This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books with My Favourite Colour on the Cover”.

I’ve always loved green so here are ten books I’ve read and enjoyed with green on the cover:

1. The Village of Eight Graves by Seishi Yokomizo – A Japanese classic crime novel first published in 1950 and available in a new English translation by Bryan Karetnyk.

2. A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry – The third book in one of my favourite historical mysteries series, set in the medical world of 19th century Edinburgh.

3. The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin – A Gervase Fen mystery with a theatrical theme. I’ve only read two books in the series so far and must read more!

4. That Lady by Kate O’Brien – The first of two Virago Modern Classics on my list, with those famous green covers. This one is about Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Eboli and Duchess of Pastrana.

5. Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier – This family saga set in Ireland is a particularly bleak du Maurier novel and not a favourite, but I did still like it.

6. Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession by Alison Weir – Part of Weir’s Six Tudor Queens series, retelling the stories of the six wives of Henry VIII.

7. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith – The first in McCall Smith’s popular detective series set in Botswana and still the only one I’ve read!

8. Troy Chimneys by Margaret Kennedy – Another VMC book. I loved this one, set in Regency England and telling the story of a man with two very different sides to his character.

9. The Deadly Truth by Helen McCloy – A 1941 mystery featuring the New York psychiatrist Dr Basil Willing. McCloy’s books seem to have gone back out of print again, so I’m glad I managed to read some of them while they were available!

10. Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson – This early Atkinson novel is an unusual, imaginative read that plays with the concept of time in some fascinating ways.

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Have you read any of these? Are there any other books you’ve enjoyed with green covers?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “May Flowers”. There are a number of suggestions for ways to approach this topic, such as books with flowers on the covers or books about flowers or gardeners, but I’ve decided just to list ten books with names of flowers in the title.

These are all books that I’ve read and reviewed on my blog – and I’ve managed to find ten different flower names!

1. Blackberry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton – An interesting historical novel about the community of Huguenot silk weavers living and working in London’s Spitalfields in the 18th century. I was drawn to this book by the pretty cover, but enjoyed the story as well.

2. The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas, fils – The novel which inspired the opera La traviata. I read a translation by Liesl Schillinger and enjoyed this story of Marguerite Gautier, who uses bouquets of red and white camellias to send messages to her lovers.

3. The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau – Historical thriller set in New York’s Little Italy during Prohibition. It’s a fascinating setting and we do learn a little bit about growing orchids too.

4. Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton – This is a contemporary crime novel about a man serving a life sentence for murder and the lawyer he chooses to help him overturn the verdict. A typical Bolton novel with lots of twists and turns!

5. The Red Lily Crown by Elizabeth Loupas – An excellent historical fiction novel set in 16th century Florence and following the story of an alchemist’s daughter who enters the household of Francesco de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

6. The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas, père – I would never have imagined that a book about a tulip-growing contest could be so exciting, but this one is! I love Dumas and have thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve read by him so far.

7. The Poppy Field by Deborah Carr – A dual-timeline novel split between the present day and 1916-18 where the story unfolds of a VAD nurse at a casualty clearing station in France during the war. Interesting but predictable.

8. Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden – This classic novel from 1939 follows a group of nuns who set out to establish a new convent in the Himalayas. I loved the atmosphere Godden creates as she explores the relationships between the nuns and how they adjust to the unfamiliar environment.

9. Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson – A novel about a singer working for ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) during World War II, performing for the troops in North Africa. An aspect of the war I hadn’t read about before.

10. The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes – This 1942 mystery novel about a stolen horse, a missing girl and a haunted house is part of Innes’ Inspector Appleby series. I found it too bizarre to be very enjoyable and would recommend starting with a different Appleby novel.

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Have you read any of these? Which other books can you think of with flowers in the title?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books on my Spring TBR”.

I’m expecting to read more than ten books this spring, but here’s a selection that are coming up soon on my TBR:

Some NetGalley review copies:

1. Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
2. The Puzzle Wood by Rosie Andrews
3. Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz
4. A Different Sound by various authors

From my Classics Club list:

5. The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
6. The Black Lake by Hella S. Haasse

For Read Christie 2024:

7. Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie
8. Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

From the Walter Scott Prize longlist:

9. The Fraud by Zadie Smith
10. The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

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What are you hoping to read this spring?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Top Ten Quick Reads/Books to Read When Time is Short”. I am listing below a selection of ten books with fewer than 200 pages – perfect if you don’t have much time to read.

1. Every Eye by Isobel English – A beautifully written novella published by Persephone in which a woman on her honeymoon in Ibiza looks back on her life. (144 pages)

2. Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu – This early example of the vampire novel was first published in 1872 and is thought to have influenced Bram Stoker’s Dracula. (160 pages)

3. The Man from London by Georges Simenon – One of many standalone novellas by Simenon, this psychological thriller from 1937 is available in an English translation by Howard Curtis. (160 pages)

4. Water by John Boyne – The first in a new quartet of books based on the four elements. I’m looking forward to reading the second one, Earth, soon. (161 pages)

5. The Beacon by Susan Hill – An atmospheric and unsettling story about a family living in a lonely farmhouse in the north of England. (162 pages)

6. Mr Harrison’s Confessions by Elizabeth Gaskell – This 1851 novella about a young doctor working in a small, rural community is a prequel to Gaskell’s better known book, Cranford. (113 pages)

7. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot – I think this science fiction/horror story will surprise a lot of people as it’s not typical of Eliot at all! My edition also includes her essay, Silly Novels by Lady Novelists. (110 pages)

8. Chocky by John Wyndham – This short book about a boy with an imaginary friend is one of my favourites so far by Wyndham! (164 pages)

9. The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson – A moving little book in which a man with only a month to live sets out on a tour of the world, visiting each place on his list in alphabetical order. (128 pages)

10. The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins – I love Collins and enjoyed this novella based on the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition to the Arctic in search of the North West Passage. (112 pages)

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Have you read any of these? Which other short books have you read and enjoyed?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023”. There were lots of authors I tried for the first time last year, but the ten I’m listing below are all authors whose books I enjoyed and would consider reading again.

