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Unbelievably we're already a quarter of the way through 2024! Where has the time gone?  Each of us at the Willoughby Book Club team set reading resolutions back in January, so we thought it was about time for us to check back in and see how we're getting on with our different goals. As with all resolutions and goals we're sure to go through ups and downs as the year progresses and none of us want to fall prey to reading feeling like another chore or additional pressure. As we're all keen readers here we can encourage each other and enthuse...

Kala by Colin Walsh I loved this noirish, coming of age thriller from Colin Walsh. In the town of Kinlough on the west coast of Ireland, three friends come together for the first time since the summer of 2003, when one of their inseparable group of friends disappeared without a trace. This is so taught and well written, and kept me completely gripped throughout. It was so atmospheric and had such a strong sense of place, and conveyed the heady sense of hope and possibility of the coming of age years juxtaposed with the darkness of the friends current circumstances...

As it's Mother's Day this weekend, we thought we'd do what we love most- choosing books- but this time for our own mums. It's a real privilege to be trusted to select books for our subscribers. As readers we love having books suggested to us, so to be able to do that for others is a real treat. We aim to surprise and delight our subscribers with every book that arrives, so let's see how we get on doing the same with our biggest supporters, our mums!

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong I'm (as usual!) late to the runaway success that is On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, but after hearing Ocean Vuong speak on several podcasts I was keen to give this a try. I also absolutely love the title- how could you not want to read something with that title? Written as a letter from a son to his illiterate mother, this is heartrending from the very start. Narrated by the son Little Dog, in his late twenties, this book gradually uncovers a family history of war in Vietnam, of intergenerational trauma, and...