Published in paperback by Two Roads (Hackett), 2022 The motto of the American Library in Paris is “Atrum post bellum, ex libris lux” (“After the darkness of war, the light of books”) a...

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A House in the High Hills by Selina Scott Published by Ebury Press, 2010 Subtitled (on some editions) ‘Dreams and disasters of life in a Spanish farmhouse’, I feared yet another story in...

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Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus  Published by Penguin, 2022 I’ll start with a word I don’t use often: quirky. Elizabeth Zott is quirky – a scientist turned cooking show host. Calvin...

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Hunting Season by Andrea Camilleri Published by Picador in 2015 Best known for his Inspector Montalbano books, this is something quite different. It’s older than is usual for a book to review but,...

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Ballet Kids by Holly Sterling Published by Walker Books, 2022 The clue’s in the title. Suitable for 3-5 year old boys and girls who want to learn ballet but who aren’t quite sure what to...

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The Swimmer by Graham Norton Published by Coronet, 2022 After a several weeks of reading depressing, poorly written, unnecessarily detailed or cliched books, I was in need of one of the excellent Reading Agency’s Quick Reads series....

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The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kaesong Published by Picador 2021 This month you’ll note there’s a theme to my reading and reviewing: cats. Rintaro’s Grandpa has...

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