Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts

Sunday, April 12, 2026

First Quarter Books

I've been really bad at reviewing books in the past couple of years. I may have mentioned that unless I write a review immediately, I get book amnesia and can't seem to remember character names and what happens once I've begun another book. However, I was good at doing a short summary on Insta last year so I figured I might share it here to serve as the review. 

January:

1.  Rani reports on the Tropical Island Treasure -  Gabrielle and Satish Shewhorak
2.  Bridget Vanderpuff and the great airship robbery - Martin J Stewart
3. Wild Food UK Foraging  Poacket Guide - Marlow Renton and and Eric Bigggane
4.  Kiki Kallira breaks a curse- Sanghu Maddana
5. Pablo and Splash (Time travelling penguins) Roman Holiday - Shena Dempsey

I read 5 books in January, a very low number for me. I started with Rani Reports which was brilliant fun and makes me want to visit Mauritius now! It's a sort of treasure hunt. Rani and her family are in Mauritius to visit family including her beloved Grandma who is her detecting sidekick (I love the fact that the generations are united!).  They discover details, buried in the garden, of a potential missing treasure from a pirate years ago but they need to find it before developers do!
 The Foraging Pocket Guide from Wild Food UK is a really helpful guide to edible and non-edible foods to find. I learnt of some new species and this will be very useful for future walks. The pictures were clear, I liked the details and consistent formating which shows you when to forage and useful identifiers.  It also shows dangerous species that you might confuse with edibles.
 Sheena Dempsey's Pablo and Splash, which I read before giving as a present, was so much fun and I know lots of children who would love this hilarious comic book style of writing. It's like a graphic novel with cartoons in colour. It's educational as well as fun as it teaches about ancient Rome!
The Bridget Vanderpuff book  took me a while to get into but I think the edible aspect of the book (Bridget lives and works in a cake shop/bakery) would very much appeal to the age group as well as the adventure and mystery.  A was dellighted to find a character called Didier in the book as I teach a child by that name so I was happy to show him his name in a story! 
Finally, I finished with the 2nd Kiki Kallira book which was beautifully written, adventurous as well as being full of heart. It mixes characters from Hindu mythology and epic books with a modern spin. I love the mixture of fantasy Mysore mixed with real Mysore details. Kiki is an appealing main character and I like her struggles with her mental health as these need to be talked about.


February:
6. The Seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
7.  The Dark is rising - Susan Cooper
8. Finding Audrey- Sophie Kinsella
9.  The Rose Field (Book of Dust) - Philip Pullman
10.  Return to Roar - Jenny MacLaughlin
11. Nine Night Mystery - Sharna Jackson

 I read 6 books in February. Sharna Jackson's Nine Night mystery kept me guessing to the end! A super mystery which I will definitely be recommending to my children. A party is held for a resident who is then dead the next morning.  The children set out to find how she died and who might have been responsible!  I very much enjoyed a reread of The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. As atmospheric as ever. I really feel the bitter weather when I read it and loved Will discovering his ancient powers!
 Return to Roar by Jenny McLaughin was a wonderful return to these fun characters in a fantasy land invented by two young children.  They fear the return of Crowky, an evil crow character who they thought they had vanquished in the last book. The Sophie Kinsella book Finding Audrey was great, very different from her previous books I read.  It deals with a girl who was horrendously bullied, learning to live a normal life again. The Stuart Turton  The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was gripping!  Our main character, who doesn't remember who they are, is trapped in a different body every day of seven days.  Their job is to deliver, to the Plague Doctor, a summary and reasons of who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle and why, if they are ever to escape.  This was a superbly imaginative time-travel spin on the classic closed circle whodunnit! I wondered how on earth it would end and I still have a feeling of horror when I think of The Footman, an evil character who is determined to stop the main character, for his own mysterious gain! Finally, the Rose Field by Philip Pullman was wonderful vast and far-reaching, a conclusion to his Book of Dust trilogy which serves as prequels and sequels to his original Dark Materials trilogy. However, just like the ending of His Dark Materials, I found the ending rushed and rather unsatisfactory which I'm a bit sad about. There are still a lot of unanswered questions!
 

