I was kindly invited to take part in the blog tour for the new edition of this book and am very glad I accepted. The new edition was published to tie in with the new 2016 film adaptation. Despite the Falling Snow takes place in 1990s Boston and 1950s Russia, moving deftly between the two… Continue reading Despite the Falling Snow by Shamim Sarif (2003)
Category: Fiction
In Which I Am So, So Glad I Finally Read The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
In brief, this is the story of a man who was once a Nazi officer, a story of his war; it is a fictional autobiography of an intellectual thrown into the horror of the Second World War. It is the War from 'the other side'. But it is so, so much more than that. Dr… Continue reading In Which I Am So, So Glad I Finally Read The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
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The Second World War: Selected Reading
Note on photos: where possible I have photographed my own books. I own the others mentioned in this post but don't have the books with me, so have used photos from GoodReads. It would be impossible to narrow down the absolute best books about the Second World War, not least because there are scores… Continue reading The Second World War: Selected Reading
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Look at Me by Sarah Duguid
The premise for Look at Me is simple but effective; and in fact I'd describe most of the book that way too. Our central character Lizzy and her brother Ig discover that their father has a daughter they didn't know about. They find out by chance after coming across a letter from said daughter, and… Continue reading Look at Me by Sarah Duguid
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A new Peirene! The Man I Became by Peter Verhelst (tr. David Colmer)
As a rule I love Peirene Press, but I haven't actually read one of their books for a while. So I was very pleased to be offered a review copy of book no. 19, The Man I Became, which is part of the new 'Fairy Tale' series. It's quite an odd one, given that it… Continue reading A new Peirene! The Man I Became by Peter Verhelst (tr. David Colmer)
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In Which I Read The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber and Had Some OPINIONS About It
My sister gave me this book for my birthday, so I really really wanted to like it. I'd heard a lot of good things. I wasn't sure what I'd think of it. I went in with hope. Some basic premise for those who don't know: our main character is Peter the priest, who is recruited… Continue reading In Which I Read The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber and Had Some OPINIONS About It
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Reading and watching: Room by Emma Donoghue
Room is one of those books that 'caused a stir' when it came out, and everyone was talking about it. I always meant to read it, but never got round to it; and then the movie trailers came out. It was time to read the book before seeing the film! I whizzed through the book… Continue reading Reading and watching: Room by Emma Donoghue
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Christmas and birthday haul: new year, new books!
Greeting all! I hope Christmas and the New Year have treated you well. So far 2016 for me has been my birthday, and then five days of being ill (today is day five...). So not the best start in the world. But, I am happy to start a new year and excited for what is… Continue reading Christmas and birthday haul: new year, new books!
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The best books of 2015
My apologies for the mixture of photos in this post - I have lent out some of the books featured so wasn't able to take a nice photo of them and had to find images of the covers online. Not ideal, but there you go... Somehow 2015 is over, and I have naturally been… Continue reading The best books of 2015
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Truth and Identity in ‘Lady Audley’s Secret’ by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
How do we know what is true, and what is not? How do we know that people really are who they say they are? Are you ever only one person? These were questions I asked myself while reading Lady Audley's Secret recently. The novel starts off simply enough with a few chapters to set things… Continue reading Truth and Identity in ‘Lady Audley’s Secret’ by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
These Little Words 