My original plans were to read this book and Oracle Night this week alongside Baumgartner, which would have left only Sunset Park of Auster’s novels unread, but I was enjoying his 2002 novel The Book of Illusions so much, I took it a little more slowly to savour the text. Now I have the hard Read More
Category: AUSTER Paul
Baumgartner by Paul Auster – #AusterRW25
I chose Auster’s last novel as the buddy read for Paul Auster Reading Week. Published in 2023, a slim novel at just over 200 pages, it didn’t disappoint and revisits many of his favourite themes. The first chapter sets a comic scene.: Baumgartner is sitting at his desk in the second-floor room he variously refers Read More
Welcome to Paul Auster Reading Week 2025
Paul Auster is my absolute favourite author. Five years ago I hosted my first Paul Auster Reading Week, and since his death last year, I decided to host another. However, timing it to coincide with his birthday which is today, Feb 3rd rather than the anniversary of his death in April; he would have been Read More
Talking Header Images
One last fun post before School starts; I do have book reviews scheduled – honest! I was looking at my header images on the blog, and wondering if I should update them… Obviously, they’re cut down from larger photos to fit. I have six current ones, which are randomised to appear with each refresh of Read More
Reading Plans & Resolutions 2025
Happy New Year to you all! It’s traditional to set out one’s stall with reading plans for the year ahead. I was aiming to keep them as fluid as possible, yet have managed to sign up for 5 blog tours in January, how did that happen? I am aiming to do fewer blog tours this Read More
Paul Auster Reading Week II anyone?
Back in February 2020 I hosted a Paul Auster Reading Week. He was my most admired living author then, but sadly he died from cancer last April. Rather than time a second reading week for the anniversary of his death, I’ve decided to celebrate his birth instead, which was on 3rd Feb 1947. So who Read More
Reading the Decades: #6 The 1980s
I am more often than not devoted to contemporary fiction, the shiny and the new. But I do read some older books too as my stats will attest. This series picks out some of those old books that I’ve read, sorted by publishing date, not reading dates which can be any time. You can read Read More
Review of the Year #1 – A Year of Reading and Blogging
I’m saving my books of the year for the 31st, but today I plan to share some other blogging highlights, discovered authors and the few disappointments of my reading year. Let’s go through the year first… JANUARY – was the beginning of The Japanese Literature Challenge 13 which carried on until March. I read The Read More
Nonfiction November – My Year in Non-Fiction
This is my third year of taking part in Nonfiction November. Each week has a different theme and is hosted by a different blogger. Week one is to survey your year in non-fiction, prompted by Leann at Shelf Aware. Last year, just over 25% of my reading was non-fiction at 33 books, my best ever. Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: How To Do Nothing
My favourite monthly tag, 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 the titles will take you to my reviews where they exist. This month our starting book is: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell As Kate Read More
The Return of Book Spine Poetry
Last time I did this, the whole of my bedroom floor was covered with small piles of books as I built up potential poem fragments – but this was the result – and I was very pleased with it. (Took ages to put all the books back though!) Now Bookish Beck has had another go, Read More
Paul Auster Reading Week: Giveaway Results
Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway of spare new paperbacks of Paul Auster books. There was only one taker for each of Timbuktu and Report from the Interior, but my daughter assisted with a random number for The Brooklyn Follies. And the winners are: Timbuktu – Jonathan Report from the Interior – Lois Read More
Paul Auster Reading Week: Wrap-up & Giveaway!
