Beth Bartholomew

I thought I’d recommend you some short books to read over a long weekend. The main character is a strong independent woman in a successful job • Reads like a fable, so feels like a familiar story A middle grade, paranormal series, with each book being set in a different city

A virtual bookshelf tour in my new flat A few weeks ago was World Book Day, which I celebrated by reading books, staring at books, buying books [affiliate], talking about books online, reading more books. I’m forever growing my Lord of the Rings collection whenever I see an edition I love and as soon as V.E. Schwab releases a new book, you can bet I add it to my shelves. Then below that on the left is my Carlos Ruiz Zafón and H. G. Parry shelf and then to the right we have my thriller shelf which needs expanding soon! I have a few other collections too like my graphic novel shelf and my David Attenborough dedicated section, complete with a personalised, signed edition of Life on Earth.

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s powerhouse books such as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six have set her aside as a writer of pure talent, skill, and creativity. Malibu Rising takes place in the same universe as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and The Six, there are even characters from these books referenced in this book which had me very excited! Reid does a fantastic job of feeding us a back story for the characters we’re seeing in this book’s present day. The beauty of Reid’s books is you always end googling the characters, thinking they have to be real or at least based on someone – this book is no different.

A young adult book about a girl who has lived her life being raised by a con-artist mum, but who has now tried to start over fresh with her older sister. This book takes place in the middle of a bank robbery that our protagonist Nora is caught up in by being in the wrong the place at the wrong time. This was the definition of a brilliant thriller, it kept sending me down different routes, had me guessing up until the last minute and certainly left me turning page after page to reach the conclusion. Karen M McManus is a brilliant YA thriller writer, it’s hard to highlight just one of her books when she has four fantastically thrilling titles to her name.