Author: Libby Price

Book Review: A Month In The Country by J L Carr

Posted on by Libby Price

I have mentioned my love of ‘The Rest Is Entertainment’ podcast before, and recently read one of Marina’s book recommendations, and now it’s Richard’s turn. He recommended A Month In The Country when specifically short novels were being discussed – but has reiterated his love of the book subsequently. Here’s the blurb (although I have to say I didn’t read it – as ‘recommended by Richard Osnam’ was enough for me!):

“One summer, just after the Great War, Tom Birkin, a demobbed soldier, arrives in the village of Oxgodby. He has been invited to uncover and restore a medieval wall painting in the local church. At the same time, Charles Moon – a fellow damaged survivor of the war – has been asked to locate the grave of a village ancestor. As these two outsiders go about their work of recovery, they form a bond, but they also stir up long dormant passions within the village. What Berkin discovers here will stay with him for the rest of his life . . .”

This book is lovely – Richard was not wrong! It is written beautifully and is really evocative of the location and situations Birkin and Moon find themselves in They’ve clearly both had an awful time during the First World War and are now pursuing interesting new careers. Whilst quite serious in places – there were also really funny moments too. It felt like a comfortable, Sunday night escapist drama – with beautiful prose thrown in.

The supporting cast of characters in Oxgodby are fabulous – particular favourites are the Station Master’s family who really take Tom under their wing. The vicar’s wife is also intriguing.

I also like the fact that as Mr Osman said himself, if you recommend a short book and someone else doesn’t like it – it’s not the end of the world. (As I’ve definitely said before, some friends I don’t think will ever forgive me for my The Goldfinch recommendation…………..)

Book Review: The Protest by Rob Rinder

Posted on by Libby Price

When I saw Net Galley had the latest Rob Rinder book in the Adam Green series, I was delighted to be granted an advance review copy. I then realised I’d missed the second book in the series, The Suspect, so had to read that first! Here’s the blurb for book three:

“A world-famous artist. A fatal brush with death.
At a star-studded opening night for the Royal Academy’s celebration of renowned artist Max Bruce, someone is hiding a dark secret.
As the night reaches its climax and Max addresses his admirers, the occasion takes a shocking turn when a protester runs from the crowd and sprays the artist with blue paint.
Max collapses and it soon turns out that the paint was laced with cyanide. Someone has been plotting to kill him.
All evidence points to the protestor – and newly qualified barrister Adam Green is assigned the impossible task of their defence.
But could there be others who wanted Max dead?”

The book starts exactly as per the blurb – and again Rob has characters which you immediately recognise from popular culture (a nepo-son with a hot sauce brand remind you of anyone?!) The book also follows the skeleton of the previous books with Adam working on a high profile case, interweaved with another case – and I quite enjoyed the light and shade, or shade and shadier, that this brought to the book.

I felt that this time Adam’s Mum didn’t feature quite as much – which was a shame, as I love her!! But she’s always there in the back ground – and her phonecalls are classic.

This book would stand alone – but knowing the back story of all of the characters definitely adds to it – and it’s interesting to see how they all develop. It also emphasises just how overworked young barristers are.

There are lots of twists and turns in the book as the story progresses – some of which I have to confess guessing in advance (but that does make me feel smug and clever, so isn’t necessarily a bad thing!)

My one niggle is there were quite a few grammatical errors and odd inconsistencies – for example Adam quotes a text from his Mum and says why would she use 1 emoji when she could use 3 or 4 – but in the text he quoted, she’d only used 2! I suspect that this may be because I read an early proof copy – and some anal editor (my dream job!) will have picked these up before the book is actually published! And it didn’t detract from a great book.

The Protest was out a few days ago, so if you like the sound of it – or would like to reconnect with Adam Green from the previous books – then you can buy it right now!

Many thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for my advance review copy.

Book Review: The Accidental Soldier by Owain Mulligan

Posted on by Libby Price

I have mentioned before my love of the podcast The Rest Is Entertainment with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman. I enjoy their recommendations of entertainment delights that may not have previously hit my radar. In this instance, it was a book called The Accidental Soldier by Owain Mulligan – here’s some more information about it:

Book Description
A searingly honest and darkly funny account of what it was really like being in the British Army in Iraq (including all the bits they probably hoped you’d never find out).

About the Author
Born in London in 1982, Owain Mulligan grew up in the UK and Germany, read history at Oxford, followed by about eleven minutes as north London’s worst teacher before mobilisation with the Territorial Army for a tour of Iraq in 2006. He then spent 3 years in government service, before rejoining the Army in 2010 for 18 months’ language training and two tours of Afghanistan attached to UK Special Forces. He completed an MBA in 2014 and has spent the last 10 years as a management consultant. He lives in London with his wife and two children, who make Iraq and Afghanistan seem like an afternoon at the bowls.

