The Ophelia Girls – Jane Healey   From a carefree summer following of a group of girls with a fascination with recreating Millais’ painting of Ophelia, to how things can take a sudden turn for the worse and the effects that

‘You Are Here’ is a really apt title as it really does get a grip on you and won’t let you go until the final page. It’s a book I still think about over a year after reading it for

Martin MacInnes, In Ascension (London: Atlantic Books, 2023), Second Floor 823.92/MAC  I picked this book up under the incorrect assumption that sci-fi offers escape from the stresses of daily life. Instead, I was sucked into an engaging 500-page novel full

Review of Circe by Madeleine Miller One of our personal favourites from Lucy’s recommendations for retellings of Greek myth , Circe is a captivating retelling of Homer’s Odyssey that tells the story of how Circe transforms a woman into a

Getting Things Done: the art of stress-free productivity by David Allen This book will change your life for the better. Probably. Getting Things Done (GTD) certainly made me feel much better and helped me sort stuff out. My office job

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson For a book of less than 200 pages, there is plenty to this story.   A tale of family dynamics, expectations and disappointments. How parents shape their children, and the effects of absence, loss

The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth By Phillip Pullman The second in Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust trilogy, this one is my favourite (out of two, as we’re still waiting for the third part). I read his original trilogy,

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood The Love Hypothesis was, ironically, an experimental reading for me. I am not usually a big fan of romance novels; However, with Valentine’s Day around the corner, I thought it would be an excellent

Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven is and will always be one of my favourite novels. It was a perspective-changing read that heavily impacted how I view apocalypse fiction and society. I

A Boy Called Christmas – Matt Haig You’re never too old for this magical Christmas tale by Matt Haig. Following Nikolas, a boy from Finland, as he uncovers the true story of Father Christmas and how to believe in the

Review of “How to Kill Your Family” by Bella Mackie Grace Bernard is currently languishing in Limehouse Prison for a murder she didn’t commit, which is ironic, given she decides to spend the time she is waiting on her appeal

Review of Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor The magnificent collection Kabu Kabu is a thrilling testament to Nnedi Okorafor as a writer of fiction, particularly short story fiction. Okorafor’s short stories test the bounds of the Sci-Fi genre through imaginative

5 Exciting New Fiction Books A round-up of some of the new and prize-winning fiction we’re most excited about. All available either from our Curl Up with a Good Book collection on the Ground Floor of Fountains or in our

Review of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Homegoing begins with two sisters born in different villages in Ghana and goes on to trace the lives of their descendants as they diverge and interweave across eight generations. It is painfully and painstakingly

Review of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro This novel is hauntingly bittersweet as it follows Kathy’s joys and disappointments in life as she learns to live with the confronting reality that her life or the lives of her

Review of The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré The voice of Adunni, the 14 year-old Nigerian girl, has stayed in my head since I finished this book. She is fiercely resilient, funny and inspiring as she confronts

Review of Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin I first became aware of Maupin’s gay classic Tales of the City after watching the recent TV adaptation on Netflix, which follows the original characters in to the present day. The

Review of The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker Pat Barker’s novel The Silence of the Girls is a rewriting of the Iliad, the Greek classic that tells the story of the Trojan war. In interviews, Barker has talked

Review of The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman If you have read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy you are guaranteed to love the prequel, La Belle Sauvage. The novel tells the story of the events

Review of One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston This month I have been enjoying ‘One Last Stop’ by Casey McQuiston.  The story focuses on a restless August as she moves to New York, trying to find a place to call

Review of Reputation by Lex Croucher Georgiana or ‘George’ is a heroine straight out of Austen, a young girl of middle class background staying with down-at-heel relatives for her first ‘season’. She falls in with upper-class Frances and her friends,