THE NEVER-ENDING BOOK STORY

What a treat and a tonic to have this to read! A new book from Philip Pullman to brighten the winter gloom. This is the literary equivalent of one of those light therapy lamps for people afflicted with SAD. Medicinal paper. I've been ready for this for ages. It was great to have the first part of the Book of Dust and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, it was quite different to the His Dark Materials trilogy. The main difference being that Lyra is only a baby in La Belle Sauvage. In The Secret Commonwealth we take another jump in time. Here, we are some twenty years after the events of La Belle Sauvage and a decade after the end of His Dark Materials. I won't give away any more of the plot than you can pick up from the 'blurb' which says the following: The second volume of Philip Pullman's  The Book of Dust  sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her daemon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined,

2020 is looking like a bumper year for fantastic literature. Some of my all-time favourite authors have new releases out in the coming months. So, here's my pick - in no particular order - of the ten books I'm most looking forward to adding to my TBR pile... 1) Utopia Avenue - David Mitchell It’s been five years or so since his last book so its high time we had something new from Mr Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is one of my favourite books ever and I love how all of his books are linked by various characters. This one - set during the 60s and following the fortunes of a rock group - features a descendant of Jacob De Zoet. 2) Ali Smith - Summer This will be the final part of Smith’s seasonal quartet. I’ve loved reading these and Ali Smith is now one of my favourite writers. Her style is, perhaps, not for everyone; it took me a while to get used to but I adore it now. I really like how these books are providing a snapshot of Britain heading towards Brexit. If this final

Welcome back! I hope you had a splendid Christmastime and may I also wish you a very happy year ahead for 2020?!  I have been wallowing deeply in Christmas since at least early December and it is now high time I clawed my way back to reality. Actually, that sounds like a step too far. It’s OK if I just lose myself in books again, right?  In my last 'chapter' of the Never-ending Book Story, I was quite happily lost in the parallel universe of Iain Pears' Arcadia. If you recall, the novel featured a cameo appearance from J.R.R. Tolkien. Our journey continues, then, with a chance to delve deeper into the world of Tolkien because I've been reading Tolkien - A Biography by Michael White. Here's the blurb: There are few writers who can claim the popularity and enduring appeal of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. His celebrated novels have sold in excess of 160 million copies, and are in large part responsible for seeding the entire genre of fantasy fiction. It