Rhoda Baxter's Blog, page 29
February 21, 2018
Book review: Living In The Past by Jane Lovering
Living in the Past by Jane Lovering
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Grace is grieving, two years after her husband died. Her friend Tabitha persuades her to volunteer at an archaeological dig in North Yorkshire. When going for a walk in the area, she finds herself in a bronze age settlement. The very settlement that grumpy Scot and dig director Duncan McDonald is looking for with this dig. But Duncan has his own ghosts from the past – year...
February 8, 2018
Self Publishing Journeys
Last year, I went to a Society of Authors event and got chatting to a lovely bloke called Paul. We discussed how I drifted from traditional publishing into indie publishing and the advantages of being a hybrid published author. The upshot of that conversation was a longer conversation that happened on his podcast.
You can listen to the whole episode here:
https://self-publishing-journeys.com/episode-101-rhoda-baxter/
We talked about my writing journey. He was most amused by the fact that my...
January 30, 2018
Book review: Write to Sell by Andy Maslen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Since I have to write a lot of copy now that I’ve got a few indie books out – writing blurbs, writing emails – I figured I should read up a bit on how to write copy. This book is easy to read and concise (which is good, since one of the main pieces of advice is ‘be concise’!).
There are lots of useful pointers here. To be honest, a lot of what he says is what my English teacher taught me at O-level, but it’s good to have it reiterated. It’s...
January 23, 2018
Book review: The Framley Examiner by Robin Halstead
The Framley Examiner by Robin Halstead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A friend lent this book to me many years ago and I loved it so much that I bought a copy. It is completely bonkers and fun. There is absolutely NOTHING serious about it.
I like to dip into it every so often when I need cheering up. I love the small ads pages. The ad for ‘Can’t you Breathe Little Bear’ had me in stitches. I love the town names too, especially Effing Sodbury.
This is very British and very, very silly. Sometimes you...
January 16, 2018
Book Review: Max Seventeen: Firebrand by Kate Johnson
Max Seventeen: Firebrand by Kate Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I read the first Max Seventeen book, I raved about it for days. It took me a while to get around to reading this one because… well, it’s a sequel and you know what they say about sequels. On the other hand, I LOVED Max. Plus, Space pirates.
I picked up the book and within the first few pages I was completely sucked back into the world of Max, Riley and the crew of the...
January 9, 2018
Book review: The Heights by Juliet Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A retelling of Wuthering Heights set in the 1980s during the Miner’s Strike. I studied Wuthering Heights at A-level, so I was curious to see how this went.
It was wonderful. For the first few chapters, I kept trying to link back to the characters in the original – Lockwood is a detective who has a hunch about Heathcliff, ‘Nellie’ Dean is a social worker etc, but after a while I stopped bothering and just got caught up in the story. I stayed u...
January 3, 2018
Book review: Christmas at the Little Village School by Jane Lovering
Christmas at the Little Village School by Jane Lovering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This arrived on my Kindle yesterday and I read it as fast as I could. Jane Lovering’s books are an auto buy for me.
Lydia teaches at a school in a tiny village, alongside her fellow teacher Jake. She’s prickly and sharp edged, especially when it comes to Jake. Jake is big and kind without being a pushover. They’ve been tasked with organising the school play at short notice. Given the kids, Christmas, plaster of Pa...
December 27, 2017
Book review: The Little Village Christmas by Sue Moorcroft
The Little Village Christmas by Sue Moorcroft
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wanted a nice, Christmassy read and this book delivered exactly that.
Alexia is an interior designer working on a community project in the village. When disaster strikes the project, she rolls up her sleeves and gets on with salvaging what she can.
Ben had been very badly hurt (emotionally) and is going through a messy divorce. He’s been a little reclusive, but has stepped into village life in order to help with the commu...
December 20, 2017
Book Review: Back To Reality by Mark Stay and Mark Oliver
Back to Reality: The feel-good novel of the year! by Mark Stay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve listened to the Marks’ podcast (The Bestseller Experiment) for a year and I was keen to read the book to see if it was any good. And it was!
It’s a fast and funny time slip type story. 42 year old Jo (with her unhappy life) suddenly finds that she’s swapped bodies with 24 year old Yohanna who is really Jo from an alternate reality. They have to get back into each other’s bodies before their time runs o...
December 13, 2017
Book review: Pincers of Death by Toby Frost
Pincers of Death by Toby Frost
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This latest installment of the adventures of Space Captain Smith and the crew of the John Pym is a return to form with battles and jokes and a cracking good yarn. It had me laughing out loud in places.
Best enjoyed with a nice fortifying cup of tea. Jolly good show.
Filed under: Book reviews, random silliness Tagged: giant ants, humour, sci fi, space
