This semester I took a class on the Iliad and related works. Reading Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad is something that I highly recommend, although I am not sure if I would have persisted on my own. Having class discussions added so much richness to this work.
The last read of the semester was The Song of Achilles. This is a gorgeous, brilliant and heartbreaking work that imagines the story of Achilles and Patroclus and the world around them. While Miller is clearly very familiar with the Iliad, in the early parts of this novel, she beautifully imagines how Patroclus and Achilles met and built their relationship.
As the book progresses, events familiar to those who have read the Iliad appear. There are innumerable characters from Homer in these pages. All I can say is that I was fervently hoping for a different version of events, even though I knew that would not happen. It is such a tribute to the author that I cared so passionately about these characters who lived millennia ago.
Anyone who likes historical fiction and the ancient Greeks will want to read this. I give this Orange Prize winner my full five stars.
The Librarians is the first book that I have read by Thomas who will now become one of my favorite authors. Her earlier books were historical mysteries, I think, while this one is contemporary.
There were many things that I loved about this title. Scenes set in libraries appeal to me most definitely. I also very much enjoyed getting to know the four main characters and their backstories.
Readers meet Astrid, who has hidden something about her identity; Hazel, who has left behind a tricky past involving her husband; Sophie, who did something that she should not have but had reasons for it; and last, Jonathan who has taken time to accept his identity.
When two murders occur, there are complex links and actions binding these four librarians to one another. Who killed a man who ghosted Astrid only to reappear? Why was a woman who came to an evening event at the library found murdered that very night? What is it like for characters when people from their pasts reappear? Finding out will keep readers turning the pages.
Spending time in this book’s worlds (Austin, Singapore, Madeira), with its characters, and in its timeline made for a very fun read.
I am eager to see what Ms. Thomas does next.
Kirkus Reviews states: “This knockout mystery mixes the camaraderie of The Thursday Murder Club with the chic family and romantic drama of Crazy Rich Asians. Thomas’ virtuosity shows in this fast-paced and intricate yet emotionally moving mystery.” True.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.
I’ve been thinking about how to best write about this book by first time author Jess Montgomery. First time author! Wow, Ms. Montgomery writes like an experienced novelist as she effectively creates a place, characters and narrative tension. She has written what I consider to be a truly excellent debut novel.
The Widows are Lily and Marvena, each of whom has children, has lost a husband and is trying not to lose her way. Life in Bronwyn County, Ohio for them and those they love, following WWI is full of hardship. Coal is king and a harsh master. Poverty and company scrip rule many lives.
In this world, Marvena and her common law husband John have worked to organize the miners. This is a freighted and difficult task given the strong arm tactics of the mine owners. Pinkertons are brought in to quell resistance. Other outsiders try to dominate illegal moonshine businesses.
On the surface, Lily’s life looks better. She is married to Sheriff Daniel Ross, a former boxer and half brother to the mine owner. However, early in the novel, Daniel is killed. The circumstances surrounding his death are a central mystery in the novel.
Both Marvena and Lily have relationship history with Daniel. Each realizes that she did not fully know him. As they come to know one another, Lily and Marvena come to also know themselves.
Peopled with many additional characters that come vividly to life, this novel is engaging, realistic and compelling. Put it on your TBR pile for January when it will be released. I recommend this one very highly.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin’s Minotaur for this fantastic read!
Just looking at the cover of this book makes me want to make a cup of tea and sit down for a heartwarming read. Christmas, books, a romance-these are the perfect ingredients for a seasonal story and this one was quite enjoyable.
Recommended to those who want a light read and a bit of escape from the holiday madness.
Fans of this title can also look for The Back of Beyond Book Club by Britnell.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Joffee Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 22 October 2025
Post first published on 09 December 2025
Description:
from the publisher
❄️Enemies-to-lovers
❄️Christmas romance
❄️Small town
❄️Workplace romance
❄️Forced proximity
❄️Friend’s brother
❄️Single parent
’Tis the season for second chances — and unexpected chapters . . .
Tamara Pascoe has spent years saving every penny and perfecting her baking in the hopes of opening her own café in the cosy Cornish village of Penworthal. But when she loses her job, her long-held dream is suddenly out of reach.
