I think the answer to that is pretty obvious, looking at the mountains of review copies obliterating every surface in my office  - I would not have a life, let alone a critical faculty, if I did. “So how do you decide which ones to review?” The disappointing answer to this is: the same way as most people select a book in a shop - judge it by its cover. I will then do random spot checks to make sure my prejudice against sub-genre vamp lit or the l’Oreal school of “historical” fiction is not getting in the way of a brilliant read. The thought process goes something like this….

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto. Oh god, angel wings on the cover. And what a ridiculous name - maybe she’s too embarrassed to use her own …. But let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. “When the final bell sounded at Bryce Hamilton {uh oh}, Xavier {surely not?} and I gathered our things and headed out on to the south lawn. The weather forecast {yawn} had predicted a clear afternoon, but the sun was fighting an uphill battle…. ” And that’s as far as I got. A cliche in the SECOND sentence? That’s unforgiveable. But Oxfam will be pleased….