The Otters' Tale by Simon Cooper My rating: 5 of 5 stars In this fascinating book Simon Cooper tells his personal story about his observations of a family of otters. Although I was constantly reminded about Tarka in Henry Williamson’s book it did not spoil my enjoyment at all. I think I enjoyed this tale even more than Gavin Maxwell’s ‘Ring of Bright Water’ because the fine details that Cooper includes appeals to me more. There is tragedy and delight in equal measure despite the odd touches of obvious fiction throughout the narrative. It is well written with some memorable descriptions of th ..read more

Strongbow's Wife: A Union Bathed in Blood by Frank Parker My rating: 4 of 5 stars I thought this was an excellent read from start to finish. There were some very impressive descriptions of landscape scenes and journeys across the sea to Wales. The author writes from a very believable viewpoint as Strongbow’s wife, Aoife. For example when she is still a young girl, and she notices the muscular oarsmen rowing their craft. The inclusion of expressions like ‘lambs leaped’ and ‘calves capered’ in a later section was quite lyrical in my opinion. Parker has a very pleasing writing style giving this ..read more

All Ora: The Boiling Point by Sotto Voce My rating: 3 of 5 stars Having read and enjoyed the first book, ‘In Ora,’ I found it was essential reading for the first couple of chapters of this sequel. This is because, despite the short prequel, ‘To Ora,’ (which is confusingly called an Epilogue rather than the Prologue) the writing style throughout the book continues the reader’s confusion and dilemma, with its constant unclear changing of the various characters’ point of view. This was also a particular problem with the dialogue. The occasional inclusion of the phrase: ‘he said’ or ‘she said’ et ..read more

The Quarantine Drift: A Dystopian First Contact Science Fiction Novel by Erika LeClair My rating: 3 of 5 stars The story had me gripped from the beginning. It told of a future drought-ridden Earth that has become desperate for water. During a freak storm Carina, the main character, had heart-breaking tragedy happen to her. She then spends most of the book searching for her lost twin sister, and the truth behind alien domination through a powerful tech company, Genidex. My heart went out to Carina even more as the history of what happened to her as a child, in the ruthless clutches of Genidex ..read more

​www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CKS5SYTW?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs THE 5 NOVEL SERIES AS A KINDLE MAY BE PURCHASED FROM AMAZON FOR LESS THAN £6! YES! LESS THAN £6 FOR ALL 5 BOOKS: JUST CLICK ON THE LINK TO AMAZON UK A reminder about the 5 titles: The Quarry Bank Runaways Mules; Masters & Mud The Mule Spinners' Daughters Seeking Angels: Inspector Button Investigates Seeking Truth at Ardwick House: Inspector Button Investigates ..read more

Here is my short reply to those of you who asked me about writing book reviews. It is not definitive but merely some of my own thoughts. I can include something more in depth if anyone is interested. Let me know...  GJG guide to Writing Book Reviews NOTE: You can of course ignore the majority of the tips below and just select what suits you to write as much or as little as you want. Method A - I suggest using the following headings as a memory jogger: Characters (favourite? hateful? loveable? scary? etc) Story (made sense? gripping start/end?) Pace and Structure (too slow/fast?) Use of ..read more

Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves My rating: 4 of 5 stars As usual the author’s almost abrupt attitude towards her portrayal of the character of Vera Stanhope, makes no bones about her appearance and her method of interviewing people. She comes across as being a large woman, plain in appearance and very unstylishly dressed. She is still very fond of alcohol and often unpleasantly direct when asking questions of witnesses or suspects. We find her swimming lengths of a health club’s pool at the start of the story, due to her doctor’s advice about changing her lifestyle to one that is healthier. Whe ..read more

The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves I was quite surprised to find that Vera Stanhope does not appear in this book until about half-way through the story. Having been a fan of the TV series for some time it made much of the first half of the book somewhat tedious. The many characters with their various tales and points of view became quite difficult to follow, and I constantly had to turn many pages back to be sure how they figured in the overall plot. I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the book but it was a very long read for a crime thriller and I was relieved to come to the end. The end c ..read more

In Ora: The Land of the Superior by Sotto Voce My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was reminded at several points while reading ‘In Ora’ of George Orwell’s great dystopian novel ‘1984’ and its disturbing future scenarios. Sotto Voce’s book also had a strong element of romance throughout the story and I found the denouement particularly touching - unlike Orwell’s book. The author of ‘In Ora’ has an excellent way of expressing the relationship between Luke and Rui; such that I found I was rooting for them from the start, and desperate to find out how they eventually would fare. Luke had agreed to be a su ..read more

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was a fabulous read. That is, if it can ever be possible to enjoy a book so full of sadness, outrageous cruelty and unspeakable injustice to fellow human beings! But it is so well written, so well expressed by this accomplished and famed author. Even though it has taken me many years to build up the courage to read this novel – being so prepared as I was for its overly emotional content – I could not prevent shedding a tear at several points in the narrative. In the more cynical times of the 20th and 21st centuries such o ..read more