Z’s favourite books age 17-24 months

Yes, I’m aware that 24 months is 2 years and I debated putting that, but I decided having both parts as months made more sense. If you don’t like it you’ll just have to deal with it 😉.

A while ago I wrote a post about Zyma’s favourite books and I’ve been meaning to write another one. Today I finally have time. I decided to make her birthday the cut off point, so this list doesn’t include anything she got for her birthday or Christmas.

Leading up to her second birthday, Zyma still read a few of the books that had previously been favourites – most notably Goodnight World and Who Wants a Dragon? But she also received some new books that she returned to over and over as well as suddenly getting into a few books that had been around for ages without her showing any interest at all! Here are the books that Z wanted us to read constantly in the latter half of last year.

The Every Baby Book by Frann Preston-Gannon. I bought this book for Z’s first birthday and for a long time I thought I had wasted my money. She just was not interested at all! Then at around 18 months she got really into any book featuring babies. This one starts “Families of every name share a love that’s just the same” and basically just shows various babies going through their day. It’s very inclusive: one baby has two dads and one has two mum’s, there’s a single-parent family, one with parents of different ethnicities, twins. We see a father putting washing in the machine ( and not one from the same sex couple!). It’s also available in a British English and an American English version, although I’m not sure exactly what the difference is other than nappy versus diaper. Our version talks about “strollers” where I personally have only ever heard buggy or pushchair in the UK. This is a cute little rhyming book, not too annoying to read over and over, and there’s lots for young children to discover on the pictures (mine loves to point out the baby whose nappy has leaked all over the bed – we’re definitely in the wee and pooh phase 😅).

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, illustrated by Marla Frazee. I bought this book for my pregnancy announcement with the twins, put it away when we lost them and got it out again along with the other board books before I went in for Z’s foetal surgery so it’s been around a long time but whenever we showed it to her she couldn’t care less. Then one day she fetched it from the shelf and for a while I was reading it to her roughly once a week. It starts “Every day, everywhere babies are born” then goes on to describe other things that babies do (eat, are carried, make friends and eventually crawl and then walk). There isn’t really a “story” as such. The babies depicted are definitely culturally diverse but the illustrations feel dated to me (not sure when it was published). It’s a nice enough little book though.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Another of the books that Z was attracted to because they’re about babies! I think I bought this one while I was pregnant with her but it was mostly ignored until the babies phase started (this was also when she started getting into baby dolls and pointing out every baby she sees out and about!). The book depicts various babies from around the world each of whom has one thing in common: they have 10 little fingers and 10 little toes. It’s fun to read and the illustrations are cute. I know it has some poor reviews from people pointing out that it’s not inclusive (what about people who don’t have 10 fingers and toes?!) and I totally get that but, honestly, I haven’t let that stop me letting Z enjoy this book. Given how few books out there feature toddlers who can’t walk I’m happy that in this case she can relate to the babies in the book!

Ten Minutes to Bed Little Monster by Rhiannon Fielding, illustrated by Chris Chatterto. I bought this at a flea market when Z was about 3 months old. I think she was around 20 months when she discovered it and started asking for it multiple times a day. Each page of the book features Belch, the smallest monster, doing something that very much does not resemble getting ready for bed with text that, among other things, counts down the minutes to bedtime. Another one featuring fun rhyming text that I don’t mind reading over and over. This is part of a series but they seem to be separate enough that it doesn’t matter that we don’t have any of the others.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolan, illustrated by Mark Teague. Various human mothers and fathers attempt to put their children – a range of different dinosaurs – to bed. So how does a dinosaur say goodnight? Does he throw things, stamp his feet, roar? Or go to bed quietly? Find out in this book! We made up actions to go along with this story and Zyma loves to join in. The pictures are amusing and each page cleverly integrates the name of the dinosaur somewhere. Well have since also bought How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, which Z also likes, but it’s not as good as this one.

Dalmatian in a Digger by Rebecca Elliott. Z loves construction vehicles and dogs, so how could I possibly resist buying her this book? She loved it immediately and I once literally read it ten times in a single day! “Dugger dugger digger! What’s that noise?” Come along with little Dalmatian as he follows the sounds of various construction vehicles and eventually finds out what they’re building. I actually really enjoy reading this book. It’s lots of fun. The one annoying thing is that, although Rebecca Elliott is English, only the US edition seems to be available now, so I always change “dirt” to “soil” when I’m reading it. Dirt is what soil becomes after you’ve got it on your clothes!

Busy Building Site: A Ladybird Lift the Flap Book. I don’t actually know who the author is – they’re not mentioned anywhere. “Builder Barney puts on his hat, takes the plans and lays them flat”. This book follows builder Barney and a whole team of construction workers as they work on a building. There are flaps to lift and a tiny ladybird to spot on each page, and the various vehicles, tools and people are labelled.

i bought this partially so I could learn the proper names of construction vehicles since Z loves them so much. It turned out she also enjoys the book, so win-win!

Muh die Kuh by Axel Scheffler (original title: Cuddly Cow). I believe the English version of this book is the original, although Axel Scheffler is German. Either way, we have the German version and this was probably the first German book Z actually sat and listened to all the way through. Muh (meaning Moo) or Cuddly the cow is tired but it’s far too noisy in the pasture with the other cows so she goes around the farmyard looking for a quiet place to lie down. Will poor Muh ever get to rest? I don’t know what the English version of this book is like but the German is very well done (I wonder whether Axel Scheffler was actually involved in the translation?). It’s a relatively short story, which is likely why it holds Z’s attention and the illustrations are great.

I’m going to stop here. There might be a few more but these are the ones I’m certain she was into before she turned two. If you have a toddler in your life hopefully this will provide some inspiration when you’re looking for books!

What I read in January 2024

I want to try to keep on top of book review posts this year, so here is the first. These are the books I read for myself in January – not included are the dozens I read to the toddler!

My Little Brother by Diane Saxon. Caryn was 10 years old the day her little brother went missing while she was supposed to be looking after him. Afterwards, she was sent away to live with her grandmother. Now, 20 years later, someone has summoned her back to the Welsh village where she grew up. Someone who claims to know the truth about what happened that night. What Caryn discovers will shock the small community to its very core. This book was enjoyable enough but I found it a little slow in parts and wasn’t always too sure about the writing style. I guessed the final twist shortly before it was revealed. 3 stars.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more – though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth she’s been hiding, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she really was – lovely and amazing and deeply flawed – can she begin to discover her own path. This was fine. It did make me tear up at one point and I liked that the love interest couldn’t save Laurel from her grief – she had to work things out for herself. But honestly, as a character Laurel was pretty bland. I think she was supposed to be “quirky” or “different” or something, but she just seemed unsure of who she was and desperate not to be noticed to the point that even as a reader I barely noticed her despite the fact that I was reading her actual letters! The fact that it was written in letters made it a relatively quick read though. 2.5 stars.