Review
This book is absolutely incredible. It made me laugh more than any book in so many years. I found the writing just so unbelievably brilliant and hilarious and affecting. I realised it was brilliant within three or four pages. I am crazy about it as you can see! ― Marina Hyde

I loved it . . . relentlessly funny and really well written ― John Oliver

Authentic and compulsive ― Richard E. Grant

A fascinating insight into the often farcical chaos and catastrophe of war. Reads like a non-fiction Catch-22. Compelling, enlightening and bleakly funny. A jaw-dropping read. ― Matt Haig

An instant classic – a deeply funny and mordant book about war. ― Richard Curtis

In a time of global conflict, The Accidental Soldier catapults you into the heart of active duty. Terrifying, exhilarating, life-shattering and profoundly sobering, Mulligan takes you through the clumsy brutality and “raging bin-fire” of war, witnessing the quiet heroism of its foot soldiers. This book is a fitting and vital memorial to all those lost. I could not put it down. — Abi Morgan

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the start. It’s really well written – and in a self deprecating and amusing style from the off. The descriptions of life in Iraq are brilliant – and the camaraderie between the soldiers is great. A family member was also involved in similar tours – although not quite as front line – but it really brought it to life for me, and reminded me of things I’d forgotten (like complete radio silence when there had been a death, so that the family of the victim could be notified before it was accidentally revealed by someone else).

I loved the insights into regular Army vs Territorial Army life (in the acronyms beloved of the British Armed Services, the author was known as a STAB – Stupid Territorial Army B*stard!) and the way the showing / sharing of emotions were shown between the soldiers.

It was witty and warm – but equally very moving at times, and eloquently portrayed some of the frustrations of the people on the ground with the decision makers higher up the ranks.

I don’t often read non fiction – but am delighted Marina pointed me in the direction of this fabulous book.

Book Review: One August Night by Victoria Hislop

Posted on by Libby Price

When I posted my review of The Island, Victoria Hislop’s novel about Spinalonga, a couple of friends asked if I’d also read the sequel – One August Night. I hadn’t, but I’m very easily lead, so immediately bought it – and then saved it for when we were in Crete on holiday.

The view of Spinalonga from the village of Plaka

Here’s the blurb:

“25th August 1957. The island of Spinalonga closes its leper colony. And a moment of violence has devastating consequences.
When time stops dead for Maria Petrakis and her sister, Anna, two families splinter apart and, for the people of Plaka, the closure of Spinalonga is forever coloured with tragedy.
In the aftermath, the question of how to resume life looms large. Stigma and scandal need to be confronted and somehow, for those impacted, a future built from the ruins of the past.
Number one bestselling author Victoria Hislop returns to the world and characters she created in The Island – the award-winning novel that remains one of the biggest selling reading group novels of the century. It is finally time to be reunited with Anna, Maria, Manolis and Andreas in the weeks leading up to the evacuation of the island… and beyond.”

The sequel cleverly interweaves the final chapters of The Island – starting just as the leper colony is going to be disbanded – so you know some of the storyline already (but having said that, One August Night would work as a standalone book – but I would suggest you should read The Island first anyway!) I’d expected it to bridge the gap between the ‘present day’ and historic elements of The Island – but it’s actually only for a very short period, and doesn’t bring in the more recent characters at all. It focusses on Maria and Manolis and their supporting family and friends, old and new.

Maria has stayed locally – albeit just down the coast in Agios Nikolaos – whilst Manolis leaves immediately after that fateful August night – and his travels and subsequent new life are well described and evocative. The fall out from that evening is examined from all of the people it has affected, and it is really well written.

It was lovely to be reunited with all of the characters – and reading the book whilst being able to see Spinalonga from the hotel was amazing. We visited Spinalonga by boat one day, walked to Plaka another, and drove to Agios Nikoloas in torrential rain another day and Mum and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing both books brought to life. And obviously the rest of the family loved us sharing everything we knew!!

Book Review: Albion by Anna Hope

Posted on by Libby Price

“The Brooke family are gathering in their eighteenth-century ancestral home – twenty bedrooms of carved Sussex sandstone – to bury Philip: husband, father and the blinding sun around which they have all orbited for as long as they can remember.
Frannie, inheritor of a thousand acres of English countryside, has dreams of rewilding and returning the estate to nature: a last line of defence against the coming climate catastrophe. Milo envisages a treetop haven for the super-rich where, under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a new ruling class will be reborn. Each believes their father has given them his blessing, setting them on a collision course with each other.
Isa has long suspected that her father thought only of himself, and hopes to seek out her childhood love, who still lives on the estate, to discover whether it is her feelings for him that are creating the fault lines in her marriage.
And then there is Clara, who arrives in their midst from America, shrouded in secrets and bearing a truth that will fracture all the dreams on which they’ve built their lives.”

