A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman (Review)

A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman

Blurb

Lynda and her teenage son Rust prepare for Christmas, hanging fairy lights and making decorations. The first door of the advent calendar is opened, but the chocolate inside tastes off. Rust receives his first Christmas card, it’s unsigned and the message is aggressive rather than festive.

The cards keep coming, one each day and each more sinister than the last, and a frightened Lynda recalls a seasonal TV show from her childhood that featured similar happenings, and while she remembers it vividly, there is no evidence that it was ever broadcast…

As their Christmas cheer is gradually poisoned, with real dead robins replacing plastic ones, the turkey rotting in the freezer and Rust becoming increasingly unwell, Lynda begins to wonder if her childhood Christmases were in fact as joy filled as she remembers…

A terrifying tale of seasonal dread from a master of horror.

Review

I picked this up on my last trip to Bath just before Christmas. I don’t usually read ghost stories but I was intrigued by the prospect of reading a Christmas ghost story and as the book was only small I thought it looked like a great little Christmas read.

Now I will be honest at first I really thought this book was going to be a great ghost story but then it seemed to go along the lines of Lynda and her son Rust having some sort of shared hallucination which just got stranger and stranger.

Lynda is the mother of Rust and she clearly has some mental health issues. These issues are hinted at by Rust in the book and it is clear he is used to his mother’s strange ways and moods but I do feel sorry for Rust who has had to live with this from birth. I can’t imagine Lynda being an easy mother to live with especially as Rust gets older and begins to realise his mother clearly has some problems.

Rust is also a complicated character. Rust is at that awkward stage of being a teenager but with some childish traits and tastes still lingering. He is also obsessed with the paranormal and hosts a podcast. Rust has a mixed education of being home schooled and going to school for certain times of the year and it is clear that the isolation of being home schooled by his mother is probably not good for him.

I’m not entirely sure on what I think about the outcome of the hauntings in this book. I have my theories but I don’t want to spoil anything. I really enjoyed this book, I loved the descriptions of the house and the Christmas decorations. I loved the character of Rust but I wasn’t that keen on Lynda but I suspect I wasn’t meant to really like her that much. This was a great little ghost story and one that I couldn’t put down. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

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About the author

An expert on horror and sci-fi cinema (his books of film criticism include Nightmare Movies and Millennium Movies), Kim Newman’s novels draw promiscuously on the tropes of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. He is complexly and irreverently referential; the Dracula sequence–Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron and Dracula, Cha Cha Cha–not only portrays an alternate world in which the Count conquers Victorian Britain for a while, is the mastermind behind Germany’s air aces in World War One and survives into a jetset 1950s of paparazzi and La Dolce Vita, but does so with endless throwaway references that range from Kipling to James Bond, from Edgar Allen Poe to Patricia Highsmith.

In horror novels such as Bad Dreams and Jago, reality turns out to be endlessly subverted by the powerfully malign. His pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche–perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.

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Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (Review)

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Blurb

IT’S THE NIGHT BEFORE HOGSWATCH AND IT’S TOO QUIET.

Where is the big jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker…

Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won’t be a morning. Ever again…

The 20th Discworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too).

As they say: You’d better watch out…

Review

This was a reread for me but I really wanted to read it over the Christmas period as it is one of my favourites.

This book is a story about the nature of belief. How without belief then things don’t exist and that people have to at work belief. Oh and Death is meddling again. I love it when Death meddles in the Discworld books and that he has a thing for cats. Death is one of my favourite characters in the Discworld series so I love the books where he is one of the main characters.

I also love Susan’s character. Sadly, we don’t see much of Susan in the Discworld series but I think she is wonderful. Susan tries so hard to be normal and the more she tries the more it all seems to go wrong. However, one thing is certain when she is told to do something she generally does the opposite and her Grandfather knows this.

We also have the Unseen University and the wizards feature heavily in this book which always promises to be amusing. They really are like a group of naughty school boys but with much bigger waist lines and an army of servants.