Magpie by Eve Ainsworth. It has been a long time since Alice has felt safe. Because of him. Ross. But now she, Mum and her little brother Henry have finally moved far away, where Ross will never find them. It’s a fresh start, Mum says. This time, she is never going back.
Slowly Alice starts to build a life for herself, at a new school with new friends. But she can’t escape the feeling she is being watched. That he might be lurking, waiting to ruin everything again. That Mum might be about to break her promise. That, just when Alice is starting to feel safe, everything will be taken away from her.  This is beautifully written. I would have liked it to be longer and some aspects of the plot more fleshed out, but overall it was enjoyable. I only realised at the end that it’s a sequel (the first book is about the main character’s best friend) so maybe if I had read the books in order some things would have felt more complete. I really felt for Alice and just wanted to give her a big hug. 4 stars.

The Wishing Game by Patrick Redmond. Something terrible happened at Kirkston Abbey school for boys during 1954. More than 40 years later, Tim Webber is determined to find out the truth… Kirkston Abbey is no place for the weak: its rules are harsh and its discipline savage. So the struggling Jonathan Palmer cannot believe his luck when Richard Rokeby – tough, handsome, aloof – befriends him. But Rokeby’s possessive friendship is suffocating and, what starts out as an innocent game amongst friends, takes a shocking turn as Palmer finds himself powerless to stop Rokeby from unleashing a horrifying fate on them all.  I don’t really know what I thought of this book. Parts were boring with way too much description but then others had me hooked. Most of the book read like a straight up thriller so the ending seemed to come out of nowhere and had me completely confused. 3.5 stars.

Dotty Detective by Clara Vulliamy. Meet Dorothy Constance Mae Louise, or Dot as she prefers to be called! Dot loves super-sour apple sherbets, running fast and puzzles – especially if they’re fiendishly tricky. Together with her trusty sidekick and TOP DOG McClusky, she is always ready to sniff out a mystery. So when someone seems set on sabotaging the school talent show, Dot and her new friend Beans are determined to find out how, and save the day.  This is a fun book. It would be a good introduction to the detective story genre for readers from about age 7. I thought Dotty was going to be a bit annoying at first but she ended up being quite fun and a lovely friend. It’s a shame the mystery had to invite a “mean girl” but it’s a good book and would definitely have been a favourite when I was a child. Also, fun fact, Clara Vulliamy is the daughter of beloved children’s author Shirley Hughes (I didn’t know that until I’d finished this book). 4 stars.

So, five books read in January. Not a bad start to the year. Unfortunately none of them were by BAME/BIPOC authors. I’ll try and remedy that in February.

The Book Review of 2023

Happy New Year! The child has gone for an early nap and Jan is sleeping too so I thought I’d try and write this post. I’m not sure I’ll have an answer for all the questions but we’ll see what I can come up with…

Best book you read in 2023:

I’m not sure it’s objectively the best, but I devoured the remaining books in the Rockton series by Kelley Armstrong so I’ll go with one of those. Let’s say This Fallen Prey.

Best children’s fiction:

Shadowghast by Thomas Taylor. Book 3 in the Malamander series and one of very few books I gave 5 stars this year.

Best crime fiction:

Reviews are mixed but I really enjoyed The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill.

Best classic:

None because I didn’t read any… Although, is Beloved by Toni Morrison a classic? I didn’t like that one all that much but I read it.

Best non-fiction:

The only one I read was What We fear Most by Ben Cave. I really did enjoy it though and if I had managed to read any other non-fiction that one would have been hard to beat.

Best dystopian fiction:

Does the Tomorrow series by John Marsden count as dystopian? I’m rereading it and got to the first three books this year. The Third Day, the Frost was my favourite so I’ll go with that.

Best YA:

I didn’t read a huge amount of YA this year and it’s a toss up between two for this. I’ll go with As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson – the third and final book in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series.

Most surprising (in a good way) book read in 2023:

I’ll say Grasshopper by Barbara Vine. It was not what I was expecting and looking back not necessarily the kind of book I would usually enjoy but I really did. I don’t even know how to describe it! A crime is committed, but it’s not a crime novel. There’s a kind of mystery but only because the narrator refuses to say some things until the end. It’s kind of coming-of-age but really the main character is a little old for that. But it was surprisingly enjoyable.

Book You Read In 2023 That You Recommended Most To Others:

The only book I remember recommending is The Island of Missing Trees to someone looking for books to fill the categories of a reading challenge they were doing for their library.

Best series you discovered in 2023:

It has to be the Thirteen Treasures series by Michelle Harrison purely because I don’t think I started as any other series this year 😂.

Favourite new to you author you discovered in 2023.

Oh, that’s difficult. Usually I don’t like to label an author as a new favourite unless I’ve read more than one of their books but there’s no author that applies to this year. Let’s go with Freida McFadden – I did enjoy The Housemaid and would probably read another book by this author.

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love But Didn’t:

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran. This had been on my list for years and I was so excited to find it for free in a public book exchange but it ended up being just an okay read.

Best Book That Was Out Of Your Comfort Zone Or Was A New Genre To You

I can’t think of anything that would fit here.

Favourite Book You Read in 2023 by an Author You’ve Read Previously:

This was the alternative for best YA so I’m putting it here. One of Us Is Back by Karen McManus, book 3 of the One of Us Is Lying series. It was great fun being back in Bayview and I didn’t guess the culprit.

Best Book You Read In 2023 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

There weren’t any.

Favourite Cover of a Book You Read in 2023:

The book itself was reasonably enjoyable, if predictable, but the ending fell flat for me. I do enjoy the cover of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney though. The paper people in combination with the title is genius!

Book That Had The Greatest Impact On You In 2023:

Probably What We Fear Most. A non-fiction book about the criminally insane is always bound to have an impact, I think.

Book You Can’t BELIEVE You Waited Until 2023 To Read:

Honestly, there aren’t any.

Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

I hate repeating books but here I go doing it for the second time in this survey. There were a few things in As Good As Dead that were so out of character for Pip that I would definitely have liked to have known if others felt the same.

Favourite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2023 (be it romantic, friendship, etc):

Difficult. It seems I’m going to have to repeat myself again but I really enjoy some of the relationships in the Rockton series. Interestingly it’s not the main romantic relationship I want to mention here but the relationship between Casey and her sister in the later books (and the first book from the follow-on series Haven’s Rock).

Most Memorable Character In A Book You Read In 2023:

I’m going to say N from Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan. I still feel like I didn’t fully understand the book but N was definitely memorable!

Genre You Read The Most From in 2023:

Thanks mainly to the Rockton series it was definitely thrillers!

Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2023:

I’m repeating myself again but I think it has to be Shadowghast. I particularly enjoyed the role of the cat in this one. The Woman in the Library was also great fun to read.

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2023:

I usually cry pretty easily at books but I can’t really remember any making me cry this year. Maybe I did and just don’t remember.

Book You Read in 2023 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out:

Sadly I don’t have an answer to this one this time. The books I actually enjoyed are pretty popular and the ones I think fewer people would have heard of I didn’t love so they’re probably relatively unknown for a reason.

Total books read in 2023: 44 (six more than last year – and not including however many picture books I’ve read to the toddler over and over again!)

The longest book I read in 2033 was As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson (557 pages) and the shortest was Amaryllis Night and Day by Russell Hoban at 176 pages.

The first book I read in 2023 was Thirty Sunsets by Christine Hurley Deriso and the last book was The Missing Husband by Amanda Brooke – coincidentally both were 3 star reads.

If I’ve counted correctly, 5 of the 44 books I read were by BAME/BIPOC authors. That’s actually worse than last year and something I’m determined to do better on in 2024!

