Features

Talk of the Toun Blog Tour

22 October 2015 by Louise Leave a Comment

I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Helen MacKinven’s debut novel, Talk of the Toun, a black comedy set in 80s Scotland. The book is released a week today (29th October) and is well worth a look – I’m hoping to make the launch in Glasgow…

Filed Under: Other Features Tagged With: blog tours, Helen MacKinven, new releases, Talk of the Toun

Cover Reveal – Jihadi: A Love Story

22 September 2015 by Louise 1 Comment

I’m really excited to be publishing my first ever cover reveal today. I’ve never done one before and before I started book blogging, I didn’t realise how excited book-lovers got about getting a preview of a book cover. It’s fabulous to see in advance a cover and blurb for an upcoming book

Filed Under: Other Features Tagged With: cover reveals, Jihadi A Love Story, Orenda Books, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, thrillers, Yusuf Toropov

Book Giveaway: The Defenceless

7 September 2015 by Louise 7 Comments

As I’m focusing this month on the brilliant Orenda Books, an independent British publisher I’m delighted to be hosting a giveaway of one of their current releases, the brilliant The Defenceless by Kati Hiekkapelto…

Filed Under: Other Features Tagged With: blog tours, giveaways, Kati Hiekkapelto, Orenda Books, The Defenceless

Paperback Summer Round-Up

3 September 2015 by Louise Leave a Comment

At the end of May I decided to take part in the #PaperbackSummer challenge being run by Suze and Sophie. I had great plans to read about a dozen paperbacks while also reading digital review books and doing my best to keep my spiralling To-Be-Read pile under control…

Filed Under: Other Features Tagged With: A Colder War, A Proper Family Adventure, Anne of Green Gables, Charles Cumming, children's books, Chrissie Manby, Eva Holland, Graham Simsion, How I Lost You, Jennifer Klinec, Jenny Blackhurst, Kristien Hammerechts, LM Montgomery, memoirs, Paperback Summer, spy novels, The Daughter's Secret, The Rosie Project, The Temporary Bride, The Woman Who Fed The Dogs, women's fiction

Publisher Interview: Karen Sullivan

1 September 2015 by Louise Leave a Comment

This month I’m going to have a bit of a spotlight on a fabulous new British publisher, Orenda Books. I’ll be reviewing and giving away The Defenceless by Kati Hiekkapelto, and reviewing How to Be Brave by Louise Beech. I’m starting this month with an interview with Karen Sullivan, the woman behind the books…

Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: Gunnar Staalesen, How to be Brave, independent publishers, Karen Sullivan, Kati Hiekkapelto, Louise Beech, Nordic Noir, Orenda Books, Paul E Hardisty, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, The Defenceless, The Hummingbird, The Last Days of Disco, translated work

Top Ten: Tom Hanks Films

9 July 2015 by Louise Leave a Comment

Happy birthday Tom Hanks. The nicest man in Hollywood is 59 today and to celebrate here are my Top Ten Tom Hanks films.

Filed Under: Top 10 Tagged With: A League of their Own, Academy Awards, animation, Apollo 13, Barkhad Abdi, Best Actor, Big, Captain Phillips, Denzel Washington, Disney, Ed Harris, Forrest Gump, Gary Sinise, Geena Davis, Jim Lovell, Kevin Bacon, Mark Kermode, Meg Ryan, oscar nominated films, Oscar Winning films, Philadelphia, Pixar, Ron Howard, Saving Private Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle, Stephen King, The Green Mile, Tom Hanks, Toy Story, true stories

Top Ten: 2015 Reads (So far…)

30 June 2015 by Louise 2 Comments

We’re now half-way through the year and time to have a look back at some of the great books I’ve read this year. I’ve been very lucky – so far the lowest rating I’ve given a book is 3/5 so it’s definitely been a success. About half of the books I’ve read have been 2015 releases…

Filed Under: Top 10 Tagged With: cancer, Clare Donoghue, Clare Mackintosh, comedy, crime, Disclaimer, Finnish fiction, Graham Norton, Graham Simsion, Hitler's Forgotten Children, I Let You Go, Ingrid van Oelhafen, Jennifer Klinec, Kati Hiekkapelto, Lebensborn, Little Black Lies, Lynda Bellingham, memoirs, No Place To Die, psychological thrillers, Renee Knight, romance, Sharon Bolton, SJ Bolton, The Hummingbird, The Lifes and Loves of a He-Devil, The Rosie Project, The Temporary Bride, There's Something I've Been Dying to Tell You, thrillers

Top Ten: 1997 Films

24 June 2015 by Louise Leave a Comment

A couple of years ago I listed my Top Ten films from 2001, a post that was inspired by a Facebook discussion. As I’ve not been making it to the cinema as often as I’d life recently, I’ve decided to repeat the exercise for a few different years – it might even come to be a series as I approach my 40th birthday…

Filed Under: Top 10 Tagged With: Academy Award winners, Air Force One, Billy Connolly, Con Air, Cop Land, Dan Aykroyd, Gary Oldman, Grosse Pointe Blank, Guy Pearce, Harrison Ford, Holocaust, James Bond, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Jonathan Pryce, Judi Dench, Kevin Spacey, LA Confidential, Life is Beautiful, Michell Yeoh, Minnie Driver, Mrs Brown, Nicolas Cage, Oscars, Pierce Brosnan, Russell Crowe, Steve Buscemi, Sylvester Stallone, The Full Monty, Titanic, Tomorrow Never Dies

Top Ten: Female Directed Films

10 June 2015 by Louise Leave a Comment

As I get older I find myself becoming increasingly feminist in my opinions. I look around me and I see reports of women facing sexism in their daily lives, I watch Parliament and hear female MPs being told to “behave” by their male colleagues and I have to bite my tongue…