Author: bookmarksandstages

Real name is Louise. Books and Theatres are passions of mine, as is supporting people in any way I can. Since starting my blog in 2019 I’ve reviewed books and theatre. Publishers, authors, blog tour organisers kindly entrust me with books, in-exchange of an honest review. I’ve been invited to and attend book events and write them up and review. I review theatre - plays, musicals, stand up comedy. I’ve been invited to review plays and comedians. I also do interviews/Q&As, primarily with authors and actors. I love connecting with the reading, writing, publishing, acting communities. On my blog, I also have a Contact Me, if you’d like anything reviewed etc. I generally get back to people within 48hrs. I hope you enjoy my blog as I take you through my book and theatre reviews as well as book events and festivals as I attend them.

#Review of This Book Made Me Think Of You by Libby Page @LibbyPageWrites @VikingBooksUK #ThisBookMadeMeThinkOfYou #ContemporaryFiction #RomanticFiction

This Book Made Me Think Of You
By Libby Page

Review by Louise Cannon

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Libby Page has done it again and written a warming book that lifts the spirits, whilst the wintry weather in the real world rumbles on. It may just be her best yet at penetrating the heart and soul.
Check out my review and the blurb below, thanks to Penguin for the e-book and opportunity…

Review

This Book Made Me Think of You shows human complexities in relationships and navigating life. It pulls on the heartstrings.

Tilly Nightengale’s birthday has arrived. Imagine receiving 12 handpicked books from your fiance as a gift. Sounds amazing for book lovers right? Except her fiance has sadly died. The carefully chosen books are a gesture to help her through her grief and move onwards with her life. She sets out to begin a vlog in her adventurous journey, she ends up sharing her journey with not just family and friends, but Alfie, a bookshop owner and other followers.

In time, Libby Page takes readers from feeling raw and heart-wrenched from where we initially meet Tilly to warmth and humanity. Tilly is someone you can really get behind and want life and love to co-exist for her again.

The power of books truly lives within and out-with the page, something that is realised and understood within this book. It’s something that seems important for readers and non-readers to truly see and experience as they travel through the complexities of life, loss and love.

Blurb

The unforgettable new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Libby Page

Twelve stories. Twelve months. Once chance to heal her heart . . .

When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her fiancé waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. Mainly because Joe died five months ago . . .

The gift is simple – twelve carefully-chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.
Tilly sets out on a series of reading-inspired adventures that take her around the world. But as she begins to vlog her journey, her story becomes more than her own. With help from Alfie, the bookshop owner, her budding new following and her friends and family, can Tilly’s year of books show her how to love again?

#Review of Upheaval by David Munro review by Lou – A Rich Tapestry Mixing Fiction and Fact @davidmunroardoc #HistoricalFiction #WorldWars #BetweenWars #Upheaval #DavidMunro #ScottishAuthor

Upheaval
By David Munro

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Upheaval, written by Scottish author David Munro is rather a different, captivating book set in-between the two world wars. It truly captures the attention with its originality in the angle, where a rich, evocative tapestry is woven with fact and fiction giving unique insights into life and challenging, ever changing times. Although it is historical fiction, it has some thought-provoking questions posed that link to present day circumstances in a unique manner.
Check out the blurb and my full review below…

Blurb

Claudine Dubois, a young actress from Paris, is spotted by a German film director and offered a lucrative contract if she moves to Berlin. In the German capital, she meets charming Ernst Vasel, and a relationship develops. It is 1912, and life in the capital is prosperous. However, the Kaiser is power-driven and will embrace war against established nations.
Post-war, Claudine gives birth to a son. Germany has to pay reparations and economic as well as social chaos ensue. With the assistance of America, the German economy improves and its film industry starts to rekindle. With Claus now at school, Claudine attempts to resume her career. Now in her thirties, parts are scarce. Being active, she finds work in a department store. Jobs are aplenty, but underlying social and political issues increase.
In 1929, Germany is again plunged into economic despair. The National Socialists gain momentum and after the Reichstag elections of 1933, impose their policies and tighter their grip. Ernst refuses to abide by their rules and is imprisoned. As Claudine is employed by a Jewish-owned company, she suffers abuse. Claus, now at university, resents the Nazi regime. After Claudine is attacked by Nazi supporters, she and Claus flee to Paris. Whilst there, she is approached by French Secret Service officials who want Claus to resume his studies and act as a spy. With another war looming, his information vital. Claudine is hesitant but agrees.
Claus is sent to Scotland for training, then returns to university. He meets vivacious Helga and they become friends. However, she has been instructed by the SS to determine his validity. After Claus’s contact in Berlin is arrested, Helga alerts Claus. She reveals the truth about herself and feelings for him.

