Picture from http://pinetribe.com/celebrate-midsummer-abroad/ A quick post to pick out a few highlights from my reading year so far now we’re halfway through – and I’m on track to emulate last year, having read about the same number of books 68 vs 71 last year, and close to the same number of pages 18300 vs 18500 Read More
Month: June 2019
The story of Maud & Frank & Oz with Judy
Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts The Wizard of Oz is one of those films – once seen, never forgotten. When my daughter was little, we watched it all the time, and later we went to see it in the theatre after the TV show to find a Dorothy for a new production in the West Read More
Guest Post: TJ Gorton on the inspiration for his novel Only the Dead
Quartet is an indie publisher that always publishes interesting books – indeed they describe themselves as having ‘a fine tradition of pursuing an alternative to the mainstream’. So when I was invited to join the blog tour for their latest novel to be published, I said yes but knowing my review pile was teetering opted Read More
Indie Bookshop Week: Katherine Rundell & Lucy Mangan
Each year the bods that run Independent Bookshop Week commission an author to write an essay about books and reading, published as a little single: Philip Pullman, Robert MacFarlane, Julian Barnes, Anne Patchett and Mark Forsyth among them, and initially only available from independent bookshops. These little books have always been a couple of quid Read More
Life as a WPC
On the Line by Alice Vinten We are all fascinated by other peoples’ lives these days. Narrative non-fiction as publishers call the mixture that includes history, politics, biography and memoir – any non-fiction that tells a story. Doctors and surgeons’ memoirs, have been joined by nurses, midwives, chefs, firemen, barristers and more, and now by Read More
Some good reads from pre-blog days, and what I thought about them then… #4
I’ve plundered my master spreadsheet yet again to bring you more of my capsule reviews from my pre-blog years. This batch are all from 2007… Babycham Night: A childhood at the end of the pier by Philip Norman Renowned author and biographer of The Beatles, Philip Norman grew up on the Isle of Wight after Read More
Review Roundup
Catch-up time once again. Some shorter thoughts on some recent reads… The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon I read this as a buddy read with Rebecca at Bookish Beck – do go and read her fab post composed mostly from her twitter thoughts chapter by chapter here, so just a few Read More
A perfectly-formed novella
West by Carys Davies West was shortlisted for this year’s Rathbones Folio Prize, and I’m so glad it was, so that when I spotted the new paperback in my local bookshop I bought a copy. In a mere 149 pages, Davies has written a story of epic scale. It’s just superb! Let me tell you Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: Murmur
Hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links in titles will take you to my reviews. So without further ado, our starting book this month is … Murmur by Will Eaves I loved Murmur, and was so happy that Read More