 March:

12. Little Foxes - Michael Morpurgo
13.  The Music Shop -  Rachel Joyce
14.  The Good Thieves -Katherine Rundell
15. The Secret Detectives - Ella Risbridger
16.  Strange Star-Emma Carroll
17.  The Lost Magician  - Piers Torday
18. A stocking full of spies  - Robin Stevens
19. The World's biggest footprint - Rob and Tom Sears
20.  Nadia Islam on the record-  Adiba Jaigirdar
21.  Moon Juice - Kate Wakeling
23.  The tower at the end of time - Amy Sparkes

I read 11 books in March.  Little Foxes by Michael Morpurgo @michaelmorpurgo was a lovely book about a foster child who doesn't really ever fit in anywhere. He discovers a wasteland near his latest foster home and discovers swans and fox cubs who he takes care of. Oh, I missed Michael Morpurgo's stories! The relationship between animals and characters and nature is always wonderful!  Next, I read The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce, @rachelcjoyce_author borrowed from a friend. It's a wonderful story set in the 80's about a record shop owner with a dysfunctional past who heals people by recommending records to them. The power of music is beautifully explored here and community. I did worry about the ending and how it was going to end.  My second Katherine Rundell @katherine_rundell book, tells the story of a girl,  Vita, with a leg disability but an amazing aim, who has gone to New York to help her Grandpa who has been cheated out of his home by an awful man.  The exciting story, deals with how Vita and her new circus friends and pickpocket friend to try and steal back her grandpa's home! Such a great sense of outrage and putting right a wrong. 

Strange Star, by Emma Carroll @emcarrollauthor begins with a servant boy at hearing a strange story from a visitor who dies and is brought back to life Villa Diodati where Lord Byron and Mary Shelley and Mr Shelley are staying.  She tells of strange goings on with electricity back in her town in England where she was struck by lightning! I found this book really quite scary- a great sense of mystery, suspense and terror and Emma Carroll  is super at putting characters into famous historical fiction and weaving her own tale!  The Secret Detectives was a exciting story set on a Mail Ship from India in Victorian times.  Some children see someone pushed overboard at night but the next morning, when they try to find out who was murdered, it seems NO ONE is missing!!! This was exciting and intriguing! I very much enjoyed this mystery!

The Lost Magician was another corker @piers_torday by Piers Torday.  As I read it, I was reminded strongly of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It's deliberate- it's a homage to it but is brilliant and unique and reminds us about the power of reading and books! I enjoyed the latest Ministry of Unladylike Behaviour book  @redbreastedbird set at Bletchley.  Daisy's brother is implicated in a crime and there's a spy- it's up to May, Nuala and Eric to find the culprit- LOVED the denouement of this one which I SORT of got right! Nadia Islam on the record by @dibs_j taught me a lot about Ramadan and Bangladesh and I really enjoyed the insight in a fun way! The Tower at the end of time took me a while to get into but I very much relished the progression through the tower and the continuing Mystery of Nine! I keep returning to Kate Wakeling's @kate_wakeling poetry books for children- they are so imaginative and evocative.  The World's Biggest footprint is a great, funny look at our global footprint. It left me thinking about my eco-anxiety at times but with an overall sense of hope. I strongly recommend sharing this one with classes!



 
 



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Wednesday, January 21, 2026

The Big Book review of 2025

Here's my annual book post in which I share what I read during the year and the books I enjoyed the most.  It's very late posting this but better late than never!

