Friday, February 27, 2026

My Review for There's Always Next Year by Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson, read by Eric Lockley and Khaya Fraites

February 27, 2026  , , ,  No comments



“I swear this airline reminds me of The Flintstones. I'm surprised the floor doesn't open up and we land the plane using our feet.” 😂✈️

Told over the space of twenty-four hours, There’s Always Next Year was a fun listen, alternating between Dominique and his cousin Andy, who, although from the same small town in Indiana, have been living very different lives for the past two years. The story was engaging, with multiple plot threads culminating in a finale in the town square on New Year’s Day, when everything comes together. 🎆

I enjoyed the focus on the attempted redevelopment of the town, alongside Dominique and Andy’s relationship mishaps, as they navigated a chaotic New Year’s Day with some wonderfully crazy characters thrown into the mix. 🤪🏙️

Eric Lockley and Khaya Fraites, as Dominique and Andy respectively, were excellent narrators, drawing me into the manic, rushing-around-town madness that provides the backdrop for most of the story. 🎧✨ Although a Young Adult novel, this could easily be enjoyed by adults and teens alike.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review There’s Always Next Year by Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson.

About the Book

Andy was supposed to shed her too-serious student journalist persona and reinvent herself on New Year's Eve. Instead, she puked on her crush, dropped her phone in a fish tank, and managed to get her car stolen. Now, she only has the first day of the year to stop the gentrification that’s threatening her family’s business right her wrongs from the night before, and figure out why she feels so drawn to the electric new-girl-next-door. . How can Andy find her voice when everything’s being turned upside down?

Dominique is an influencer on the verge of securing a major brand deal that will ensure his future and family legacy. But when he runs into his former best friend, unresolved feelings emerge -- and in a small town, there's nowhere to hide. Not from his cousin, Andy, who has always seen him for his true self, not from his busybody manager, Kim, whose favorite color is money green, and certainly not from himself. When all the world’s a stage, can Dominique rise to superstardom without leaving the ones he loves behind?

There’s Always Next Year is a dual POV, double love story about what it means to nearly blow your life up, and race to put it back together before your time runs out. And if they fail? Well, there’s always next year.


About George

George M Johnson is an Award-Winning Black Non-Binary Writer, Author, and Executive Producer located in the LA area. They are the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Young Adult memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue discussing their adolescence growing up as a young Black Queer boy in New Jersey through a series of powerful essays. The book was optioned for Television by Gabrielle Union in 2020, and as of 2024 is the #1 most banned and challenged book in the United States.

In 2018, George served as a NY State Spokesperson for the HIV stops with me Campaign. George was listed on The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2020. The Out 100 Most Influential LGBTQ People in 2021. And in 2022 was honored as one of the TIME100 Next Most Influential People in the World for their fight against censorship in the United States.

In 2021 they wrote and Executive Produced the Dramatic Reading of All Boys Aren’t Blue starring Jenifer Lewis and Dyllon Burnside which received a 2022 Special Recognition Award from GLAAD, and a 2023 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Daytime Special. 

As a former journalist, George has written for over 50 major outlets including Teen Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, NBC, and Buzzfeed and Huffpost. In 2019 George was awarded the Salute to Excellence Award by the National Association of Black Journalists for their article “When Racism Anchors your Health” in Vice Magazine.

Their second memoir WE ARE NOT BROKEN was released in September of 2021. It received the Carter G. Woodson Award which recognizes books that “accurately and sensitively depict the experience of one or more historically marginalized racial/ethnic groups in the United States”. The book also received the Nonfiction Honor Book in the YA category from the International Literacy Association.

Their third book Flamboyants the Queer Harlem Renaissance I wish I’d Known was released in September of 2024. It was an instant Indie Bestseller, receiving 5 starred reviews and an Audie Award Nomination for best Audiobook for Young Adults.

Their first fiction book co-written with bestselling author Leah Johnson, THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR was released December 2025, receiving a Starred Review from Booklist and is a Good Morning America Young Adult Book Club pick.

George is also a proud HBCU alum twice over, and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.




About Leah

Leah Johnson (she/her) is an eternal midwesterner and author of award-winning books for children and young adults. Her bestselling debut YA novel, You Should See Me in a Crown, was a Stonewall Honor Book, the inaugural Reese's Book Club YA pick, and named one of TIME magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. She is also the author of the Lambda Literary Award finalist, Ellie Engle Saves Herself, the editor of the USA Today bestselling middle grade anthology, Black Girl Power, and the co-author of the Good Morning America YA Book Club pick, There’s Always Next Year with George M. Johnson. When she’s not writing, you can find her at Loudmouth Books, her Indianapolis-based independent bookstore that specializes in highlighting the work of marginalized authors and uplifting banned or challenged books.



