Category Archives: reading challenges

“A Coin for the Hangman” by Ralph Spurrier – Book Review

Posted on September 21, 2020 by

Ralph Spurrier – (yes,the author uses his own name as the bookseller in the novel), is an antiquarian bookseller who buys an entire collection of books from an estate sale. Within this collection he discovers not only the property of … Continue reading →

Posted in #FFRC2020, Book Reviews, Historical fiction, Hookline Books, Mystery fiction | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

“My Kind of People” by Lisa Duffy – Book Review

Posted on September 4, 2020 by

Leo – a talented architect, has lived on Ichabod Island his entire life. He has become used to being one of very few black people on the island and the fact that he is gay further influences his distinction from … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, Literary fiction, NetGalley, Women's fiction | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Challenge Ended – 20 Books of Summer – Success and Failure #20BooksOfSummer20

Posted on August 31, 2020 by

Back at the beginning of the summer I joined Cathy’s “20 Books of Summer Challenge” which ran from June 1st until September 1st, 2020 At that time I vowed to read the following 20 books:Did I succeed? Yes and No. … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Fictionophile report, reading challenges | Tagged | 19 Comments

“The Crossing” by Matt Brolly – Book Review

Posted on August 29, 2020 by

DI Louise Blackwell – 38 years old, unmarried, and lonely. She recently had a severe career setback at her previous posting in Bristol due to a betrayal from a co-worker. Now, she lives in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1st in series, 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, Mystery fiction, NetGalley, Page turners | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

“The Hit List” by Holly Seddon – Book Review

Posted on August 28, 2020 by

Greg Heywood was killed in a bicycle accident in London. As his widow, Marianne Heywood, goes through his belongings she discovers, to her shock and chagrin, that he had delved into the ‘dark web‘.  A bookmarked site on his laptop … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, Page turners, Psychological thrillers, Secret Readers (Orion), Suspense | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

“The Bookshop at Water’s End” by Patti Callahan Henry – Book Review

Posted on August 25, 2020 by

“Sometimes you had to leave home to finally find it”. Bonny Blankenship – Married and the mother to nineteen year-old Piper, Bonny works as an Emergency Physician in Charleston, South Carolina. Since she was an adolescent Bonny has loved her … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, Edelweiss, Literary fiction, Women's fiction | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

“The Whispering House” by Elizabeth Brooks – Book Review

Posted on August 22, 2020 by

“Byrne Hall had a listening air. It was never bored, or distracted, or unconscious.” At the tender age of five years, Freya Lyell lost her mother to cancer. Then, when she was eighteen, she lost her only sister Stella to … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, gothic fiction, NetGalley, Psychological thrillers | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

“The Last to Know” by Jo Furniss – Book Review

Posted on August 20, 2020 by

“Behind closed doors – even doors surrounded by roses – all sorts of things could happen.” Rose Kynaston – a journalist who has survived imprisonment in Somalia and worse, has now moved to the Shropshire village where her husband Dylan … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, NetGalley, Psychological thrillers, Random Things Tours (Anne Cater) | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

“The Silence” by Susan Allott – Book Review

Posted on August 15, 2020 by

“…two neighbor families, and shameful secrets from the past that refuse to stay buried.” THEN 1967 – On a quiet street by the sea, two young couples live as next-door neighbours. Mandy and Steve Mallory‘s marriage is floundering. Mandy fears … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, debut novels, Favorite books, NetGalley, Random Things Tours (Anne Cater) | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

“The House of Whispers” by Laura Purcell – Book Review

Posted on August 13, 2020 by

Thirty-two year old Hester Way arrives in a memorable fashion to Morvoren House in Cornwall. She is using an assumed name to take up a new post there as nurse to Miss Louise Pinecroft, the mistress of Morvoren. She left … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, Edelweiss, gothic fiction, Historical fiction | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

“The Book of CarolSue” by Lynne Hugo – Book Review

Posted on August 9, 2020 by

CarolSue – recently widowed from her second husband, is still sore with grief. Rudderless, she agrees to leave her suburban Atlanta life and return to the home farm in Indiana where she grew up. A life change that at first … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, Edelweiss, Women's fiction | Tagged , | 5 Comments

“The Big Chill” by Doug Johnstone – Book Review

Posted on August 7, 2020 by

“It’s easy to be moral if those morals aren’t tested.” We pick up six months after the events of the first book in the Skelfs series, “Dark Matter”. The Skelfs have two businesses which they run out of their large … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Blog Tour, Book Reviews, Orenda Books, Random Things Tours (Anne Cater) | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

“Buried” by Lynda La Plante – Book Review

Posted on August 4, 2020 by

D.S. Jack Warr – 36 years old, recently moved to the London Metropolitan Police from Devon. He moved so that his partner Maggie could pursue her career goals as a physician.  Jack himself has little ambition, though he is loaded … Continue reading →

Posted in 1st in series, 20 Books of Summer, Book Reviews, NetGalley | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Edelweiss Challenge stats and Fictionophile updates

Posted on August 2, 2020 by

Hello lovely blogging friends. Believe it or not, we are past the halfway point of 2020. Some, like me, wish that 2020 could be a ‘do-over’ as both personally and worldwide, it has been a bit of a DUD. Anyway, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictionophile report, personal, reading challenges | Tagged | 46 Comments

“Blacktop Wasteland” by S.A. Cosby – Book Review

Posted on July 31, 2020 by

“A mistake is a lesson, unless you make the same mistake twice.” Beauregard Montage (nicknamed ‘Bug’) is a black man in his late thirties who is feeling the squeeze of financial commitments. His business is behind in its rent and … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Books of Summer, Blog Tour, Book Reviews, Literary fiction, Men's fiction, Suspense | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments