If you’re here, you probably quite like books so I’m not going to apologise for the bumper load of bookish SHOUTING you’re about to encounter…
Glitterland is yet more proof that Alexis Hall is physically incapable of writing a bad novel. I was wary of this one as I knew it handled some fairly heavy mental health stuff, but gosh he does it well. This is the most real and sensitive handling I’ve ever read of the difficult upward climb after a bout of severe mental ill-health. AND it’s a love story! AND there is a character from Essex who is both 100% annoying and 100% adorable and needs all the hugs.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto sits up there with Richard Osman’s novels as some of the best cosy crime currently being written. I fell utterly in love with Vera and the rabble of potential murderers/hurting people she gathers around her. There’s great food, found family, intrigue and mystery, and lots of tea.
Leeward by Katie Daysh is captivating. I’m not a boaty person, but that didn’t put a dampener on this lush story. Nightingale is such a beautifully broken main character who you will be rooting for from page one, and he’s surrounded by characters who you think you know, but then they go off and do the opposite of what you (and Nightingale) expect. There’s storms and battles, a slow burn love story, and wonderful asexual rep – great for fans of Natasha Pulley.
Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer is both beautiful and completely baffling. I scoffed at the reviews that struggled to describe it, and now I must scoff at myself. This is a book that you have to read to understand – and that will be time well spent. There’s grief and pain, healing and love, and a weird fluffy alien.
I read two of Lisa Kleypas’s novels this month – because they are so hecking good! These have filled the void that finishing all the Bridgerton novels left in my soul. If you want jolly historical romance with a mighty helping of swooning and steam, then these are the stories for you.
As always, read them all and we can be chums 😊
Anna Britton 