How was your 2023 reading year? Here’s to a great one in 2024!

What I read from October to December 2023

It’s Saturday, 30 December and Jan has taken the toddler out shopping – the first time he’s left the house since testing positive for COVID on the evening of Christmas Day (which he subsequently gave to me) – so we’ll see how far I can get with this before they return and it’s time to cook tea. It would be nice to get my 2023 reviews finished before the year ends! These are the books I read from October until the end of the year. Since I’ve only actually read one book in December it made sense to put them all in one post.

October

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (The Housemaid #1). “Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own. Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband. I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late. But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am. They don’t know what I’m capable of… I feel like everyone read this in 2022 so I’m slightly late to the party. It was a fun read. Somewhat predictable, totally bizarre, very unbelievable in parts (the police!) but well-written and slightly addictive. Also, I saw the very last twist/reveal/whatever you want to call it coming a mile away. Definitely not one that I could read again but I did enjoy it at the time. 3 stars.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet – until a woman’s terrified scream shatters the tranquility. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers sitting at the same table pass the time in conversation, and friendships are struck. One of them is Freddie, a writer from Australia who is in the US on a scholarship and decides to add the three others as characters in the book she’s writing. Meanwhile, each of the others has their own reasons for being in the reading room that morning – it just happens that one is a murderer…. This is the story that Hannah Tigone is working on when the pandemic hits. So her online friend Leo offers to be her eyes in Boston, performing research for her while she can’t travel. When Leo sends a photo of a crime scene insisting that it’s time Hannah wrote another murder into her novel, Hannah begins to question whether Leo is who he says he is. This book has mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it. I loved the concept of the story within a story (within a story?) and the helper/fan not being all that he seems. I actually have the opposite complaint to some other people – a few have said the Leo part was unnecessary and they skipped his emails to get on with the main murder mystery, but I actually felt like there could have been more from Leo. Not necessarily additional emails, but more escalation. His increasing weirdness was well done, but I felt like more should have been made of Hannah maybe feeling personally threatened by him. It was really interesting to read his guesses and compare them to my own feelings about where things were going with Hannah’s manuscript. I did notice a few typos in Hannah’s story, and I wasn’t entirely sure whether those were missed during editing or left on purpose as a reminder that the story was supposed to be a rough draft being sent to someone for review/commenting. 4 stars.

The People Next Door by Tony Parsons. Lana and Roman Wade have fled the city for a little corner of paradise, exchanging their flat with its unhappy memories for a small honey-coloured house among the rolling green hills of Oxfordshire. Their new home, set in a residential Close known as The Gardens, is their dream and their new neighbours are charming.
So why is Lana feeling so uneasy? Lana and Roman may seem like an attractive, popular couple. But they also have a secret; a secret buried in the life they have left behind, a secret they have shared with no-one. But their new neighbours – these charming, affluent men and women in the Gardens – have secrets of their own. Terrible secrets; unimaginable secrets that include the apparently happy family who lived – and tragically died – in Lana and Roman’s new home. Is their new home really as idyllic as it seems or could Lana’s intuition be trying to tell her something? This started off well and there were good bits scattered throughout, but it was extremely convoluted and the ending was very abrupt. Things didn’t fully add up and I still have questions! 2 stars.

Lyrebird by Cecelia Ahern. A documentary crew discover a mysterious young woman living alone in the mountains of West Cork. Strikingly beautiful she has an extraordinary talent for mimicry, like the famous Australian Lyrebird. The crew, fascinated, make her the subject of her story, and bestow the nickname upon her. When they leave, they take Lyrebird with them back to the city. But as she leaves behind her peaceful life to learn about a new world, is she also leaving behind a part of herself? For her new friend Solomon the answer isn’t clear. When you find a rare and precious thing, should you share it – or protect it? I have loved Cecelia Ahern’s books in the past but this one just wasn’t for me. It started off well then I got bored in the middle and put it down for ages – I actually started it in August so that should give you some idea! I only finally picked it up again because I was reading it for a challenge and didn’t have a single other book that would fit. Luckily it did pick up again at some point but the ending was meh. I’m giving it 3 stars for the parts I did enjoy.

November

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. In an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a freshman girl stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep – and doesn’t wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics who carry her away, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. Then a second girl falls asleep, and then another, and panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. As the number of cases multiplies, classes are canceled, and stores begin to run out of supplies. A quarantine is established. The National Guard is summoned. Mei, an outsider in the cliquish hierarchy of dorm life, finds herself thrust together with an eccentric, idealistic classmate. Two visiting professors try to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. A father succumbs to the illness, leaving his daughters to fend for themselves. And at the hospital, a new life grows within a college girl, unbeknownst to her – even as she sleeps. A psychiatrist, summoned from Los Angeles, attempts to make sense of the illness as it spreads through the town. Those infected are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, more than has ever been recorded. They are dreaming heightened dreams – but of what? I really enjoyed this while I was reading it, but then it seemed to just end without any actual resolution. A lot of things are mentioned throughout the book that seem to be significant, but we never find out whether that’s actually the case (did the lake being lower than usual actually have anything to do with anything or did the author just feel like throwing that titbit in there several times?). The writing is beautiful but I was ultimately left unsatisfied. 3 stars.

(the answer to the above question was: this far. Now Jan is playing Lego with Zyma so let’s try and finish this)

Digging to America by Anne Tyler. Friday August 15th, 1997. Two tiny Korean babies are delivered to two very different Baltimore families. Every year, on the anniversary of ‘Arrival Day’ the two families celebrate together, with more and more elaborately competitive parties, as little Susan and Jin-ho take roots and become American. This was fine. I read it all in one day mainly because I was on trains (2 hours each way), my phone didn’t have much battery and there wasn’t anything else to do. I didn’t dislike it but was more vaguely interested than totally engrossed. Some parts were better than others but honestly I would have been more interested in a story that focused more on the two adopted girls – which is what I was expecting from the synopsis. 2.5 stars.

Murder At Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong (Haven’s Rock #1). Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency. There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town’s construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate the still missing man. The woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see, and the longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in. This is a direct follow-on from the Rockton series and it’s basically more of the same from the original series, which is fine by me. New location, a few new characters (one in particular I hope will show up again) and the return of some familiar faces. A little far-fetched at times, maybe, but I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be continuing with the next book. 4 stars.

December

The Missing Husband by Amanda Brooke. When Jo pretends to be asleep as her husband leaves for work the morning after an argument, she doesn’t realise how deeply she will come to regret missing the opportunity to say goodbye. By nightfall, her life has changed irrevocably. That night, David fails to come home and there doesn’t seem to be any trace of him. Jo is five months pregnant and, on the surface, her marriage seems perfect. The only thing marring her happiness is the secret she was hiding from her husband. Was it all the secrets inside his marriage that drove David away? Or something much worse? This was fine but not really what I was expecting. I feel like the synopsis was misleading – “something much worse” implied a different ending so the reveal was almost a let down. The pacing was quite slow but I did mostly enjoy the plot. I was pleased the mother-in-law stood by Jo and never tried to blame her. What she did wasn’t necessarily right but that doesn’t mean she deserved to suffer the way she did. 3 stars.

