true – until he meets the other lodger.

Chloe arrives at Tessa’s house to deliver a package and leaves with a room. But she takes an instant dislike to Conn, who refuses to say where he disappears to at night.

With everyone so busy keeping their own secrets, the mysterious package is forgotten. It’s addressed to Tessa’s daughter who’s been missing for 10 years – and only the contents have the answer to what happened…

All Of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins

The electrifying crime novel featuring DS Saul Anguish from the award winning author, Fiona Cummins, author of Into the Dark and Rattle.

Every one of them has a dark secret

The Family

After a year they want to forget, the Hardwicke family set out to the Scottish Highlands for a much needed holiday.

The Crimes

They are about to cross paths with Missy and Fox, a violent and dangerous young couple hell-bent on infamy, their love story etched in blood and a dark past which must be uncovered.

The Detective

As the clock ticks down, Detective Saul Anguish is on the hunt to find the couple before more lives are lost.

The Mother – who will be forced to make an impossible decision.

Tiny Pieces of Enid by Tim Ewins

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.

Finding Bear by Hannah Gold

The unmissable follow-up to the phenomenal bestselling and award-winning The Last Bear. Beautifully illustrated by Levi Pinfold and perfect for readers 8+

April Wood has returned home from her adventure on Bear Island. But, over a year later, she can’t stop thinking about Bear.

When April hears that a polar bear has been shot and injured in Svalbard, she’s convinced it’s her friend and persuades her dad to travel with her to the northernmost reaches of the Arctic. So begins an unforgettable journey across frozen tundra and icy glaciers.

But along the way, she discovers much more than she bargained for – a tiny polar bear cub, desperately in need of her help. In freezing temperatures, April must navigate the dangerous Arctic terrain and face her deepest fears if she’s to save him.

Beautifully illustrated by Levi Pinfold, Finding Bear is a stunning story of survival and a heartwarming tale of love that shows us how hope is born from the smallest of beginnings.

The Forgotten Garden by Sharon Gosling

A novel of second chances and blossoming communities from the author of The Lighthouse Bookshop. 

Budding landscape architect Luisa MacGregor is stuck in a rut – she hates her boss, she lives with her sister, and she is still mourning the loss of her husband many years ago. So when she is given the opportunity to take on a parcel of land in a deprived area, she sees the chance to build a garden that can make the area bloom.

Arriving in the rundown seaside town of Collaton on the north-west coast of Cumbria, she realises that her work is going to be cut out for her. But, along with Cas, a local PE teacher, and Harper, a teen whose life has taken a wrong turn, she is determined to get the garden up and running.

So when the community comes together and the garden starts to grow, she feels her luck might have changed. Can she grow good things on this rocky ground? And might love blossom along the way…?

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser

For fans of The Keeper of Stories, The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes and A Thousand Roads Home, The Beginning of Everything is the story of Jess and Gethin, whose paths cross in the most unexpected way.

Jess is running, leaving all she knows and everyone she loves behind her, with just a few treasured belongings in her rucksack. She’s escaping from the pain and trauma of a bad relationship with a bad man, gone very badly wrong.

Gethin’s kindness and care takes her breath away. They become friends.

But with so much hurt in her past, can Jess learn to love and live again?

The Harbour Lights Mystery by Emylia Hall

As The Shell House Detectives try to solve a family mystery, their investigation runs dangerously close to a murder case. Are the two linked?

It’s December in Cornwall, and Mousehole harbour is illuminated with its famous Christmas lights. Ally Bright is among the crowd listening to the carol singers—and then to the piercing screams that rip through the darkness. A body has been found, brutally murdered and dumped in a fisherman’s boat.

The victim is chef JP Sharpe and there is no shortage of people who might have wanted him dead. Eager for a new case for The Shell House Detectives, Ally calls ex-cop Jayden, but he’s keen to leave it to the police—until a letter in Sharpe’s pocket draws them into a seemingly unconnected family mystery. As they take on this highly charged mission, the duo can’t help scrutinising the murder suspects. Who among the close-knit community has reason to kill, and how far will they go to protect themselves?

As fear spreads, Ally and Jayden need answers—fast. Could the letter offer a clue to the murder case or will it reveal a terrible truth? And when a new witness comes to light, Jayden closes in on a desperate killer…but can he warn Ally in time?

The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella

Sasha is well and truly over it all: work (all-consuming), friendships (on the back burner), sex-life (non-existent). Sasha has hit a brick wall (literally).

Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga and find solitude, she heads to the Devon resort she loved as a child. But it’s off-season, the hotel is falling apart and now she has to share the beach with someone else: a grumpy, stressed-out guy called Finn. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on a rock, watching her? Especially when they don’t agree on burnout cures. (Sasha: manifesting, wild swimming, secret Mars bars; Finn: drinking whisky.)

But when curious messages start appearing on the beach, Sasha and Finn are forced to begin talking – about everything. What’s the mystery? Why are they both burned out? What exactly is ‘manifesting’, anyway?

They might discover that they have more in common than they think…

Child of the Ruins by Kate Furnivall

1948, Berlin. World War II has ended and there is supposed to be peace; but Russian troops have closed all access to the city. Roads, railway lines and waterways are blocked and two million people are trapped, relying on airlifts of food, water and medicine to survive. The sharp eyes of the Russian state police watch everything; no one can be trusted.

Anna and Ingrid are both searching for answers – and revenge – in the messy aftermath of war. They understand that survival comes only by knowing what to trade: food; medicine; heirlooms; secrets. Both are living in the shadows of a city where the line between right and wrong has become dangerously blurred.

But they cannot give up in the search for a lost child …

Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life by Helen Fisher

Joe loves predictability. But his life is about to become a surprising adventure.

Joe-Nathan likes the two parts of his name separate, just like his dinner and dessert. Mean Charlie at work sometimes calls him Joe-Nuthin. But Joe is far from nothing. Joe is a good friend, he’s good at his job, good at making things and good at following the rules, and he’s learning how to do lots of things by himself.

Joe’s mother knows there are a million things in life he isn’t prepared for. While she helps guide him every day, she’s also writing notebooks full of advice about the things she hasn’t told Joe yet, things he might forget and answers to questions he hasn’t yet asked.

Following her wisdom – applying it in his own unique way – this next part of Joe’s life is more of a surprise than he expects. Because he’s about to learn that remarkable things can happen when you leave your comfort zone, and that you can do even the hardest things with a little help from your friends.

Saturnalia by Stephanie Feldman

Doors open at 7. The sacrifice is at 9. The dress code is, as usual, black tie.

It’s the winter solstice in a Philadelphia that has been eroded by extreme weather, economic collapse, and disease-carrying mosquitoes. The Saturnalia carnival is about to begin – an evening on which nearly everyone, rich or poor, forgets their troubles for a moment.

For Nina, Saturnalia is simply a cruel reminder of the night that changed everything for her. It’s now three years since she walked away from the elite Saturn Club, with its genteel debauchery, arcane pecking order, and winking interest in alchemy and the occult. Since then, she’s led an isolated life, eking out a living telling fortunes with her Saturn Club tarot deck.

But when she gets a chance call from Max, her last remaining friend from the Saturn Club, Nina will put on a dress of blackest black and attend the Club’s wild solstice masquerade, the biggest party of the year, on a mysterious errand she can’t say no to.

Before the night is over, she will become the custodian of a horrifying secret – and the target of a mysterious hunter.

As Nina runs across an alternate Philadelphia balanced on a knife’s edge between celebration and catastrophe – through parades, worship houses, museums, hidden mansions, and the place she once called home – she’s forced to confront her past so she can finally take charge of her own, and perhaps everyone else’s, future.

Peace on the Western Front by Mattia Signorini

The worst of enemies. The best of friends.

1914. A boy enrols in the army, hoping to find peace in the great adventure of war. Handed a rifle, he discovers the grim reality: grey days distinguished only by the ever-present spectre of death. In the midst of horror, he finds close friendships, love and companionship. In an unexpected act of courage, he changes the course of history, bringing German and Brits to put down their weapons for a celebration of peace.

In 1933, a father and son set out for Flanders. The former soldier carries more of the war with him than his maimed left hand. The British man he met in the forest of Ypres is a memory passed down from father to son, a story of friendship across enemy lines, forged by one uniting belief: the need for peace.

****

My Overall Favourite Read of 2023

If you’ve managed to stay with me so far – well done! But which book from these was my overall favourite read in 2023?

Ironically, it was the very first book in this blog post – When I First Held You by Anstey Harris. I loved this one because it combined relationships and history in a way that felt totally imbued with humanity so that it touched me completely.

****

Thank you so much once again to all the publishers, authors, blog tour organisers and publicists who have trusted me with precious books this year. Thank you also to all those who’ve supported Linda’s Book Bag by sharing posts, commenting and for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate every one of you.