To make matters worse, her perfect café location is snapped up by newcomer Gage Bennet — a brooding ex-Marine with plans to open a bookshop.
Gage has no time for pleasantries, let alone Christmas spirit. But he didn’t count on Tamara — sharp, stubborn and full of festive cheer.
Tamara is impossible to ignore, and when the village book club throws them together, Gage realises they might just be able to help one another. Tamara needs a job. He needs help connecting with the community.
Striking a reluctant truce, Tamara and Gage’s frosty beginning starts to melt as they bond over their shared love of books.
As snow begins to fall and the fairy lights go up, could a little Cornish book club help two opposites write their own happily ever after?
This winter, curl up with this warm and uplifting festive romance, brimming with books, baking and second chances. Perfect for fans of Heidi Swain, Jenny Colgan, Cressida McLaughlin, Emma Bennet, Sarah Morgan or Philippa Ashley.
What the author says:
Hello readers,
My passion for writing uplifting transatlantic romances comes from growing up in Cornwall and meeting my wonderful American husband, so they are always written from the heart. I hope my readers enjoy losing themselves in the joys and troubles of my characters as they navigate the challenges of life and love — knowing, of course, that I’ll always give them the happy-ever-after they deserve.
Happy reading!
Angela
About the author:
About the Author:
from Amazon
Angela was born in St. Stephen, Cornwall, England. After completing her A-Levels she worked as a Naval Secretary. She met her husband, a US Naval Flight Officer while being based at a small NATO Headquarters on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. They lived together in Denmark, Sicily, California, southern Maryland and London before settling in Tennessee. Angela took a creative writing course in 2000 and loved it so much that she has barely put her pen down since. She has had short stories and novels published in the US. Her debut novel, Sugar & Spice, won Choc Lit’s Search for an American Star competition and is her UK debut.
I have been following the adventures and relationship of Mary and Holmes since the very first title in this long running series. It is hard to believe that The Beekeeper’s Apprentice was published all the way back in 1994. When that title was released it was a refreshing addition to the Holmes canon. All these years later, with Knave of Diamonds, we are at book number nineteen and the series has stood up well.
This time Mary faces a dilemma when her Uncle Jake comes to see her. He has a rather shady background and wants Mary’s help. Offering that to him will put Mary in an uncomfortable position with Holmes. What will she choose to do?
This is a thoroughly enjoyable story. Those who like jewel thefts, good characters, fun plots and historical mysteries should definitely pick this one (and the series) up for some relaxing and entertaining reading.
Not every author can keep readers coming back for more but King does. I look forward to the next story about these characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Pub date: 10 June 2025
Post first published: 08 December 2025
Description:
from the publisher
Mary Russell’s allegiances are tested by the reappearance of her long-lost uncle—and a tantalizing case not even Sherlock Holmes could solve.
When Mary Russell was a child, she adored her black sheep Uncle Jake. But she hasn’t heard from him in many years, and she assumed that his ne’er-do-well ways had brought him to a bad end somewhere—until he presents himself at her Sussex door. Yes, Jake is back, and with a load of problems for his clever niece. Not the least of which is the reason the family rejected him in the first place: He was involved—somehow—in the infamous disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from an impregnable safe in Dublin Castle.
It was a theft that shook a government, enraged a king, threatened the English establishment—and baffled not only the Dublin police and Scotland Yard, but Sherlock Holmes himself. And, now, Jake expects Russell to step into the middle of it all? To slip away with him, not telling Holmes what she’s up to? Knowing that the theft—unsolved, hushed-up, scandalous—must have involved Mycroft Holmes as well?
Naturally, she can do nothing of the sort. Siding with her uncle, even briefly, could only place her in opposition to both her husband-partner and his secretive and powerful brother. She has to tell Jake no.
On the other hand, this is Jake—her father’s kid brother, her childhood hero, the beloved and long-lost survivor of a much-diminished family.
Conflicting loyalties and international secrets, blatant lies and blithe deceptions: sounds like another case for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.
How it starts:
“Russell
Damian’s wedding was proving something of a contrast to my own.
Holmes and I had wed by night, slipping like thieves into his family’s country-house chapel on a cold winter’s eve, holding our festivities with a few cherished friends while the house’s current master was away. Appropriate, perhaps, considering the participants, but hardly boisterous.