So that’s eight books in three months, one by a BAME/BIPOC author. And I’ve managed to finish all my book reviews before the end of 2023! I still want to do my traditional annual review, but that will have to wait until next year.

What I read in September 2023

It’s nearly Christmas and I’m (finally) nearly at the end of this year’s book reviews. I read four in September.

One of Us is Back by Karen McManus (One of Us Is Lying #3). Ever since Simon died in detention, life hasn’t been easy for the Bayview Crew. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation had to outwit a vengeful copycat. Now, it’s beginning again.  At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the crew disappears, it’s clear this ‘game’ just got serious – and no one understands the rules. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things are starting to get deadly. It seems Simon was right about secrets – they all come out in the end. And Bayview is still hiding a lot of them… As soon as I saw that there was a new book in this series I just had to have it, and it didn’t disappoint. Itwas fun to be back with the Bayview crew and find out what they’re all doing now. This one took a while to pick up and I felt like there were too many characters – I kept getting confused between two in particular. But in the end I really enjoyed it, and this time I didn’t guess who the culprit was. 4 stars.

What We Fear Most: A Psychiatrist’s Journey Into the Heart of Madness by Dr Ben Cave. Meet Dr Ben Cave. For over thirty years he has worked in prisons and secure hospitals diagnosing and treating some of the most troubled men and women in society. A lifetime of care takes us from delusional disorders to schizophrenia, steroid abuse to drug dependency, personality disorders to paedophilia, and depression so severe a mother can kill her own baby. Dr Ben Cave revelas the human stories behind the headlines, taking us on a journey to the heart of this highly emotive environment, putting himself under the microscope as well as his patients. In the process, he allows us to share what they have taught each other, and how it has changed them. To share the psychological battle scars that come with a career on the frontline of our health service. To learn about the brilliant mental health nurses for whom physical injury and verbal abuse are a daily hazard. To learn about ourselves, and what we fear most. I really enjoyed this book. There is definitely some dark humour at times, which I suppose is inevitable given the experiences the author hashad. It’s a laugh or you’ll cry kind of scenario! And he does tend to go off on a tangent at times, but I actually didn’t mind that. I loved the random personal anecdotes from his non-professional life. This is the kind of non-fiction that I can actually get myself to sit and read – personal, interesting, occasionally funny and not at all dry!

Shadowghast by Thomas Tylor (The Legends of Eerie-on-Sea #3). While other towns celebrate Halloween on 31 October, in Eerie-on-Sea it’s Ghastly Night, and a grim spirit in a lantern awaits its moment. Legend has it that if people fail to light manglewick candles on Ghastly Night, and if no showman conjures shadow puppets on the pier as an offering, the insulted Shadowghast will seize and devour the shadows of the living. This year, a professional theater troupe has arrived, including a raven-haired magician named Caliastra with startling news of shipwrecked orphan Herbet Lemon’s origins. No sooner have the players checked into the hotel than townspeople start vanishing into thin air, including the guardian of Herbie’s best friend, Violet Parma. It’s up to Herbie and Violet to separate truth from sleight of hand and solve the mystery of the Shadowghast lantern before darkness swallows them all. This was great! Very atmospheric – although I kind of wish I had saved it for October/Halloween. I thought it was better than the first two (which I gave 4 stars each). I loved Erwin the cat’s role in this one. I was hoping for a few more answers about Herbie’s past – instead I got more questions. But hopefully the next book will provide a few more reveals. 5 stars.

A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall. Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café. But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy. By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead. The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder! But they’re certain there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye – and with the police having written it off as an accident, it’s down to them to prove it… I thought this would be a nice, relaxing read that wouldn’t require much thought. And in a way it was. The pacing was reeeally slow though, at least in the beginning, and I found myself getting bored at times. The three women acted much older than they actually are – some of them had only been retired for 2 years and one even had a teenage son so it seems very unlikely that they wouldn’t know what emojis are! They also didn’t actually seem to like each other much based on their inner monologues. There were a few funny moments though and I did like the inclusion of Liam’s story. 3 stars.

Four books. Zero by BAME/BIPOC authors. I recommend One of Us Is Back and Shadowgast if you’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series, and highly recommend What We Fear Most. Have you read anything good lately?

What I read in August 2023

Time for another book post. I think I will need to do two more before my annual review of the year. Currently we are all full of cold. Z managed three days of nursery, but today she woke up with a fever so that’s her off for 2 days (and therefore the rest of the week). At least she was there for the visit from “Samichlaus” (St Nicholas).

Anyway, book reviews. I have four for you.

13 Curses by Michelle Harrison (Thirteen treasures #2). When fairies stole her brother, Red vowed to get him back.  At the end of book 1 she had her chance when she managed to get herself taken to the fairy realm. Now trapped there, Red must beg an audience with the fairy court. There, she strikes a bargain. Her brother will be returned – but only if she can find the charms of Tanya’s bracelet, scattered in the human world. Returning to Elvesden Manor, Red is assisted by Tanya and Fabian, and a desperate hunt begins. Soon they make a shocking discovery. The charms now have twisted qualities of the thirteen treasures they represent . . . and the longer they are missing the worse the consequences will be. Can Red, Tanya and Fabian find all the charms? And even if they do, will the fairies keep their promise?  This is even darker than the first book – the Hedgewitch is a fantastic villain. Red is a great addition to the team and I enjoyed finding out more of her story as well as getting to know the fairy realm a bit. The pacing was a little weird at times – either the trio found the charms instantly or spent ages discussing – but overall it was an enjoyable read. I’m intrigued to see where things go from here – I’m hoping Red gets a happy ending. 4 stars.

The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel. Ingrid Bell and her five teenage cousins are such a close-knit group that they don’t really mind sitting at the kid table-even if they have to share it with a four-year-old. But then Brianne, the oldest cousin, lands a seat at the adult table and leaves her cousins shocked and confused. What does it take to graduate from the kid table? Over the course of five family events, Ingrid chronicles the coming-of-age of her generation. Her cousins each grapple with growing pains, but it is Ingrid who truly struggles as she considers what it means to grow up. When first love comes in the form of first betrayal (he’s Brianne’s boyfriend), Ingrid is forced to question her own personality and how she fits into her family. As the cousins each take their own path toward graduating into adulthood, they realise that maybe the kid table was where they wanted to be all along.  This is an odd book. It isn’t bad as such but it feels like both a lot happens and not much happens at the same time. The major issues that occur seem to be resolved without any major fuss  but maybe that’s just the matter-of-fact way that Ingrid describes everything. She’s so emotionally detached that, only seeing the other characters through her eyes, I felt like I barely knew them by the end. The conflict at the heart of the premise was weird as well. The synopsis talks about Ingrid’s “first love” but it didn’t feel like she loved him at all. More like she was attracted to and intrigued by him. Trevor was obviously a terrible person – at least Ingrid didn’t know who he was when she first felt a connection and started flirting with him. He was obviously well aware that he was flirting with his girlfriend’s cousin! 3 stars.