Thank you to everyone who has joined in the week of reading and talking about my favourite author – the week has gone so fast. A particular thank you to those who’ve been able to read and review books list below – very much appreciated. However, there have been some great discussions here and on Read More
Paul Auster Reading Week: A Life in Words
Paul Auster in conversation with I.B. Siegumfeldt. IB (Inge Birgitte) Siegumfeldt is a Danish professor at the University of Copenhagen, which houses The Paul Auster Research Library – an international hub for his work and its translated versions. Auster was made an honorary fellow back in 2011, and Siegumfeldt has taught his work, especially the Read More
Paul Auster Reading Week: Man in the Dark
I am alone in the dark, turning the world around in my head as I struggle through another bout of insomnia, another white night in the great American wilderness. Another great opening line from Auster in his 2008 novel. The narrator is August Brill, a writer who is seventy-two, living again with his daughter and Read More
Paul Auster Reading Week: The Brooklyn Follies
I was looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn, and so the next morning I traveled down there from Westchester to scope out the terrain. I hadn’t been back in fifty-six years, and I remembered nothing. Auster has a good way with opening lines, doesn’t he? I was instantly drawn in to Read More
Paul Auster Reading Week: City of Glass, the Graphic Novel
Adapted by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli If you’ve read City of Glass, the first of the three novellas that comprise Auster’s New York Trilogy, (more on that here), you’ll realise that it isn’t an easy text to adapt to a graphic form. There’s not much action really, a lot of sitting, watching and especially Read More
Why Auster is my favourite author and why you should try reading him
Auster’s first fiction published under his own name was three novellas, initially published separately in 1985-6, then collected as The New York Trilogy (NYT). I discovered the NYT when it first came out in paperback in the UK. I was attracted to the cover, also bearing Faber & Faber’s livery (right); the blurb promised detective Read More
Introducing Paul Auster Reading Week 17-23 Feb & Sign-up
Auster is probably my favourite living author, and last autumn I decided I would host a reading week to celebrate his work – and it begins today! I hope some of you will join with me in reading some of his writing: be it novels, memoir, essays, screenplays, poetry, letters and so on – he’s Read More
Weekend Miscellany
January review A sad day yesterday, but we all have to live with it now, so I shall SUMO – shut up and move on. I’ll start today, by updating you on how I’m doing on #TBR20. The plan was, (with Lizzy and Richard @caravanablog and any others participating), not to read or buy any new books Read More
Review Clear-out! James, Scarfe, Vaughn and Auster
In an effort to make room on my dining table where I work, so we can eat Christmas lunch on it, I’m clearing the pile of books yet to be reviewed, here’s my last batch for 2019: Somewhere Becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin by Clive James When James died a few weeks ago, Read More
A Reading Week for Feb 2020
I’ve been contemplating hosting a reading week for one of my favourite authors this Feb, but couldn’t decide who to go for. I narrowed it down to a shortlist of Paul Auster, Iain Banks (with or without the ‘M’) and J G Ballard. Thank you to everyone who voted in my poll last week. The Read More
My Most Reviewed Authors & A Reading Week Proposal
I’ve been on half term for the past fortnight, and my major project has been to create a new master index of books read and reviewed since I started my blog, and you can see it on the tab above – the one called ‘Review Index’. Easier said than done to get in a format Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: How to Be Both
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 … How to Be Both by Ali Smith I have a confession to Read More
Novellas in November Part 1
This year I’m joining in with Novellas in November, a long-running tag now sort of shepherded by Laura at Reading in Bed. I absolutely love novellas, that extra length over a short story, of say up to 150 pages, gives space for development of plot and characters, but still requires the author to move things Read More
My new Desert Island Library – 100 Books
I’ve had a tab entitled ‘Desert Island LIbrary‘ on this blog for ages, in which I imagined if I were stranded on a desert island, which books I’d like washed up onto the shore in a waterproof trunk! I started off writing short takes on the books to go into this trunk – but it Read More
Year End Review #6: My Books of the Year!
And finally, in my review of my reading year, it’s my Books of the Year. I saved this post for last, because since Christmas, I have just read a book which had to be added to this list. I tried to keep the list to a dozen, but it’s ended up as 14 – but Read More
4 3 2 1 – Go! At last, a review…
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster This is the book I’ve been most excited about since I got my hands on it before Christmas, yet, it has taken until now to review it. My reading of this wonderful, ‘big fat book’ (Auster’s words) has history: I was invited to join an online book group Read More
It’s been a busy week…
I am nearly in possession of a newly rebuilt conservatory. The old one was single glazed and rotting away – you could see the outdoors at the corners of some windows where the wood was falling off. I managed to get a good deal to have all the glass replaced with UPVC, latest technology with Read More
Weekend ramblings
After three days without an internet router the week before last, I’ve been playing catch-up at reading all your blogs this week and also concentrating on Shiny New Books – our first month in our new format is nearly over. it’s going well too – and we have some wonderful posts coming up for you Read More
