January Round - Up

 I don't normally do a monthly round up on my blog but why not?  This month saw a couple of library books, a readalong, a novel for a blog tour and the third mystery in a series I've enjoyed very much so far and the third crime novel from a writer I've enjoyed very much so far. 

I read Yellowface by R.F.Kuang and I was keen to explore Babel. Very different thematically but no less enjoyable. I think I preferred Babel because it felt more substantial conceptually. I borrowed it from the library. I'm a keen library user and now that I receive less in the way of proofs and arcs I borrow more books. But my library is under threat because of council spending cuts. I shall be bereft if it closes. I urge any reader, anyone one who truly loves books, to support their local libraries. 

To The Dogs is an immersive thriller. I'd loved The Cutting Room and Second Cut so I was really excited to read this and it didn't disappoint.

I won't say too much about New Gillion Street by Elliott J Harper in this post because its part of a blog tour next month but it's incredibly imaginative and creative.

Lost and Never Found by Simon Mason is the third in the Wilkins Mysteries, so called be case both detectives have the same surname! Yet they couldn't be more different. The story boasts a complex plot with plenty going on with the two cops both individually and collectively.

Paul Murray's The Bee Sting was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I found it a quite intense but immersive read. This family in chaos shuttle between humour and tragedy. 

Finally this month was a readalong from Canongate Books Ayobami Adebayo's A Spell of Good Things. I read her earlier novel Stay With Me last year and was equally absorbed by both books. I learnt so much about Nigerian culture and attitudes. I found it to be a very moving story. 

I'd like to thank my local library, Canongate Book, riverrun books, and Fly on the Wall Press for my gifted copies.