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by Jo Casebourne

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The Librarian of Amsterdam

My Mum gave me The Librarian of Amsterdam by Uri Dushy for my 50th birthday, knowing my love of World War Two fiction, and it didn’t disappoint. It is inspired by true events and tells the story of Sophie, who escapes Germany before the war and settles in Amsterdam, only to discover she is not
September 14, 2026September 14, 2026

Hooked

I read Hooked by Asako Yuzuki in one of this summer’s many heatwaves and devoured it mostly in a single day. It is just as good as Butter by the same author and continued my vein of reading quirky Japanese fiction. Hooked is the story of two young women in Tokyo, Eriko, who still lives
August 30, 2026August 30, 2026

Books of the Year 2025

I read more books than I ever have in a year in 2025 – 70 in all, instead of my usual around 50. Having said that I don’t have the strength of feeling on stand-out favourites that I have some years, but nevertheless I had some very enjoyable reading this year, so here goes with
December 30, 2025December 30, 2025

Shrines of Gaiety

I always look forward to the latest novel by Kate Atkinson (see my previous blogs) and last year was given Shrines of Gaiety for my birthday and finally got a chance to read it in May. It is set in a London reeling from the First World War, one where everyone is keen to forget
October 3, 2024October 3, 2024

The Running Grave

I haven’t read for months and to get going again I treated myself in December to The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith, the latest in the Cormoran Strike detective fiction series (see my previous blogs on the rest of the series so far: The Ink Black Heart, Lethal White, Career of Evil, The Silkworm, The Cuckoo’s Calling and Troubled Blood). The series
April 12, 2024August 15, 2024

Supercharged Teams

I am always on the lookout for books that make work better and so was eager to read Supercharged Teams: The 30 Tools of Great Teamwork by Pam Hamilton. Its premise is that in a working world that is faster, leaner and busier than ever we forget that establishing good teamwork itself needs work. It
October 25, 2023August 15, 2024

Small Pleasures

It’s a while since I read a novel that so throughly captivated me in the way that Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers did. It is the story of Jean Swinney, a 39 year old newspaper reporter on a local Kent paper, consigned in 1957 to writing columns on gardening and recipes. She lives a life
August 1, 2023August 19, 2024

The Paper Palace

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller was recommended to me by a friend as a well-written love triangle that I would enjoy, so I read it on holiday by the pool in April, absolutely captivated by the setting and characters. The setting is a family lake house in Cape Cod, named the Paper Palace
May 19, 2023August 19, 2024

These Are Not Gentle People

I can’t remember how I heard about These Are Not Gentle People by Andrew Harding but having long been interested in the history of South Africa and apartheid I put it on my reading list. This non-fiction book is about what happened when two black men were killed on a white-owned farm in a town
May 7, 2023August 19, 2024

Life in Five Senses

I am a big fan of Gretchen Rubin (see my blogs on Better Then Before, Happier at Home And The Happiness Project) so I pre-ordered her new book Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World. As someone who spends too much time in my
April 27, 2023August 19, 2024

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

I have enjoyed reading Ann Patchett’s fiction (see my blogs on The Dutch House and Ann Patchett), so when I heard about her essay on writing, ‘The Getaway Car’, I bought the collection it is in – This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, and enjoyed reading it on the November commute. This non-fiction collection
December 7, 2022August 19, 2024

What Does Jeremy Think?

Anyone who is interested in politics, policy and the inner workings of government in the UK should read What Does Jeremy Think?: Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain by his wife Suzanne Heywood, a biography of the most influential civil servant the country has probably ever seen. It is too soon to know how Heywood’s
July 5, 2021August 19, 2024

Michelle Obama

I couldn’t wait for Christmas to read Becoming by Michelle Obama and delighted in spending every spare minute in the first week of December enjoying it. It is a riveting read, particular if you enjoy a good political autobiography like I do (see my blogs on What Happened, Hard Choices, My Story, and Reading Politics). For
December 16, 2018August 19, 2024

A God in Ruins

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson is one of the best books I have read for years. It is the sequel to Life after Life which was the first Kate Atkinson book that I hadn’t enjoyed (I seem to have been in a minority of one given the overwhelmingly positive reviews), so I wasn’t
July 6, 2015August 19, 2024
The Librarian of Amsterdam
  • Featured
September 14, 2026September 14, 2026

The Librarian of Amsterdam

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2 mins
The Women
  • Fiction
September 8, 2026September 14, 2026

The Women

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2 mins
Hooked
  • Featured
August 30, 2026August 30, 2026

Hooked

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2 mins
Moon Tiger
  • Fiction
August 23, 2026August 30, 2026

Moon Tiger

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3 mins
Yesteryear
  • Fiction
August 11, 2026August 23, 2026

Yesteryear

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3 mins
Fires Which Burned Brightly
  • Biography
August 4, 2026August 11, 2026

Fires Which Burned Brightly

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3 mins
Return to Sri Lanka
  • Non-fiction
July 24, 2026August 4, 2026

Return to Sri Lanka

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3 mins
The Crux
  • Non-fiction
July 15, 2026July 24, 2026

The Crux

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4 mins
The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey
  • Fiction
July 6, 2026July 15, 2026

The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey

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2 mins
Conversations with Friends
  • Fiction
June 29, 2026July 6, 2026

Conversations with Friends

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2 mins
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About me

Jo Casebourne

Writer
Jo Casebourne is a historical fiction writer, a reading obsessive and book blogger. She is Chief Executive of research charity Foundations, focused on improving the lives of vulnerable children. Follow Jo on X @jocasebourne

Fiction

Crime
96 posts
Historical
126 posts
Romantic
34 posts

Non-Fiction

Biography
29 posts
Crime
15 posts
Happiness
26 posts
Historical
21 posts
Politics
23 posts
Travel
20 posts
Work
36 posts

Spotlights

Books of the Year
14 posts
Second world war
54 posts

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