  • Best book you read in 2025
The Game by Laurie R King is one of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes I read this year. There was so much that interested me in it. An evocative description of historic India and a real mystery and it kept me intrigued through out! It felt epic!
  • Children's fiction:
 Song of the Far Isles by Nicholas Barling was brilliant! I loved that it had music at its core and special instruments which the characters have as an intrinsic part of their life! I loved the evocative description of the setting of the book and there was a great twist in the story.
  • Crime fiction:
The Twyford Code, by Janice Hallett, was a real convoluted, extensively set up and planned crime and mystery book- it really kept me guessing and I really enjoyed seeing how it all panned out!
  • Classics
I borrowed South Riding by Winifred Holtby from my Mother In Law's bookshelf and was so impressed by it! It took me on a whole journey of emotions with the characters and gave a real sense of local council life half a century ago. Life seemed so gritty and I was genuinely astounded by a death in the story. I waited for the twist but it didn't come!
  • Non-fiction:
Oh dear, I did so well last year with my non-fiction but this year I only read TWO!  The Little Library Christmas, which the lovely Ang sent me, was a lovely cosy read which gave me some inspiration for cooking- there are some crackers I'd like to try making, for example!
  • YA and Dystopian fiction
The new Hunger Games book Sunrise on the Reaping tells the story of Katniss's mentor, Haymitch Abernathy and his own Hunger Games and gives a great insight into why he is the way he is! It was brilliant and devastating as is to be expected from this series! It wins best of both these categoeries.
  • Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2025
Salmon fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday was a book I picked up at the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm at the end of the Pennine Way. I hadn't been able to read a book for 3 days due to luggage constraints of the Pennine Way and was desperate for reading material and found this on their bookshelf. I wasn't sure what to expect of this book but it was wonderful.  Such a fantastic story and one I genuinely had no clue about it- what it was about, how it would end! 
  • Book you read in 2025 that you recommended most to others
Hmmm, hard to say as I am not sure I really recommended many of the books to others in particular. I would say that when children have come to borrow books from my music library, I have recommended the Eerie on Sea series by Thomas Taylor so I think perhaps, either Festergrimm or Mermedusa by Thomas Taylor, would fulfill that category.  The Songs of Magic series I also recommended to the Year 6 teacher as his DEAR time book too. (See below for details of that series)
  • Best series you discovered in 2025
SA Patrick's Songs of Magic trilogy which started with A darkness of Dragons - was superb! A wonderful world building based on a twist on the Pied Piper of Hamelin story, I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, promptly bought and read the next two books! I recommended the first one to the Year 6 teacher who was looking for a book to read with his class!
Also, Nevermoor- The trials of Morrigan Crow- Jessica Townsend.  I bought one of the books in a charity shop and I am definitely excited to read the rest of the series as it was so intriguing!
  • Favourite new author you discovered in 2025
James Nicol, who wrote The Spell Tailors, is my friend Suzy's cousin, and he is apparently as lovely as his books. 
  • Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love but didn't.  There are two for this category. I LIKED them but I thought I was going to like them much better. The piano at the station by Helen Ritter was a book I was excited to read but I found the chronology of the book a bit confusing and it wasn't quite what I expected. The piano at the station didn't feature as much as I thought it was going to and it felt like it wasn't so much of the book as I imagained. Zo and the forest of secrets by Alake Pilgrim was entertaining but there were a few things that just didn't make sense of match up and I just wasn't so convinced by it.
  • Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre to you.
Mates Arias - Lewis Buxton was a pamphlet of poetry. I like children's poetry and classic poetry but I've not read so much modern poetry by the hip sort of crowd you might meet at a Spoken Word night like my friend John runs. I won this book in an Emma Press competition and I found it beautiful!
  • Book you read in 2025 that you're most likely to read again in 2026.
I think, if I obtain anymore of the Morrigan Crow books, I'd read them again! 
  • Favourite book you read in 2025 from an author you read previously.
I read quite a few of Jasbinder Bilan's books last year and I loved all of them! I particularly liked Naeli and the Secret song,  about a young Indian violinist who journeys to England and also Nush and the Stolen Emerald!
  • Best book you read in 2025 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else
My Mother in Law bought me What you are looking for is in the library by Michiko Aoyama last Christmas and it was superb!!! It was so unexpected and beautiful and I am so glad I read it!
  • Favourite cover of a book in 2025
I loved the front cover of Secrets of a Sunstone by Piu Dasgupta
  • Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2025
I'm not sure if any of the books I read made a huge impact but I read a book called  Boom Boom by Jude Idada.  It was all about a child with Sickle Cell Anaemia. I didn't know anything about this illness and I felt really touched by this and what a painful and traumatising illness is this or can be and the importance of donors really struck me!
  • Book you can't BELIEVE you waited until 2025 to read.
I cannot believe it took me until 2025 to FINALLY read and pass on all the remaining Maisie Dobbs mysteries which I have had for so long!!!  They were superb!
  • Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it (a WTF moment, a epic revelation, a steamy kiss etc). Be careful of spoilers
I LOVED reading Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins - I am still longing to talk to someone about Haymitch's story!!!!
  • Favourite relationship from a book you read in 2025 (be it it romantic, friendship etc)
I loved the relationship between Audrey, the main character in  The letter with the golden stamp by Onjali Q Rauf, and the postman, Mo. He cares for her so much as much as he can in his capacity of postman but also the love that Audrey has for her Mum who she is a young carer for. She cares so much her mum that she sacrificed so many things she loves for her mum.
  • Most memorable character in a book you read in 2025
I reread Northanger Abbey this year and I STILL love Henry Tilney with ALL MY HEART!!! 
I also think Gervaise Fenn in Edmund Crispin's mysteries is hilarious!
  • Genre you read the most from 2025
It's no surprise that I read 50 children's fiction books this year so that wins my most read genre! 
  • Best 2025 debut
Rob Walton's Please Don't read the footnotes please, was a superbly hilarious and imaginative children's short story collection! I thought this was a really fun and quick read!
  • Book that was the most fun to read.
A welly full of Christmas by Attie Lime was a really fun children's poetry book to read during Advent. I think this would be a lovely read for a 5-9 year old, one poem every night of Advent so if you have a youngun in your life, do think about it for an Advent (e.g. early Christmas present) next year!
  • Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2025
The letter with the golden stamp by Onjali Q Rauf really made me cry. It's about a girl in Wales who is a young carer for her mum and her life is so difficult. Near the end, I absolutely howled when she was home and worried about her mum. It was a beautiful read.
  • Book you read in 2025 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out?
I don't really know much about how well books are received in the literary world but I loved The Mystery of the Colour Thief by Ewa Jozefkowicz. I've read 2 books by her now and I think they are super! She writes really well but I don't know anyone else who has read her books!
  • Total number of books read
I read 101 books this year. It's lower than last year but I am still pleased to have made it to 100 books!

The complete list of the books I read this year is here:

2025:
December:
90.  A welly full of Christmas - Attie Lime
91.  The voyage of Sam Singh- Gita Ralleigh
92.  The Christmas Carrolls -Mel Taylor-Bessant
93.  The little library  Christmas - Kate Young
94.  Christmas stories - Noel Streatfield
95.  The Snowman - Michael Morpurgo
96. The Mystery of the Colour Thief -Ewa Jozefkowicz
97. Death at the Terminus - Edward Marston
98. Secrets on the Shore - Katherine Woodfine
99. The snowy penguin - Holly Webb
100. The game I will never forget - Onjali Q. Rauf 
101. Mates Arias - Lewis Buxton 

November
80.  Secrets of the Snakestone - Piu Dasgupta
82.  South Riding- Winifred Holtby
83.  Sunrise on the reaping - Suzanne Collins
84.  The piano at the station - Helen Ritter
85.  Sophie takes to the skies- Katherine Woodfine
86. Bringing back Kay Kay - Dev Kothari
87. Nush and the stolen emerald - Jasbinder Bilan
88. Xanthe and the ruby crown - Jasbinder Bilan
89.  The letter with the golden stamp - Onjali Q Rauf

October:
74.  The Nowhere Emporium - Ross Mackenzie
75.  The Spell Tailors- James Nicol
76. Song of the Far Isles- Nicholas Barling
77.  A vanishing of Griffins -  S.A. Patrick
78. A thunder of monsters - S. A. Patrick 
79.  The Language of Bees- Laurie. R King.


September
69.  Asha and the Spirit Bird - Jasbinder Bilan
70.  The Game- Laurie R King
71. When life gives you mangoes... Kereen Getten
72. Naeli and the secret song- Jasbinder Bilan
73.  The Hatmakers- Tamzin Merchant

August:
56.  The Moor- Laurie R King
57.  Justice Hall - Laurie R King
58.  A darkness of Dragons - S.A. Patrick
59.  Heartstopper 1 - Alice Oseman
60.  Heartstopper 2 - Alice Oseman
61.  Heartstopper 3 - Alice Oseman
62.  Heartstopper 4 - Alice Oseman
63. Heartstopper 5 - Alice Oseman
64. Nevermoor- The trials of Morrigan Crow- Jessica Townsend
65.  None of this is true - Lisa Jewell
66.  Zo and the forest of secrets - Alake Pilgrim
67.  Please don't read the footnotes- Rob Walton
68.  Blue Jelly and raspberries- Attie Lime