An Order of Coffee and Tears by B. R. Spangler. Gabriella Santiago used to be a typical teenager who enjoyed the usual teenage things. That is until a single tragic day ended who she was and within hours she ran from home, never to look back. Only when Gabby is cold, hungry and at her lowest, does she find Angela’s Diner – a place that has the reputation of a safe haven where patrons find a moment of peace as they linger over coffee and tears. Gabby embraces her new life and the family she has found in the midst of strangers and obscurity. Acceptance is what she craves, but before long, Gabby realizes she’s not the only one in the diner with something to hide. Her new family has a secret too, and some secrets refuse to stay buried.  I was expecting more from this book. There was a lot going on, but I still found it a bit boring at times. I felt like most of it had been done before. It passed the time okay but I’m not sure I would recommend it. 2.5 stars. I’d recommend reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop cafe instead.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce. Twelve years ago, Gretchen’s twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch’s forest threatening to make them disappear too. When their stepmother casts them out, Ansel and Gretchen find sanctuary with Sophia Kelly at her sweet shop. Gretchen Is lulled by the intoxicating treats that Sophia creates, until Gretchen meets handsome social outcast, Samuel, who tells her the witch isn’t gone and is looking to make Gretchen its next victim. to look deeper at the secrets of the town. Tired of running, Gretchen is determined that this time she will fight back.  Yet, the further she investigates the mystery of what the witch is and how it chooses its victims, the more she wonders who the real monster is.  This was fairly enjoyable. There’s an intriguing mystery throughout and I did like the twist on the witch in the woods (a chocolate maker instead of a gingerbread cottage). I found the characters slightly forgettable though. Gretchen was okay but I never really felt any connection to Ansel. he was kind of bland. I only found out after reading this that this is book 2 in a series. Sisters Red seems to be more of a companion novel though with maybe a few overlapping characters so I don’t think I missed anything by not reading that one first. 3 stars.

So, four books that passed the time just fine but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend. The Thirteen Treasures series is worth a read if you like middle grade fantasy, the others are enjoyable enough so read them if you’re interested. None of these are by BAME/BIPOC authors.

What I read in June and July 2023

Is this just a book review blog now? I hope not, but you could definitely be forgiven for thinking so! I’m nearly caught up on reviews though (for now). I read four books in June and three in July so I thought I’d post the two months together.

June

The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas. In a rural Wilshire town lies the Devil’s Corridor – a supposedly haunted stretch of road through the woods – which has witnessed eerie happenings, from unexplained deaths to the sounds of a child crying in the night. But none of the mysteries is more puzzling than the Olivia Rutherford case. Four girls were driving home. After their car crashed only one – Olivia – was found. What happened to the girls who disappeared? On the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy, journalist Jenna Halliday has arrived in Wiltshire to cover the case. The locals aren’t happy with this outsider determined to dig into the past. Least of all Olivia. Soon, Jenna starts receiving threatening notes. The locals have made it clear she’s not welcome. But someone is going to make her leave one way or another. Jenna has been warned: she must get out of this town before she suffers a dark fate… and becomes another of the area’s mysteries.  I enjoyed most of this book. The mystery was intriguing and there was a really creepy and unsettling atmosphere. The ending/twist felt both disappointing and almost like overkill. I didn’t guess the twist mainly because I didn’t have enough information. I had a theory about how the second storyline connected to Olivia/the main plot but I was wildly off base – mostly because I was completely wrong about *when* it was taking place. 3 stars.

In the Dark by Mark Billingham. A Deadly Crash. A rainy night in south London. A gun is fired into a car, which swerves onto the pavement and plows into a bus stop. It seems that a chilling gang initiation has cost the life of an innocent victim. But the reality is far more sinister… A Dangerous Quest.  One life is wiped out and three more are changed: the young man whose finger was on the trigger, the ageing gangster planning a deadly revenge, and the pregnant woman who struggles desperately to uncover the truth. How will she, two weeks away from giving birth, now cope in a world where death is an occupational hazard? A Shocking Twist. In a city where violence can be random or meticulously planned, where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, anything is possible. Secrets are uncovered as fast as bodies, and the story’s final twist is as breathtakingly surprising as they come. This synopsis was taken word for word from the back of the book, and it was definitely oversold! I spent the whole time waiting for the “far more sinister” part to happen, but it was all pretty standard and obvious.  I was expecting something very different and actually sinister – or at least unusual. I did like Helen though. 2 stars.

What Lives in the Woods by Lindsay Currie. Ginny Anderson’s plans for her summer break include attending a mystery writer’s course with her best friend and starting to write her first novel. But all of that is ruined when her father – a respected restoration expert in Chicago- announces that the entire family are going to Michigan for a month. And they aren’t staying in a hotel like most families would. No, they’re staying in a century-old, twenty-six room mansion surrounded by dense forest. Woodmoor Manor. Locals claim there are mutated creatures in the surrounding woods – experiments that escaped a mad scientist over a hundred years ago. And some say campers routinely disappear never to be seen again. When strange things start happening in the mansion, Ginny discovers that there’s more than one mystery in Saugatuck, Michigan and it’s definitely not campers that are the target… I forgot to review this book in June so now I’m trying to remember what I thought. The title is very misleading – I have no idea what lives in the woods because nothing actually happens there! There are some nicely creepy parts and I enjoyed Ginny’s friendship with Will. It takes a little while for things to really get going though – Ginny spends far too much time trying to convince her parents to leave the mansion before finally deciding to try and solve the mystery. 3.5 stars.

When I Was Five I killed Myself by Howard Buten. Burton Rembrandt has the sort of perspective on life that is almost impossible for adults to understand: the perspective of an 8-year-old. And to Burt, his parents and teachers seem to be speaking a language he cannot understand. This is Burt’s story as written in pencil on the walls of  the Quiet Room in the Children’s Trust Residence Center, where he lands after”the incident”. It begins “When I was five, I killed myself…”. This  is a bizarre book. It is convincingly written from the perspective of an 8 year old and some chapters are good, but overall I mostly didn’t know what was going on or what the point in the story was. When the incident is finally revealed it’s underwhelming. I did guess what happened but I thought there would be more to it to at least justify Burt’s being sent away. 3 stars.

July

A Stranger in Town by Kelley Armstrong (Rockton #6). Detective Casey Butler has noticed fewer and fewer residents coming in to the hidden town of Rockton, and no extensions are being granted. The town’s Sheriff, Eric Dalton, presumes it’s the natural flux of things, but Casey’s not so sure. It seems like something bigger is happening in the small town they call home. When an injured hiker stumbles from the woods, someone who seems to have come to the Yukon for a wilderness vacation but instead is now fighting for her life, it’s all hands on deck. What – or who – attacked this woman, and why? With the woman unconscious, and no leads, Casey and Eric don’t know where the threat is coming from. Plus, the residents of their deeply secretive town are uneasy with this stranger in their midst. Everyone in Rockton wants this mystery solved – and fast.  I have to admit the plot went a bit far-fetched in this one, but I didn’t care. I’m totally addicted to this series and was perfectly willing to suspend my belief for it. It was very interesting to find out more about how the other settlements in the forest came about and Casey finally got to the bottom of the mystery she’s been trying to solve since book 1. I’m not sure how much further the series can go from here though – the next book is the final one but surely there isn’t too much more to reveal? This is definitely a series that needs to be read in order. Kelley Armstrong does provide a recap at the beginning, but even having read all the previous books the many, many characters were sometimes confusing. If you leap straight in at book 6 I can imagine you’d be totally confused and not enjoy the story at all. (Plus you’d be less forgiving of the completely wild direction it takes.) 4 stars.

