On Bee's Bookshelf

Fin grew up by an observatory, learning about telescopes and planets, inspired by the passions of her parents, then leaders in their fields of astrophotography and astronomy. Those days are long over. Now Fin, her mother, Dianella, and a band of outliers live deep off the grid, always on amber alert and always ready to run. In the outside world, things are not good: extinctions and a loss of diversity threaten what's left of the environment. With a new disaster looming, Fin finds herself thrust into an unlikely partnership with a stranger who has appeared in their camp - one of a new breed of evolved humans, the Incompletes, who are widely distrusted. But the pair will need to work together during a dangerous journey if they are to play their part in an audacious plan to help restore the natural world - and humankind. " But like the old digital cameras, telescopes are based on mirrors. Maybe those who look closely at the origin of the stars, into the past, are not in the best ...

  I am so excited to be able to share a look at the cover of the newest release from Antti Tuomainen.  I've been a huge fan of Antti's work for some time, his strange humour, his oddly relatable wit, his utterly absurd storytelling style … Okay, yes, I'm telling you his books are weird.  And I absolutely adore it.   So if you're a fan of clever thrillers with a delightfully confusing streak of humour and witty commentary on how absurd life is, you'll love it too.  Want to know more? Check out the blurb below:  A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered … in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death? The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen – top salesperson and the victim's successor at Steam Devil. And as if hitting middle-age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work weren't enough, Anni realizes that she must be quicker ...

1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily - her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets. 1827. London. A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow - but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined. 2019. Boston. College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge. "There ar...

  Every time someone asks Gwen about her best friend – you know, the one who ghosted them all fifteen years ago – this is what Gwen tells them. But where  is  Isabella? Why did she leave, just when Gwen needed her the most? Setting out to solve the mystery, in an adventure that takes Gwen across the country then across Europe; that tests her friendships and strains her marriage, Gwen searches for Isabella. But Isabella's not the only one who's lost. Is Gwen also searching for… herself? “I was on my third gin and tonic and thinking about sneaking off for a bath when Rachel produced the Ouija board and Amanda announced she was leaving her husband.” Review:  Breakups are hard, but we don’t recognise just how devastating the end of a friendship can be - especially if you never know what happened. Gwen lets us into her life and shows us a tableau of normal life - friends, drama, tiny acts of rebellion, work, marriage — but just a touch of absurdity, popping up amongs...

I've spent the last few days reading one of my all-time favourite books with other amazing creators and readers to celebrate the series adaptation of We Were Liars.  I'm sure I could read this book a hundred times over and still love it. And to be honest, I'm probably not that far off.  We Were Liars is the definition of haunting - a striking literary thriller about lies, and beauty, and betrayal. The prose something totally unique that I've not seen elsewhere since, full of allegory and constantly shifting so the reader just isn't sure exactly what's going on but not in a way that detracts from the pull of the story. Each character is crafted masterfully, not to be liked, the Liars are just that - rich, spoiled, bored children (Darling Gat aside of course) with secrets and lies that bond them. But whether we like them or not, I couldn't help but love them and feel like they were letting me in on their secrets one page at a time, each person a mystery waitin...