Category: Books

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Christmas at the Vicarage by Rebecca Boxall

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Christmas at the Vicarage by Rebecca Boxall

With the holiday season in full swing I was looking for a book that would help me get into the Christmas ‘spirit’ this year. I’ve been kind of hit and miss with my holiday reading over the years but each year I try to find a holiday book that gets me in the Christmas mood.

This year I saw this book all over Goodreads so I was eager to pick it up. I don’t read a ton of modern romances, let alone modern holiday romances so I was anxious to try something new.

Rosamunde hasn’t been to Potter’s Cove or seen her family in fifteen years. After a heart break in the late 20’s, she spent her time abroad traveling the world and having ‘adventures’. But something about the small town of Potter’s Cove started calling her back.

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: WHAT SHE KNEW by Gilly Macmillan

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Special Feature: WHAT SHE KNEW by Gilly Macmillan

On DECEMBER 1ST Gilly Macmillan releases her thrilling novel in paperback!

WHAT SHE KNEW by Gilly Macmillan is an addictive domestic thriller that William Morrow will publish as a paperback original on December 1st.

The novel, which Liane Moriarty calls “an amazing, gripping, beautifully written debut,” was published in the UK earlier this year to incredible praise (see below), and has drawn comparisons to hugely popular thrillers like Before I Go To Sleep and Gone Girl. This novel shows how one seemingly ordinary decision can change your life forever.

Quick Take: On an ordinary day, Rachel Jenner is out for a walk in the woods with her eight-year-old son Ben. The woods lead to a local park that they’ve been to many times before, so when Ben ask to run ahead, it seems like a normal request. Then Ben disappears.

Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel begs for the public to help bring her son back. Rachel is caught between her personal pain and a public jumping to condemn her for her mistakes. As the public’s attitude shifts from sympathy to suspicion, Rachel begins to lose trust in everyone. She soon realizes that the greatest dangers lie not only in strangers, but in the faces of those most familiar to her.

Told from the alternating points of view of Rachel and the lead detective on the case, this story is full of unreliable narrators, questions about the media’s role in the disappearance, and the spectacle of true crime. WHAT SHE KNEW will keep you guessing until the very end.

Pick up your copy here! 

About the author

Gilly Macmillan grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and also lived in Northern California in her late teens. She studied History of Art at Bristol University and then at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She worked at The Burlington Magazine and the Hayward Gallery before starting a family. Since then she’s worked as a part-time lecturer in A Level Photography and a full-time mum.

Gilly lives in Bristol with her husband and three children. WHAT SHE KNEW is her first novel.

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Up To This Pointe by Jennifer Longo

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Up To This Pointe by Jennifer Longo

Antarctica, ballet, and science….all together in one story. What in the world?

That’s exactly what was going through my mind when this book came across my nightstand for review.

I almost passed on it because it just sounded so weird, but it’s because of the weirdness that I decided to review it.

I knew one of two things was going to happen…..either it would totally work or it totally wouldn’t and I would know immediately which it was! I was impressed by how quickly this story sucked me in.

Harper has been a dancer her entire life. It’s all she’s ever wanted to be. It’s her only dream….she’s put YEARS of her life into becoming a professional ballerina and the possibility of being anything else is out of the question. Well what Harper thinks she should be in life and what the actual likelihood of that happening are completely different.

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Books, Giveaway, Reading

Announcement: Winner THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF EBENEZER SCROOGE by Charlie Lovett

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Announcement: Winner THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF EBENEZER SCROOGE by Charlie Lovett

And the winner of THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF EBENEZER SCROOGE by Charlie Lovett is…..

Carl S (subscribes to blog)

The winner will be notified via email.

Thank you to everyone who entered and a huge thank you to the publisher for making this giveaway possible!

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Fox and The Star by Coralie Bickford Smith

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: The Fox and The Star by Coralie Bickford Smith

Coralie Bickford Smith is responsible for a number of Penguin classics updated cover designs…..and be warned I’m about to fan girl out….I’m in love with her cover designs!

Sure I may own six copies of Jane Eyre (yes I am serious) but I NEEDED the Coralie Bickford Smith cloth bound copy because it’s stunning!

Her book covers are absolutely beautiful as are her illustrations….every time I see one of her editions I’m in love.

But I had no idea that she was also an author in her own right…..it wasn’t until THE FOX AND THE STAR came across my nightstand for review that I discovered that she was an author of children’s books as well!

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