This book is a sweeping family drama, based in Sussex between the death and funeral of Philip Brooke – with flashbacks filling in the back story of all of the family and associated cast. I really wanted to enjoy this – but I have to say I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable and I found the story arc not incredibly thrilling. It’s also told from the point of view of many different characters – which felt somewhat disjointed.

I also found there were some really ‘preachy’ elements of the book – be that on environmental issues, historic slavery, inherited wealth. It’s been described as beautifully written in reviews – but it just didn’t pique my interest much at all. I persevered and read the whole book – but it just didn’t hit the mark for me at all.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for my advance review copy. If it sounds more of your bag than mine, it’s out now!

Book Review: The Island by Victoria Hislop

Posted on by Libby Price

Later on this year we are taking my parents to Greece to celebrate their respective 75th and 80th birthdays (one for each parent, we haven’t been waiting for 5 years!) Mum has been keen to go to Crete – and more specifically to visit Spinalonga. Pretty much every female friend I’ve mentioned this to has said ‘Oh, have you read The Island by Victoria Hislop?’ Now, Mum had – which is what had piqued her interest in visiting Spinalonga – The Island in question – in the first place, but I hadn’t – until now! Thanks to the kind loan of the paperback from a neighbour of my parents, I’ve joined the club. Here’s the blurb:

“On the brink of her own life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother’s past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more.
Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone’s throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga – Greece’s former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip…”

Whilst the book is top and tailed by Alexis’s story – the fundamental part of the book goes back in time to the 1930s and Eleni, Alexis’s great grandmother and her family. It is then a family saga over many years. The descriptions are wonderful and really evocative and you can totally imagine life both on Crete and over the narrow stretch of water on Spinalonga. Learning about how people with leprosy lived was incredibly interesting – and I really enjoyed that aspect. Real world events such as the Second World War are also interwoven throughout the book – and I found out recently how much Greece was part of the war in Europe (my grandfather in law was a prisoner in the Peloponnese in Greece at that time) I had thought of visiting Greece for Classics type history (and we’ve done Athens and Olympia for exactly this) – but this more recent history is equally interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book – and I’m now looking forward to our trip to Crete even more.

At this point I often thank publishers for copies of books – but in this instance, I’d like to thank my parents’ neighbour Wendy for letting me borrow her hard copy!

Book Review: Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Posted on by Libby Price

I have talked before on blog posts about my love of the podcast The Rest Is Entertainment with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman. Well, a few weeks ago Richard recommended some short books – and this, Orbital, was one of them. It won the 2024 Booker Prize – and I’m often put off books that have won prizes, a bit like Oscar winning films TBH – but decided to go with Richard’s recommendation. Here’s the blurb:

“A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.
Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction.
The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part – or protective – of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?”

I started reading this just as the astronauts Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore landed back on earth after their extended 9-month stay in space on the International Space Station (ISS) (a PROPER space trip, not a billionaire sending random women into the edges of space for 11 minutes or anything!) and I really felt I got an insight into life as an astronaut from this book in terms of their day to day routine, exercise, food – and the effect of living in space on the human body.

Whilst the book is set over 24 Earth hours, that encompasses 16 circling of the Earth – and you also learn a lot of the back story of each of the astronauts / cosmonauts during the storyline.

It is beautifully written and really thought provoking. It’s incredibly different too (but in a good way, not in a Goldfinch way – I’m still sorry to various friends for that!) – but also, as Mr Osman pointed out, if you recommend people a short book and they don’t like it – you haven’t wasted too much of their time!

Book Review: The Penthouse by Catherine Cooper

Posted on by Libby Price

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Catherine Cooper’s previous books, so was pleased to be granted an advance review copy of her new book The Penthouse from Net Galley.

Here’s the blurb:

“Beneath the glamour dark secrets lurk.
World famous singer Enola had it all – fame, fortune, and a breathtaking penthouse view. Then she vanished without a trace, leaving the band’s careers in ruins.
Fifteen years on, the remaining members are reuniting for a series of concerts in Las Vegas. But when mysterious accidents plague them, some start to wonder if Enola is back for revenge.
What happened all those years ago – and who really knows the truth?”