Review

Upheaval is fascinating as it shows what was happening on the “road to war”. It gives, not only a sense of the political sphere and what was going in the far right wing and far left wing, but also socially in the lives of civilians.
The book is also mindful not to sensationalise anything and that’s testament to the writing style and research done by the author.

What there is a real sense of is how Berlin was once offering the good life and a relative calmness, but how chaos and hardship ensues. Munro skilfully depicts a part of life that is rarely shown, which draws you in. 

Readers are initially taken into 1912 where the perceptions of Germany towards the UK are explored and how London was a city to envy and aspire to be like, especially by Berlin. People have aspirations too, even under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm and life is pretty good. You see this through young actress, Claudine Dubois, who meets a significant man, Ernst Vasel.
From here, is a rich tapestry of characterisation and history, as Claudine moves to hospital duties following the assassination of Duke Franz Ferdinand, which was the catalyst to WW1. The historical fact that appear are accurate and the precision and the way they are woven throughout storytelling on the human level is a rich tapestry that creates imagery and people can learn something from it too or remind themselves of aspects that aren’t talked about so much anymore when we talk about the world wars.

Interestingly is a question that perhaps not many of us think about, who pays the price of war in the socio-economic sense. It also questions the US and why they wanted to help in the war effort. It made my attention turn slightly to their motives in present day to what they are doing with Ukraine and Greenland. As time marches on these are the thought-provoking questions explored in a historical sense by one of the characters as the 1920’s comes into full swing, changing the world again. It shows how the arts and science returned and the new ‘flapper’ fashion came into being. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 is delved into and how it affected Germany. It also delves into how the road to another world war was being paved, even when new politicians come into power, who know war themselves or have heard about it.

It made me think about how it’s too easy to think that war just happens, but the reality is, past and present how there is always a “road” leading to it, full of cause and effect occurrences happening across the globe.

The book never strays too far from what is happening is civilian life, although the political scenes and soldiers are looked at too.
The upheaval people had to endure through the decades is masterfully captured.

I highly recommend upheaval to those who like social or political or war times history. Upheaval has unique, strong storytelling into a period of time that gives insights rarely talked about nor seen.

 

#Review of Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre #bookreview by Lou #QuiteUglyOneEvening #JackParlabaneSeries @brookmyre.bsky.social @LittleBrownUK #Thriller #CrimeFiction

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Quite Ugly One Evening
By Chris Brookmyre

Rating: 5 out of 5.

From the author of The Jack Parlabane series, which started with  Quite Ugly One Morning and continued onto books like Country of the Blind, Want You Gone, Boiling A Frog and more… comes a welcome return in this series with, Quite Ugly One Evening featuring a locked room mystery. Thanks to Little Brown Book Group for a copy to review.

Blurb

An Atlantic voyage. A family at war. A secret worth killing over.

Reporter Jack Parlabane thrives on chasing stories in unlikely places, and where could be less likely than a fan convention on a cruise liner celebrating a contentious Sixties TV series? But unlike the media family exploiting their show’s renewed relevance, he’s not there to stoke controversy: he’s there to solve a murder.

Already in deep water with his employer, Jack desperately needs a win, and solving this decades-old mystery could be it. Problem is, he’s in the middle of the Atlantic, and someone onboard has already killed once to keep their secret.

And that’s not even the tricky part. No, the tricky part is definitely the dead body locked in a stateroom with him, covered in his blood. Now Jack has to solve two murders, otherwise the only way he’s getting off this ship is in handcuffs – or in a body bag.

Quite Ugly One Evening is a zeitgesty locked-room mystery that sees the return of rogue journalist Jack Parlabane thirty years after his first appearance in Quite Ugly One Morning.

Review

Quite Ugly One Evening sees the return of Jack Parlabane. He’s a journalist who solves crimes and in this book, readers will find him on a giant ocean liner with a gathering storm in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a bit spy like as MI5 are involved in the reason he’s on the cruise ship. The locked room vibe works rather well.

