It always surprises me how few reviews some of the books that are long listed for the book of prize have already when I read them despite some of them being published for many months they may have 20 or so reviews

Eek, I just got accepted on NetGalley to Read immediately Eligf Shafiq next novel One Brief moment in eternity it’s going to be first on my reading list once I’ve completed the booker long list I absolutely adore this author @netgalleyuk

My Disability means that I need to take black cabs when I’m in London rather than using the tube. Yesterday I took some friends along with me ,one of them said it made her feel like she was the queen so you see there are some advantages to Disability. Queen Sarah over and out.

Day 6 of The Good Things in life in no particular order #thegoodthingsinlife Children Giggling

Need a word for that feeling of utter relief when that task you have been putting off for far too long finally gets done

My review of The Correspondent by Virginia Evans . Winner of the women’s prize for fiction 2026 a novel written in the form of letters written over the years by an elderly lady lots of discussions about reading authors and books4⭐️ @MichaelJBooks bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/t...

The Correspondent by Virginia Evens

4 star 7/10 This book won the women’s prize of 2026 I was not aware of it pre-publication so I’ve purchased this copy. I did enjoy this novel which looks at the life of Sybil who we meet initially …

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My review of Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli after her marriage breaks down the narrator, tries to make sense of her life by writing a semi autobiographical novel about a woman writing a novel.4⭐️ @4thEstateBooks bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/b...

Beginning Middle Endby Valeria Luiselli

4 star 6.5/10 In this novel, the main narrator who  a writer  of novels travels with her young daughter to Sicily during a modern heat wave summer . Her marriage has just broken up and sh…

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My review of Little Spark by Jess Kidd an intricate Gothic story blending magic and reality perfectly as orphan Bodkin moves through life as a Victorian parlour act harnessing internal electricity.Gothic and inventive 4⭐️ @canongatebooks bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/l...

Little Spark by Jess Kidd

4 star 7/10 I very much enjoyed this novel which is set in Victorian times the main character is an orphan who has some strange slightly magical skills of being able to command the strength of elec…

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My review of Hollow bones by Jodi Picoult out in November this one’s sure to be a best seller the story of a woman orphaned by the 911 terrorist attacks. I’m a big Jodi Picoult fan and this one is fantastic five stars. bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/h...

Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult

5 stars 8/10 How excited am I to start this book? I haven’t read a new Jodi Picoult for such a long time so I was delighted to be approved on that netGalley or to read this one and obviously Read. …

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I had a wonderful opportunity today to attend the end of course show for a group of young people who have spent the week on a music course .These kids who all had significant disabilities produced a version of The tempest which allowed each student to shine @EmbraceCharity

7 book reviews written 6 to go you would have thought I would learn from previous mistakes but every time I finish another, I am seduced by the next one and start reading it immediately so I end up with a big backlog 

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I Want You To Be Happy by Jem Calder

3 star 5.5/10 This is the big story of two small lives in very up-to-date London in the First chapter a  boy meets a girl in nightclub. chuck’s in his mid 30s. Working for an advertising agenc…

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My review of Smallie by Eden Mckenzie-Goddard the Windrush generation story of Lucinda who arrived in the 60s on a ship from Barbados but 50 years later is told she must be deported 4⭐️ bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/s...

Smallie by Eden McKenzie-Goddard

4 star 6/10 This is the story of lucinda Brown who travels on a ship  in 1961 from Barbados to reunite with her boyfriend in the UK. We follow her through the years as she marries and has a fa…

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My Review of the Gripping The Golden Child by Lucinda Berry the story of teenaged siblings and their involvement in a traffic accident that kills .Very exciting 5⭐️ bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/t...

The Golden Child by Lucinda Berry

5 star 8/10 The family have two children both in their teenage years one night the daughter accidentally runs over one of her school friends with her car. She rings her brother who comes to her Res…

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My review of The fabulous Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Stirritt A unlikely friendship between 2 very different men forges a lifelong business relationship and ultimately love and respect .i adored this book 5⭐️ @_SwiftPress bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/d...

Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Starritt

5 star 9.5/10 I’ve been saving this book up since I requested it on netGalley UK and it sat in my to be read pile for a while. I had a feeling that it was going to be rather splendid. The Story fol…

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My review of The Glass Key by Amanda Geard A mother abandons her small child her granddaughter travels to a remote Norwegian island to discover a complex war time mystery 3⭐️ @headlinepg @NetGalley_UK bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/t...

The Glass Key by Amanda Geard

3 star 5/10 When Irish Maggie’s mother  leaves her when she’s a small child, she never knows why until she discovers a letter to her mother asking her to take in a baby. Investigating the back…

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My review of the truly lovely The Trouble with Sister Francis by Matt Coyne a group of boys join a summer club run by a chain smoking nun set in the 80s a joy of a book a favourite read this year 5⭐️@headlinepg @NetGalley_UK @mattcoyney

My As We Fall Through Time by Claire North probably the most complicated clever time travel novel I’ve ever read. @LittleBrownUK 4⭐️ bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/a...

As We Fall Through Time by Claire North

4 star 6.5/10 I’m a big Big fan of a time travel novel so when I saw this one on NetGalley UK I requested and it quickly went to the top of my to  read pile  I have not read any of the au…

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Day 6 of The Good Things in life in no particular order #thegoodthingsinlife The innocence of the very young

Day 5 of The Good Things in life in no particular order #thegoodthingsinlife ice cream .who am I kidding whilst ice cream is clearly essential today when it’s over 30 degrees it is a delight any day Note to self you are eating too much ice cream your treat has become a daily habit

@TheBookerPrizes long list downloaded on to a good start as the one I’ve already read John of John by @Doug_D_Stuart was a 5 star read .its going to be a great month of reading

Day 5 of The Good Things in life in no particular order ;clean sheet night #thegoodthingsinlife

Day 4 of The Good Things in life in no particular order ; the first daffodil of spring #thegoodthingsinlife

Day 3 of The Good Things in life in no particular order ;clean sheet night #goodthingsinlife #gratitude #dailypoem

It’s going to take me a few days to write my review but I wanted to post about how gorgeous glorious and beautiful The Trouble With Sister Francis by Matt Coyen is yet again. I think one of his books is going to be on my book of the year list if you loved Frank and Read,published end August

Day 2 of the good things in life in no particular order ;singing loudly to yourself whilst driving #gratitude #goodthingsinlife

I went to a poetry workshop at the Inclusive Performing Arts festival yesterday by run by Rainbow Bedfordshire where we were asked to jot down things we wanted more of in life .its inspired me to jot some more down and try posting one a day as a writing exercise

Day 1 of The Good things on life in no particular order ;The smell of your newborn baby #goodthings #treasures #gratitude

A fabulous day yesterday volunteering at the inclusive capital performing arts festival Bedford . The joy in this space was so infectious I came out with a big grin on my face. I wish it could be bottled.@gigbuddiesbedf1 @gigbuddies @LoveLivingItUp

An empty day today I realise sometimes how lucky I am to have a whole day free to read in my garden .I’m jumping straight into the Trouble with Sister Francis by Matt Coyne .His last book Frank and Red was one of my top 5 books of the year so I have very high expectations