A MUST-READ BOOK

On opening Catherine Czerkawska's historical novel, The Physic Garden, I know immediately that I will have to plan ahead and read it chapter by chapter because it is so beautifully written, with each chapter encapsulating a thought, a question, a time. You want to stop and think, relish what you've just read – also, life has to revolve around work and shopping and cooking/consuming meals...there will be no housework done until I have finished this book.

Half-way through and I am still captivated by the interesting detail, the characters and the hook – I want to know; what happened? I'm a city girl and really interested in how the writer has stuffed every crack in the floors with knowledge...things I want to know but have been too lazy to find out for myself, so far. When I'm reading I'm immediately immersed in these characters' lives, and it's so annoying when real life interferes and I have to stop.

Oooh, there's a fabulously disgusting passage 85% of the way through, describing some of the poorest places in Glasgow:

'...I found myself peering into rooms that never saw the light of day, stinking bug-ridden rooms and passages...in a drab and deadly succession, all leprous with damp, I thought that I had found myself in some hellish labyrinth, an underground warren where only troglodytes might live.'

...and, several hours later, I have finished reading a wonderful tale. I don't need to tell you what it's about – you can read that on the book blurb. This is not a genre story; anyone, with particular likes and dislikes would love it. It is set in the historical past but is fiction, and such an imagination has conjured up a place and a time that will leave you spellbound.

PILLARS OF THE WORLD

This is the first book I’ve read this year, and I loved it. I was sucked into this world from the beginning and read it in a week – which is good for me.

Written by Anne Bishop who is the author of the bestselling Black Jewels Trilogy – well that’s what it said on the cover. I’m researching Fantasy as a genre because I want to write something witchy and magicky, so had called for suggestions. What a wonderful start; a very satisfying read.

The story drags us into a world where a struggle between humans and Fae has existed for generations; witches live in a kind of peace between them until the arrival of the witch-hunter.

It is written from many points of view which immediately gives the reader the three stars of the show in three quite short chapters. Something mysterious is happening to the world of the Fae, the witch-hunter is killing a witch, Death’s Mistress is gathering the dead, and our young MC is being treated unkindly in the village. What more could you want? I read on, and on. My first taste of Fantasy since I was a teenager is a success, I’m glad to report.

And now I have to choose another. I’ve had a great time these last few weeks, swapping books, and the day that five books were stuffed through my letter box was definitely red letter. Imagine, watching the postman squeezing all these brown parcels into that hole in the door – so fast that I couldn’t get to it to open it for him! I’ve abandoned a Terry Pratchet, The Wee Free Men and don’t think I’ll go back to it, yet. The Name of the Wind is calling to me so I might answer it first.