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Tuesday, February 24, 2026

My Review for A Man Called One by Fredrik Backman

February 24, 2026  , ,  No comments


“You only need one ray of light to chase all the shadows away”

A Man Called Ove 📖 was my February read for @hook.me.a.book challenge – the #NeglectedFaithfulsReadingChallenge. 📚✨ It's been sitting on my shelf for at least two years, and I'm so pleased I've finally got around to reading it. 🙌

What I didn't realise was that it has already been made into a movie 🎬 – one which I've watched, albeit with a slightly different title, A Man Called Otto. However, I didn't remember a thing about it. 🤦‍♀️😅

I really enjoyed this story. ❤️ Ove is your typical "grumpy old man" 😠 with the patience of a gnat 🦟 and a man who appreciates that rules are in place for a reason 📏 – and woe betide anyone who tries to veer away from said rules! 🚫 There is a sadness to Ove which will tear at your heartstrings, 💔 and as you understand what has happened in his past, you'll maybe appreciate just why he's as grumpy as he is. 🥺

I appreciated that slowly and surely, Ove's new neighbours and a random cat 🐈 wormed their way into his life, and without his immediate realisation, he was having a better time. 🌤️ He was useful to people and he was wanted-it was such a heartwarming feeling as I was reading it. 🫶✨

I am pretty sure I have My Friends on my Libro FM shelf, 🎧 so I will get around to that at some point, and I am pleased that Fredrik is now on my radar. 👀📚

About the Book

Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.


About Fredrik

Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, The Winners, Anxious People, My Friends, and two novellas, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and The Deal of a Lifetime, as well as one work of nonfiction, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children.




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Thursday, February 19, 2026

My Review for The Invisible Life of Addie LeRue by V.E. Schwab

February 19, 2026  , ,  No comments


“Do you know how to live three hundred years?” she says. And when he asks how, she smiles. “The same way you live one. A second at a time.”

I’d heard so many amazing things about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, yet I’d never read it. So when I spotted a special edition on the Zon, it jumped into my basket as if by magic ✨ The physical edition is gorgeous — sprayed edges, glossy illustrations inside — and the story is completely my kind of thing. I loved it ❤️ I could have happily carried on reading about all the years we missed in Addie’s past.

I chose to read this now because my cousin was reading it for her real-life book club, and I thought it would be lovely if we could chat about it too 📖 I’m not sure she liked it as much as I did, though!

The writing is beautiful, and the story is full of emotion and tragedy 💔 I found myself wondering how I would cope if no one remembered me and I were living forever — the places I could go, the things I could see, and of course, having the time to read every book I’ve ever wanted to read 📚✨

This book will stay with me for a long, long time and will be one I return to again and again 💫 I haven’t read anything else by this author before, but I’ll definitely be dipping into her back catalogue.

About the Book

When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there's always a price – the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone.

Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world, learning to live a life where no one remembers her and everything she owns is lost and broken. Existing only as a muse for artists throughout history, she learns to fall in love anew every single day.

Her only companion on this journey is her dark devil with hypnotic green eyes, who visits her each year on the anniversary of their deal. Alone in the world, Addie has no choice but to confront him, to understand him, maybe to beat him.

Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. Suddenly thrust back into a real, normal life, Addie realises she can’t escape her fate forever.

About Victoria

V. E .Schwab was born in California, raised in Tennessee, and currently splits her time between Denver, Colorado and Edinburgh, Scotland. She got her undergraduate degree in book design at Washington University in St. Louis, and her masters in depictions of monstrosity in medieval art at the University of Edinburgh. In addition to writing books and hosting a podcast called No Write Way, she spends her time on tour, or plagued by the knowledge of how short life is, in terms of the number of books she’ll be able to read, and obsessively saving tiktok videos for recipes she’ll probably never make. She also likes to run, and cycle, and swim—though not all at once. 

V.E. is the author of more than 25 books, spanning MG, YA, and Adult, though she’s never been keen on labeling stories for a certain audience. Plenty of young readers like Vicious, and plenty of older ones like Cassidy Blake, and she believes the best story is the one that finds you when you need it. 

Her greatest goal as an author is to make you doubt your reality. Not by convincing you that magic is real, but by planting a seed of doubt that it’s not.



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Tuesday, February 17, 2026

My Review for Rambling Man: My Life on the Road by Billy Connolly, read by Billy Connolly

February 17, 2026  , , ,  No comments


“Some of the nicest people I know are decomposing as we speak. I’ve always liked graveyards. I like reading the headstones.”

Billy Connolly is a legend and one of my favourite comedians of all time, so when I saw this audiobook, I grabbed it and devoured it with both ears.

