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.

Recent Events

Events Archive

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

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. 

The Valley at the Centre of the World
by Malachy Tallack
Monday, 27 January 2025 - 8:00pm

Readers recommendations
At the end of each year, members of the Woodbridge 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 2024 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.

Tessa Hadley
Publication date: 31st October 2024
Hardback edition
Kari Leibowitz
Recommended non-fiction
Publication date: 24th October 2024
Hardback edition
Anna Katharina Schaffner
Recommended non-fiction
Why do we all feel so tired?! This book provides the answers and some solutions, with essays presented in a very readable, accessible A-Z format!
Publication date: 21st November 2024
Hardback edition
Lisa Gardner
The assignment for Frankie Kellin is to find the sister of a serial killer, and it means going undercover on an isolated island near Hawaii...
Publication date: 14th March 2024
Hardback edition
Asako Yuzuki and translated by Polly Barton
A gourmet cook has been convicted of killing businessmen. A journalist wants the exclusive interview, but learns to cook in the process. Weird and...
Publication date: 29th February 2024
Malachy Tallack
Publication date: 7th March 2019
Antoine Laurain and translated by Louise Rogers Lalaurie
A wry mystery based around the conversation between a therapist and his client.
Publication date: 9th July 2024
Hardback edition
Angela Harding
Recommended non-fiction
A beautiful account of the life and work of the artist and printmaker Angela Harding.
Publication date: 26th September 2024
Hardback edition

For children

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

by Maggie O'Farrell and illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini
A young girl suddenly finds she cannot say the words which once came easily to her, and learns to accept her stammer.
Publication date: 21st November 2024
Hardback edition
by Jonathan Freedland and illustrated by Emily Sutton
Publication date: 14th November 2024
Hardback edition
by Rob Biddulph
A beautiful, magical seasonal tale of a boy's adventures with a fox one night.
Publication date: 10th October 2024
Hardback edition
by Ruth Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
A fabulous, clever and mature story for young readers about the wartime efforts at Bletchley Park.
Publication date: 10th October 2024
by Jack Jackman
A fun, action-packed adventure set in the icy, isolation of Antarctica.
Publication date: 26th September 2024
by Nicola Davies
Stunning book about whales, combining beautiful illustrations, poetry, memoir and fascinating facts for all ages from four upwards.
Publication date: 19th September 2024
Hardback edition
by Dustin Thao
A beautiful, sensitive story of loss, friendship and letting go.
Publication date: 5th September 2024
by Anne Twist and illustrated by Emily Sutton
A charming story about plants and wildlife, and living alongside them both, beautifully illustrated by the incredible Emily Sutton.
Publication date: 5th September 2024

Look out for

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

by Rob Parker
The first in a brilliant new series set on the Norfolk Broads with Cam Killick, a former Marine and SBS diver investigating cold cases.
Publication date: 16th January 2025
by Tim Sullivan
A DS Cross thriller this time based in the world of secondhand books!
Publication date: 16th January 2025
by Simon Mayo
When a fire rages through a West End gallery, some of the artworks are saved, but as the flames die down not only is it realised that these are the wrong paintings, but there's also a dead body in the ashes.
Publication date: 30th January 2025
by Lucy Brazier
Recommended non-fiction
A memoir of being in a relationship with someone who is neurodivergent. It's fun and enlightening, and talks of family life in Dorset as well as giving an insight into a career in the media.
Publication date: 27th February 2025
by Jamie Hammond
Recommended for children
A funny, fast-paced monster hunt with wonderful illustrations throughout.
Publication date: 13th March 2025
by Rachel Joyce
The story of a family through one summer in Italy.
Publication date: 17th April 2025

News

Sunday 8 December 2024

Opening windows

I can't quite believe that it's only a week since the event with Angela Harding at The Riverside on 1 December. And I've already had to play catch up in opening the doors on my advent calendar (Angela Harding Midwinter Robin).

But I have decorated the Christmas tree and quite a few cards have gone in the post, so I'm in that dangerous position of thinking I'm making good progress in the preparations - until I find that I'm not. The days seem to vanish at this time of year, don't they?

And the weather this weekend has been disruptive. I've been thankful not to experience the terrific gales and flooding that we've seen on the west of the UK, but I've still been hunkered down at home rather than meeting friends and family as planned.  

Hopefully this week we'll have calmer conditions and we'll all be able to get on with business as usual. Though in my reading this week (see 'Exhausted' below), there was a salutory reminder that frantic activity isn't always a good thing.