The Third Day, the Frost by John Marsden (Tomorrow #3). Ellie and her friends have achieved more than they ever thought possible as an unarmed bunch of amateur teenage fighters. But it’s not enough. The war wages on, their families are in captivity and their country is on its knees. Hiding back in Hell, the friends face a big question: what to do next? The gang have another success when they manage to rescue Kevin. He returns to them equipped with a new knowledge of explosives. Suddenly the question of what to do next becomes clear – launch an attack on the major enemy target of Cobblers’ Bay. Can the six teenagers really stage a major military attack on the enemy? And in their attempt to pull it off, what will they have to sacrifice? They have already lost Corrie and Chris; who else will the group have to lose in their desperation to defend their country? This was a reread for me – I’m going through the whole series again before finally reading book 7 for the first time. I had forgotten how much bleaker the atmosphere is in this installment. This one really brings home the reality of war and that there will be casualties along the way. My review from 2015 said ” There was a lot more action in this book than the second one and I couldn’t stop reading until I had reached the end. I found the story really gripping. I’m really not sure how the series can continue from here given where the group have ended up, but the series clearly does continue so hopefully they’ll get back to the action.” 5 stars.

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love. Years later a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited – her only connection to her family’s troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.  This was interesting. I had never read a book set in Cyprus before and I know next to nothing about its history. I was aware that there is a Turkish and a Greek side of the island and relations between them haven’t exactly been peaceful (hence a number of my childhood friends being posted to Cyprus back in the 90s). The book is beautifully written and very moving. The magical realism woven in between was a bit much at times though – the fig tree chapters were kind of weird and out of place with the rest. 3.5 stars.

So that’s it. If you’ve read any of these let me know what you thought. Do you agree with my opinion?

What I read in May 2023

I’m verrry slowly catching up with book reviews. Here are the ones from May.

This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong (Rockton #3). When Casey Duncan first arrived at the off-the-grid town of Rockton, an isolated community built as a haven for people running from their pasts, she had no idea what to expect from a life with no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, and no way of getting in or out without the town council’s approval. She certainly didn’t expect to be the homicide detective on two separate cases! But the very last thing she expected was for the council to drop a dangerous criminal into their midst without a plan to keep him imprisoned and to keep others safe. Of course, Oliver Brady claims he’s being set up. But the longer Brady stays in town, the more things start to go wrong. When evidence comes to light that someone inside Rockton might be working as his accomplice, helping him to escape, Casey races to figure out who exactly Brady is and what crimes he’s truly responsible for committing. I’m continuing to really enjoy this series and stayed up until 10:30 p.m. to finish this one, which I’m sure sounds ridiculous but I had to be up at 5:40 a.m. to get my toddler ready for nursery so that’s actually high praise! A lot of this book took place away from Rockton and introduced more of the characters living in the woods – including an interesting encounter with some “hostiles” (you’ll need to read the previous books to find out what that means). Towards the end there seemed to be almost too much going on and it was hard to keep track, so I gave this 4 stars instead of 5.

The Face of Fear by Dean Koontz (also published under the pseudonym Brian Coffey). Graham Harris is a gifted clairvoyant, and during a late-night television interview, he “sees” a murder being committed. He knows that the killer is the man the police have named the Butcher – the brutal slayer of nine young women. Learning of the psychic identification, the Butcher begins to stalk this “witness” to his crime. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend find themselves trapped on the fortieth floor of a deserted office building. The guards have been murdered, the elevators shut down, and the stairways blocked. The only way out is to climb down the sheer face of the building. But there is a blizzard outside with fifty-mile-an-hour winds – and a dangerous fall from Mount Everest has left Harris terrified of climbing. He must risk it though – or become the Butcher’s next victim. This  was fine. There wasn’t much character development and it seemed pretty far-fetched but it kept me interested enough to want to know how it ended. 2 stars. It was published in the 70s and I feel like Dean Koontz’ writing has improved since then!

Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer. When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt has left Rob and his  mother responsible for his care. Meanwhile, everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has problems of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college with a secret, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle. When  Rob and Maegan are forced to work together for a calculus project, they’re both reluctant to let anyone through the walls they’ve built. But when Maegan learns of Rob’s plan to fix the damage caused by his father, it could ruin more than their fragile new friendship, raising the question: Is it okay to do something right for the wrong reasons? I quite liked this. It raised a few interesting questions about right and wrong. Rob wasn’t really likeable, but he did  grow on me by the end. The way Maegan stuck up for her sister was awesome though. I think it will ultimately be forgettable, but it was a quick and entertaining read at the time. 3 stars.

Watcher in the Woods by Kelley Armstrong (Rockton #4). The secret town of Rockton has faced some challenges lately; understandable considering its mix of criminals and  victims fleeing society for refuge within its Yukon borders. Casey Duncan, the town’s only detective on a police force of three, has already had to deal with murder, arson, and falling in love in the several months that she’s lived there. Yet even she didn’t think it would be possible for an outsider to locate the town and cause trouble in the place she’s come to call home. When a US Marshal shows up demanding the release of one of the residents, but won’t say who, Casey and her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are skeptical. And yet only hours later, the marshal is shot dead and the only possible suspects are the townspeople and Casey’s estranged sister, smuggled into town to help with a medical emergency. It’s up to Casey to figure out who murdered the marshal, and why someone would kill to keep him quiet – before the killer strikes again.  The beginning was a bit slow – it seemed like it was trying to bring readers who had skipped the first 3 books up to speed, but having recently read book 3 that all seemed a bit pointless/repetitive to me. But once the action got started I was hooked. There are a few revelations that had me longing to know where the author is going. I really enjoyed the introduction of Casey’s sister as well – it was nice to see some of the other side of the story of Casey’s upbringing and the sibling relationship. I devoured this book in a single evening and immediately ordered the next – this series is addictive! 4 stars.

So that’s four books, zero by BAME/BIPOC authors and two from the same series!

Z’s favourite books – Age 13-17 months

Zyma has really got into books over the past few months. When she was very young she found “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” amusing and later there were a couple of books she would sit through, but now she actively enjoys having stories read to her (provided they aren’t too long). I thought I would share a few of her favourites from this year with you – an idea I totally stole from Audrey (who I’m sure isn’t the first to use it).

What Does the Crocodile Say? by Eva Montanari. The basic premise of this book is that little crocodile is off to nursery for the first time – something he isn’t necessarily looking forward to. But the story is told through the pictures, while the actual words describe the sounds crocodile hears as he goes about his morning, from the alarm clock that goes “dringg, dringg” and the tickle that goes “tee hee” to the milk that goes “glugg” and the nap that goes “zzzz”. This was the first book that Zyma ever requested – she pointed to it and then nodded when I asked “shall I read it?” There’s a point where the elephant (who is the nursery school teacher) says “peekaboo” – I got as far as “the elephant says” and Z put her hands over her eyes ready for the peekaboo. I hadn’t even realised how much she was taking in until that point! She also always wants her little drum she can play along with the line “The drum goes pom-pa-pom”.

