Maryom's Picks of the Year

 I'm starting with a rather obvious sort of choice; Hilary Mantel's Bring Up The Bodies, the 'sequel' to Wolf Hall and the continuing political machinations of Thomas Cromwell. Not everyone's cup of tea but I loved it!








Next - two very atmospheric and very different novels

Archipelago by Monique Roffey  - a hauntingly beautiful story of loss and recovery set against the backdrop of the Caribbean

 and
The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall  - a wonderful evocation of long, hot Hungarian summers mixed with long hidden family secrets









Two historical novels both asking the question How do you define family - by birth or by upbringing?

Ben Elton's family-history inspired Two Brothers


and ML Stedman's The Light Between Oceans










 Two crime novels;
 The Calling by Neil Cross - spin off from BBC's Luther series; hard-hitting and violent, a story that left me reeling.

and the marginally cosier (though not by much) Vanished by Liza Marklund








                                                    


Three books that I'll rather loosely label as 'local'

David Calcutt's re-telling of the traditional tales of Robin Hood




Steven Dunn's rather too close to home thriller, Deity






and Edward Hogan's The Hunger Trace

For teens, YA and anyone really  - Celia Rees' This Is Not Forgiveness 

 a compelling, disturbing read that I couldn't put down 

For younger readers, the magical Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable -  a wonderful, enthralling delight of a book set in an abandoned Russian palace in the depths of a snowy forest.

Winter Warmers by Carole Matthews

review by Maryom

A collection of three short stories brought together as a free Christmas download;
 All I Want for Christmas is You  - Maria is facing another year of Christmas parties without a boyfriend - essential for all those 'plus 1'  invites. Then a secret admirer starts leaving her gifts and poems...
Cold Turkey - Tara is facing a lonely Christmas as her married lover spends the holidays with his family, but an accidental meeting with someone in the same situation changes everything...
About Gardening  - a couple's relationship has grown dull and boring. Can they find a way to get back together?

There are a lot of free downloads to be found but this is one of the more enjoyable I've read this Christmas. Winter Warmers is a short but pleasant collection of romantic fiction. A lovely read if you're looking for something light and seasonal; a little predictable but not too sickly sweet. I'm not a great reader of romantic fiction and I must admit I hadn't actually read anything by Carole Matthews before I downloaded this but now think I should.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Hachette Digital
Genre - romantic fiction, short stories

Buy Winter Warmers: A Gift for you from Carole Matthews from Amazon

Lost Christmas by David Logan

Review by The Mole

Goose's parents are dead and he is living with his Grandma who is showing all the signs of Alzheimer's  disease. He has only his dog  Mutt and is living by his wits while earning a living by breaking and entering. Then Mutt goes missing and Goose is totally distraught! He is now more alone that he ever has been since the death of his parents on Christmas eve just one year ago. And then a stranger appears... a strange stranger. A stranger who knows nothing about himself but seems to know everything about everything.

Originally a film and later a book I have to admit to not having seen the film so I came to the book with no expectations. Many heralded this as an emotional book but to me it was a story very reminiscent of one of the ghosts of Scrooge. Why? I don't know except this 'ghost' of a stranger arrives to make Goose's life better after all this time. It was fun, it was certainly feel good and I always knew things were going to end up 'happy ever after' - it just felt like that was the whole point even as you started the first chapter.

A great fun light weight Christmas read that helps to set the atmosphere of Christmas.

Maryom's review of Lost Christmas

Publisher - Quercus
Genre - 10+

Buy Lost Christmas from Amazon

White Christmas by Emma Lee Potter

review by Maryom

Lizzie Foster may be a TV weather presenter but she doesn't care what the weather will be for Christmas - she's recently been dumped by her long-term boyfriend and is facing a dismal Christmas on her own. That is, until she meets Hal Benson, her opposite number at rival channel, Last Ditch TV. While Lizzie prides herself on being a serious, Met Office trained presenter, Hal is a 'resting' actor brought in to cover a staffing crisis, with no understanding beyond 'wet' or 'sunny', to deliver a light-hearted overview of the weather - ie the sort of presenter who really annoys Lizzie. Sometimes though, opposites attract. Will they this time? and who will win their bet on the possibility of a White Christmas?

White Christmas is a short and sweet seasonal romantic story of about 60 pages (190 kb on Kindle). For its size, it has a well-structured plot and real characters to love and hate. If you're looking for a light hearted and cheery read this Christmas, then this could be for you - you may even find time to read it in between the festivities (and chores) of Christmas!



Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Endeavour Press
Genre - adult romcom


Buy White Christmas from Amazon

Bird, Blood, Snow by Cynan Jones

review by Maryom

The original Peredur tale recounts the adventures of a youth bent on recognition as a knight in King Arthur's court. In true questing fashion, he defends maidens, defeats giants, and eventually overcomes the witches who have cursed him. In Blood, Bird, Snow, Seren's tenth in it's New Stories from the Mabinogion series, award-winning author Cynan Jones turns the tale into a modern Quixotian romp.

Peredur has been taken by his mother to live away from the housing estates in the hope of raising him away from the culture of gangs and violence that predominates there. Of course nowhere can remain isolated for ever and the arrival of a couple of kids on fancy bikes, inspires the young Peredur to customise his own and try to join their gang. His desperate attempts to impress them lead him to violence and brutality, and, despite the attempts of foster families and social services to channel his strength into more acceptable channels, he looks on track for an unhappy, extremely violent end.

In case you haven't discovered the series yet, Seren's New Stories from the Mabinogion series takes these ancient Welsh legends and folk tales and re-interprets them in a modern, or even futuristic, setting. Bird, Blood, Snow is an imaginative re-telling of the tale of Peredur, son of Efrawg, told through a journalist's notes and interviews, copies of police and psychiatric reports and newspaper cuttings. The reader is aware from the beginning that something horrific has occurred and is being investigated by the police, though we only discover what at the very end.  Whereas the original tale had Peredur as a hero, Jones' re-telling has him as a troublesome teenage thug. The qualities that made the medieval Peredur an heroic legend - his belligerence, aptitude for fighting, his persistence in the face of opposition - are out of place today and only lead to him into trouble. It made me wonder how many of Arthur's famous knights would feel comfortable in the modern, humdrum world; maybe they're best left in legends.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Seren Books
Genre - adult literary fiction, folk tales

Tombstoning by Doug Johnstone

review by Maryom

The last time David Lindsay was in his home town of Arbroath was 15 years ago, in the summer holidays after leaving school, for the funeral of one of his mates who fell off a cliff in mysterious circumstances. Now there's a school reunion planned and persuaded by Nicola Cruickshank - who he always fancied back in school  - David reluctantly agrees to go along. What should have been a fun weekend, meeting up with old mates, turns sour when the body of one of them is found at the bottom of the same cliffs. The common denominator to the deaths seems to be David - or maybe his reclusive ex-schoolmate Neil. While the police seem prepared to accept these deaths as accidents, David, like many a thriller hero, decides it's up to him to investigate further - fortunately he has Nicola to assist!

Tombstoning was Doug Johnstone's debut thriller published in 2006 by Penguin. I read it as a Kindle for PC copy - not the easiest reading method in the world and I usually save it for short stories and novellas. It says something for the gripping quality of this novel that it had me hooked despite this. The story line may be a little more straightforward than his later novels but it has that trademark of good fun going pear-shaped and sinister against a well evoked Scottish backdrop, in this case the Angus fishing town of Arbroath. There's lots of drinking, dark humour, some sex and a psycho killer on the loose - a brilliant read!

Previous reviews; Hit and Run;  Smokeheads 

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Penguin
Genre - adult, thriller

The Long Staff by Clare Wilson

review by Maryom

Staying with his grandfather for the summer holidays Tom discovers he is the next in line to be the wielder of a magical staff passed down through many generations of his family. When Tom wakes in the middle of the night to find the staff glowing, he reaches out to touch it and finds himself whisked back in time to help out a previous Staff-wielder who is being threatened by evil forces. Tom must quickly learn to control the power of the Staff if he is to help at all and get back to his own time. It's the sort of adventure that Tom has dreamed of having while reading such stories, but maybe it's not so much fun now he's actually part of it!

The Long Staff is a good-versus-evil, time-slip magical adventure for the 8 to 12 range reader. It includes many of the classic ingredients for this sort of tale - the young boy aware of the powers he possesses, a more experienced mentor, an evil that must be opposed. Set against a backdrop of Highland Scotland this is an exciting, but not terrifying, story with well-drawn, well-rounded characters that should appeal to both boys and girls.

This is only the first of a series, so Tom will be back for more magical adventures.

Maryom's review - 3.5 stars
Publisher - Olida Publishing
Genre - children's fiction, 8+, fantasy, magic


Buy The Long Staff from Amazon