My thanks to the author Michael E. McDevitt for a review copy of this book via Booktasters. Boris Goes to the Market is a delightful and gorgeously illustrated picture book which tells a tale of everyday adventure while also subtly conveying its message of the advantages of working with friends when in trouble! The second…
Book Review: The Black Cat Change Up: Ball Park Mysteries no 19 by David A. Kelly
My thanks to BooksGoSocial for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. The Black Cat Change Up is a cute, quick and very enjoyable little children’s mystery set around baseball (though one doesn’t need to know much about the game to enjoy the book) and in this case themes of superstition and cats (the…
Book Review: The Battle Cry of the Siamese Kitten (2022) by Philipp Schott
My thanks to ECW Press for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. The Battle Cry of the Siamese Kitten (2022) is the third volume of memoirs/anecdotes by German-born, Canadian veterinary doctor and writer, Dr Philipp Schott (I have previously read and reviewed the second volume, How to Examine a Wolverine, as well…
Book Review: The Grey King by Susan Cooper #TDiRS22
The fourth entry in The Dark is Rising sequence, and my final completed read of 2022, The Grey King, takes us to a completely new setting (as indicated at the end of Greenwitch)—Wales—and is rich in place, language and legend, besides Arthurian lore. From all the books in the series so far, this was the…
Book Review: The Black Cabinet by Patricia Wentworth #DeanStreetDecember
First published in 1925, The Black Cabinet is a standalone mystery/adventure by Patricia Wentworth, fast paced and entertaining as always, and my third entry for this year’s #DeanStreetDecember hosted by Liz at Adventures in Reading, Running and Working from Home. Young and beautiful Chloe Dane works at a dressmaker, Miss Allardyce’s in the small town…
Book Review: The Cat Who Caught a Killer by L. T. Shearer
My thanks to Pan Macmillan for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. The Cat Who Caught a Killer is a delightful, heart-warming and fun murder mystery (yes, I realise heart-warming and murder mystery don’t ordinarily go together) which just happens to feature not just a cat but a talking cat (and one who…
Book Review: Cat Family Christmas: A Lift the Flap Advent Book by Lucy Brownridge (author) and Eunyoung Seo (illustrator)
My thanks to Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for a review copy of this gorgeous book via Edelweiss. Cat Family Christmas: A Lift the Flap Advent Book, as the name suggests is a picture book that takes readers along as the cat family comprising Mommy and Daddy Cat and kittens Lupin, Bud, Sorrel, and Pip prepare…
Book Review: An Illustrated Collection of Nordic Animal Tales by Pirkko-Liisa Surojegin and translated by Jill G. Timbers
My thanks to Floris Books/Ingram Publishing Services for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Written and illustrated by Pirkko-Liisa Surojegin, An Illustrated Collection of Nordic Animal Tales is a collection of 26 animals stories based on Nordic, particularly Finnish folklore. Originally written in Finnish and published in 1997, this translation by Jill…
Book Review: Always Gardenia (2018) by Betsy Hanson
My thanks to the author Betsy Hanson for taking the trouble to mail copy of this book all the way to me (and a very lovely one it is), and also to Ali from Heavenali for putting me in touch with Betsy. Always Gardenia (2018) transports readers to the charming, gentle, and yet very real…
Book Review: The Legend of Sally Jones by Jakob Wegelius and translated by Peter Graves; illustrated by Jakob Wegelius
My thanks to Pushkin Press/Steerforth Press for a review copy of the book vie Edelweiss. Sally Jones is a gorilla (at times dressed in overalls) who serves with her friend the chief engineer aboard a ship, and moves comfortably among humans. In Wegelius’s The Murderer’s Ape, Sally must begin a harrowing quest when the Chief…
Literary Potpourri 