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Thursday 29 February 2024

Reading Round-Up: January/February 2024

The Writing Greyhound bookshelves

It's time for my first reading round-up post of the year! With plenty of books on my shelves, I've been busy reading away to get 2024 off to a strong start for my annual reading challenge. Read on to check out everything that's been going on lately in my bookish world!

Sunday 31 December 2023

Reading Round-Up: November/December 2023

The Writing Greyhound book stack

It's the end of another year and time to say goodbye to 2023. However, that also means it's time for my last reading round-up of the year! 

In this post, I'll share the details of all the books that I've been reading, acquiring, and wishing for during November and December. Be warned though - not only has Christmas fallen in this month's post, but also the delayed YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention) was in November this year, so there's been plenty of bookish activity going on over these last few months.

Read on to find out more!

Wednesday 27 December 2023

Book Review: The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond by Louise Davidson

The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond by Louise Davidson cover

AD* | After a terrible tragedy, governess Julia Pearlie finds herself with no job, home, or references. When she’s offered a position as companion to Miss Olivia Richmond, her luck appears to be turning. But Mistcoate House is full of secrets.

Olivia has a sinister reputation. The locals call her the Mistcoate Witch, thanks to her tarot readings, and her insistence that she can speak to the dead. Her father, Dr Richmond, believes this to be girlish fantasy and is looking to Julia to put a stop to it.

Determined to prove herself and shake off her own murky history, Julia sets to work trying to help Olivia become a proper young lady. However, as she becomes a fixture at Mistcoate, it is soon clear that there may be more to Olivia’s stories than Dr Richmond would have Julia believe – not least because somehow, Olivia seems to know something of the darkness that Julia desperately hoped she had left behind.

As the danger grows, and the winter chill wraps around the dark woods surrounding Mistcoate, Julia will have to fight to uncover the truth, escape her past – and save herself.

Saturday 23 December 2023

Book Review: A Body in the Library by Jan Jones

A Body in the Library by Jan Jones book cover

AD* | An ordinary Monday morning in an ordinary Cambridgeshire village. What isn’t ordinary is the dead body in Calli Nelson’s village library. It is no one she knows, but her friend Gideon Frost has lived in Fencross Parva all his life and views any unpleasant goings-on within its boundaries as a personal challenge. Perhaps together they can solve the mystery of who killed the man, and why?

Monday 6 November 2023

Book Review: The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca book cover

AD* | Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; on-line posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution...