Following my 2023 reading statistics post, I’m back with part two of my 2023 wrap-up content – which means it’s time to gush about all the best books I read in the past year. Narrowing down a top 10 is a tricky enough task, never mind trying to rank the 10 books in question – so as always, I’m just listing them in chronological order of when I read them. Miss Austen by Gill Hornby This is a novel for all Jane Austen fans who have ever wondered why Cassandra Austen burned most of her sister’s correspondence. Gill Hornby’s proposed answer may only be fiction – but it made for a very satisfyin ..read more

We’re almost at the end of another year – and I don’t know about you, but one of my favourite things about the end of the year is reading and watching bookish creators’ end-of-year reading statistics! I used to track my reading on Goodreads, but for the past few years I’ve been using an Excel spreadsheet, because I’m a big old nerd. At the end of each year I create some charts for stats like my genre and format breakdown, which I normally do just for myself – but as it’s my first year back on the blog after my break, I thought this year it would be fun to create an infographic and share the st ..read more

Title: The Other Bennet Sister Author: Janice Hadlow Published: 9th January 2020 Pages: 672 Setting: Regency England When I first heard about a Pride and Prejudice retelling placing the least-liked Bennet sister at its centre, I was sceptical. When I realised that Janice Hadlow had devoted almost 700 whole pages to Mary Bennet, continuing beyond the events of Pride and Prejudice to give her a romance of her own, I was certain I’d be bored to tears. Then I saw all the glowing reviews from readers who found themselves emotionally moved by Mary’s story, fully investing themselves in Hadlow’s ..read more

The release of the All the Light We Cannot See miniseries on Netflix earlier this week has inevitably got everyone talking about Anthony Doerr’s bestselling 2015 book again. It may have been six years since I read it, but it’s definitely a book that left a lasting impression on me – and while I haven’t watched the miniseries yet, I can well remember the giant reading slump I was left in once I came to the end of the book. To help anyone who’s facing a similar slump (either from reading the book or watching the miniseries), I’ve compiled a list of recommended reads that I think are in some way ..read more

Title: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels (Dangerous Damsels #1) Author: India Holton Published: 15th June 2021 Pages: 324 Setting: Fantastical version of Victorian Britain How does the phrase ‘Terry Pratchett crossed with Bridgerton’ sound to you? If reading that makes you shudder, you might want to give this post a miss. Because if you’re to have any chance of enjoying the crazy reading experience that is The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, you must be prepared for nothing short of utterly bonkers. I’m talking Victorian lady pirates. A genteel society of lady pirates, who spen ..read more

Title: The Whalebone Theatre Author: Joanna Quinn Published: 9th June 2022 Pages: 560 Setting: 1919-1945 England It’s hard to really know where to begin this review, because I feel like The Whalebone Theatre somehow manages to be about three different books in one, and yet still holds together as a single, coherent narrative. A coming-of-age tale set largely at a crumbling Dorset country house from 1919-1945, this novel succeeds in capturing the magical atmosphere of a children’s classic like Ballet Shoes or I Capture the Castle, creating evocative descriptions of setting reminiscent of R ..read more

It is with a heavy heart that I have just turned the final page of Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson. This heaviness has nothing at all to do with the contents of the book – it is simply a result of the unavoidable fact that I have now read all 5 of Eva Ibbotson’s historical romances, and will never again experience the utter joy of reading one of them for the first time. I first discovered Eva Ibbotson by way of Booktuber Lucy Powrie (lucythereader) during the first months of the pandemic in 2020. Longtime readers of this blog will know that I am a big fan of Lucy’s channel, and have found several ..read more

Title: The Bird in the Bamboo Cage Author: Hazel Gaynor Published: 20th August 2020 Pages: 384 Setting: WWII China I want to begin this review by saying that I listened to The Bird in the Bamboo Cage on audiobook – and if you’re someone who enjoys listening to audiobooks, I would definitely recommend reading this book in audio format. Having listened to the phenomenal performances given by both narrators (Imogen Church and Rosie Jones), I couldn’t imagine experiencing the story any other way. The Bird in the Bamboo Cage is a quiet, compelling character study about human endurance and hope ..read more

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed an increasing trend in the publishing industry of re-releasing existing books in a myriad of new editions. While I am someone who has bought special or collector’s editions of some books, I also have some concerns and frustrations about the growing number of re-releases being churned out, which I want to share with you today. Cover Changes – An Important Marketing Strategy The rebranding and redesigning of book covers to reflect shifting marketing trends is hardly a new strategy in publishing. It makes sense to keep up with cover design trends, as the righ ..read more

Jane Austen is often cited as the originator of what we think of as the Romance Novel. Her books certainly inspired several of the popular tropes in today’s romance novels, including enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, and second-chance romance. Given that my brain is always at least 10% occupied with Austen-related thoughts, I often find myself drawing parallels between relationships in modern romance books and Jane Austen’s romantic pairings. The result is this blog post, in which I have a romance book recommendation inspired by the main romantic pairing in each of Jane Austen’s six novels ..read more