This book is the perfect festive read which includes all the necessary elements that a festive book needs. It has robins, snow, sherry, a jolly man in a red suit, chimneys, presents and of course an elf. Oh and a very naughty pig who did a very big wee. I absolutely love reading this book and I think I might make it a new Christmas tradition and read it each Christmas. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humorist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels.

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Death Comes at Christmas edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane (Review)

Death Comes at Christmas edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane

Blurb

The award-winning Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane invite you to a festive gathering of bestselling, critically acclaimed and award-winning writers in tribute to classic, British period crime stories. From locked room mysteries on Christmas eve to devilish whodunits and tales of simmering rivalries unfolding at the dinner table, these thirteen original seasonal tales will delight and shock at every twist and turn. So, unwrap the presents, pour a mug of mulled wine and follow the bloodstained footprints through the freshly fallen snow as winter descends and darkness lurks in the shadows.

Review

I’m not a huge short story fan but at Christmas I always make an exception and buy some short story books because you can’t beat a good Christmas murder mystery.

I will be honest I wasn’t overly enthralled with this book. There were some stories that really caught my interest but most just lacked the lustre that I usually enjoy in a short story about a Christmas murder mystery. I won’t go into every story but here are the ones which have stayed with me for good and bad reasons.

One of the stories that I really enjoyed was one of the first stories in the book. How to Commit Murder in a Bookshop. I thought this story was very clever and I really had no idea what was going on till the very end. It was beautifully written and I loved the characters, especially the bookshop staff.

The Red Angel was also a good story and was very surprising. I loved the ending and really didn’t see it coming.

Christmas Yet to Come was a piggy back on the classic A Christmas Carol and to be honest I thought it was rather an insult to Dickens. I could see what the author was trying to do but I didn’t enjoy the story and didn’t find that it flowed very well. It was also rather predictable.

Icarus was probably my least favourite story of the collection as it felt unfinished and it was also the shortest story in the book. It just felt like the author had forgotten the storyline and then not bothered to finish it.

Overall, I could take or leave this book as it just felt a bit ‘meh’. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

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Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani (Review)

Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani

Blurb

It’s Christmas at The Emporium, a bespoke gift shop hidden in the depths of London’s winding streets featuring handcrafted delights unavailable anywhere else. Tinsel coils around the wooden beams, lights sparkle in the windows and the open fire crackles comfortingly. As closing time approaches after a busy trading day, only a few customers drift towards the exit – but they find they cannot leave. The doors are locked.

What initially seemed an innocent mix-up turns sinister as the shopkeepers seem strangely uninterested in lending assistance. The festive cheer has all but disappeared among a growing feeling of unease – and then a chilling discovery is made in Santa’s grotto.

For those that survive the night, it will be a Christmas to remember.

Review

This is my first book by Cordani and I chose it because I loved the cover and the title of the book. Thankfully I was not disappointed!

I loved this book because it gave me real Charlie and the Chocolate Factory vibes with Agatha Christie vibes. It was a weird concoction which worked brilliantly together and although it was set in modern day London, at times you could almost say it was set in Victorian times with a bit of Dickens Christmas thrown in as well.

Montagu Verity is definitely the Willy Wonka character in this book. He is a born and bred showman but he also has a sinister side to him which starts to emerge as the story goes on. He also knows a disturbing amount about his special guests.

This book has historical flashbacks which helps build up the story and connects all the modern events together. Each chapter builds on what has happened before and starts to create a rich tapestry of facts for the reader to try and unravel.

I really liked the mix of characters in this book and although I struggled with Merry’s character to begin with she definitely became a favourite. I also really liked Fran and Knives. The descriptions in this book were stunning and it really made me want to visit a Christmas Emporium. I could not put this book down and give it 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Andreina Cordani is a writer and journalist who writes fiction for adults and young adults.

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Everyone this Christmas has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson (Review)

Everyone this Christmas has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

Blurb

My name is Ernest Cunningham.

I’m not a detective. I just happen to have a knack for what makes mysteries – and murderers – tick. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any killers out there might be willing to take a break for the holidays.

I was wrong.