Happy New Year! Here’s to a healthy and successful 2024 for you all – and may your days be filled with books that bring you as much pleasure as these did for me.

 

When Luke Staton contacted my to see if I’d like to take a look at his children’s book Credo, I was not supposed to be accepting anything else for review. However, I so loved the sound of Credo that I couldn’t resist. My enormous thanks to Luke for sending me a copy.

I’ve found it hard to concentrate on reading what with one thing and another in the last few weeks, but Credo was pure joy to read and as many young readers might be about to spend Christmas book tokens and cash I thought now might be a good time to share my review.

Published on 31st October 2023 by Bookworm of Retford, Credo is available for purchase here.

Credo

Stan is a shy boy with a passion for playing football. He has a burning ambition to show his ability but lacks the confidence to get involved in new situations. A magical butterfly becomes Stan’s ‘pocket friend’, his companion and his newfound confidence.

My Review of Credo

Stan suffers from shyness.

What an utterly charming, helpful and supportive book Credo is. Whilst this is a children’s book, it is relevant to all ages and is such a lovely read. What works so brilliantly is that Stan loves football and much of the story revolves around the sport. There’s an authenticity that comes from Luke Staton’s own life as a footballer, but importantly, it’s often boys who find articulating their emotions most difficult and Credo speaks to them in a totally relatable way. My heart broke at Stan’s observation from the sidelines of school lunchtime football games and the story put me in mind of many a shy youngster I’ve taught in the past. There’s a touch of mystery in the story too as we wait to discover the six inspirational words from Mr Spencer to Fred.

From an educational perspective, I loved the physical qualities of Credo. The size is just right for a shy reader unobtrusively to slip into a blazer pocket or school bag. It has a strong and robust cover that will withstand much use in settings where youngsters are likely to encounter it and the illustrations by Shaun Clark enhance the story beautifully. I thought the metaphor of a butterfly – something that can emerge from another form, as well as an image that represents nervousness with butterflies in our tummies, was wonderful. The use of monochrome and colour to reflect Stan’s emotions was perfectly attuned to the text. Speaking of the text, there’s plenty of white space that means the writing doesn’t daunt a more reluctant reader, but equally the text looks mature on the page so that it doesn’t patronise readers, whilst at the same time the vocabulary is accessible. There’s a sense of real care in the production of Credo.

As Stan emerges as a more confident young man, the story in Credo is engaging and entertaining. However, it is the themes of friendship, how a kind comment or action can affect someone else dramatically, how single parent families can be fantastic and caring as well as a challenge at times, how doing your best and ‘paying it forward’ leads to more than just your own personal success, how all these aspects combine into an uplifting, heartfelt and encouraging read.

I think Credo is a really lovely book and one that should find a place in any home or school where a young person is struggling with shyness.

About Luke Staton

Former professional footballer Luke Staton is a motivational speaker and coach dedicated to inspiring young people and to encouraging effective leadership and management in adults.

For further information, visit Luke’s website and follow him on Twitter/X @LukeStaton1 or find Luke on Instagram and Facebook.

My grateful thanks to Sophie and Antara at FMcM for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for Good Scammer by Guy Kennaway and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review. It’s my pleasure to share that review today.

Published on 7th December by Mensch, Good Scammer is available for purchase here.

Good Scammer

Good Scammer tells the story of Clive ‘Bangaz’ Thompson, an orphan born in west Jamaica raised with no love, education, nor prospects of ever getting a decent job.  He designs an ingenious business model that brings millions of dollars annually to the little villages around the sandy inlets of the Jamaican coast, making himself a vast personal fortune and a hero to his community.  He achieves all of this without using a knife or a gun or even the threat of violence.

Many people simply see scammers as criminals.

But Bangaz’s life, when seen from his perspective as a victim of the theft and duplicity of slavery and colonialism, tells a different, more complex human story.  Through his eyes, our sympathy and smiles justifiably remain with him and his righteous band of reparation bredren.

My Review of Good Scammer

Clive ‘Bangaz’ Thompson is having his life story written.

I confess that at the start I wasn’t sure I’d cope with Good Scammer because there’s quite a lot of phonetic ‘patwa’ in the speech, but within a few pages I had my ear and eye attuned and actually found it added colour, depth and flavour to the story. Indeed, one of the real strengths of Good Scammer is the very vivid sense of place created here. Guy Kennaway obviously knows Jamaica inside out and presents it not only with vivid clarity, but he does so warts and all, with humour and affection.

