6th December 2025

I bought this after seeing the subsequent book by the author advertised as coming soon, and being intrigued by the cover and blurb. So to some extent maybe went into this one unprepared.

This is the story of Hana, who inherits a special pawnshop from her father, where customers pawn choices from their past that they have always wondered about, to stop them weighing on their minds.

The cover quotes repeatedly describe this book as Studio Ghibli-esque, and that I can strongly agree with. The problem for me is that I'm not particularly a fan of those films, and equally the book didn't really work for me.

It's a journey of metaphysical wonder through a fantasy world that's built short chapter by short chapter, but this means it feels like we're flicking around from concept to concept at such a rate that it's hard to take in any of the characterisation or believe in the relationships between the characters.

I can quite imagine that other readers will love it, but it's not for me, and so I've decided not to pursue the other book by the author that had originally caught my attention.

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30th November 2025

In this James Bond spin-off, a recently redundant Q finds himself back in the town where he grew up, surrounded by memories and ruined relationships, and investigating the recent death of an old friend.

As a Bond spin-off, it's filled with great references to both books and films, and features various guest spots from the wider canon. Q does seem rather obsessed with Bond, referencing him seemingly more often than maybe normal for a former colleague.

The narrative is fast paced, but with really short chapters - many of them feeling like, if not actually, just three pages long. As a reader, this briefness always feels distracting to me - like it's giving me too many dropping off points to put the book down, and not hooking me into the developing story.

I found it slow to read, and had to really commit myself to finishing, although the final third did feel like it picked up a bit. There's a second book coming, and I think based on the end of this one, I'll likely pick it up.

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16th November 2025

This is a fairly-cosy crime story set mostly during WW2 at a hotel in a Sussex village, and based on the creators of the board game Cluedo, and shows a fictionalised tale of them encountering a murder and inventing the game.

It's fairly short, but with substantial chapters. The plot moves quickly, introducing a lot of familiar concepts and references to the board game.

However there's some dark stuff comes up that for me rather took the fun out of it. It felt quite at odds with the "cosy" genre, and stopped my enjoyment of the final few chapters.

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15th November 2025

The Enterprise crew return for a story set mid-season three. Captain Pike is dispatched to help a scientific research station, has to face a tragedy from his own past, and of course it turns out that things aren't what they seem.

The book makes great use of many of the characters from the series, but I particularly enjoyed seeing Ortegas and Scotty get decent page time. There's a lot going on in all their lives and it's nice seeing that weaved amid the specific story plot.

It's also interesting to see how elements from the wider canon slip in, as well as the occasional nod and a wink to the audience in the form of an easter egg joke.

A good adventure that kept me reading at a good pace throughout. More of this sort of thing please!

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15th November 2025

A great non-fiction work told in the comic style of the Map Men's YouTube videos.

Each chapter covers a different map, and many of them in a totally different style of storytelling, which means that you never get stuck in drudgery of the same over and over again.

It's really reminiscent of the way they present their videos, and yet goes into so much more detail. I enjoyed reading chapter by chapter, which also chunked the book into convenient parcels of information delivery.

There was however one chapter that I didn't like.

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8th November 2025

A super compelling sequel that I dived straight into and raced through - a refreshing change after the slow pace of what I was reading before.

We find ourselves back in Castle Knoll some time after the first novel ended, and learn that there's more to know - more prophecies to follow, more diaries to read, and more historical intrigue to uncover.

I find it hard to put my finger on what actually made this feel so compelling. It may have just been the distinct difference from the other book I had been reading, and that enabled me to rediscover something joyful and really appreciated.

I did feel like I maybe needed a bit of a refresher on the first book before getting caught up again - there are a lot of characters and they relate in different ways. I'm not entirely sure as a result whether the continuity is spot on, but that doesn't really matter.

An enjoyable mystery, although perhaps the first half stronger than the second. I'll be back for book three.

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8th November 2025

As much as I wanted to read this, I really struggled to get into it.

The opening chapter does little to help, seeming to throw the reader into random narrative that makes no sense, with characters that aren't named, in a situation we don't understand, and high stakes we don't care about.

It does then pick up, and become slightly more compelling, with characters that are a little interesting, and a developing story and backstory.

But the chapters are slow, disconnected, and never really allowed me to get into a rhythm with my reading. It's written in a very stop/start style, and the text is small and dense, requiring high levels of attention to detail. This makes to effortful and stressful reading, and means I take the easy exit from reading as soon as I'm able.

After crawling through 150 pages over the course of nearly two weeks, I gave up and read something that flowed much more easily, getting just as far in a single day.

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