Author: Alexandra

Shelf Control | Silent Scream

Published by Alexandra

I’m stealing this one from Joe because I’m hoping that, in sorting through older books I have yet to read, which have sat in my TBR for well over a year, that I might actually pick one up and read it. Instead of being lured into my local bookshop, and buying yet another new book! Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how: Write a post about a book that you own but haven’t read, yet. Link back to the creator of the meme, Bookshelf Fantasies. Check out the other posts and, have fun! Title: Silent Scream Author: Angela Marsons Published: 2015 Length: 406 pages ISBN: 9781909490925 What’s it about: (taken from Goodreads) Even the darkest secrets can’t stay buried forever… Five figures gather round a shallow grave. They had all taken turns to dig. An adult sized hole would have taken longer. An innocent life had been taken but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried, bound in blood … Years later, a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the first in …

NaNoWriMo 2018

Published by Alexandra

It’s that time of year again, and, as November fast approaches, and while many are absorbed in Halloween and Blogween Reads, a few of us that also write are planning for NaNoWriMo. For those of you unfamiliar with NaNo (as it’s affectionately known) it’s a month-long writing competition in which you challenge yourself to write 50k words in 30 days. I’ve taken part in NaNoWriMo from the first year it started. That’s not to say I’ve finished each and every year with a completed manuscript. I haven’t. Maybe the first few times I entered, I was intent on achieving the magical 50k. But then I realised I could put NaNo to better use as a means of kick-starting new or languishing projects. The whole point is to make me focus on one story at a time, which is where I have trouble—as an endless ideas machine, I never stop scribbling down plots and scenarios. I have no problems starting a project, but I do have problems focusing on one project at a time, and on …

I’m #TeamLori Are You?

Published by Alexandra

Hey, fellow readers and reviewers, do you live in the UK and, do you want to be a part of reading Steph Broadribb’s next release: DEEP DIRTY TRUTH, the third installment of the Lori Anderson series? If yes, and who wouldn’t want to read the next book early AND, be in line for a whole host of other great goodies. Then pop on over to the Crime Thriller Girl website, and sign on up to be a part of #TeamLori … go on, you know you want to.  

Book Review: A MAN CALLED OVE

Published by Alexandra

DETAILS Title: A MAN CALLED OVE Author: Fredrik Backman Publisher: Sceptre Books ISBN: 9781444775815 Genre: Contemporary Fiction BACK COVER BLURB A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbour from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local …

First Impressions Friday: THE WHISPERER

Published by Alexandra

It’s that time of week, again, which means, it’s First Impressions Friday. For those of you who are unfamiliar, #FIF is a weekly meme created by J.W. Martin. The goal is to talk about a book you recently started reading then share your first impressions, predict what you think will happen, and then say whether you think you’ll enjoy it. Last weekend I picked up two books, one was A MAN CALLED OVE, the other was THE WHISPERER by Donato Carrisi. Well, I finally finished reading A MAN CALLED OVE last night (which I’ll review next week) and have just started THE WHISPERER, billed as a gruesome murder-mystery. Well, I have to say, just reading the back cover blurb of this one gave me shivers down my spine. “Six severed arms are discovered, arranged in a mysterious circle and buried in a clearing in the woods. Five of them appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The sixth is yet to be identified. Worse still, the girls’ bodies, alive …