Billy’s stories never age. However many times you’ve heard them, his observational wit remains second to none. As he narrates — as eloquently as anyone can in a Glasgow accent — his ramblings in that unmistakable, inimitable style, I felt as though I was travelling alongside him. Every road, every adventure, every wonderfully odd character he encounters — you’re right there with him.

He had me in stitches in every chapter. This is the sort of book that makes you laugh regardless of the mood you’re in. On days when life felt heavy, Billy could always lighten it.

He is a gentleman and a scholar, and he will remain a Scottish icon long after he’s gone. Realistically, that time may not be too far away — and that makes this audiobook feel all the more precious. It’s not just comedy; it’s a lifetime of storytelling, preserved in the voice that made it unforgettable.

Thank you, Billy, for entertaining me for my entire lifetime.

About the Book

Being a Rambling Man was what I always wanted to be, to live the way I damn well pleased. I've met the weirdest and most wonderful people who walk the Earth, seen the most bizarre and the most fantastic sights - and I've rarely come across something I couldn't get a laugh at. I don't think I've ever had a bad trip. Well, apart from in the 1970s, but that's a whole other story . . .

When Billy set out from Glasgow as a young man he never looked back. He played his banjo on boats and trains, under trees, and on top of famous monuments. He danced naked in snow, wind and fire. He slept in bus stations, under bridges and on strangers' floors. He travelled by foot, bike, ship, plane, sleigh - even piggy-backed - to get to his next destination.

Billy has wandered to every corner of the earth and believes that being a Rambling Man is about more than just travelling - it's a state of mind. Rambling Men and Women are free spirits who live on their wits, are interested in people and endlessly curious about the world. They love to play music, make art or tell stories along the way but, above all, they have a longing in their heart for the open road.

In his joyful new book, Billy explores this philosophy and how it has shaped him, and he shares hilarious new stories from his lifetime on the road. From riding his trike down America's famous Route 66, building an igloo on an iceberg in the Arctic, playing elephant polo (badly) in Nepal and crashing his motorbike (more than once), to eating witchetty grubs in Australia, being serenaded by a penguin in New Zealand, and swapping secrets in a traditional Sweat Lodge ritual in Canada, Rambling Man is a truly global adventure with the greatest possible travel companion.


About Billy

Billy Connolly was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He left school to work in the shipyards, becoming a welder, and joined the Territorial Army (in the parachute regiment) at around the same time. He developed an interest in folk music, eventually being an accomplished banjo player and a member of the band Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty (later of Baker Street fame). The jokes he told between songs eventually took over his act and he became a full-time comedian. Already a big star in Scotland, he became a household name in the UK after appearing on Parkinson (1971) in the early seventies. Billy has released many recordings and videos of his concert performances over the years. He has expanded his repertoire to include acting, appearing in a number of television dramas and films, most recently in the USA. In the 90s he made two documentary series for the BBC, about Scotland and Australia respectively, and in 1997 he starred in the award winning film Mrs Brown (1997). He is one of the UK's top comedians.






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Monday, February 16, 2026

My Review for Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison read by Joe Morton

February 16, 2026  , , , , ,  No comments



“All it takes to get along in this here man's town is a little shit, grit, and mother-wit.”

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison_ was February's read for #classiclitbookclub 📚, and I decided to listen to this one — which turned out to be a very good decision 🎧. I really enjoyed Joe Morton’s narration; he did a fantastic job capturing the many different accents as our unnamed protagonist moves from the Deep South 🌾 to the hustle and bustle of New York City 🗽.

We never learn the protagonist’s name, even when he is given a new identity. I believe this reflects the invisibility he feels — as a Black man coming of age in a world with deeply blinkered views about how he should behave in the presence of “white folk.”

Few books stay rent-free in my head 💭, but this may just be one of them. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy but you’re worried about struggling with the colloquial language, I highly recommend the audiobook 🎙️. This is definitely a book I’ll return to, and one I suspect will reveal something new each time ✨.

About the Book

Ralph Elllison's Invisible Man is a monumental novel, one that can well be called an epic of 20th-century African-American life. It is a strange story, in which many extraordinary things happen, some of them shocking and brutal, some of them pitiful and touching - yet always with elements of comedy and irony and burlesque that appear in unexpected places. 

After a brief prologue, the story begins with a terrifying experience from the hero's high-school days; it then moves quickly to the campus of a "Southern Negro college" and then to New York's Harlem, where most of the action takes place. 

The many people that the hero meets in the course of his wanderings are remarkably various, complex and significant. With them he becomes involved in an amazing series of adventures, in which he is sometimes befriended but more often deceived and betrayed - as much by himself and his own illusions as by the duplicity and the blindness of others. 

Invisible Man is not only a great triumph of storytelling and characterization; it is a profound and uncompromising interpretation of the anomalous position of Blacks in American society.