This nuptial was halfway to riotous, a gay, tipsy crowd beneath the genial sun of a late-summer’s afternoon, with half the artists of Paris and most of the village’s residents merrily jostling elbows and glasses. Francis Picabia and Gerald Murphy had cornered the village blacksmith and seemed to be discussing anvils. Sara Murphy was writing down the recipe for one of the dishes in Mme LaRue’s open-air banquet. Pablo Picasso’s intense eyes were drilling into the unfortunately damaged face of the village postmistress, making her giggle nervously. At the far end of the garden, a jazz band was setting up while two dark-skinned American women—one a Paris nightclub owner, the other a recently-arrived chorus girl—walked through some moves the dancer had brought with her from New York.”
The author:
from Amazon
New York Times bestselling crime writer Laurie R. King writes both series and standalone novels. For a complete list of her books in order, please visit http://www.laurierking.com/books/complete-book-list
In the Mary Russell series (first entry: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice), fifteen-year-old Russell meets Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs in 1915, becoming his apprentice, then his partner. The series follows their amiably contentious partnership into the 1920s as they challenge each other to ever greater feats of detection. For a complete list of the Mary Russell books in order, click here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJLA42C/kindle/ref=sr_bookseries_null_B00CJLA42C.
The Kate Martinelli series, starting with A Grave Talent, concerns a San Francisco homicide inspector, her SFPD partner, and her life partner. In the course of the series, Kate encounters a female Rembrandt, a modern-day Holy Fool, two difficult teenagers, a manifestation of the goddess Kali and an eighty-year-old manuscript concerning Sherlock Holmes.
The Stuyvesant and Gray books feature Harris Stuyvesant, a Bureau of Investigation agent who finds himself far out of his depth, first in England during the 1926 General Strike (Touchstone), then in Paris during the sweltering confusion of September, 1929 (The Bones of Paris).
King also has written stand-alone novels–A Darker Place as well as two loosely linked novels, Folly and Keeping Watch–and a science fiction novel, Califia’s Daughters, under the pseudonym Leigh Richards.
King grew up reading her way through libraries like a termite through balsa before going on to become a mother, builder, world traveler, and theologian.
She has now settled into a genteel life of crime, back in her native northern California. She has a secondary residence in cyberspace, where she enjoys meeting readers in her Virtual Book Club and on her blog.
King has won the Edgar and Creasey awards (for A Grave Talent), the Nero (for A Monstrous Regiment of Women) and the MacCavity (for Folly); her nominations include the Agatha, the Orange, the Barry, and two more Edgars. She was also given an honorary doctorate from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
Check out King’s website, http://laurierking.com/, and follow the links to her blog and Virtual Book Club, featuring monthly discussions of her work, with regular visits from the author herself. And for regular LRK updates, follow the link to sign up for her email newsletter.
Ink and Shadows is the fourth entry in Ellery Adams’s Secret, Book, and Scone Society series. I have enjoyed all of the books and recommend them. They are, perhaps, best read in order although the author gives enough back story for a new reader to quickly catch up.
Two things that I love about the series:
The main characters. Each of them has struggled in life and moved forward. Each has a particular love or talent that is given its due in the books. My favorite is Nora. She owns the bookstore of my fantasies; there are amazing themed displays, a full array of titles, good coffee and knowledgeable staff. There are nooks to sit in and children’s story hours. Plus, Nora is a bibliotherapist. This means that the novel is filled with good reading suggestions. Nora has her past struggles and guilts; she has a new relationship which is in trouble in this title.
Nora’s friends are all women with their own stories and talents. They include a baker, a woman skilled in massage and comfort and two other close friends. Each has a gift for friendship.
The setting. The small town is lovingly portrayed. It is cozy with farmer’s markets, festivals, artisan shops, good foods and the outdoors close by.
There are murders sullying the town. Both a daughter and her mother are dead. Is the cause their interest in a grimoire or is there another reason? Are their deaths tied to the commune that they lived on prior to coming to Miracle Springs?
The author takes on some social issues as well. There is a group of women who believe in censorship and want Nora’s Halloween store windows taken down. There are also comments on CBD.
Readers who want a slightly less than cozy, cozy take a look at this series. I am already looking forward to the next book!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
I picked this short (under 100 page) story when I was feeling a bit out of sorts. It did cheer me up.
