Emily Paull

2015 is not yet over, but there are people out there desperate for good Christmas reading material!  This list comes early to serve that good cause. I read very widely in 2015, trying out some new authors and genres, as well as getting excited to read new books by some of my favourite writers.  This list reflects those pleasant surprises I found along the way, and the omissions from it either reflect disappointments, lapses in memory or a busy schedule that hasn't allowed me to read as many books as I would have liked! Please note that it's too hard to rank these as they're quite different and I love them all for different reasons.  So in no particular order: 1. The Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante Picking a four book series is not cheating, okay?? 2. In the Quiet by Eliza Henry Jones 3. The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood 4. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert 5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 6. The Lake House b...

Gold Fame Citrus Claire Vaye Watkins Quercus 2015 (I own a copy courtesy the publisher) I have to admit, the first thing that drew me to this book is the amazing cover.  I am such a sucker for a beautiful book. The second thing that drew me in was hearing that the writer is the child of two members of the Manson family.  I don't know why that was enticing though, so don't ask... Claire Vaye Watkins is the award winning writer of short story collection Battleborn , which aside from sharing its name with an album by The Killers I know nothing about... but now that I have read Gold Fame Citrus I will definitely be checking it out.  Gold Fame Citrus is the story of Luz (pronounced Looz as far as I can tell) and Ray, who have stayed behind in California after most of the residents of that state have been evacuated due to vast environmental disaster.  There is a shortage of water, one which has caused a massive 'dune sea' to form, and those who survive out there ...

I read six books during October, and for once I have no excuse for not reaching ten, although the first three books were rather large as you will see in a moment.  After a month of rather dark reading material in September, I decided to start with something light, so I went to my favourite cheer-up author, Marian Keyes.  This month I also got to read a new book from one of my all time favourite writers (Kate Morton), and I read my very first Sarah Waters book.  It won't be my last. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes Funny, cheeky and peopled with interesting sorts, Marian Keyes was the perfect remedy to my dark month of reading in September. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters In the years between the wars, Frances and her mother are forced to take in paying guests in order to keep their family home.  The couple who move in are from a different class, and their presence introduces a new chaos to Frances's life. Sarah Waters was longlisted for...

Pretty Is Maggie Mitchell Orion 2015 (I own a copy courtesy of my mother's TBR pile... thanks Mummy!) I picked out Pretty Is as a gift for my mother, who is a voracious reader of crime and mystery novels, and has impeccable taste in these types of things... so it can be hard to find new authors for her to enjoy!   Pretty Is has been billeted as perfect for readers who enjoyed The Girl on the Train (which in turn was deemed perfect for fans of Gone Girl) but I think to compare this novel to either of those books, and in fact to compare them to each other is a mistake.  First of all, doing so ignores the fact that all three books are challenging the very genre of the crime/ thriller by questioning the very assumptions that it is built on.   Pretty Is  does this, first of all, by making the action take place more than 15 years after the crime is committed.  The story begins when Lois and Carly May, once victims of a bizarre kidnapping, are brought back toge...