So here I am, backstage at the Christmas show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. From the magician’s assistant to the hypnotist, my suspects are all professional tricksters. Masters in the art of misdirection.

My clues are even more of a mystery:

A suspect covered in blood, with no memory of how it got there.

A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens.

And an advent calendar. Because, you know. It’s Christmas.

Solving the murder is the only gift I want this year.

But can I catch a killer, and make it home for Christmas alive?

Review

I will be honest I picked this book up not realising it was part of a series but to be honest it worked fine as a standalone book and I didn’t feel the story lacked anything because I hadn’t read the previous books.

This book was a very easy read for me and I really enjoyed it being set in Australia. I think it was my first festive read set in a hot country. A real change from my usual wintery reads that I usually read this time of year. I also liked the main character Ernest Cunningham and I liked how he worked but I did find him a little bit big headed at times and this made him a little annoying.

I really enjoyed the storyline of this book and how Cunningham worked out who the murderer was. His methods were very methodical and he reminded me a great deal of Agatha Christie’s Poirot. The way it was all done was very clever.

The main problem I had with this book was that the characters were just rather unremarkable and very forgettable. Other than Ernest and maybe one other character I couldn’t tell you any of their names or anything really about them. I just felt like all the effort was put into the plot and not the characters which was a shame.

I did enjoy this book but I wasn’t bowled over by it and to be honest I’m not sure I will return to the world of Ernest Cunningham but maybe I will one day. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and USA Today best-selling author. He is the author of the globally popular ‘Ernest Cunningham Mysteries’, including Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, which is currently being adapted into a major HBO TV series, and Everyone on This Train is a Suspect. His books have sold over 750,000 copies in twenty-nine territories and have been nominated for eight ‘Book of the Year’ awards.

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December 2024 TBR

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I am slowly getting ready for Christmas and have just come back from playing for a Carol service which was lovely.

I am really hoping to get a lot of reading done over December and I have some fab books planned.

I’m going to read the Christmas themed books first and then move on to the non Christmas books if I’m doing well.

Happy Reading

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Stacking the Shelves: 16/11/2024

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.

Hello!

On my trip to Worcester recently I went book shopping at Waterstones and I went a little bit crazy with the Christmas themed books. The Christmas themed books are definitely on my TBR for December. I’m planning on reading the Jeremy Clarkson book this month as it is a nonfiction book. The Mercy of Gods will probably be a book for my 2025 reading.

I can’t wait to get reading these books and I’m really hoping the Christmas themed books get me into the Christmas spirit.

Happy Reading

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Christmas Poems by Wendy Cope (Review)

Christmas Poems by Wendy Cope

Blurb

For more than thirty years Wendy Cope has been one of the nation’s most popular and respected poets. Christmas Poems collects together her best festive poems, including anthology favourites such as ‘The Christmas Life’, together with new and previously unpublished work. Cope celebrates the joyful aspects of the season but doesn’t overlook the problems and sadness it can bring. With lively illustrations to accompany the words, it is a book to enjoy this Christmas and in years to come.

Review

I bought this book in October when I was in Bath and I was really excited because I thought this little book would be a perfect festive read in December. At only 48 pages long this did not take me long to read and was a perfect diversion from the Christmas prep.

As you probably know by now if you have been following me for any length of time I was never a huge poetry fan but since I have been blogging I have been making an effort to get into poetry. Since doing this I have found quite a few favourite poets that I enjoy to read and I am always looking for new poets to read. Wendy Cope is one of these new poets for me.

Certain poems within this book I could really relate to. Cope was a primary school teacher for 15 years and a piano player and her reflections on playing for children’s services I can relate to as I teach piano and woodwind in a primary school and know all about the Christmas services and the many renditions of Little Donkey.

I will be honest there were only a few poems that I really enjoyed in this book because I found quite a few of the poems rather depressing and not very helpful for getting into the festive spirit. However, I like Cope’s style as a poet and will definitely be checking out more of her poems.

The illustrations in this book are by Michael Kirkham and were excellent and really added to the poems. Without the illustrations the book would have been a lot shorter.