The book is told in 2 timelines – back in the early 2000s when there’s been an X Factor / Pop Idol type competition with a girl band (Breathe) and boy band (This Way Up) and they become entwined. Then Enola suddenly goes missing and no one knows what has happened to her. Then there’s a current timeline when the 2 remaining members of the bands are doing a money spinning come back show in Vegas which appears to be cursed. There were characters throughout the book that you could imagine being real (a Simon Cowell style manager for example).

As well as being told by the band members – you also have the points of view of other supporting characters such as Enola’s Mum (who lived out her fame hungry ways through her daughter) and an obsessive Enola fan.

There are lots of twists and turns – as you’d expect from a Catherine Cooper book – and it’s not immediately obvious why the book is called The Penthouse in the first place!

I have to say I devoured the book in one day whilst ‘holding the bags’ at Alton Towers, and the short chapters were perfect for picking up and putting down whilst walking between rides.

It came out yesterday, so if you like the sound of it you can have it right away! Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for my ARC.

Book Review: Table for One by Emma Gannon

Posted on by Libby Price

Having enjoyed Emma Gannon’s previous book Olive (which frighteningly was almost 5 years ago!) I request an advance review copy of her book ‘Table for One’ from Net Galley. Here’s the blurb:

“Willow has everything worked out.
*The steady partner
*The successful career
*The grown-up house
Until she doesn’t – and she’s cast adrift on the sea of heartbreak, grieving a future with no clear path.
With her life transformed beyond recognition, and her friends busy ‘moving forwards’, Willow has never felt more alone.
But she’s in good company.
And when inspiration arrives from an unlikely source, she rekindles the relationship she longs for – but has long neglected… The one with herself…“

At the start of the book Willow is living and working with her boyfriend Dom. I have to say he comes across as a complete dick from very early on – and Willow being dumped by him should (and eventually is) the making of her.

Willow doesn’t really seem to have a depth of friendships with people – even though she’s been friends with them a long time (weirdly I remember this from Olive too – which makes me wonder if the author has been burnt by ‘friends’ in the past?)

Then Willow is given a writing assignment by a previous employer – to write about her seemingly ‘smug married’ life (she has neglected to mention she’s single again) compared to Naz, an influencer who’s USP is that she’s happily single by choice. Willow and Naz do get to know each other – and Willow is let behind the social media curtain that Naz lives through.

The one constant in Willow’s life is her Aunt Carla, who has been a mother figure to her for a very long time. Their relationship was really lovely – and I think Carla was my favourite character in the whole book.

Overall the book shows that Willow needs to be happy and content in herself, not just with the expected accoutrements of a 30 something life. I though the ending was really clever – as if Willow was sitting down to write this exact book!

I enjoyed this – and thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for my ARC.

Book Review: The Suspect by Rob Rinder

Posted on by Libby Price

I was lucky enough to be granted an advance review copy of Rob Rinder’s debut novel ‘The Trial‘ a couple of years ago – and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was then given an advance review copy of his book coming out later this year, The Protest, at which point I realised I’d missed book two. As it’s a series, and I loved Adam Green in the first book, I parted with hard cash for the middle book, and second in the series, The Suspect. Here’s the blurb:

“When the UK’s favourite breakfast TV presenter dies live on air in front of millions of viewers, the nation is left devastated.
More devastated still when it becomes clear that her death was not an accident.
The evidence points to one culprit: celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks. But junior barrister Adam Green is about to discover that the case is not as open-and-shut as it first seemed.
And although her angelic persona would suggest otherwise, she was not short of enemies in the glittery TV world . . .
Can Adam uncover the truth?”

In my review of The Trial, I commented that Rob Rinder had ‘written what he knows’ by making Adam a Jewish trainee barrister – well, Rob has now combined his second career with his first – to double down on this – with daytime TV now featuring too! Whilst this would probably stand alone as a ‘whodunnit’ – I think it really helps to have read the first book in the series to have the background on lots of the characters.

The book really does seem like it’s an open and shut case – as the death of a TV presenter is witnessed on live TV – but you think that really it can’t be – as that would be a pretty dull book! This case is the main element – with other cases, and the lives of Adam and his chamber-mates intertwined, along with the phonecalls Adam has with his Mum (which were a favourite part of the first book too!)

Lots of the characters are ‘familiar’ from TV personalities we know and love – but tropes are tropes for a reason I guess! I enjoyed this element of it as it made it feel more real.

It was another twisty and turny storyline, with the intricacies of the UK legal system woven through, which you know are going to be legitimate because of Rob’s background. Overall I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the third instalment of Adam Green’s career later this summer.