Readers have to be willing to suspend disbelief but,if they do so, this is a fun read.
Tilly is no longer married and is facing some (temporary) housing issues. Her solution? Stay in one of the vacant properties that is on the books of the agency where she is employed. This works just fine until a tenant enters the house leaving Tilly and her dog fleeing to the attic.
This is how the stage has set for an enjoyable and witty holiday read. Since this is a seasonal story, readers can relax and enjoy waiting for the happy ending.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for this title. All opinions are my own.
Dear Mrs. Bird, the first novel that I read by this author, was a true favorite of mine as was her second novel, Yours Cheerfully. How thrilling to know that there will be another book about Emmy published soon. Even without the the benefit of this enjoyable sample, I would want to read this novel.
A J Pearce tells her stories with a light touch but one that also encompasses the difficulties of her characters and the world that they live in. Readers will root for Emmy and her friends as potential changes come to Women’s Friend. I will be marking my calendar for this title’s May 2023 release.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this sample. All opinions are my own.
The Blue Horse is the third entry in this series by Bruce Borgos. The first two books were titled The Bitter Past, and Shades of Mercy. I have not read either of these though I may now go back to them.
This is a story in which a lot (!) is happening. Much unravels following upon a planned horse roundup. There is murder. Also, there is lithium. To add to this, there are kids at risk who are on a wilderness trip.
Pick up this book to find out how each strand of this plot works out. Enjoy spending time with the characters and getting to know (or become reacquainted) with Sheriff Porter Beck and those around him. Also note the well described settings. All of these will offer a good use of some reading time.
This book will, I think, appeal to those who have enjoyed novels by Nevada Barr, as well as Paul Doiron and Craig Johnson.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press-Minotaur Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 08 July 2025
Post first published on 7 December 2025
Description:
from the publisher
An USA Today bestseller!
A controversial wild horse round-up in the high desert of Nevada results in two murders and too many suspects for Sheriff Porter Beck to deal with.
A helicopter driving a controversial round-up of wild horses suddenly crashes and the pilot is found to have been shot. Then the person coordinating the round-up for the Bureau of Land Management is savagely murdered, buried up to her neck and then trampled to death by the very same wild horses. And there’s no lack of suspects—with the wild horse advocacy group having sworn to protect the horse At Any Cost! Now the state and federal agencies are showing up looking for answers or at least a scapegoat.
Sheriff Porter Beck has had better days.
Porter Beck’s new girlfriend, Detective Charlie Blue Horse, arrives to help with the investigation, which leads them to Canadian Lithium mining operation near the round-up area that sets off Beck’s mental alarm bells. Brinley, Beck’s sister, is leading a group of troubled kids in a wilderness program, when one of them, Rafa, bolts one night. When Brinley catches up to him, they’re just outside the mine—in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
With his personal life in turmoil, too many suspects and too many secrets, the feds pushing for a quick resolution, and his impetuous (if skilled) sister in the mix, one wrong step could be deadly for Porter Beck.
About the Author:
from Amazon
BRUCE BORGOS lives and writes from the Nevada desert where he works hard every day to prove his high school guidance counselor had good instincts when he said “You’ll never be an astronaut.” He has a degree in political science which mostly served to dissuade him from a career in law while at the same time tormenting his wife with endless questions about how telephones work. When not writing, you can usually find him at the local wine store. He is the author of The Bitter Past
Imagine a small village. It has a very traditional bookshop that has been in one family for generations. It prides itself on being serious and is run by a Darcy like owner.
Imagine that a new bookshop opens and that it is right across the street. It is run by an Elizabeth Bennett like young woman. She stocks all of the genre books that a reader might dream about. She also offers many types of meetings and activities.
Imagine also that there is going to be a book event that these two may need to both embrace. And…imagine sparks flying in what is justifiably described as a “spicy” romance title.
Add to all of this, a collection of love notes from the traditionalist’s great grandfather and a mystery woman. They refer to each other as H and C-Wuthering Heights anyone? They add some intrigue to the plot.
Mix all of thesetogether to find an enjoyable read that will appeal to its intended audience. There may not be suspense but there most definitely is fun in these pages.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline for this title. All opinions are my own.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 