Category: Book Recommendations

Reading the Wolfson History Prize 2020 – A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to The Age of Revolution by Toby Green

A Fistful of Shells by Toby Green gives us a scrap book of snapshots of a West Africa a lot of us have never been told existed. Certainly for me who, quite arrogantly I now know, presumed to have a fairly good grip of world history was surprised as I read about stories that contained… Read More Reading the Wolfson History Prize 2020 – A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to The Age of Revolution by Toby Green

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Reading the shortlist of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

*Warning: There are spoilers in this one. Sorry but I just couldn’t help gushing about it* As soon as I heard about Hamnet I wanted to read it. As someone who has loved Shakespeare’s plays since childhood just hearing that I could read a story written about the writer and his son sparked my excitement.… Read More Reading the shortlist of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

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Debut Poets Dominate The Shortlist For The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2020

Celebrating the Prize’s 15th anniversary the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize recalls its namesake thanks to the dominance of young and experimental poets showcased on its shortlist each of whom are in the running for the £30,000 Prize. From Jay Bernard whose collection Surge addresses black radical British history against the backdrop of the Grenfell… Read More Debut Poets Dominate The Shortlist For The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2020

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Reading The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2020 Longlist: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is about Little Dog, his grandmother and mother. The novel is written as a letter from the son to mother, however it is never meant to be read by as she never learnt to read. The story wanders through their intertwined life stories. We see Lan, Little Dog’s grandmother, during… Read More Reading The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2020 Longlist: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

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Reading The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2020 Longlist: LOT by Bryan Washington

As a reader wanders through the pages of LOT they find themselves reading stories that allow them to glance a tender yet uncompromising vista of American neighbourhoods. Bryan Washington uses the back drop of Houston, Texas to beautifully capture the different shades of being that create the canopy of humanity within a city. You can… Read More Reading The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2020 Longlist: LOT by Bryan Washington

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What have you got on your book shelves?: Author J.T. Nicholas shares his top 10 sci-fi reads

Recently I reviewed the sci-fi novel Re-coil and loved it. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask the author, J.T. Nicholas to write a guest post for my blog. So what did I want to know? What are his top 10 sci-fi books of course! So here are his choices. Enjoy! It’s… Read More What have you got on your book shelves?: Author J.T. Nicholas shares his top 10 sci-fi reads

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Book Review: Recoil by J.T. Nicholas – Science fiction that will leave you pondering about all those big questions in life

The thing I love about science fiction is that it really makes you look in the mirror. It makes you question things that are going on in the world and things that you do every day that you may not ordinarily spare a second thought about. In Recoil, J.T. Nicholas makes you think about the… Read More Book Review: Recoil by J.T. Nicholas – Science fiction that will leave you pondering about all those big questions in life

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Book Review: Cursed – A wickedly evil enchanted anthology edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane

When our bodies are little and our minds are young they tell us these tales to warn us of the wicked things that might come… Historically, folk tales were used to stop us from getting ourselves in to trouble. We are told them as children to warn us about evil things that might crawl out… Read More Book Review: Cursed – A wickedly evil enchanted anthology edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane

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Book Review: The Golden Key by Marian Womack – A spooky Victorian mystery with a ghostly fairy tale glow

We all hear stories growing up that make us prick up our ears with curiosity. The spooky house at the end of the street or the disappearance of some much loved neighbour decades ago. These are local urban legends that in our adult life we start to question the truth behind. In The Golden Key,… Read More Book Review: The Golden Key by Marian Womack – A spooky Victorian mystery with a ghostly fairy tale glow

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Book Review: The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith – Hell hath no fury like a Librarian missing a book

I had a lot of fun reading The Library of the Unwritten. It is a tale of a library in hell and the souls that live within it. Within a few pages I found myself being dragged along the hallways of Hell in the wake of a truly formidable librarian called Claire on the hunt… Read More Book Review: The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith – Hell hath no fury like a Librarian missing a book

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