What Katie Read

I may be slightly biased about this book, having met Rosie Walsh and her being a fellow alumna from the University of Birmingham English department, but I really enjoyed this book and was very impressed.   I would call it a romantic mystery novel and it really did keep me guessing.   I therefore don’t want to say too much as this is a book I could really spoil for a first-time reader! All I’ll say is that Sarah, the central character, has fallen head-over-heels in love with Eddie, and he seems to feel the same way.   But then he is gone.   Disappeared.   Leaving Sarah to wonder, question, rage, doubt, obsess, despair, sob, and basically drive herself crazy trying to figure out what on earth happened. Sarah is a well-drawn realistic character and the whole plot is very plausible whilst at the same time being interesting and compelling.   I was gripped pretty much from the start.   I found it easy to read and the characters very engaging, b...

Hi, I’m Katie.  I have always been a voracious reader and am known among my friends for being a bookworm – a term that always makes me think of the very hungry caterpillar!  I am frequently asked for book recommendations and with the current situation people’s reading has increased, so I thought I would start this blog to help others discover some of the fantastic fiction I have been so enjoying.  I am slightly jealous of you as you get to read these amazing books for the very first time! I am generally a book-a-week kind of reader, but now that I am no longer having to commute to work combined with the evenings being lighter for longer, I am getting through more books than ever!   This is a slight problem for me with the libraries being closed – I used to make a trip to the library at least once a month – but I did manage to borrow 10 books just before they closed their doors.   I am a “traditional” reader, preferring actual paper books to ebooks, so h...

Having been amazed, captivated and astounded by The Night Circus , I was very excited for a second novel from Erin Morgenstern and was delighted when it did not disappoint me.   While it retains many of the same wonderful characteristics of magic, mysticism, fate and boundless love, The Starless Sea is very much its own unique story. This is a book about books, about reading and writing, storytelling and game playing, plots, story arcs, character choices, possibilities and the inevitability of history repeating itself.   It is a mystery, adventure, quest novel but in a whole other league and dimension. I am not going to even attempt to summarise the plot, as it would be almost impossible and would completely and absolutely ruin the book for a first-time reader.   So I will simply tell you that the story follows Zachary as he becomes embroiled in what is essentially a rescue mission.   Zachary, a postgraduate student studying video games, is possibly an...

I think this is an absolutely fantastic book, made even more impressive by the fact it is Joanna Glen’s debut novel.  It is a completely absorbing and compelling read.  At nearly 400 pages long I read it in one weekend.  I have recommended it to several people and just could not stop talking about it. The story centres on, and is told by, two different characters, Augusta and Parfait.  Every other chapter is written from their perspective and there is often a lovely mirroring of topic or phrase despite the vast differences and distance between them. The story begins when Augusta and Parfait are children.  Augusta has a twin sister Julia and lives in, and is suffocated by, English suburbia.  Parfait lives in Burundi, amidst the danger and devastation of civil war.  As the story progresses you learn about their families, their particular circumstances, their struggles, uncertainties and the life-changing decisions they make. One of the j...