And that’s the true enjoyment of Good Scammer. Here we have a wide and engaging cast of characters with Bangaz at the heart of much of the action, but also occasionally simply being on the sidelines so that the reader gets a real insight into not only Jamaicans, but the different nationalities that arrive on the island. Through them, the true story of Good Scammer is told because, whilst those living in Jamaica are frequently and unapologetically scamming all and sundry, it’s those who believe themselves to be morally, intellectually or socially superior who are uncovered as every bit as criminal. What Guy Kennaway does in Good Scammer is to make anyone reading the book who takes the moral high ground find themselves on quicksand!

Good Scammer certainly has major themes like historical shame, reparation, theft and institutional corruption at its heart, but it is impossible not to fall in love with Bangaz who may not have a conventional education but who is quick-witted and wily and totally endearing. His ability to manipulate, to scam and yet to improve not only his own life, but that of those he holds dear makes him a kind of anti-hero whom it is impossible not to admire and respect.

I thought the interactions between Willy and Bangaz were quite brilliant. As Willy attempts to put Bangaz’s life story down on paper in an attempt to improve his own life, the reader is constantly entertained by the knowledge that neither man is being entirely honest with the other. Even better, in a modern world where there is so much greed and corruption, where literary prizes or a Netflix series are often seen as the ultimate aim for a writer Good Scammer shows that what really counts is loyalty, friendship and making your own way in life.

If that makes Good Scammer sound staid and preachily worthy – far from it. The story is witty, thought-provoking, entertaining and clever so that it engages completely. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

About Guy Kennaway

Guy Kennaway is a writer of fiction and memoir, born in the UK and who has lived in Jamaica for the past 35 years. One day, a man he had known since he was a child, demanded that Guy write his life story – of how he became one of the best scammers in West Jamaica.
Guy is best known for his novels One People, about village life in Jamaica; Bird Brain, about a bunch of optimistic pheasants, and for his memoir Time To Go about killing his mother (with her permission).
His most recent novel, The Accidental Collector, won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction in 2021. His most recent memoir is Foot Notes, a broad comedy about race and nationality which he wrote with his daughter-in-law’s brother Hussein Sharif. ‘In all my writing my aim is to delight and amuse,’ Kennaway has said. ‘Hopefully I make people laugh out loud. Laughter is our most effective weapon in the battle against the difficulties and struggles of life. If I can transport my reader to a happy, joyful world, my mission is successful.’

For further information, follow Guy on Twitter/X @guyken. and find Guy on Instagram and Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My enormous thanks go to Kirsten Knight at EK Books for sending me copies of the first two books in Emily Snape’s Game On Series, Shrinkle (Game On 1) and Glitched (Game On 2) in return for an honest review. With last minute Christmas gifts perhaps needed or book tokens received to be spent in the New Year, this series would be perfect for readers aged 8-12 and it’s my pleasure to share my reviews today.

Shrinkle and Glitched are currently on offer from EK and available for purchase directly here.

Before I review each book individually, I cannot stress enough how fabulous both books are for reluctant readers, and what cracking books they would make for classroom use. Indeed, they do exactly what Emily Snape set out to do:

Author and illustrator Emily Snape’s sons were both reluctant readers, which made her want to write books that they wouldn’t be able to resist reading! Reading should be a pleasure and it was Emily’s aim to write books that pull you in and hook you from the start. ‘Hopefully, then you can’t help being moved by the characters as they grow and develop. I love comedy in books, but funny books also have to have heart, believable characters, and a great plot that keeps you reading till the very end.’

Game On: Shrinkle (Game on, 1)

Everyday objects will never seem the same again for Max and Liam as they try to beat the game, and each other.

Gaming-obsessed Max and his infuriating younger brother, Liam, are forced to work together to survive epic adventures on a miniscule scale. When rebellious Liam starts playing ‘Shrinkle’ on his babysitter’s phone, he has no idea what he’s letting himself in for. The app shrinks the brothers to the size of a minifigure! Their safe home has suddenly become a treacherous landscape. Can they scale sofa mountain, escape Miss McBoob’s snoring mouth and outsmart the now-enormous pet cat? And will they stay tiny forever?

With a clever mix of realism and fantasy and packed with exciting gaming strategies, crazy scenarios and gross facts, Game On: Shrinkle is perfect for reluctant readers, particularly boys.

My Review of Shrinkle

All Max wants is a quiet evening to himself after a rotten Friday at school. 