I Am Bat by Morag Hood. Bat is a slightly grumpy character who informs on the first couple of pages that he does not like mornings (same bat, same). He does, however, like cherries and warns the reader not to touch them. Unfortunately while he’s busy warning us that he will be angry if we take one, a bunch of other animals are slowly making off with his cherries. This is a fun book. The illustrations are fun and bat is a cute little grouch – his facial expressions are the best. He reminds me very much of a toddler, with his dramatic proclamation that he will “never be happy again” when his cherries are all gone, only to immediately be distracted when presented with a pear instead. As other reviewers have mentioned, it might have been nice if he had learned to share in the end instead of the other animals simply replacing his stolen fruit with something different, but honestly not every story needs to have a moral and right now I’m just relieved that my daughter has become obsessed with a book that I don’t mind reading over and over again. (Also, I can’t stop myself from reading bat in a weird attempt at a Transylvanian accent – it’s the teeth, I think).

Who Wants a Dragon by James Mayhew (illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner). Poor baby dragon is lost in the night. All he wants is to find someone to love him, but he’s too big for the witch’s broom and the apparently brave and bold knight runs away. Will he ever find someone to give him a cuddle? Z currently wants us to read this book to her once a day and luckily I like it almost as much as she does. The dragon is adorable and the rhymes are fun. She likes to point out the baby dragon on each page, laughs when the knight runs away (we say “aaaarrrgghh”) and gets excited when his mummy finally finds him. The last page shows the mama and baby dragon flying away together and sometimes she will randomly just open the book at that page and wave bye-bye to them. It’s ridiculously cute!

Bye bye dragons!

I Thought I Saw …. books, illustrated by Lydia Nichols. There is a whole series of these books. We have Penguin and Crocodile. There isn’t much to the story – each double page spread contains the words “I thought I saw a penguin/crocodile. Is it behind/inside the X?” with X being said animal’s hiding place – the penguin is on the beach, so the places it can be found include behind the beach ball and in beach hut, while the crocodile on the building site is inside the pipes or behind the wall. Each time there’s a slider for the child to move and find the animal. Great for fine motor skills and provides hours of entertainment for Z, who currently really enjoys spotting things in books… hence her next two favourites.

There are loads of books out there with titles like “My First 100 Words”, “Baby’s Big Word Book” or “My First Word Book”. Zyma has the two pictured above – My First Words, which was a birthday gift from my grandma, and Mein erstes großes Bildwörterbuch Deutsch/Englisch (My First Picture Dictionary: German/English), which I bought years ago and recently rediscovered. At first she would just turn to the animal page and point to the duck and the cow over and over, but now she’s started to get really interested and will take it out several times a day and point excitedly to the various pictures saying “ohhh, da” (da being German for “there”). We will also ask her where things are and 9 times out of 10 she’ll point to the right thing.

Hide and Seek… (felt flaps books). We have the box set of these, containing On the Farm, In the Jungle, Under the Sea, In the Forest and With the Dinosaurs. I chose On the Farm for the picture since that’s Z’s favourite – she squees with delight when she finds the calf and the puppies. I like that the flaps are felt and therefore harder to destroy than cardboard flaps and, unlike other books with felt flaps, these ones are actually illustrated to look like what they’re supposed to be (a haystack or gate, for instance) instead of just being a coloured piece of felt in the vague shape of a piece of cheese (looking at you, “Where’s Mr Dog?”!).

Goodnight World by Debi Gliori. I saved this one for last because it’s Zyma’s current “Ni-night book” – it lives in the bedroom and we always have to read it right before bed. It’s basically a new take on the old theme of saying goodnight to various things. Starting with “Goodnight planet, goodnight world, peaceful clouds around Earth curled”, it goes through various rhymes saying goodnight to things likethe birds and the bees, the cars, trucks and planes, all the animals in the zoo, and the shadows in the park, before finally ending up at the child’s home and ending with one final rhyme “All is well in my small world, around my mother’s heart I’m curled”. The illustrations are sweet and Zyma enjoys pointing out various things (penguins crop up on several pages and there’s a dog, which makes her very happy – she loves dogs) and waving when she sees the little boy waving out the window. It’s reminiscent of Goodnight Moon but I find this one a little more interesting to read over and over again.

Right, I am going to leave this here now. There are other books I probably could have mentioned but it’s late and although I’m not at work tomorrow I still have to be up early to take the small one to nursery. So, on that note, and to shamelessly quote Debi Gliroi, Goodnight, goodnight to everyone.

What I read in January and February 2023

*Creeps in and clears throat sheepishly* Umm, hello. I didn’t realise it had been so long since my last post… I keep meaning to blog, but by the time I’ve worked in the morning and entertained a baby toddler (I guess I’m going to have to get used to calling her that) all afternoon, made her dinner, done her physiotherapy and got her ready for bed I can barely form a coherent sentence. Add to that the fact that this week has been maybe the third time this year that Z has had a full week at nursery and my poor little blog doesn’t stand a chance! I am here now, but I’m picking Zyma up in half an hour so we’ll see if I even manage to finish this post… Life updates and other stuff will follow. Maybe. I’m making no promises at this point 😉

I took the first week of January off work in case Zyma needed some time to get settled back into nursery. She ended up doing fine and wasn’t home ill for the entire week so I actually had a chance to get some reading done. (Then it all went downhill.) So in January I read 7 books, which is quite frankly amazing!

January Reads

Thirty Sunsets by Christine Hurley Deriso. For Forrest Shepherd, getting away to the family’s beach house is the best part of the summer. But this year, her holiday is ruined before it even starts when her mother invites Olivia, her brother’s obnoxious girlfriend, to join them. Forrest is convinced she knows what’s best for her brother… and it isn’t Olivia. But on their vacation, Forrest discovers that everyone has been keeping secrets from her. Maybe she doesn’t know her family as well as she thinks she does? And then there’s Scott, the first cute guy to ever hit on her… but could she be wrong about him, too? This book was extremely predictable. It was obvious (to me) what was going on with Olivia right from scene on the way to the beach house and the second Forrest overheard her parent’s argument I knew exactly what their secret was going to be. Also, as naive and inexperienced as Forrest was, Scott’s lines were so obviously creepy that I’m amazed anybody could fall for them. I kind of understood why Forrest didn’t like Olivia when she thought it was her fault her brother had changed all his plans, but her claims that she hadn’t liked her even before that were… weird. She acted like Olivia was a total bully because she gave her a funny look once (that it turned out Forrest had totally misinterpreted) and laughed when Forrest thought Olivia’s mum was her sister? Weird! I did basically like Forrest though and the book was fine. 2.5 stars.

