I’ve just read another two books about mothers and daughters. These short novels are rather different to the mother and daughter story in my last post though … Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante … is the first novel by one of Italy’s most acclaimed contemporary authors, a Neapolitan, who shuns publicity and is rather an Read More
Month: February 2009
Songs of Blue and Gold by Deborah Lawrenson
A few weeks ago the author of this book Deborah Lawrenson, having followed a trail from a comment I’d left on dovegreyreader scribbles to my blog, sent me a note to ask if I’d like to read her latest book. I was absolutely delighted, as once I’d visited Deborah’s website her books sounded very much Read More
To star or not to star …
Opinion has always been divided about whether or not to give ratings for books – be it points out of ten, stars out of five, or any other system you choose. When all is said and done, the words written about a book reveal far more than a mere rating. So why bother with the Read More
Spread the Word – World Book Day – The Shortlist
The Spread the Word shortlist is out. This is part of World Book Day, and the 100 books to talk about have been whittled down to the last ten as voted for by vistors to the site. You can vote until Feb 27th for the winner. One of the books on the longlist that didn’t Read More
Great title, great cover …
Up a Tree in the Park at Night with a Hedgehog by Paul Robert Smith Could the second book I’ve read in the past few months to feature the word ‘hedgehog’ in the title possibly be as good as the first here? Sadly, no – Up a Tree in the Park at Night with a Read More
Probability Angels by Joseph Devon
I won a copy of this book on a giveaway over at Me and My Big Mouth. Based on the snippet of blurb it sounded quirky and intriguing. I was surprised when it arrived on the doormat, as a) it was sent out from the USA, and b) it turns out that the author Joseph Read More
Bring on the revolution?
The Courilof Affair by Irene Nemirovsky The Russian Minister for Education, Courilof, is notorious for his cold-bloodedness and brutality and has been selected to be liquidated publicly to send a message to the masses that the revolution is coming. It’s 1903 and Leon M is assigned to the task. His initial job is to become Read More
Kitchen chemistry
As I’ve been very busy this week, and I’ve let myself get bogged down in a short novel of only 165 pages, I’m writing about something else again today… One of the nicest parts of working as a lab technician in a school is when you get to help the children in the classroom during Read More
I’m not going out on Tuesdays now (unless I get back early!)…
Last night saw the return of one of my favourite TV series from last year – the second season of Mad Men started, and it looks just as good as ever. Everything about this show is so stylish, they put an immense amount of research into getting it exactly right for the period at the Read More
Stevenson Under the Palm Trees by Alberto Manguel
An odd little novella about Robert Louis Stevenson; this edition is lushly produced with posh covers and illustrated with some of Stevenson’s own woodcuts (at 105 pages of big text it needs to justify its £7.99 price tag!). It’s a story based on Stevenson’s last days in Samoa as he is dying of tuberculosis. After Read More
I was a ’70s teenager!
As I’m currently reading a real chunkster with some way to go, I thought I’d post about music today. I was born in 1960 (I don’t feel that old mind!), so my teenage years spanned the whole of the ’70s. I can’t help but look back on the decade through rose-tinted glasses, and will forever Read More
My new rules for keeping books once read & GIVEAWAY!
It’s no good, my book mountains seem to be more and more like the Himalayas every day, new piles thrust up from spare bits of floor in the study, and existing ones seem to get higher and higher. I’ve probably got about fifteen years worth of reading if I can manage a hundred or more Read More
Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope
Recently I saw Joanna Trollope talk about her latest novel Friday Nights and wrote about it here. She was a great speaker and we had fun listening to her talk about her new experiences in researching for this book, and I had no hesitation in getting a signed copy. Now I’ve read the book, and, Read More