L.H. Johnson's Blog

That Boarding School Girl by Dorita Fairlie Bruce

That Boarding School Girl by Dorita Fairlie Bruce My rating: 4 of 5 stars There’s something delicious in coming to Dorita Fairlie Bruce so randomly, so irregularly, because it feels like reading her for the first time every time. And as much as I’d like to devour all her work at once, I rather loveContinue reading "That Boarding School Girl by Dorita Fairlie Bruce"

1939: The Last Season by Anne de Courcy

1939: The Last Season by Anne de Courcy by Anne de Courcy My rating: 5 of 5 stars My only issue with this was that it was not long enough: I could have read it several times over. The Last Season tells the story of that final few moments of life before the war forContinue reading "1939: The Last Season by Anne de Courcy"

Sergeant Luck’s Secret Mission by Geoffrey Bond

My rating: 3 of 5 stars There’s a point where you think in a book that “that’s enough now, we’ve got there, we’ve hit all the character beats and everything’s pretty much set up now for us to roll on home in style” and sigh contentedly to yourself and think Noble Thoughts about the artContinue reading "Sergeant Luck’s Secret Mission by Geoffrey Bond"

The Children Who Lived In A Barn by Eleanor Graham

The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham My rating: 3 of 5 stars So the basic premise of The Children Who Lived In A Barn, a book that appealed to me precisely because of that outstanding “does exactly what it says on the tin” title and a charming wraparound cover, is “theContinue reading "The Children Who Lived In A Barn by Eleanor Graham"

Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams

Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams My rating: 5 of 5 stars WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DEEPLY EMOTIONALLY TRAUMATISED BOY HAVE I GOT THE BOOK FOR YOU. SO! Beforehand: I pick up Gobbolino and I think gosh, what a delightful thing. I have hazy memories of this at best but positive memoriesContinue reading "Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams"

Ponies in the Attic by Irene Makin

Ponies in the Attic by Irene Makin My rating: 4 of 5 stars A perfect cover, this, delivered by Elisabeth Grant who understands everything, but everything, that a pony book should be and manages to capture it in that still, breathless moment between human and animal. It’s beautiful and I love it and it’s theContinue reading "Ponies in the Attic by Irene Makin"

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have wanted to read this for a long while and finally came across a copy at my local library. I was familiar with Colfer due to his work upon Artemis Fowl and this title, I was familiarContinue reading "Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin"

Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid by Victor Appleton II

Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid by Victor Appleton II My rating: 4 of 5 stars “Hey random other person I’ve just invented for the purposes of this review, can I tell you about these Tom Swift books?”“YES.”“I’d have been bothered if you’d have said no, you know.”“Quite the existential crisis I’d imagine”“ANYWAY. These TomContinue reading "Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid by Victor Appleton II"

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – an Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was thinking a lot about how to review this and where to even begin with this awful, profoundly upsetting, straightforwardly told thing and then I thought perhaps it is there. I knewContinue reading "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – an Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown"

1178.

I realised recently that I had hit over a thousand books on Goodreads: to be precise, I’m at 1178 books (another 800+ are on my want to read list but that’s a whole other existential crisis). I had intended to do something to mark the thousandth book I added to Goodreads but I missed itContinue reading "1178."