Shrinkle is fast paced, funny and hugely entertaining. Jam packed with weird facts, gaming references, the embarrassment of having a younger brother, a single Mum at the end of her tether banning screen time and Emily Snape’s Shrinkle is brilliantly relatable for young readers. 

The illustrations really bring the story to life and are a kind of cartoon/Manga crossover that will thoroughly appeal to the target readership. I thought the balance of text to image was spot-on and I loved the pixelated chapter headings, or rather, gaming levels, as Max and his brother Liam find themselves shrunk into a computer game controlled by a malevolent cat. There’s a real sense of urgency too as the game timer ticks down and Max and Liam strive to work out the riddles presented to them in order to escape the game and not spend the rest of their lives only seven centimetres tall. 

Whilst there are puns, jokes and riddles that are really entertaining in a total romp of a story, what I thought was so brilliant about Shrinkle was the way Max realises just how much he loves and needs Liam in spite of Liam’s infuriating behaviour and their constant bickering. I can envisage many a young reader experiencing similar frustrations with their own siblings, but as a result of reading Shrinkle, coming to realise that they do still care about them. 

Shrinkle is great fun. It’s filled with peril and humour. It’s exciting and witty and it’s completely appealing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Oh, and if you find your school back-pack mysteriously crammed with pants rather than books, don’t make assumptions about how they got there. 

Glitched

Warring brothers Max and Liam find themselves trapped in a time-travel game. Can they survive the dangers and solve the riddles without killing each other?

Gaming-obsessed Max and his infuriating younger brother, Liam, are forced to work together when a new game on Miss McBoob’s mobile phone sucks them into a time-travelling vortex. The ‘Glitched’ app transports the brothers to earlier versions of their home town where they find themselves in the Stone Age, in Roman times, in the Middle Ages and in the age of the dinosaurs. To return to their own time they must solve riddles while dodging woolly mammoths, jousting knights and all manner of bodily fluids, both human and animals!

With a clever mix of realism and fantasy and packed with historically accurate settings, crazy scenarios and gross facts, Game On: Glitched is perfect for reluctant readers, particularly boys.

My Review of Glitched

Max regrets not washing his hands!

Glitched is absolutely brilliant. It’s packed with humour (particularly poo related) that readers of all ages will adore. The way the phone battery level reduces as each chapter is read is just perfect as Max and Liam get into ever increasing difficulty, and the illustrations are wonderful, balancing the text so that even the most reluctant young reader can’t fail to be drawn in. I’d love to see Glitched as a middle grade class reader as I think it would inspire reluctant readers and boys especially to engage with reading.

The plot is breathtakingly fast and it’s impossible not to want to read on. I loved the joke that school history is so hated by Max but is the focus of his adventures. Indeed, Glitched brings history to perilous life for the two brothers in this exciting story so that it might well just ignite a passion for the subject. It might even encourage investigation into a youngster’s own local history as the area around Max and Liam’s home features in each adventure and yet is very different to what they usually see.

Glitched is cleverly and sensitively written because it subtly examines family dynamics. Max is exasperated by his younger sibling, and they are frequently furious with one another, but their bond and love for each other lies beneath the surface. Similarly, Emily Snape suggests that when parents split up and marriage fails, it is possible for them to develop new relationships. Whilst these are only passing themes in the exciting and engaging story, they do allow some young readers to identify aspects of their own life they might be finding tricky and to understand better how to deal with them.

I thought Glitched was absolutely great and thoroughly enjoyed it. And whatever you think of Glitched, it’ll make you certain to wash your hands after using the toilet! 

About Emily Snape

Emily Snape is a children’s author and illustrator living in London. Her work has appeared online, on television (for Nickelodeon and the BBC), in shops and even on buses! She loves coffee and notebooks, and has three cheeky children, Leo, Fin and Flo who keep her on her toes and give her lots of inspiration for stories.

Emily loves to mix real life with a twist of fantasy, throwing everyday emotions and events up in the air and allowing us to consider them from another angle. Her previous books include Fergus the Furball, a funny tale for independent readers, and board books for younger readers. These include An Alphabet of Hugs, and Hey! Look at you…On the Move and Hey! Look at you…In the Jungle.

Emily has two sons close in age who often bicker, so when she decided to write a book for 7–11 year olds, she wanted to explore sibling rivalry, with humour and a fast-paced, unpredictable plot.

For further information, visit Emily’s website, or find her on Instagram.