Pictures and Conversations

The Ghost Garden by Emma Carroll

It's the summer of 1914 (so I'm already predisposed to read this book) when Fran's life takes a spooky turn. It starts when she hits…

Well, we're back to career novels with no plot here. The blurb doesn't even mention the main character or the setting. What it talks about…

You may remember that I posted an interview with Paul Dowswell the other week in which I mentioned his most recent book which has been…

Of its type this is one of the better books I've read recently. I collect career novels more for their social history than their plots…

I’ve known Paul Dowswell long enough to have forgotten exactly when we met. It was at an Edinburgh International Book Festival when I was chairing…

One hundred years ago to the day, the body of the Unknown Warrior was interred in Westminster Abbey. It is impossible for me to imagine…

To say that I was intrigued when I saw a copy of Two Young Missionaries by Nansi Pugh for sale is to put it mildly.…

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is one of the early Lord Peter Wimsey titles, written before Harriet Vane appeared on the horizon. It's my…

Julia Green's new book could be a story of our time; it is certainly one for our time. Without ever explicitly referring to any of…

Two fun picture books today, one featuring a polar bear and the other a penguin. Both are the work of author/illustrators. Engrossed in the big,…