#bookstodon

See tagged statuses in the local Rambling Readers community

Hey Kate, what are you doing to keep yourself sane during these crazy times, hopeful during these bleak ones, etc? Why, I'm reading a thousand page Japanese novel about a guy facing the death penalty for a crime he (probably) didn't commit. As one does...

(MARSHLAND is super engaging and stark and honest and human and utterly absorbing. Like a great 19th century social novel except it's set in the late 1960s/early 70s Tokyo and Hokkaido. Seriously, it's incredible)

I'm a writer, which amounts to being a small business owner attempting to make a (meager) living off my writing. So once a week, I share one of my books in case it might resonate with some of you.

The Last Priestess of Malia is historical fiction: The people of Crete fight to save their culture and their values from the onslaught of foreign conquerors. I'll be honest, it's not light reading. But I think it's relevant for our times, perhaps painfully so.

Details and content warnings here: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/the-last-priestess-of-malia

A paperback copy of The Last Priestess of Malia by Laura Perry, standing upright in the middle of the image. The book cover includes a picture of a Minoan priestess standing outdoors with a temple in the distance. Surrounding the book is text connected to the book by arrows. The text reads, "Ancient Minoans, Historical Fiction, Matriarchal Culture, Pagan Rituals, Powerful Priestesses, Culture Clash, Sorry, No Happy Ending "You've Been Warned)."

reviewed Old Soul by Susan Barker

Susan Barker: Old Soul 5 stars

The woman never goes by the same name. She never stays in the same place …

Not your usual horror fare

5 stars

Horror is not my favorite genre. I only picked up this book because I had read some good reviews. And it was great. Even without the horror thing, the book could stand as a great novel. It follows a woman who seems to leave a trail of dead former partners across decades (centuries) without aging herself. The childhood friend of one of her victims starts piecing it all together. So the book takes largely the form of a series of testimonials from people related to the victims. Mini-narratives. And they're brilliant. I could not put this book down. #books #bookstodon Highly recommended.

Relentless pursuit and a grisly murder. ‘Hide and Seek’ is a fast-paced thriller set in Stirling Castle and more widely across Scotland during World War Two. It uses many real settings, transported eight decades back in time.

RAF Grangemouth, once the Central Scotland Airport but now long gone, is amongst the Scottish locations used. This modern photograph shows the replica Spitfire at the RAF Grangemouth memorial.

Find out more on our website:
https://www.arachnid.scot/book-has/index.html

The image shows the Spitfire at the RAF Grangemouth memorial in bright sunlight. The Spitfire is displayed on a stand as if in flight from right to left and is surrounded by a circle of low railings. It is slightly banked to its right, away from us. The front cover of ‘Hide and Seek is shown in the bottom left corner.

You can’t ask a dead man who pulled the trigger. ‘A Tangled Web’ is a fast-paced contemporary thriller set in northern Scotland.

The elusive Hermit’s Castle at Achmelvich on the west coast of Sutherland is visited by the book’s two central characters. This remarkable concrete folly was built in 1950 and is sometimes known as Europe's smallest castle: though it’s a castle in name only.

Find out more on my website:
http://www.kenlussey.com/atw/index.html

The image shows a view along a rocky promontory with grassy patches and sea on the right and in the background. In the centre of the frame is a light grey concrete structure made up of flat planes and odd angles with a chimney projecting from its centre and small square window holes in several of the surfaces. The light is grey and the sea is rough. The front cover of ‘A Tangled Web’ is shown in the top right corner.