Richard Llewellyn’s classic, How Green Was My Valley (1939) is a multi- layered book—a coming of age tale, a story of family and relationships, of life in a small mining town in Southern Wales, of simpler times gone by, of the unions, the conditions in which miners lived and worked, of tensions between the Welsh…
Book Review: The Guardian of Whispers (2023) by B. E. Padgett
My thanks to Booktasters for a review copy of this book. The first of a series of children’s/middle-grade fantasy books, the Guardian of Whispers by B. E. Padgett might have hints of Harry Potter but still makes for a very creative and enjoyable adventure. We are introduced to the Reed family, five children—Eugene, the twins…
Book Review: Sugar and Slate (2002) by Charlotte Williams #Dewithon23
My thanks to Parthian Books for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. Sugar and Slate, originally published in 2002, and now being republished by Parthian Books is academic and author Charlotte Williams’ memoir exploring her search for identity, belonging and home. Born to a White, Welsh mother, and Black Guyanese father, her mixed…
Shelf Control #219: The Final Adventures of Professor Shonku by Satyajit Ray
Wednesday, the 15th of March, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do is…
Book Review: My First Highland Cow by Melanie Mitchell
My thanks to Kelpies for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. My First Highland Cow is a cute little shape picture book which introduces little children to the highland cow, though the sweet Bonnie. With pretty illustrations and a single line of text per page, the reader is shown through the picture what…
February 2023 Reading Wrap Up
Since it's a third of the way into March, naturally its time for me to do my February wrap up (ha ha)! February was a rather mixed reading month--a mix of reading and then not reading very much except work stuff. I started off the month well ticking off book after book on the tentative…
Shelf Control #218: Arabella by Georgette Heyer
Wednesday, the 8th of March, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do is…
Six Degrees of Separation: From Passages to The Black Tulip (March 2023)
Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme hosted by Kate at Books are My Favourite and Best. Inspired by the concept of 'six degrees of separation', originally set out in a short story by Frigyes Karinthy, which suggests that any two people in the world are connected through a chain of six or fewer…
Shelf Control #217: A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Wednesday, the 1st of March, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do is…
Book Review: Castle Richmond (1860) by Anthony Trollope
Castle Richmond (1960), one of Trollope’s standalone novels, is the story of two families―the Fitzgeralds of Castle Richmond of the title and the Desmonds of Desmond Court, set in the backdrop of the Irish famine. The story opens with Owen Fizgerald, a cousin of the Castle Richmond Fitzgeralds, falling in love with young Clara Desmond,…
Literary Potpourri 