Overall, I found this little book of poems an accomplished read but not really my cup of tea. It sadly wasn’t the festive read I was looking for but I appreciate the skill of Wendy Cope. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the poet

Wendy Cope was educated at Farringtons School, Chislehurst, London and then, after finishing university at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, she worked for 15 years as a primary school teacher in London.

In 1981, she became Arts and Reviews editor for the Inner London Education Authority magazine, ‘Contact’. Five years later she became a freelance writer and was a television critic for ‘The Spectator magazine’ until 1990.

Her first published work ‘Across the City’ was in a limited edition, published by the Priapus Press in 1980 and her first commercial book of poetry was ‘Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis’ in 1986. Since then she has published two further books of poetry and has edited various anthologies of comic verse.

In 1987 she received a Cholmondeley Award for poetry and in 1995 the American Academy of Arts and Letters Michael Braude Award for light verse. In 2007 she was one of the judges for the Man Booker Prize.

In 1998 she was the BBC Radio 4 listeners’ choice to succeed Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate and when Andrew Motion’s term of office ended in 2009 she was once again considered as a replacement.

She was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s 2010 Birthday Honours List.

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Politically Correct Holiday Stories For an Enlightened Yuletide Season by James Finn Garner (Review)

Politically Correct Holiday Stories For an Enlightened Yuletide Season by James Finn Garner

Blurb

Holiday tales have long delighted and entertained us, but until now they’ve always been burdened with society’s skewed values and mores. Stories that reinforce the stifling class system (Dickens’s A Christmas Carol), legitimise the stereotype of a merry, over-weight patriarchal oppressor (Santa Claus in The Night Before Christmas), and justify the domestication and subjugation of wild animals (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) abound in the literature and lore of this season. Now James Finn Garner has stepped in to revise and improve these familiar tales to free our social consciousness from the ghost of prejudice past. From the newly revised “Nutcracker” to “Frosty the Persun of Snow”, these stories rekindle the true holiday spirit and redefine the idea of “good will to all men” to include womyn, pre-adults, and companion animals as well.

Review

I picked this up from a National Trust second hand bookshop. When I saw the book I immediately picked it up because I thought it looked like quite a fun read. The book was clearly brand new as well which also added to the appeal.

At only 99 pages I thought this would be quite a quick read for me but it turned out that it took me a while to read rather than flying through it like I normally would. This is probably because I didn’t really gel with this book and wasn’t so keen to pick it up and read it.

I can understand the appeal of this book because it is political correctness in overdrive and it kind of has a funny appeal to it but after a while it just started to get on my nerves. My favourite story was the retelling of A Christmas Carol. This was because of Scrooge’s fantastic reactions to the spirits that visit him especially the last spirit. In fact I was a little disappointed with the ending because I really wanted Scrooge to act on his new philosophy.

Rudolph the Nasally Empowered Reindeer was probably my least favourite story as Rudolph was just too irritating.

Overall, I did enjoy this book but it didn’t really hook me in and didn’t have me as gripped as I expected. This is definitely a book that I could take or leave and I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

James Finn Garner is an American writer and satirist based in Chicago. He is the author of Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, Tea Party Fairy Tales, and Honk Honk, My Darling.

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Lyra’s Pawsome Books #5

Hello!

I hope everyone is well. I thought I would do a final Christmas based post for Lyra’s Pawsome Books plus some extra goodies. I have been absolutely loving running my little business and I am looking forward to new plans in the New Year.

Deluxe Christmas Book Box

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This box was inspired by all the things I love at Christmas. I think it is always important to take some quiet time over the Christmas period and I hope this book box will help that happen.

Christmas Cards

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I have really got into card making recently and I did some Christmas cards for my Christmas stall a few weeks ago and they were so successful I thought I would pop some on my Etsy and they have also been popular on there as well.

Christmas Book Parcel

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I have upgraded my Christmas Book Parcel so it now has the option of a Milk Chocolate Christmas Lolly or a White Chocolate Lolly. These have proved popular for Secret Santa presents.

Birthday Cards