Jadetheobscure

“Each day had a tranquility a timelessness about it so that you wished it would never end. But then the dark skin of the night would peel off and there would be a fresh day waiting for us glossy and colorful as a child's transfer and with the same tinge of unreality.”

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Charco Press Blog Tour: The Forgery – Ave Barrera

Charco Press Blog Tour: The Forgery – Ave Barrera

“We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.” – Tennessee Williams As a fan of translated fiction, and decade-long learner of Spanish, I’m not sure why it took me so long to pick up a Spanish translation – but I’m very happy to have rectified this, and even…

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GIVEAWAY ‘Bookmarked: How The Great Works Of Western Literature F*cked Up My Life’ by Mark Scarbrough

GIVEAWAY ‘Bookmarked: How The Great Works Of Western Literature F*cked Up My Life’ by Mark Scarbrough

New York Times bestselling cookbook author Mark Scarbrough lays bare on his complicated, near-obsessive relationship with books in his new memoir: Bookmarked: How The Great Works Of Western Literature F*cked Up My Life. Intrigued? Check out the except below for a taste of what’s in store. Excerpt from BOOKMARKED: HOW THE GREAT WORKS OF WESTERN LITERATURE F*CKED UP MY LIFE Copyright 2021 by…

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Cheltenham Literature Festival Blog Tour: The Melting – Lize Spit

Cheltenham Literature Festival Blog Tour: The Melting – Lize Spit

“Trauma is personal. It does not disappear if it is not validated. When it is ignored or invalidated the silent screams continue internally heard only by the one held captive. When someone enters the pain and hears the screams healing can begin.”― Danielle Bernock It’s really hard to believe that this is Lize Spit’s first novel – if she has more in store then I have no doubt that the literary…

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[Untitled]

“Of course, the French have always had a certain… elegance in these matters, so it shouldn’t be a surprise how few of our jewellers measure up, but honestly you would think that she could still afford something of note. Her uncle is the Duke of Sutherland, for God’s sake, even the Viscount of Trentham’s family put on a better show.” Arthur had a tendency to tune out the details somewhat when…

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Ivy

At the very bottom of the garden, where the wild things grow, was a little peach tree. To reach it you had to push through the dangling branches of a particularly resistant willow, balance along a very old and precarious wooden beam which served as an improvised bridge across a stream, and climb a ladder propped against a square of ivy covered walls. Inside the ivy garden, everything felt somehow…

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Belladonna

The house was fantastic.  They arrived at the property just a few hours after leaving home but with the unpleasant feeling of fatigue and grime that only an international flight can cause. The cool breeze wafting off the Lago di Bracciano hinted at a little slice of paradise.  The rough-hewn exterior was overrun by flora – a soft halo of azalea, gardenia and sweet-smelling freesia spread from…

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“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”— Søren Kierkegaard

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”— Søren Kierkegaard

Well hello. It’s been a while. I’m sure you can work out what’s been happening over the last 18 months. Anyway… I have some new content to share! Better late than never, right? A few months ago, some friends and I set ourselves a joint writing challenge We each had to write a short story, which we would then share together on one of virtual Saturday night gatherings. To help get the creative…

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The Familiars – Stacey Halls

The Familiars – Stacey Halls

“The ghosts of things that never happened are worse than the ghosts of things that did.”― L.M. Montgomery

I really enjoyed this book.

The old saying goes you should never judge a book by its cover, but I have to confess, that I often do – and it actually normally works out in my favour. I regularly pick up a book because I am drawn to the cover artwork – admittedly, I will always check out the…

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A New Year’s Resolution...

A New Year’s Resolution…

I used to pride myself in reviewing every single book I read. When I struggled to find the time to put pen to paper, because I was desperately and incessantly applying for new work, revising for exams, or otherwise indisposed, I diligently stacked all my previous reads aside, awaiting review, as it were.

It took me a long time to shake this habit and to recognise that it is okay to read a book…

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Illustrated Children’s adventure series and treasure hunt launched at Cambridge’s Sedgwick Museum

Illustrated Children’s adventure series and treasure hunt launched at Cambridge’s Sedgwick Museum

The first in a series of illustrated children’s books, aimed at encouraging children to take an interest in visiting museums, has been launched by an independent group of adventure-seeking artists, just in time for the summer holidays.

Riddle of the White Sphinx is the first of the ‘Hidden Tales’– a series of adventure stories with inbuilt treasure hunts, where children are invited to trace the…

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Author Interview - Mark Wells, Riddle of the White Sphinx

Author Interview – Mark Wells, Riddle of the White Sphinx

I am delighted to be able to share with you my exclusive interview with Mark Wells, author of the new children’s series Hidden Tales.

The first book in this exciting new series, Riddle of the White Sphinx, was launched on Saturday 29th June in a themed event held at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge’s historic city centre.

I caught up with Mark ahead of of the launch to discuss…

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Summer reads for Cambridge's budding bookworms launched at Heffers Children's Bookshop

Summer reads for Cambridge’s budding bookworms launched at Heffers Children’s Bookshop

Authors and illustrators Celina Buckley, Jessica Meserve and Puck Koper came together to celebrate the publication of their new books ‘The Salmon Of Knowledge’, ‘What Clara Saw’ and ‘Where Is Your Sister?’ at Heffers bookshop in Cambridge on 24th April.

The Cambridge-educated authors and illustrators secured book deals following the successful completion of master’s degrees in children’s…

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The Grotlyn – Benji Davies

The Grotlyn – Benji Davies

I am a little late to the party with this one – but I love it all the same!

It was the cover that first drew me to this book. Some might call it clichéd, a sparse bedroom, complete with gas lamp, lit only by the pale glow of the moon, a wrought iron bed, a tiny, pale figure peeking above the heavy sheets. I think it’s timeless. This is exactly the kind of cover, and theme I would like to have for…

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Big Data: A Very Short Introduction, by Dawn E. Holmes A very short introduction to a very big subject, Big Data: A Very Short Introduction by Dawn E.

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Projects: A Very Short Introduction, by Andrew Davies In this Very Short Introduction Andrew Davies delves into the world of projects. It may sound like a dry subject, but the history of projects is nothing short of fascinating – and a very long history it is too.

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The Future: A Very Short Introduction, by Jennifer M. Gidley An attempt to analyse and condense something which encompasses everything that is yet to come feels like an exercise in failure, and yet I hold in my hands a book which does just this.

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Frankenstein: The First 200 Years by Christopher Frayling

Frankenstein: The First 200 Years by Christopher Frayling

“If you could have been around on a single say in the historical past – which day would it have been?” This question, posed by a BBC reporter, and answered in truth by author Christopher Frayling, is the perfect frame within which to set this book. Given a choice, it is incredibly difficult to select a single moment in time. Scientists, artists, philosophers and critics will each…

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