The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg

Rhodesia - a place of great beauty, but also of terrible, man-made, tragedy. The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam is, above all else, a magical evocation of childhood; at times laugh-out-loud funny, at others heartbreakingly sad. It tells the story of two young sisters, Nyree and Cia O’Callohan, who live on a remote [...]

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

We have all heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave amongst the ashes. But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty … and what curses accompanied Cinderella’s looks?
Having only read a few [...]

Torchwood: Border Princes by Dan Abnett

In 2007, three Torchwood novels were released, although it seems a little unclear whether they have a particular order. For anyone who hasn’t seen the show, this book is probably not a good introduction, as it throws you straight into the story, without giving any kind of background. For those who have seen the show, [...]

Sugarcoated by Catherine Forde

When fifteen year old Cloddy’s witnesses a crime outside her dad’s shop, she’s certain it’s the work of a gang and keeps quiet, afraid for her life. Suddenly a gorgeous hunk called Stefan turns up and is unbelievably interested in her. He leaves no time to think about what she saw and sweeps her off [...]

Doctor Who: The Many Hands by Dale Smith

The Nor’ Loch is being filled in. If you ask the soldiers there, they’ll tell you it’s a stinking cesspool that the city can do without. But that doesn’t explain why the workers won’t go near the place without an armed guard, nor why they whisper stories about the loch giving up its dead, about [...]

Welcome to Your Brain by Sandra Aamodt & Sam Wang

Written with a light touch, but using hard science, Welcome to your Brain will answer all the questions you’ve ever had about how that amazing three pounds in your skull works - and how you can help it work better. Written by two top neuroscientists, they dispel all the myths (such as we only ever [...]

Vampire Apocalypse: A World Torn Asunder by Derek Gunn

The first few chapters of this book throw you straight into this world - a war in the Middle East wipes out it’s oil supply, and events have escalated from there. Power, especially from nuclear stations, has become the most valuable thing, and cites and towns look after only themselves.
Into this confused world steps the [...]

Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard

Rose Leonard is on the run from her life.
Taking refuge in a remote island community, she cocoons herself in work, silence and solitude in a house by the sea. But she is haunted by her past, by memories and desires she’d hoped were long dead. Rose must decide whether she has chosen a new life [...]

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

Set in seventeenth-century Iran, THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS is the powerful and haunting story of a young girl’s journey from innocence to adulthood. The novel begins in the 1620s in a remote village where the narrator (whose name, in the Iranian storytelling tradition, we are never to know) lives with her mother and rug-maker father. [...]

The Stepmother by Carrie Adams

Two women are vying for position in one man’s life. Their greatest fear is each other. But there’s no point taking sides because, as they are about to find out, there are just too many.
The Ex: She managed to keep her divorce amicable by burying past hurts. It cost her dear, but it’s worth [...]