July:
51.A monstrous regiment of women - Laurie R.King
52.A letter of Mary - Laurie R King
53.Mendelssohn is on the roof - Jiří Weil
54.Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
55.  The way past Winter- Kiran Millward Hargrave

June:  
46.  The deathless girls- Kiran Millward Hargrave
47.  Code Name Kingfisher - Liz Kessler
48. Journey to Munich - Jacqueline Winspear
49. In this grave hour - Jacqueline Winspear 
50.  The American agent  -- Jacqueline Winspear
May:
37.  A secret of birds and bone- Kiran Millward Hargrave
38.  The mapping of Love and death- Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs)
39.  The Midnight Guardians -  Ross Montgomery
40.  Ajay and the Mumbai Sun- Varsha Shah
41.  Rooftoppers- Katherine Rundell
42. Essex Folk Tales - Jan Williams
43. Elegy for Eddie - Jacqueline Winspear
44. Wishyouwas - Alexandre Page
45.  Grimwood -let the fur fly - Nadia Shireen
April:
26. Slaughter in the Sapperton Tunnel (The Railway detective) - Edward Marston - 
27. The Thames and Tide Club- The Secret City- Katya Balen
28. Messenger of truth- (Maisie Dobbs) Jacqueline Winspear
29.  An incomplete revenge- Jacqueline Winspear
30.  Salmon fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
31. Michael Rosen's A-Z of Children's poetry
32. The Circus train conspiracy (The Railway detective) - Edward Marston - 
33.  What you are looking for is in the library - Michiko Aoyama
34.  The Appeal- Janice Hallett
35. Super stories for Climate  Heroes- E.L. Norry
36.  Jacqueline Winspear - Among the Mad

March:
14.  Festergrimm- Thomas Taylor
15.  The Twyford Code- Janice Hallett
16. Elizabeth is missing- Emma Healey
17.  The case of the lighthouse intruder - Kereen Getten
19.  Too small Tola- Atinuke
20.  The eye of the horse Jamilla Gavin
21.  Mermedusa - Thomas Taylor
22.  The Boy who made monsters- Jenny Pearson
23.  Boom Boom -Jude Idada
24. The Case of the Haunted Wardrobe - Kereen Getten
25.  A message from Ukraine- Volodymyr Zelensky

February:
7.  The Vanished Half - Brit Bennett
8.  Swan Song- Edmund Crispin
9.  Buried for Pleasure- Edmund Crispin
10.  Julius Caesar- Andrew Matthews
11.  Ajay and the Jaipur Moon- Vasha Shah
12. The Midnight hour- Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder 
 13.  The wheel of Surya- Jamilla Gavin
January:
1. Hamnet  Maggie O'Farrell
2.  Escape to the River sea- Emma Carroll (after Eva Ibbotson)
3. The Case of the Gilded Fly -  Edmund Crispin
4.  The Moving Toyshop - Edmund Crispin
5.  Orbital - Samantha Harvey
6. Holy Disorders -Edmund Crispin


Here are the questions in case you wish to take part.
Here are the questions if you want to join in:

  • Best book you read in 2025
  • Children's fiction:
  • Crime fiction:
  • Classics
  • Non-fiction:
  • YA
  • Dystopian fiction
  • Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2025
  • Book you read in 2025 that you recommended most to others
  • Best series you discovered in 2025
  • Favourite new author you discovered in 2025
  • Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love but didn't.
  • Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre to you.
  • Book you read in 2025 that you're most likely to read again in 2026
  • Favourite book you read in 2025 from an author you read previously.
  • Best book you read in 2025 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else
  • Favourite cover of a book in 2025
  • Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2025
  • Book you can't BELIEVE you waited until 2025 to read.
  • Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it (a WTF moment, a epic revelation, a steamy kiss etc). Be careful of spoilers
  • Favourite relationship from a book you read in 2025 (be it it romantic, friendship etc)
  • Most memorable character in a book you read in 2025
  • Genre you read the most from 2025
  • Best 2025 debut
  • Book that was the most fun to read.
  • Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2025
  • Book you read in 2025 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out?
  • Total number of books read
Here are all my insta posts of my reads:


December:
October:
September:
August:
July: ?? June:
May:
April:
March: ?? February:
January:
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