My Year in Books 2025: April

It looks like I still haven't broken my one-book-a-month streak yet. It really has been a very busy time so, to be honest, I'm actually proud of myself for reading anything at all. I'm sure things will pick up when work quietens down a bit.

In case you're interested, here are the other books I've read so far this year: January, February, March

Festival of Death by Laurence Anholt (2020)

I picked this one up at the library, intrigued by the idea of a murder mystery set at the Glastonbury Festival. I was also interested in the idea of a police detective who is a practising Buddhist. The set-up of the story is that the lead singer of one of the festival’s headlining acts is murdered live on stage during the band’s set. Vincent Caine, the series’ ‘mindful detective’ is already on the scene, as he’s at the festival, and he’s soon joined by his partner DI Shanti Joyce to investigate the crime. I didn’t know this was the second book in a series, but it didn’t seem to be a problem reading it out of sequence. Festival of Death is a fun read, though the mystery is a bit silly (and the denouement is very silly), and Vincent Caine is, perhaps, a little bit too quirky, even for a fictional detective. There are some nice details that make it clear the author has been to Glastonbury, with some descriptions of the festival that are absolutely spot-on. However, I couldn’t get past the fact that the village near Worthy Farm is named as Kilton, rather than Pilton, throughout the book, or that the fictional headliners get to choose their own slot on the line-up, which is on the afternoon that the gates open. (Full disclosure: I worked at Glastonbury for eighteen years, so I was always going to be picky about this one.) Nevertheless, this one definitely had its charms.

Beltane Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

Submit your seasonal flash fiction to be played on Hannah’s Bookshelf this September!

Can you tell a seasonal story in just 3 minutes? Want to have your work played on the radio? This month, I’m looking for seasonal (May Day, Beltane, spring) flash fiction from around the world for inclusion on Hannah’s Bookshelf, the weekly literature show on North Manchester FM.

On Saturday 3rd May, I’ll be hosting the Hannah’s Bookshelf Beltane Special, and as part of my seasonal special, I’ll be playing a selection of my favourite 3-minute stories on the show (broadcast on FM and on digital). Want to be part of it? Submit a recording of your seasonally inflected story (maximum 3 minutes) by midnight on Monday 28th April.

All genres welcome – be they cosy, romantic, scary or sad. The only rules are that stories must be your own original work, have some connection to the season, and be in English (the language of the broadcast). And please ease off the swears – stories have to be radio friendly! All you need is a microphone and a story – once you’re ready to submit your story, click on the ‘Start Recording’ button on my website to record your story and submit it. Remember to enter your name and email address when submitting your story.

If you aren’t able to submit via a recording and would like another method of taking part, please message via my website for more information.

Please share this call with anyone who you think might be interested – I’d like to cast the net as wide as possible. My favourite seasonal stories will be broadcast on the Hannah’s Bookshelf Beltane Special at 2pm on Saturday 3rd May, on digital radio and 106.6FM.