literary hoohah
I bought this novel on a whim in the supermarket (something I hardly ever do) because I was just in the mood to buy a book. It happens. Almost all of the novels on sale were sensational crime, romances, or what was once called 'chick lit' and this was the only one that appealed to… Continue reading Her Hidden Life by V.S. Alexander (2018)
As some regular readers may know, I absolutely love Hans Fallada's novel Alone in Berlin, and re-read it in 2017 (post here). For some reason this remained the only book of his I had read for some time. I bought a copy of Little Man, What Now? a while ago, I actually can't remember when,… Continue reading Little Man, What Now? by Hans Fallada (1932)
I adored Rodoreda's novel A Broken Mirror (my review here) and so when I saw that Penguin had brought out a new edition of her novel Death in Spring, I had to get myself a copy. And what a beautiful cover! Ostensibly the novel tells the coming-of-age story of a teenage boy in a small… Continue reading Death in Spring by Mercè Rodoreda (1986)
I bought this book about three years ago in the lovely Persephone bookshop in London, and for some reason have only now got around to reading it. As a rule I love Persephone books and am keen to read more of them. I hadn't heard anything about Amy Levy, or Reuben Sachs, when I found… Continue reading Reuben Sachs by Amy Levy (1888)
A disclaimer: I did not manage to finish this book, even though it's not very long. I love Joan Didion's journalistic writing, as well as the two other memoirs of hers that I have read (The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights), but I just could not get on with Where I Was From.… Continue reading Where I Was From by Joan Didion (2003)
I first read Jean Rhys at university when her novel Good Morning, Midnight was on the reading list for a course about the 20th century novel. Since then she has been on my radar and I have kept most of her books on my long term TBR. I read Wide Sargasso Sea a few years… Continue reading Smile Please: An Unfinished Autobiography by Jean Rhys (1979)
It's a funny thing, how I came to read this book. I don't have a 'public' account, so you may not all know this, but I love Instagram - it is my FAVE. I follow people I know, bloggers, and a handful of celebrities (ok, quite a lot). One of these is the actor Busy… Continue reading Live Fast, Die Hot by Jenny Mollen (2016)
This gorgeous little book appeared somewhere on Twitter (or Instagram?) recently, and the yellow cover caught my eye. It intrigued me. The cover, the title, the fact that it was a debut novel - all things that interested me. I was in Blackwell's in the Oxford the other day (the new branch!) buying Mother's Day… Continue reading I Love You Too Much by Alicia Drake (2018)
I saw this book at a conference last year, and it sat on my reading list for months until I received it for my birthday in January. I was a bit apprehensive about reading it as I knew it wouldn't exactly be a light read, and the paperback is 429 pages (not counting the appendix,… Continue reading The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor (2016)
I recently tweeted about this - apologies to any of my followers for the repetition here. It's just that I have often, in my life, thought about writing a book. I used to want to write a novel, and actually managed to write one in my late teens, though I fear it is just over-emotional… Continue reading Things I Think I Could Write a Book About