It gets off to a brilliant start about a trap. In a sense, it’s quite playful. From there, it gets a bit darker but all just compels and heightens the desire to read more. There is also the astutely observed and crafted, Chloe Morgan who has had her 15 minutes of fame on a reality tv series. She’s an interesting character who isn’t quite saying what you may expect for a Gen Z person and she’s a grifter in what is a twisty, compelling plot with some excellent one-liners. The depth of writing is of high quality, especially with the development of the characters, which in some respects is quite thought-provoking. There is nothing black and white about their story arcs, which also creates curiosity about where and how things will end up for them.

Quite Ugly One Evening is a terrific addition to the series that keeps you hooked from the beginning to the end.

#Review of Healing Hearts on Thistledown Lane by Holly Hepburn. #BookReview by Lou @h_hepburn @BookminxSJV #TeamBATC #BlogTour #ContemporaryFiction #RomanticFiction #HealingHeartsOnThistledownLane

Healing Hearts on Thistledown Lane
By Holly Hepburn

Review by Louise Cannon

Rating: 5 out of 5.

As you take a wander through the pages of Healing Hearts on Thistledown Lane you’ll find a Hogmanay party (Scottish for New Year’s Eve), a reuniting of people wrapped up like a warm,  scarf bringing comfort and joy to any wintry soul. I have the privilege of being on the blog tour for this book by the author of Return to Half Moon Farm and more… Check out the review below…

Review

Edinburgh, home of the world-renowned Hogmanay Party every New Year’s Eve, is the time of year readers will meet Maura in. She has a quirky cottage in Dean Village (part of Edinburgh, but around 30 min or so walk away from the busy Prince’s Street and Royal Mile areas). It’s picturesque and isn’t just home for Maura, but she works there as a potter too. She tries to see life in an upbeat way, despite it being challenging to sell her wares, a leaky roof and being romantically involved with childhood sweetheart, Jamie still. He, however prefers the pub with rugby mates than hanging out with her.
Hogmanay is the time of partying and reflection and wishes. She wishes everything was a bit better than her current reality. Things change when she reunites with Fraser Bell at a Hogmanay party and she is commissioned to create ceramic ghosts for a ghost tour. Things go well, until Jamie gets jealous and frustrated that she is spending so much time at the studio. Then things have a ripple effect through her life, especially when the Edinburgh Castle shows interest in her work.

Hogmanay is the time where either everything changes or nothing changes. This book portrays this very well. The attitudes of some men, those rare ones who want to help and give a boost and those who don’t. The contrast is well-written and brings a nice realism. What happens in Maura’s career is heart-warming and uplifting. Sometimes it just takes someone to give a freelance worker a chance for sparks to fly and careers to truly bloom. Holly Hepburn has carefully not had the plot all syrupy, there are bumps along the way and which way will her personal life go as her career takes off?

Sitting in a little heat with Healing Hearts on Thistledown Lane penetrating warmth into the heart gives a moment of bliss and escapism. If you haven’t chosen a book to start off your new year read yet, I thoroughly recommend this one by Holly Hepburn.

#Interview with Comedian, Director, Actor Stuart Laws on new tv series, directing comedy specials and more… #StuartLaws #Comedian #Actor #Director #TVDrama #Stage #Patience #Channel4 #ComediansTakingPenaltiesWithChloePetts #StandUp

Interview with Comedian, Director, Actor Stuart Laws
conducted by Louise Cannon

Stuart Laws is known for his stand-up comedy, directing well-known comedians James Acaster, Rosie Jones and Nish Kumar and is highly respected amongst many other comedians too. I was given the opportunity to interview him on Bookmarks and Stages where we covered what it was like to direct the aforementioned comedians, his latest projects, including acting in channel 4 drama, Patience, Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts, a new web game show, Is It A Bone?, his inspiration to do these many jobs and being neurodivergent in the tv world, for him it’s autism. After the interview you can also discover his latest live shows for February and March 2026.
Welcome Stuart Laws to Bookmarks and Stages and thanks to PR, Julian Hall for creating this opportunity. Now, let’s begin our interview…

  1. You’ve done stand-up comedy, appeared in dramas, directed, it’s a great achievement. What spurs you on?

A desperate desire to prove my enemies wrong. Also, I do find it funny to not see a friend for 3-4 months and then when they ask – “oh what have you been up to?” to be able to provide a list of genuinely surprising new developments. I love watching TV, comedy, film and so to be any part of it fills me with excitement. As long as I can I will keep doing as many different, fun things until it’s very clear I’m not good at those things. VERY CLEAR. It’ll have to be VERY CLEAR.

