As this will be my last post until the new year, I wish all those who enjoy the blog a wonderful holiday and, if those in power don't wipe out the planet in the meantime, a new year full of mirth and merriment. So, my last blog of the year is the book 'THE ILLEGAL' …
Category: Books
THE BLACKTONGUE THIEF BY CHRISTOPHER BUEHLMAN
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, Tor Publishing 2021 - Introducing Kinch Na Shannack, a lowly member of the Takers Guild, born in that part of Buehlman’s fictional world where the inhabitants are distinguished by, and looked down on for, their black tongues. The Takers Guild is a collective of criminals that apprentice and supply …
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JENNY’S BOY BY WAYNE JOHNSTON
Jennie’s Boy - A Newfoundland Childhood by Wayne Johnston, Knopf, 2022 - Wayne Johnston has lived an unusual life, two portions of which he has now shared through his writing. In his earlier book, ‘The Mystery of Right and Wrong’ (reviewed July 21, 2022) Johnston explored the nature of evil using his late father-in-law as …
THE COVENANT OF WATER BY ABRAHAM VERGHESE
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, 2023 - This ‘Oprah’s book club choice’ novel is mostly focussed on three generations of a family starting in the early 1900’s. The setting is generally in the rural town of Parambil, located in the state of Kerala in the south western portion of India. For …
THE GERMAN MIDWIFE BY MANDY ROBOTHAM
The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham, HarperCollins, 2018 - Imagine a midwife, sometime in 1943, who has been sent to Ravensbruck (one of the notorious Nazi labor camps) not because she’s Jewish, but because she’s a politically unreliable German who provided services to the Jews in the ghetto. By 1944 she is forced to provide …
MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND BY HELEN SIMONSON
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson - Random House 2010 - Major Pettigrew retired to Rose Lodge, his home in the small English village of Edgcombe St. Mary. Edgcombe St. Mary is a typical English country village of its time, populated with people who consider themselves fortunate to be English, the superior beneficiaries …
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REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES BY SHELBY VAN PELT
REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES BY SHELBY VAN PELT, Ecco and HarperCollins, 2022 - Set in the Puget Sound area of Northern Washington state in the small fictional town of Sowell Bay, Remarkably Bright Creatures is a story about two lost souls being connected by Marcellus, a sixty pound giant Pacific octopus who has been trapped in …
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AUSTEN AT SEA BY NATALIE JENNER
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner - St. Martin’s Press, 2025 - Set in the American post-civil war era, the story revolves around two sets of American siblings, Henrietta and Charlotte Stevenson, the daughters of a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, and Nicholas and Hazlett Nelson, veterans of the civil war, who operate a rare bookshop …
WEYWARD BY EMILIA HART
Weyward by Emilia Hart, St. Martin’s Press - 2023 - Weyward is a novel with elements of fantasy that tells the story of three women, all connected in lineage, all with a supernatural connection to nature and who all lead lives that are impacted by violent men. The first is Altha, living in the early …
THE PHOENIX CROWN BY KATIE QUINN AND JANIE CHANG
THE PHOENIX CROWN by KATIE QUINN AND JANIE CHANG - HarperCollins, 2024 - Yes, I’m now moved and working my way through a mountain of boxes. The move left little time to reflect on Kanadoodle’s election so, rather than dwell on politics, I’ll recommend a good book instead - much more interesting… San Francisco. In …
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Richard's Left Bank 