Category: Reviews

Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson (1951)

Lizzi6 Comments

I had never read anything by Shirley Jackson before this, and I don't know what it was specifically that made me choose this book, Hangsaman, over her others. Possibly because it was just not the one that everyone has been talking about recently (that would be We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which honestly… Continue reading Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson (1951)

A Trip Down Memory Lane with Anjelica Huston

Lizzi3 Comments

As a rule I rather like reading memoirs, though I must say I am picky about whose I read. I've read mostly literary memoirs or those about an ordinary person who had an extraordinary experience (such as Wild or The Rules of Inheritance). I don't think I've ever read a memoir of a celebrity before.… Continue reading A Trip Down Memory Lane with Anjelica Huston

The Sense of an Elephant by Marco Missiroli (tr. Stephen Twilley)

Lizzi1 Comment

A rare deviation from me here - I actually read and am actually reviewing an unsolicited review copy! I know, world gone mad. I usually leave these to mould on the  shelf before they get passed on to a friend/family member/charity shop, but I actually decided to give this one a go. Not least because… Continue reading The Sense of an Elephant by Marco Missiroli (tr. Stephen Twilley)

Confronting the Classics by Mary Beard

Lizzi2 Comments

This is the first of Mary Beard's books that I have read, but I have been meaning to read something of hers for a while - so I had quite high expectations for this. I expected Confronting the Classics to be a journey through the Classical world with Mary Beard, an education in how that… Continue reading Confronting the Classics by Mary Beard

A Little Life is a little challenge

Lizzi7 Comments

There is a LOT of buzz and hype around A Little Life, the second novel from American author Hanya Yanagihara, which would usually put me off - but this book genuinely appealed to me and I felt a genuine sense of excitement and possibility about it. I was lucky enough to read an early copy… Continue reading A Little Life is a little challenge

Nietzsche’s sister, the Nazis, and Nueva Germania

Lizzi3 Comments

I came across Forgotten Fatherland in the Recommendations section of GoodReads (surprisingly good!), and it instantly appealed to me, partly because it just sounded so weird that I needed to find out more about it. Essentially it is the story of Elisabeth Nietzsche, sister of the more famous Friedrich. I didn’t really know that much… Continue reading Nietzsche’s sister, the Nazis, and Nueva Germania

The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicolson

Lizzi11 Comments

Well. This is a review I have been avoiding for a while. I finished reading The Mighty Dead about two weeks ago. I’d made some notes, but it is hard to put them together and get to the point of what I really think about this book. The fact is I feel quite strongly about… Continue reading The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicolson

The Elusive Ada Lovelace

Lizzi2 Comments

I read a biography of Byron when I was about 17 or 18, having been introduced to him by a teacher. I fell in love with his life story, the drama and romance, the scandal, and of course the poetry. I automatically took his side in the break with his wife Annabella (which happened as… Continue reading The Elusive Ada Lovelace

Tracks by Robyn Davidson

Lizzi6 Comments

Identity is a theme, or issue, that I think becomes part of all autobiography or memoir; to write about oneself it to write about who you are and why. This is certainly the case with the wonderful Tracks by Robyn Davidson. She not only writes about her own experience – it is a singular, personal… Continue reading Tracks by Robyn Davidson