Hello and the warmest of welcomes to damppebbles on this chilly Sunday in November. Is there anything better than curling up with a great book and a cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon? I think not! If you’re on the lookout for a great book then you’ve come to the right place as we’re just over halfway through #R3COMM3ND3D2023. So far a grand total of fifty-three fabulous books have been recommended by those in the bookish know (bloggers, authors, bookstagrammers and reviewers galore!) with more brilliant books being added to the tally today!

Let’s not delay a moment longer and find out who is joining me today. I am delighted to welcome a ‘new to me’ blogger to damppebbles today, it’s the brilliant Sam Johnson of My Cosy Book Nook. I’ve had a mooch around Sam’s blog and I have to say, I’m loving it already! I’ve subscribed. Have you? And if not, you know what to do.

So, what is #R3COMM3ND3D2023? It’s about sharing the book love. It’s a chance for authors, book bloggers, reviewers and bookstagrammers to shout about three (yes, *only* three) books they love. They can be written by any author, in any genre and published in any way (traditionally, indie press or self-published). But there is a catch. All three books must have been published in 2023. To make things interesting there are a couple of teeny, tiny rules; 1) the book must have FIRST been published in 2023 and 2) special editions and reissues do not count. See, it wasn’t too painful. I just like to keep you lovely people on your toes 😉

Here are the three books Sam recommends…

Lucky Number 11 by Jess Kitching
I had read this author’s two previous novels and thought they were great. But I also felt that she was capable of writing something epic. This is it. On one hand it’s a fabulous dark, twisted crime thriller. On the other hand it’s an amazing psychological study – Jess somehow manages to plant her readers into the heads of a survivor of kidnap and sexual assault, a passionate but exhausted detective and a multiple murderer. But it’s when you get to the acknowledgements, and realise how much of herself she’s put into the pages too, that it really becomes mind-blowing.
Sam’s Review of Lucky Number 11

---

Good Girls Die Last by Natali Simmonds
Two reasons. Firstly: it’s multi-layered. It’s a fabulous thriller, and yet all of the things that the author uses to thrill are everyday things that could, and do, happen to anyone. Which makes every part of the book so incredibly relatable. And secondly, for exactly the same reason that Jess Kitching’s novel is so special. It’s written from the heart. And it shows.
Sam’s Review of Good Girls Die Last

---

She Says She’s My Daughter by Lauren North
It uses a fantastic premise – that of the disappearance of a young girl from a beach, 14 years earlier – to a superb character study. How might her mother, father, elder brother and younger sister all react? And what might they think, say and do if a young lady suddenly walks into a police station and claims to be the missing girl? Cue a story that everything from apprehension, fear, tension, happiness and utter devastation, before culminating in an explosive ending that had me reeling. But it’s still not far-fetched. The plot is intricate, with every piece falling into place at the finish.
Sam’s Review of She Says She’s My Daughter

Thanks so much, Sam. Three brilliant titles – one I already have on my terrifying TBR – the other two will be added straight away.

About Sam Johnson:
I’m a real life nobody with a big virtual mouth …

I’ve loved to read for about as long as I can remember. I think it stems from growing up as the eldest of four children, and needing somewhere to escape from my annoying younger siblings! I would shut myself away in my room and go on adventures with Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, encounter giants, witches and new flavours of chocolate in the pages of Roald Dahl and imagine a new route to Narnia at the back of my wardrobe. Later, following a brief divergence into school stories, I picked up my first Agatha Christie novel at the age of 12 and have been well and truly hooked on crime fiction ever since. I also love a good psychological thriller and will give most other genres a try at least once!

As I grew older, my love of reading never ceased but it did start to take more of a back seat as my life became fuller. I met, and married my wife. I qualified as a scuba diving instructor and spent as many weekends as possible at my local open water training site. And we bought an old caravan and used any time left over to discover new parts of the UK and Europe.

Then lockdown 2020 happened …

It was soon established that I could carry on working – which I appreciate means I’ve been much luckier than some – but almost all of the leisure activities I enjoyed were suddenly out of bounds. Plus, I can’t cook, I’m rubbish at DIY and I hate gardening and housework.

So once again, I used reading to escape from real life. I also found that I quite enjoyed writing about the various new books that I had read, and my blog grew purely out of my own thoughts.

Sam’s Blog and Social Media Links:
| My Cosy Book Nook | X (formerly Twitter) @MyCosyBookNook | Facebook | Instagram @10sam.mycosybooknook |

#R3COMM3ND3D will only run for the month of November this year so places are very limited. If you would like to take part in #R3C this year (and I would LOVE you to!) then please get your three choices in ASAP. If I’m unable to fill all 30 dates then any posts scheduled for the end of November will be brought forward and I will close the series early (but I don’t want to do that, it sounds miserable! 😂). Here are two different versions of the form if you fancy taking part.

If you’re a book blogger, bookstagrammer, reviewer or an author and you have three books published this year which you want to shout about then please complete the following form (or click this link: https://forms.gle/d6HbMLZJjEtUSm8FA)