About Ralph

Ralph Ellison was a scholar and writer. He was born Ralph Waldo Ellison in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, named by his father after Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ellison was best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote Shadow and Act (1964), a collection of political, social and critical essays, and Going to the Territory (1986). For The New York Times , the best of these essays in addition to the novel put him "among the gods of America's literary Parnassus." A posthumous novel, Juneteenth, was published after being assembled from voluminous notes he left after his death.



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Wednesday, February 11, 2026

My Review for This Book Made Me Think Of You by Libby Page

February 11, 2026  , , , ,  No comments



"Sometimes life calls for a pillow fort. And sometimes you just have to build that fort yourself." 🏰✨

Libby! Why am I only now just discovering you?! 📚💛 It's only February, and I think I've already found the book that is going to be in my Top Ten for 2026. This book is incredible — it made me cry proper tears 😭 (and books rarely do that to me). It's so sad, but so heartfelt, and most of all it's full of hope and promise. Hope that there will be happiness following grief, and the promise that you just need to give yourself time and allow other people to care for you. 🤍

I adored reading about Tilly and how she fell in love with reading again 📖, something she hadn't been able to do since before her beloved husband Joe passed away. It was such a gorgeous memory to have — a book from Joe for every month of a whole year 🗓️💌. Oh, and some of those books took her out of her comfort zone and pushed her to do things she would never have dreamed of doing before. 🌊✨

I will definitely be reading Libby's previous books (watch this space!) 👀📚, and I'm putting them on my wishlist (I hope my Mum is reading this!) 🎁😉

Thank you to Penguin UK and Viking Books for the gifted copy of This Book Made Me Think Of You by Libby Page. 🤍

About the Book

Twelve stories. Twelve months. Once chance to heal her heart...

When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her fiancé waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. Mainly because Joe died five months ago…

The gift is simple – twelve carefully-chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.

Tilly sets out on a series of reading-inspired adventures that take her around the world. But as she begins to vlog her journey, her story becomes more than her own. With help from Alfie, the bookshop owner, her budding new following and her friends and family, can Tilly’s year of books show her how to love again?



About Libby

Libby Page is the Sunday Times bestselling author of six novels: The Lido, The 24-Hour Café, The Island Home, The Vintage Shop, The Lifeline and This Book Made Me Think of You.

She is also a writing coach at The Novelry, where she mentors writers through the process of writing their own novels.

Before writing The Lido she worked as a journalist and in marketing. She lives in Somerset with her husband and young son.





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Tuesday, February 10, 2026

My Review for The Dad Trap by Ian Eagleton

February 10, 2026  , , , ,  No comments



“Who needs friends when you’ve got books, fabulous felt-tips and a cool notepad, right? Much safer this way. Books over besties. Pens over pals.” 📚✏️🖍️

OMG, I loved this book! 😍 There were so many moments when I actually spat out my tea 😂☕ My 11-year-old granddaughter is going to love it!

William is neurodivergent — his brain is wired differently from everyone else’s 🧠✨ — and he knows that. He’s learning how to manage it, although he does like his routines… and woe betide anyone who tries to mess with those! 😅⏰ He’s a bit like me, if I’m honest. 🙋‍♀️

William and Florence are hilarious 🤣 as they come up with idea after idea to split their dads up! 💡💥 William doesn’t want to share his dad with anyone else, and Florence is convinced that her mum and dad will get back together. 💔➡️❤️

Buy this for your son or daughter (but read it yourself too! 😉) and watch their faces as they read — I bet you anything they won’t be able to stop smiling. 😁📖

Thank you to Scholastic UK for the gifted copy of The Dad Trap by Ian Eagleton 🎁📚 which will be gifted to my eldest granddaughter next week. 💕👧

About the Book

When William and Florence meet on the first day of Year Six, they instantly dislike each other. William is impulsive, endlessly chatty and struggles in school. His home life is safe and predictable - just him and Dad, who adopted him as a solo parent - and that's how William likes it.

Florence is sullen, cold, and everything seems to come easily to her. She's moved after her parents' divorce - but she's convinced she won't be staying long because they'll definitely get back together...

But then Florence and William find out that their dads have started seeing each other. Now they must put their differences to one side. Because only if they work together might they stand a chance of splitting up their dads... Let the sabotage commence!

About Ian

Ian is 35 years old and is the director of The Reading Realm. He is also a content creator and resource writer for various educational organisations, including The Literacy Shed and Authorfy. Ian has taught in primary schools for 13 years and during this time has been a member of the senior management team, a phase leader, and literacy co-ordinator. Ian has also run staff training and writing workshops for children. He still teaches part time at a local school and especially enjoys sharing picture books, poetry and creative writing activities with the children he teaches.



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