More about books

Catherine Larner

Hello, I'm Catherine Larner, a freelance journalist, editor and presenter living in Suffolk. I contribute features, profiles, reviews, comment and analysis to regional and national magazines, newspapers and online. You can take a look at my published articles on my website here.

I also interview on stage for festivals, organisations and bookshops, 'in conversation' with novelists, historians, politicians and personalities.

Reading extensively and widely, I report on the books I've enjoyed in a weekly e-newsletter and on this site which now provides a resource of more than 800 titles. I hope you'll find it helpful in choosing books for yourself and for your friends and family.

Thank you for reading

 

My More About Books bookstore where books can be purchased online can be found here or from any 'buy this book online' link. If you buy books linked to this site, I earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

What's on

I am always planning new events but at the moment I have nothing quite ready to announce.

Events Archive

Visit my archive pages for details of all events in recent years.

Listening in

For more than 10 years I co-hosted a monthly book club on BBC Radio Suffolk with the presenter Lesley Dolphin. You can listen to past discussions here.

Book Groups

WOODBRIDGE

I've been hosting an open Book Group in Woodbridge for the past 17 years. We used to meet in the town's bookshop but are now gathering in a hall just off the Thoroughfare. Please ​​​​sign up for the weekly e-newsletter here to receive details. 

Yellowface
by RF Kuang
This is a book that everyone has been talking about this year. Described as 'breathtakingly clever on jealousy, talent, success, and who gets to tell which story'. What will we think of it?
Monday, 29 July 2024 - 8:00pm
read my book review

Reader recommendations

At the end of each year, members of the Book Group meet together to share their favourite titles and offer ideas for gifts for friends and family, and for new authors to try ourselves. For 2023 the titles that were mentioned are listed here.

Buying books

I've linked the reviews on my website so that you can purchase online if you wish (and I will receive a small commission for each purchase, with a further commission going to all independent bookshops). 

Click here for my page on bookshop.org and do consider using it whenever you wish to buy online. 

Book reviews

My recent recommendations

Here are the books I've been enjoying recently, both fiction and non-fiction titles.

Moral Injuries
Christie Watson
Three friends, working in medicine, vowed always to be there for each other, but 25 years on, their bond and their consciences are tested to the...
read my review
Publication date: 14th March 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online
Lab Girl
Hope Jahren
Recommended non-fiction
A story of a life in science exploring the wonders of plants and trees. Compelling and fascinating.
read my review
Publication date: 2nd March 2017
Buy this book online
Orbital
Samantha Harvey
Spending time with six astronauts orbiting the earth.
read my review
Publication date: 27th June 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online
Reading Lessons
Carol Atherton
Recommended non-fiction
The books we read at school, the conversations they spark and why they matter. A great way to look again at the books we've loved over the years.
read my review
Publication date: 4th April 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online
Sipsworth
Simon Van Booy
A charming, tender, amusing, moving story about a woman and a mouse, and about friendship and reawakening. Wonderful!
read my review
Publication date: 18th July 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online
But What Can I Do?
Alistair Campbell
Recommended non-fiction
Rich with information, observation and instruction, this book encourages us all to become more politically engaged.
read my review
Publication date: 18th January 2024
Buy this book online
The Accidental Garden
Richard Mabey
Recommended non-fiction
Musings on what we mean by gardens and what they could become, by the much-loved nature writer.
Publication date: 6th June 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online
How AI Thinks
Nigel Toon
Recommended non-fiction
How we built it, how it can help us, and how we can control it. A very readable, reassuring and enabling approach to the subject!
read my review
Publication date: 8th February 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online

For more reviews click here

For children

These are my most recent recommendations for children. Click here to see listings by age.

Delta and the Lost City
by Anna Fargher
In the shadow of Vesuvius, the wolf dog Delta has a race against time to save her family in 79 AD Pompeii.
read my review
Publication date: 4th July 2024
Buy this book online
Cloudspotting for beginners
by Gavin Pretor-Pinney and illustrated by William Grill
Mesmerising illustrations introduce readers young and older to the magic of clouds. Stunning.
read my review
Publication date: 4th July 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online
Maisie Jones and the Dinosaur Bones
by Lily Murray and illustrated by Jennie Lovlie
Inspired by the life of paleontologist Mary Anning, this is the story of fossil hunting told in rhyme.
read my review
Publication date: 27th June 2024
Hardback edition
Buy this book online
The Wanderdays
by Clare Povey
An exciting new adventure series begins as Flo and Joseph search for their explorer Mum and discover climate crimes.
read my review
Publication date: 6th June 2024
Buy this book online
Wild East
by Ashley Hickson-Lovence
When tragedy hits, Ronnie's mum decides they should leave their home in London. There are different challenges in Norwich, but new opportunities...
read my review
Publication date: 23rd May 2024
Buy this book online
Bird Boy
by Catherine Bruton
An uplifting and moving story of a boy coping with grief and dislocation, who is helped to heal by rare birds, a wild landscape and a community.
read my review
Publication date: 9th May 2024
Buy this book online
Me and Aaron Ramsey
by Manon Steffan Ros
Sam and his dad both love football. But a tragic accident rocks the family, exposes their difficulties and threatens to rob them of their common bond.
Publication date: 11th April 2024
Buy this book online
Movies Showing Nowhere
by Yorick Goldewijk and translated by Laura Watkinson
Time travel through the movie screen brings healing to a young girl who has never known her mother.
read my review
Publication date: 4th April 2024
Buy this book online

Look out for

These titles will soon be published but are not yet available in the shops. 

Rosa by Starlight
by Hilary McKay
Recommended for children
read my review
Publication date: 8th August 2024
Order this book online
And So I Roar
by Abi Dare
Publication date: 8th August 2024
Order this book online
The Instrumentalist
by Harriet Constable
Publication date: 15th August 2024
Order this book online
On the Roof: A Thatcher's Journey
by Tom Allan
Recommended non-fiction
Publication date: 29th August 2024
Order this book online
Isolation Island
by Louise Minchin
read my review
Publication date: 12th September 2024
Order this book online
The Glassmaker
by Tracy Chevalier
Publication date: 12th September 2024
Order this book online
Blue Heart
by Nicola Davies
Recommended for children
Recommended non-fiction
Publication date: 19th September 2024
Order this book online

 

 

For my reviews on radio click here

News

Sunday 21 July 2024

The heat is on

The summer has finally arrived - and with a vengeance. My, it's been hot over the past few days! We seem to have gone from one extreme to another. I hope you've found somewhere cool and shady to enjoy your reading this week. 

It was lovely to sit under the garden umbrella with a good book yesterday afternoon but I'm feeling the pressure with the number of titles I need to look at for forthcoming book group discussions, festival interviews and my reviews and author profiles for magazine articles. I have to admit that my TBR piles are looking a little daunting, but I need to get them under control ahead of the announcement of the longlist for the Booker Prize 2024 in a few days' time. There will be thirteen more books I'll want to read!

But we'll be sharing the load in exploring these titles as, once again, we'll be running a Booker Book Group over the summer. For this special meeting we'll delve into the judges' selection to see which we think should make the shortlist, and to predict our winner. It's always a great discussion and a lovely focus for our summer reading.

If you'd like to join in and haven't already put your name down for this special Booker Book Group, please reply to this email by Friday 26 July and I'll send you the details. The longlist is announced on Tuesday 30 July. We'll be allocating titles shortly after and the meeting to discuss our reading will take place on Monday 2 September.