literary hoohah
There was buzz around this novel a long time before publication. I started seeing the #thisbeautiful hashtag on Twitter in I think May, a full five months before the publication date. Promotion seems to be starting earlier and earlier for books these days! As long as we keep it up and don't forget the books… Continue reading #thisbeautiful : Growing Up in the 1970s
I mentioned The Undertaker's Daughter in my post about 'simplifying women' in book titles. Kate Mayfield is more than just the daughter of an undertaker, of course; but the title is warranted here as this book covers the first part of her life, when she mostly lived at home, and when her father was an… Continue reading The Undertaker’s Daughter by Kate Mayfield
I recently read a book called The Undertaker’s Daughter. It is the memoir of a woman, Kate Mayfield, whose father was indeed an undertaker. She grew up in a ‘funeral home’, as they call them in the States, and was thought of for a long time as the daughter of the undertaker and not much else.… Continue reading More Than A Daughter: The Problem With Simplifying Women
Like most people, I think, I saw the film version of Breakfast at Tiffany's before I read the book. The film itself is so famous, so remembered for the iconic images of Audrey Hepburn with her pearls, and her sunglasses, and her cigarette in its holder, that I think sometimes the details of the story… Continue reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (Part of the Capote Readathon)
In the interests of my making my blog as varied and interesting as possible, and also to stop it from becoming what Kim Forrester recently called “ another (unpaid) marketing cog in the machine”, I have decided to start a new series - In Praise Of. So what will I be praising? Firstly it won’t… Continue reading In Praise Of
Today (8th September) in International Literacy Day. This year's theme is 'Literacy and Sustainable Development' - Literacy is one of the key elements needed to promote sustainable development, as it empowers people so that they can make the right decisions in the areas of economic growth, social development and environmental integration. Literacy is a basis for… Continue reading International Literacy Day and Why It Matters
What makes a book a 'classic'? What makes it last, what makes publishers choose to reprint it for years? Popularity is certainly a huge factor; but what about 'cult classics' or those that are a little under the radar? Take for instance The Collector by John Fowles - what made Vintage reprint it in 2004… Continue reading The Collector by John Fowles
Sarah Waters' new novel, The Paying Guests, came out last week on 28th August, and of course it was amazing. I was very lucky to be sent an early copy, and also that I managed to nab a ticket to the event held last night (2nd Sept) in Oxford. Sarah Waters was in conversation with… Continue reading An Evening with Sarah Waters at the Bodleian
For those of you who have been following the Summer Capote Readathon that I've been doing with Kirsty of The Literary Sisters, you'll know that we are reading from The Capote Reader - a sort of compilation of his best short work, including twelve short stories. We wrote about the first six of these at… Continue reading Capote Readathon: Short Stories (Part Two)
These Little Words 