  1. Who or what inspired you to act, direct and do comedy?

When I was a kid it was films like Jurassic Park and Back to The Future or stand up comedy like Lee Evans or Harry Hill’s Channel 4 show, then I got older and it was things like Twin Peaks and Arrested Development. Once I had started doing stand up comedy and was making short films I was really inspired by new acts that I met on the circuit and loved watching perform and made me want to be better. Chuck in enough arrogance to believe that I could help them be even better and bam, it all started to coalesce.

  1. You’re appearing in Channel 4 drama, ‘Patience’, can you tell us a little bit about the character you play?

Alex is a member of the adult autistic support group that Patience Evans, the lead character played by the brilliant Ella Maisy Purvis, attends and so I get to stretch my acting muscles by playing an autistic adult. When the audition came in I remember being excited because I don’t get a huge amount of scripted and definitely very little drama auditions so I knew I wanted to nail it. Because the show has a strong sense of humour running through it I knew I wanted to lean into that, especially knowing the character was across multiple episodes – it’s a good chance to have a think about the wider context and life of your character. Saying that, it’s not a huge part but a delight to play and the production team so good and the first series of the show so compelling and fun to work that I knew I wanted to be involved and to be able to add whatever details and experience I could.

  1. You’re a go to director for comedians, James Acaster, Rosie Jones and Nish Kumar, what is your process to direct other comedians and have you got any favourite moments when directing these comedians in-particular?

Directing a comedy special is a lot about just getting the cameras in and making sure the lights look nice and the comedian is as good a mental space as possible to do their show as well as they can. I’m there to put out fires, be a sounding-board and to ensure the crew all are supported and can do what they do best. The next level up is a chance for me to work with the comedian, watch the show in advance, suggest structural tweaks or new lines, to eventually know it inside out, know the vibe of the comedian and talk about themes, tone and style they’re looking to achieve and what of my ideas are interesting to them – it could be to do with the style of how the cameras move, where they’re positioned, what the lighting is like and how we want the audience to feel while watching. Then I get to have conversations with heads of department about the best tools for those ideas and prep the crew as best as possible about how they can make the plan a reality. We recently shot Nish Kumar’s new one and we discussed dutch angles, 70s directors and Stop Making Sense, for James Acaster we talked about wrestling, 3:2 open gate aspect ratio and creating a sense of perpetual motion so that the cameras all cut together smoothly in the full 360 degree audience set up. That’s the fun of it for me, knowing that there’s certain things a stand up special needs to have but to also know that there’s wiggle room to express what makes the comedian brilliant, to make the jokes and the themes land even harder.

  1. You have a new SO TV series of ‘Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts.’ What are your football skills like and is there a particular football team you support?

I’m a Spurs fan and a Gotham fan and played for Goldhill FC for 23 years. I’m not a good footballer but I’m pretty solid and I think I’m happy with that, let’s put it this way – there is one cup final that my team played in that’s called The Stuart Laws Final – and I’m pretty happy with that. When I met Chloe on the circuit we immediately bonded over football and both being absolute lads so getting to write on and be in this series is a real dream come true. What is less exciting is the physical toll of playing football for 10 hours straight, two days in a row on the hottest days of the year. I think it took a couple of weeks for my body to recover and I can absolutely tell in some of the penalties that I haven’t dived because my brain refused further injury.

  1. What was your favourite moment of ‘Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts?’

Harriet Kemsley being on any TV is a promise of a good time and in her episode I suggested that she do a run-up from the halfway line for her last penalty. She of course immediately ran to the halfway line to do it and after a 15 second run-up she kicked the ball and it went so far wide that science still doesn’t really understand it. It was so funny and such a perfect denouement. Aside from that, it really was the team – they were so welcoming and supportive and that was all from Chloe and Andy at the top. They had brilliant ideas and worked so hard to turn the concept from a fun summer kick about into a genuinely funny and charming series that I HOPE HOPE HOPE gets a second series.

  1. You’ve created new web game show series ‘Is It A Bone?’ It sounds intriguing, with it involving a different sense: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.. How did you come up with the idea?