1. Edgar Rice Burroughs – His more famous books have never really appealed to me, but The Efficiency Expert was recommended to me and it was very entertaining.

2. E.C.R. Lorac – I’m not sure whether Death of an Author was really the best Lorac to start with, as I liked it but didn’t love it. I hope to try another one soon!

3. Helen Scarlett – I enjoyed The Lodger for its portrayal of London in the aftermath of World War I and must try Scarlett’s previous novel at some point.

4. Geoffrey Household – A man goes on the run after a failed assassination attempt in Household’s 1939 novel, Rogue Male. An interesting read, but I’m not sure if any of his other books appeal.

5. Dolores Hitchens – I read The Cat Saw Murder, a Rachel Murdock mystery, for Mallika’s Reading the Meow week and would like to read some of the others in that series.

6. Ursula Bloom – Wonder Cruise was my first Ursula Bloom book; it seems she was a very prolific author, so I have lots more to look forward to.

7. Patricia Highsmith – Having meant to try something by Patricia Highsmith for years, I finally read her classic psychological thriller Strangers on a Train in 2023!

8. J.B. Priestley – Benighted, Priestley’s 1927 novel, was a creepy and unsettling read, perfect for October!

9. Kate Grenville – Restless Dolly Maunder, based on the story of Grenville’s own grandmother, was an interesting look at life in Australia in the early 20th century.

10. Rebecca Netley – I enjoyed The Black Feathers, a Gothic novel set in Victorian England, and I would like to read Netley’s previous book, The Whistling, now.

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Have you read any of these authors? Which new (or new-to-you) authors did you discover last year?

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Halloween Freebie”.

Today also marks the start of Witch Week, hosted by Chris and Lizzie, and their theme for this year is…Cryptozoo, “all about legendary animals, fantastic beasts and literary monsters.” I thought this would make an interesting top ten, so I am listing below a selection of monstrous animals and mythological creatures, all of which have appeared in books I’ve read and reviewed on my blog.

Not all of these are traditionally associated with Halloween, but I don’t think you would want to meet any of them after dark!

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1. The Minotaur
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

I’m starting my list with one of the most famous creatures from Greek mythology. The Minotaur has the head of a bull and the body of a man and is imprisoned in the Labyrinth of Knossos on the island of Crete. He appears in many novels and books of mythology, including Saint’s Ariadne, written from the perspectives of the Minotaur’s sisters, Ariadne and Phaedra.

2. Mari Lwyd
Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper

This final novel in Cooper’s The Dark is Rising sequence features several beasts and monsters, including the afanc, a Welsh lake monster, and some very threatening black minks and polecats. Most terrifying of all is the skeleton horse known as the Mari Lwyd, another creature from Welsh folklore.

3. Medved
The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden

This is a wonderful fantasy trilogy set in medieval Russia and grounded in mythology, folklore and fairy tales. The novels feature several chyerts, or spirits, including the demonic Medved, who at one moment can appear to be a man, the next a bear.

4. Ox-headed demons
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

The Ghost Bride is a very unusual historical fantasy novel in which a young Chinese woman receives a marriage proposal from a dead man, then enters the underworld to investigate his murder. Here she finds that the Chinese afterlife is populated with many ghosts, spirits and monsters, among them the sinister ox-headed demons, guardians of the underworld.

5. Tintaglia
The Realm of the Elderlings sequence by Robin Hobb

There are several dragons who appear throughout Robin Hobb’s sixteen-volume fantasy sequence, but for this list I have chosen Tintaglia, the blue female who is the first to hatch when dragons begin to return to the world during the Liveship Traders Trilogy. Like the other dragons in the series, Tintaglia is proud and unpredictable, and for the human characters she can be either an ally or a danger.

6. Jörmungandr
Ragnarok by A.S. Byatt

Another mythical being, this time from Norse mythology. Jörmungandr, also known as the World Serpent, encircles the Earth and bites its own tail. When it releases its tail, Ragnarök, the final battle of the world, will begin. Byatt’s novel is written from the perspective of a little girl who has been evacuated during World War II and relates the Norse myth to her own life in wartime Britain.

7. Kikimora
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

Like the Katherine Arden books above, this one combines Russian history and folklore, this time telling the story of the witch, Baba Yaga. The kikimora, a secondary character in the novel, is a house spirit from Slavic mythology. She has a birdlike appearance and lives in a swamp, where she plagues the dreams of any human who falls asleep near her watery home.

8. The Leviathan
The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews

At first this appears to be a novel about a woman accused of witchcraft in the 17th century, but halfway through it develops into something quite different with tales of a fearsome snake-like sea monster. I loved the foreboding atmosphere of the earlier chapters and would have preferred the book to continue that way, but I know other readers enjoyed the second half a lot more than I did!

9. The Beast Folk
The Island of Doctor Moreau by HG Wells

Sometimes the most frightening monsters are those that could really exist. In Wells’ classic science fiction novel, a man is shipwrecked on an island inhabited by a scientist who has been experimenting on animals. Thankfully Wells doesn’t go into those experiments in too much detail, but the results are both sad and horrific.

10. Behemoth
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

This list wouldn’t be complete without Behemoth, the demonic, chess-playing, vodka-drinking black cat from Bulgakov’s Soviet classic. I loved this book and must read it again to see if I can pick up on some of the things I know I missed the first time!

What do you think of my list? Which other literary beasts and monsters would you include?