Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

“Badger hates Society, and invitations, and dinner, and all that sort of thing.” 🦡📚 I love this quote — I think many, many bookish people can identify with Badger and his aversion to socialising. I definitely fall into this camp! 😅 The Wind in the Willows was our choice for May for #classiclitbookclub and I loved it. I thought I’d read it when I was a child, but I must have only read parts of it. I remembered Toad in the motor car and the riverbank, but I think there are many TV adaptations and spin-off stories too that I may be remembering. 🚗🌿 I loved the cosiness of the animals’ homes, the camaraderie as they share a meal, and the stoic way they all look out for one another when something goes wrong. The book is full of nature, and the descriptions are so powerful I felt as though I was living on the riverbank amongst Mole, Ratty, and Badger. 🍃✨ The edition I was reading was gorgeous too, with some beautiful illustrations that brought the story even more to life. 🎨📖 I loved ...

“New friends can often have a better time together than old friends.” Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald was April’s read for #classiclitbookclub, 📚 and one I’d read before for A Level. I wasn’t a fan when I first read it at sixteen—though, to be fair, I really didn’t enjoy dissecting books. For me, books were written to be read and enjoyed, not analysed and picked apart so students could try to get into the author’s head. 🤯 That’s probably why I failed my A Level English Lit!!! Anyway, I did enjoy it more this time around, thanks in part to the narration from Trevor White, who brought the characters to life far more than a classroom full of students and a slightly fuddy-duddy teacher ever did! I also noticed a lot more this time 👀. Before, all I really remembered was people lying on a beach in the South of France—after all, a teenage girl is going to pick up on the places she’d rather be. ☀️🏖️ What I didn’t remember was the reason Nicole Diver was in a mental institution i...

“Good Luck is rather particular who she drives with, and mostly prefers those who have got common sense and a good heart…” Black Beauty was my March read for #classiclitbookclub. 🤎 I’m pretty sure I’ve read this before, but not for many, many years—and definitely not with the same understanding I have now. Also, how pretty is this Wordsworth Collector’s Edition ? ✨ It’s such a lovely one to have on the shelf and made the whole reading experience feel a bit more special. Told through Beauty’s own voice, I slipped so easily into his world, starting from his early days as a young colt. 🐎 It’s set in a time when horses were part of everyday life—used for work, travel, and everything in between—and honestly… I wasn’t quite prepared for how differently they were treated. Some owners showed real kindness and care, but far too many were cruel, pushing them harder and harder just to get more out of them. 💔 It made parts of this really difficult to read at times. I absolutely loved his kinde...

“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 su...

“I’ll never get used to anything. Anybody that does, they might as well be dead.” Breakfast at Tiffany’s is our first read of 2026 for #classiclitclub 📖✨ and despite it being one of my favourite films, I’d never read the book. It’s rare that I enjoy the film more than the book, but for this one, I’m making an exception. In my opinion, the film is way, way better. 🎬💔 Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly is iconic ✨, and while reading the book, I couldn’t help but hear Holly’s lines in Audrey’s voice. I think Holly is incredibly lonely and somewhat immature—although I’m pretty sure she knew exactly what she was doing when she relayed Sal’s weather report. 😉 Holly is running from a life she didn’t like and ended up in New York 🗽, where, let’s be honest, she keeps on running—though maybe not physically. As one of our book club members said, Holly is a survivor 💪, and given what she’s come through, she’s had to do whatever she can to get by, whether that’s mixing with criminals or taking...

“A multitude of people and yet a solitude.” December's choice for #classiclitbookclub was A Tale of Two Cities, and I have to be honest—having finished it, I don't think Dickens and I click! 😬 This was tough, slow-going, and, quite frankly, boring. I tried to mix it up: I read some, but listened to most of it—let's be honest, it was the only way I was going to get through it! 🎧 That's fifteen hours of my life I'm never getting back. ⏳ I don't know whether it was the subject—the French Revolution 🇫🇷—or the writing, maybe some of both. I know people who love Dickens, so I’ll give others a go at some point, but this one will never be on my list again—sorry, not sorry! 😅 While I didn't enjoy most of the book, I did have a soft spot for Dr. Manette and his daughter Lucie ❤️, who comes to his rescue after many years of imprisonment in France and helps him regain relatively stable mental health. But yep, that was about it. The only other Dickens novel I’ve rea...

“No, my friend. We are lunatics from the hospital up the highway, psycho-ceramics, the cracked pots of mankind." One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was November’s read for #classiclitbookclub, and I opted for the audiobook. I found a great copy on Libby narrated by Tom Parker, who absolutely nailed it 🎧. I went in with zero expectations — classic me, never reading the synopsis 😜 — and it’s not a book I ever came across in school. So I was genuinely surprised when the opening chapters gave me The Green Mile vibes (I know it’s a book too, but I’ve only seen the movie!) 🎬. The story was incredibly eye-opening. From what I understand, treatments like electric shock therapy, lobotomies, and simply locking people away for having mental health issues were all considered normal at the time ⚡🧠. Horrifying, honestly. And the wildest part is that it really wasn’t that long ago. We’ve come such a long way since then. Nurse Ratched, though… wow. She should’ve been running a prison, not a ward...