I was at dinner with comedian Chloe Radcliffe and she asked for her bone marrow dish to be boxed up to take with, it was served on a bone and they put that into the box and dropped it down on our table. Chloe said “IS IT A BONE???”. I laughed and then said that it was a game show and then immediately started laying out what I saw as the format. I then mentioned it to Rhys James and he said yeah of course that’s a show and we riffed more, then I took it to Al & Nick at my production company and they both had their own great ideas. Then we got Ben Mumford on board as a producer and he brought even more ideas. That got us to shoot day where Sam Lake the host and all the brilliant guests brought even more of their own ideas to it – that’s what I liked the most, creating a set up for the comedians to be funny and do what they like, knowing we could get them back onto the format when appropriate.

  1. . For ‘Is It A Bone?’ How did you choose your contestants?

I texted a bunch of people “Would you like to be a contestant on a game show I’ve developed, it’s filming at my office studio, you’d be in two episodes and it’ll take a couple of hours?” And they just all said yes. Like, didn’t even ask for more details about the show or what they’d have to do. Which means that each of them is genuinely reacting in the moment to what’s happening. How did I choose who to text? I went through my phone and thought who is damn funny and would team up well with others? I’d say that’s 35% of my address book to be fair, so more people will be getting texted for series 2 in 2026.

    12.You’re autistic, what advice would you give to other people who want to enter showbiz who also autistic?

It’s becoming more welcome and accepting of neurodivergence, which is handy considering the percentage of people in the entertainment industry who are neurodivergent is probably higher than the average population. It can be tough, it isn’t necessarily guaranteed that every project, location, team will be open or aware or able to make adjustments but it is becoming more common. Hopefully through my increasing awareness of it and trying to be vocal and supportive where I can I can play a part in it becoming more normalised in conversation. I’m aware that I’m privileged in being white, straight, able-bodied, low needs and therefore that makes my path smoother in disclosing. I know of a good number of people who are reluctant to disclose because they feel the discrimination is palpable or it makes them feel less secure. Hopefully that is changing.

   14. Where can people follow you and your work on social media?

You gotta get on instagram, though I am now trying to crack on with building my mailing list – I send out semi-regular updates with exclusive stuff and links to tickets and other cool things before they go public. Sign up at www.stuartlaws.com

Latest Live Shows

10th February @ Pleasance London
Comedians Beer Mat Flipping Championship 
6th March @ Pleasance London
Stuart Laws as Michael Caine Saying Never for One Hour

#Review of A Scottish Teashop in Napoli By Jane Lambert – A Hug in A Book #Review by Lou @JaneLambert22 #AScottishTeashopInNapoli

A Scottish Teashop in Napoli
By Jane Lambert

Review by Louise Cannon (Lou)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A heart-warming friendship story that’s a book with a hug. Thanks to Jane Lambert for sharing her book with me. Below is my review and then the blurb.

Review

Sitting with a cup of tea, whilst I write this review, there’s literal warmth from that and warmth from the book. Food and the power of friendship are the main themes in Jane Lambert’s latest book, all set with a gorgeous backdrop, that makes you wish you were there too. Lucy captures the heart instantly as she is a determined, and some might say, brave woman, and going on honeymoon, even though she was jilted by her sweetheart at the altar. She’s a woman after my own heart there. I am fairly certain I would do the same, just go anyway.

Elena is fighting to save her husband’s mozzarella business and a language school. It’s a current theme in that so many people in businesses people assume will be around forever are working harder than ever to survive.

There are chance meetings between our two main characters and what happens is just the warmest of friendships with chat and laughter through the pain. They are there for each other and listen well. What comes next is another chance to grasp at life and give it a good shake and create something amazing and new. A Scottish Teashop right in scenic Napoli. It doesn’t sound so outlandish the way its presented.

A Scottish Teashop in Napoli will certainly help shake off the winter blues in its wrap-around immersive writing quality that truly touches the heart.

Blurb

When Lucy’s childhood sweetheart leaves her at the altar, her world shatters. But instead of cancelling her honeymoon, she boards the plane alone―bound for a sun-soaked island that will change everything.

In Naples, recently widowed Elena is fighting to keep her husband’s family mozzarella factory and language school afloat while raising her young son. Desperate to save both businesses, she posts a job advert―and fate delivers Lucy to her doorstep.

Together, these two women―each nursing heartbreak and loss―discover that friendship, food, and a dash of courage can heal even the deepest wounds.

Filled with pasta, laughter, and second chances, this is a story of resilience, renewal, and the unexpected magic of connection.

‘Real heart, sunshine and a smattering of Italian, the story is a holiday in book form’ People’s Friend

‘Totally hooked. Loving it. Pictorial, warm and evocative. Really entrancing and beautifully written’. Rula Lenska