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  • Book Review: Dolores Claiborne

    Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. Dolores Claiborne tells the story of a sixty-six-year-old woman who has lived on Little Tall Island all her life. She may not have seen much of the world beyond the island, but she has certainly lived through some experiences. The novel is narrated by…

  • Book Review: Skeleton Crew

    Skeleton Crew by Stephen King. My rating: 4 of 5 stars. There’s no doubt that Stephen King is a master of his craft. Skeleton Crew is a collection of short stories written over seventeen years of his life, from just before he started college, aged eighteen, through to 1983, when he was in his mid…

  • Book Review: The Discomfort of Evening

    The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. My rating: 4 of 5 stars. The Discomfort of Evening is narrated by Jas, a ten year-old girl who lives on a dairy farm with her parents and siblings in a northern village in the Netherlands. Her brother dies after falling through ice while skating, and the…

  • Book Review: Normal People

    Normal People by Sally Rooney. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. Normal People is the story of Marianne and Connell who grow up in a small town in the west of Ireland. The novel covers their relationship over four years as they finish school and go on to study at Trinity College in Dublin. Reading…

  • Book Review: Friend Request

    Friend Request by Laura Marshall. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. Friend Request is the story of a woman who receives a Facebook friend request from a girl she used to know at school. A girl who died twenty-five years ago. As soon as I heard about this book, I knew I had to read…

  • Book Review: Last Orders

    Last Orders by Graham Swift. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. Last Orders is the story of a group of men who take a short road trip from London to Margate to dispose of the ashes of their lifelong friend, Jack Dodds, stopping off at various places on the way. The book makes extensive use…

  • Book Review: The Brotherhood

    The Brotherhood by Jerry B. Jenkins. My rating: 4 of 5 stars. The Brotherhood is the story of Boone Drake, an ambitious rookie cop who wants to take on the Chicago underworld, facing some tough personal challenges along the way. The first few lines of this novel grabbed me straight away. I knew it wasn’t…

  • Book Review: The Cement Garden

    The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. The Cement Garden is the dark story of four siblings who live together in a large house overlooked by tower blocks. First they have to deal with the death of their father, then their mother; then they do what they have to do…