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Bobbie’s Year In Books

Bobbie’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Bobbie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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797 books | 24 friends

Mahyar Tehrani

286 books | 25 friends

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Bobbie Darbyshire

Goodreads Author

Born

London, The United Kingdom

Website

http://is.gd/u8V4hA

Twitter

bobbiedar

Genre

Fiction, Humor and Comedy

Member Since

May 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/bobbiedar

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Bobbie's fifth novel, 'The Third Bus' was published in October 2023. Her earlier novels are: 'The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whittaker', 'Oz', 'Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones' and 'Truth Games'.

She won the 2008 fiction prize at the National Academy of Writing and the New Delta Review Creative Nonfiction Prize 2010. She has worked as barmaid, mushroom picker, film extra, maths coach, cabinet minister's private secretary, care assistant and volunteer adult-literacy teacher, as well as in social research and government policy.

Her latest novel is 'The Third Bus': An unappreciated man walks out of his dispiriting 42-year marriage with no destination in mind. At Victoria coach station, on the spur of the moment he boards a coach to Norwich. Bobbie's fifth novel, 'The Third Bus' was published in October 2023. Her earlier novels are: 'The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whittaker', 'Oz', 'Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones' and 'Truth Games'.

She won the 2008 fiction prize at the National Academy of Writing and the New Delta Review Creative Nonfiction Prize 2010. She has worked as barmaid, mushroom picker, film extra, maths coach, cabinet minister's private secretary, care assistant and volunteer adult-literacy teacher, as well as in social research and government policy.

Her latest novel is 'The Third Bus': An unappreciated man walks out of his dispiriting 42-year marriage with no destination in mind. At Victoria coach station, on the spur of the moment he boards a coach to Norwich. A late-life coming-of-age story, mixing humour and sorrow, hope and regret.

Bobbie's four earlier novels are:

'The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whittaker': A world-famous superstar actor – think Laurence Olivier crossed with Jack Nicholson – dies, but to his astonishment finds he’s still here among us. He’s able to watch the effect of his mean-spirited will on those left behind, including his son (cycling along on the cover) and even his cat. If your spirits are in need of a lift, it’s a real feel-good book that will keep you hooked.

'OZ': Mark Jonnson's life is a mess. He fears his marriage is over, but can't bear to leave his boisterous 7-year-old daughter, Matilda. Just when he thinks things can't get worse, his mother is killed in a road accident. Shocked and grieving, he decamps to her house, where he uncovers a secret that turns his life upside-down and sends him and his daughter on a whirlwind search for the truth.

Sarah Rayner, author of 'One Moment, One Morning', says of 'Oz', "What a delight to find a novel that's both a page-turner and a nuanced exploration of characters. The tensions and subtleties of relationships of marriage and parenting across the decades are explored with delicacy, yet the storytelling never falters, as a constantly evolving plot keeps you hooked until the last page."

'Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones': Long-listed for the 2011 International Rubery Book Award. In this comedy of errors, three troubled people dash off to the Scottish Highlands, where their destinies are mysteriously entwined around a reading group in the Inverness public library. Twists & surprises, very funny with also some dark, serious threads, it keeps you guessing throughout.

'Truth Games': In 1970s London, the blazing summers of 75 & 76, a group of friends get out of their depth in infidelity. Thought-provoking, amusing & sexy, a book about how we hurt each other with lies and with truths.

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Combine Editions
Bobbie Darbyshire’s books

Average rating: 3.7 · 238 ratings · 71 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whittaker 3.67 avg rating — 122 ratings — published 2019 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Love, Revenge and Buttered Scones 3.17 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 2010 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Oz 4.24 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Third Bus 4.40 avg rating — 20 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Truth Games 3.64 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2009 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lovers' Lies by Clare Sandling, Katy Darby (editor), Cherry Potts (Goodreads Author) (editor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Posthumous Adventures Of Harry Whittaker by Bobbie Darbyshire (Goodreads Author), Peter Kenny (Reader) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whittaker by Bobbie Darbyshire (Goodreads Author), Peter Kenny (Reader) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	OZ 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing The Joy of Bridge: Everything you need to know to enjoy your game by Paul Mendelson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A clear guide to card play and standard Acol bidding. It covers the same card-play advice as Mendelson’s earlier book Winning Ways to Play your Cards, which I’ve read several times, but much more concisely this time, so I shall now read this one seve ...more
Feb 01, 2026 03:54AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Joy of Bridge by Paul Mendelson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Joy of Bridge by Paul Mendelson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing Kudos by Rachel Cusk	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The third of a strange but brilliant trilogy of short novels. The narrator, over the course of the trilogy teaches a short creative-writing course in Athens, has a marriage breakdown, a house move, and in this third book a European book tour, but, in ...more
Jan 26, 2026 09:33AM · like · see review
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book liked it A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Obese, lonely and hopeful, armed with self-help books, Annie moves into her new home and sets about getting to know the neighbours. Last September I loved Ashworth’s more recent novel Ghosted, so decided to read this, her first. Not bad, but not half ...more
Jan 19, 2026 01:55AM · like · see review
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing East of Eden by John Steinbeck	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A story of two families in early twentieth-century California, one fictional, based on the Biblical stories of Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, the other autobiographical. I’m hugely grateful to the friend who told me her reading group enjoyed this. I was gr ...more
Jan 11, 2026 03:24AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — East of Eden by John Steinbeck <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing Stick by Elmore Leonard	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
After serving seven years for the crime that went wrong in Leonard’s brilliant earlier novel, Swag, Ernest ‘Stick’ Stickley is trying to stay straight among the crooks and fat cats of Miami. I’m reading all Leonard’s books in order of publication, on ...more
Dec 26, 2025 04:49AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Stick by Elmore Leonard. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Stick by Elmore Leonard <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A loving husband and father accidentally causes a tragedy that tears the family apart and lands him in prison. Can he atone? Can he be forgiven? I’m a huge fan of Wally Lamb’s fat, discursive, gripping novels and this, his latest, gets the usual five ...more
Dec 18, 2025 04:31AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book really liked it Precipice by Robert Harris (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Tension is building towards WWI, but the British Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, is preoccupied with his love affair with a clever young aristocrat, Venetia Stanley. Author’s note: “All the letters quoted from the Prime Minister are authentic, as ar ...more
Dec 10, 2025 02:09AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Precipice by Robert Harris. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Precipice by Robert Harris <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Patrick, an anatomy student with Asperger’s syndrome, becomes obsessed with finding out how and why the person whose body he is helping to dissect died. I saw a friend’s glowing recommendation of this on Facebook, so added it to the TBR queue, and ye ...more
Nov 30, 2025 09:51AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Failed writer June Hayward happens to be there when her much-envied Chinese American rival dies in a freak accident, leaving the first draft of a novel shared so far with no one. It’s a brilliant first draft that needs a whole lot more work to make i ...more
Nov 23, 2025 05:46AM · like · see review
Bobbie Darbyshire rated a book it was amazing Orbital by Samantha Harvey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
At an unspecified future date, we spend twenty-four hours with six astronauts (American, Japanese, British, Italian, Russian and Russian), who in those hours orbit the earth sixteen times. The mice orbiting with them learn to fly in zero gravity. A m ...more
Nov 15, 2025 03:51AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Orbital by Samantha Harvey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Orbital by Samantha Harvey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">