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran. Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and Layla, and she hopes that in Ballinacroagh, a land of “crazed sheep and dizzying roads,” they might finally find a home. Opening Babylon Café, right in the heart of town, they begin serving up traditional Persian dishes and soon the townsfolk is lured to the new premises by the tantalizing aroma of fresh herb kuku, lamb abgusht and elephant ear fritters, washed down with gallons of jasmine tea from the old samovar. But not everyone wlecomes the three sisters with open arms. The exotic smells coming from the cafe are an affront to the senses of Ballinacroagh’s uncrowned king, Thomas McGuire. After trying to buy the old pastry shop for years and failing, Thomas is enraged to find it occupied – and by foreigners, no less. And he’s not the only one who is less than impressed. But in the stand-up-comedian-turned-priest Father Fergal Mahoney, the gentle, lonely widow Estelle Delmonico, and the headstrong hairdresser Fiona Athey, the sisters find a merry band of supporters against the close-minded opposition of less welcoming villagers stuck in their ways. But the idyll is soon broken when the past rushes back to threaten the Amnipours once more, and the lives they left behind in revolution-era Iran bleed into the present. I had wanted to read this book for years, so I was very excited to find it in a free bookcase. As it turned out, it was fine. The writing style is kind of annoying – it’s like the author took a creative writing course, heard about adjectives and alliteration and proceeded to scatter them throughout. The story itself is reasonably interesting. A lot of things happen that are resolved by the end of the chapter. The beginning hints at magical realism but then that seems to fizzle out. It reminded me a bit of Chocolat, but not as good. 2.5 stars.

The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison. Tanya has a secret. She can see fairies. But they’re not the fairies we imagine. These ones cast spells on her, rousing her from her sleep and propelling her out of bed. At her wit’s end with her daughter’s behaviour, Tanya’s mother sends her away to live with her grandmother at Elvesden Manor, a secluded countryside mansion on the outskirts of town. Convinced her grandmother hates her, Tanya is less than thrilled about her “banishment”. But then an old photograph leads her to an unsolved mystery. Fifty years ago a girl vanished in the woods nearby – a girl Tanya’s grandmother will not speak of. Fabian, the caretaker’s son, is tormented by the girl’s disappearance. His grandfather was the last person to see her alive, and has lived under suspicion ever since. Together, Tanya and Fabian decide to find the truth. Soon they are facing terrible danger. Could the manor’s sinister history be about to repeat itself? This is an enjoyable book that gets quite dark in places – the fairies are definitely not of the Tinkerbell variety! A couple of times the writing felt a little awkward – I felt like it wasn’t quite as polished as her later Pinch of Magic series – but I don’t think it was anything I would have noticed when I was the target age. Tanya and Fabian made a great team once they got over their differences and I loved Oberon the dog. 4 stars. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

The Land of Yesterday by K. A Reynolds. After Cecelia Dahl’s little brother, Celadon, dies tragically, his soul goes where all souls go: the Land of Yesterday. Now nothing in Cecelia’s world is as it should be. Her beloved house’s spirit is crumbling beyond repair, her father is imprisoned by sorrow, and worst of all, her grief-stricken mother abandons the land of the living to follow Celadon. It’s up to Cecelia to put her family back together, even if that means venturing into the dark and forbidden Land of Yesterday on her own. But as Cecilia braves a hot-air balloon commanded by two gnomes, a sea of daisies, and the Planet of Nightmares, it becomes clear that even if she finds her family, she might not be able to save them. And if she’s not careful, she might just become a lost soul herself, trapped forever in Yesterday. This is an interesting book – part whimsical, part gothic. The writing is really good but the world building could have been better. Some things confused me. Why does Cecelia have sentient hair and is she the only one? Does every house have a house spirit? There were obvious nods to Coraline and The Little Prince (the latter is even explicitly mentioned as a book Cecelia has read) but Coraline is a better book in my opinion. At times I felt like this one was trying too hard to be quotable or send a message. The story is good though and I got through it quickly, I just felt like it could do with some polishing. 3 stars.

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco (The Girl From the Well #1). A dead girl walks the streets. She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago. And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan. Because the boy has a terrifying secret – one that would just kill to get out. Creepy and interesting. I found the use of a Japanese legend really intriguing- I know nothing about Japanese ghost stories so that was something a bit different. And Okiku is a fantastic character. Some might find this a bit slow but I actually liked the way the tension built gradually. I think I would like to read the next book in the series – I’m interested to see where it goes next. 4 stars.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden. During the school holidays, Ellie and her friends decide to go on a camping trip in the Australian bush. On their return, they find things hideously wrong — their families are missing and their animals are dead. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in their town has been taken prisoner. As the reality of the situation hits them, they must make a decision — run and hide, give themselves up and be with their families, or fight back. This was a reread because I want to read the first six books again before finally reading book 7. It was obviously written to be part of a series so there’s no real conclusion to the story, but it’s a great start. I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time round. The only very minor criticism is that it hasn’t aged too well – it’s very clearly set in the 90s and I’m not sure how well today’s teenagers will be able to relate to that. 5 stars.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood – those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. There, before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess, and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard – a growing Red rebellion – even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays the only certainty is betrayal. I picked this up from a free bookcase for no other reason than I had heard of it. I thought it was fine. A little cliched, a little predictable but readable enough. 3 stars. I would probably read book 2 if I happened to find it for free again but wouldn’t spend actual money on it.

So, that was January. 7 books, of which 2 were by BIPOC/BAME authors.

(By the way, the answer to the above was no… I did not manage to finish this post before I had to pick Z up from nursery. I’m typing this part in the evening after putting her to bed.)

February Reads

Beloved by Toni Morrison. In the troubled years following the Civil War, the spirit of a murdered child haunts the Ohio home of a former slave. This angry, destructive ghost breaks mirrors, leaves its fingerprints in cake icing, and generally makes life difficult for Sethe and her family; nevertheless, the woman finds the haunting oddly comforting for the spirit is that of her own dead baby, never named, thought of only as Beloved. It took me took me quite a while to get into this book. There were parts in the middle and towards the end that sucked me in, but then it got weird again. I feel like it’s an important book to have read but not one I would pick up again. Maybe I’m just too stupid for it. 3 stars.

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3). The third and final book in this trilogy. Pip is about to head off to uinversity, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears? Soon the threats escalate and Pip realises that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars. The police refuse to act, so Pip has no choice but to find the suspect herself – otherwise she may end being the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle… and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears. I was not expecting how dark this book was or the major twist. Some things Pip did were way out of character for her – even considering the PTSD after the events in the other book. And I was very surprised that neither her parents nor Ravi noticed just how badly she was doing. I did really enjoy reading it even if some parts felt a little too unbelievable to me , but I preferred the first two books in the series. 4 stars.

Never Forget You by When Lili meets Ben by chance one hot summer’s day, it feels like fate. But life is about to take them in different directions, and so they agree to meet next July, in the beautiful hidden garden where they first laid eyes on each other. But one of them never shows up… Five years later, Ben still wonders how he got things so wrong – he let the love of his life slip between his fingers. And then a stranger, Alice, arrives in his tiny Scottish hometown. Alice has no memory of how she got there: she can’t remember anything before that morning. The only clue to her past is the silver bee necklace she wears – the very same one Ben bought for Lili that magical summer’s day. As Ben, Lili and Alice’s stories converge, so begins a beautiful and deeply emotional story of love, forgiveness and second chances. I thought this was going to be a light, fluffy book but it really isn’t. Lili’s story in particular is harrowing and my heart ached for her (trigger warning here for emotional abuse). I did find myself getting annoyed with her at points – if only she hadn’t been so stubborn/immediately jumped to the worst conclusion things could have been so different. Some of it was predictable and at times the sotry felt a little flat despite everything that was happening, so minus one star for that, but I would recommend it. 4 stars.

Three books in February then, one by a BIPOC/BAME author.

And that’s all from me for today. Hopefully I will get round to reviewing my march reads a bit sooner!