“No sensible man ever engages, unprepared, in a fencing match of words with a woman.” Huge thank you to #classiclitbookclub for picking The Woman in White for October, because it has officially become my new favourite book. Rebecca has been my number one forever, but nope—it's been bumped. 😂 Clearly the gothic vibe is my thing… it’s only taken me 52 years to figure that out! I read the gorgeous clothbound copy while also listening to the audiobook, and switching between the two was so much fun. The creepy, psychological tension totally sucked me in. 🙊 Some of the characters are seriously twisted—they start off all lovely and then bam, the masks come off. And honestly? It’s wild (and pretty scary) to think people could just be thrown into an asylum back then with hardly any assessment. It’s told through multiple POVs, and I did get a bit lost now and then, but it didn’t ruin anything for me. The writing is gorgeous and the story is brilliant. Now I’m off to find a pretty copy of T...

“but curiosity is a restless and scrupulous passion, and no one girl can endure, with patience, that hers should be baffled by another. ” Carmilla was an additional read/listen for October for #classiclitbookclub, and I loved it! Admittedly, the version I listened to was abridged and performed by a BBC Radio cast, but I think the gist of the story came through really well. Carmilla reminded me of a cross between Dracula (well, it did inspire Bram Stoker) and, for some reason, a mixture of Daphne du Maurier’s novels. I think it was the gothic vibe—the characters wandering through the darkness. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to enjoy it; female vampires just don’t have the same draw as the male ones 😂. But actually, I liked Laura and her dad, even if I really didn’t like Carmilla—she was the essence of evil and manipulation: narcissistic and just plain creepy! I’ll read the full version at some point, but I’m really glad it’s now on my radar. About the Book In an isolated castle deep...

“...but whatever came, she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself.” The Awakening was another classic I listened to for #classiclitbookclub in 2024. Looking back, I think it’s one that would grow on me with rereads. Edna Pontellier was a woman way ahead of her time. She isn’t happy with her life, or with her role as a wife and a mother. Despite the expectations of society, she basically throws in the towel, sticks her fingers up to the world, and says: nope, I’m not doing this anymore. I’m going to do what I want from now on. Some people aren’t meant to be parents, and some just don’t want to be. But in her time, Edna was married and a mother because that’s what was expected. Drop her in the twenty-first century and I don’t think she would have made the same choices. The climax of the book is heartbreaking, but I think Edna felt like she didn’t have another option. I really enjoyed the rebellious side of The Awakening, and writing this review makes me want to read i...

'He was a very good skater and all, but I couldn't enjoy it much because I kept picturing him practicing to be a guy on roller-skates on the stage.' The Catcher in the Rye was chosen for September's #classiclitbookclub. This is my first time reading it, and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. At first, I found Holden to be annoying, the story depressing, and there was a lot of overthinking. But as the book progressed and drew to a close, I started to understand why Holden narrates the way he does.  Holden seemed like a troubled teen still grappling with the death of his brother. His parents appeared more concerned about his academic failures than his emotional state. I suppose this is reflective of the time in which the book was written—mental health awareness was not as prevalent back then. Today, there are more resources available for teens going through similar struggles.  What really stood out to me was Holden's internal conflict—he’s trying to act...

“I think of people more kindly when I am away from them.” I picked up the gorgeous Penguin Clothbound copy of this one, and I adored Tess of the D'urbervilles. Yes it's disturbing, yes it's sad, and tragic, and it focuses very much on the class system in England in the nineteenth century, of which Tess is nearer the bottom than the top. It's brilliantly and beautifully written, and Mr Hardy captures the essence of the English countryside in great detail throughout.  Poor Tess, thrown out into the world without any real life skills, and susceptible to the predatory nature of the men she comes across. Wasn't it a thing to talk to your daughter about s*x in the nineteenth century? Surely they had some sort of conversation!🤷 Tess is a true victim throughout this book, society treats her shoddily, and she deserves so much more. A tragic end for such an aspiring young woman, who could have done so much better with her life if given half a chance. I had to read Far From t...

'If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever. ' Although I have a beautiful, Penguin clothbound copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four, I chose to listen to it, and I'm so glad I did! As soon as the narrator spoke the first words, I knew that I knew him, and it took me all of five minutes to realise that it was Adam from the Archers. He was phenomenal, and made Winston come to life! I read this book many, many years ago, and I couldn't remember a thing about it. I found it terrifying that the authoritarian state in which he's living, could be said to resemble what's happening in certain parts of the world right now. Let's rewrite history, and make it the way we want it!😲 I enjoyed the beginning and the end, but now and then, Orwell goes off on a tangent and I became bored quite quickly. Nineteen Eighty-Four is definitely worth a read, just because it's a classic. Oh, and I love that he lived about thirty minutes from me, ...