I read “Crosstitch” first, then this – and realised I was reading them completely out of sequence. Having tracked the rest down via the library, I’m now filling in the blanks.

I adore these books – I have absolutely no idea how she keeps all the threads together, never mind matches the ends up!

A completely absorbing read.

For anyone who understand the hold a horse can have over your heart – and doesn’t object to fox hunting – this is a must. So funny and very rewarding.

I expected this book to be rather more full of tales of “derring-do” and close scrapes. However, for all that it is a quiet and thoughtful read, it held my attention. The relationship between the author’s vision for his trip and his Father’s memoirs makes for poignant reading, but throughout the whole is the unravelling of two (or more!) quite complex human beings. Definitely worthwhile sticking with if its not what you expected at the start.

This book is a rare thing – an intelligent commentary on current small-scale farming, written with wit and wisdom but more importantly, a very creditable vocabulary. Excellent stuff.

I was unprepared for the fact that this book has been written in Glaswegian dialect. However, I’m now accomplished at thinking in Glaswegian, even if I can’t actually vocalise effectively yet.

The book is a gentle and involving walk through the everyday life of a contemporary family. I kept waiting to find out what the point of it all was, until I realised that was what the point was.

Read it – it won’t cost you anything.

I found this book to be hard going – but not because it was boring, or tedious, or difficult in its style, but simply because the sharing of the telling was painful in its intensity. In fact, I read the book in a short afternoon (just couldn’t put it down) and then spent the rest of the day feeling somewhat traumatised. However, I think its GOOD to come away feeling traumatised, as what that poor child went through should never be belittled or glossed over, but held up there as a warning for some and a beacon of hope for others.

A somewhat frustrating book in that it never really achieved what I’d hoped it was going to. However, it kept me curious as to what the heck was going to happen next and definitely comes under the heading of “a right rollicking tale”.