I acquired my slightly enormous paperback early copy of this book from the Penguin Bloggers Night (I will stop going on about that eventually) and it was one I was particularly eager to read. Having enjoyed Jennifer McVeigh's reading and having chatted with her at the event, I had high expectations for The Fever Tree.… Continue reading The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh
Category: Reviews
Pub Walks in Underhill Country by Nat Segnit (Guest Post)
This is a guest post by Hannah Gillow Kloster. The Penguin Book Bloggers night was, as host Joe Pickering suggested, a whirlwind literary festival: 12 authors, 12 novels, three minutes each. One of the readings that most captured my attention was Nat Segnit reading from his novel Pub Walks in Underhill Country. Hilariously describing a small marital spat in… Continue reading Pub Walks in Underhill Country by Nat Segnit (Guest Post)
Share this:
Henry and June: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin
As those who read my review of Nin's novel A Spy in the House of Love will know, I have always heard of this strange and exotic writer but have never known much about her. This edition of a section of her unexpurgated (uncensored) diary therefore promised to teach me more about the elusive Anais.… Continue reading Henry and June: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin
Share this:
‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’, Steven Galloway
This book was one of several I bought in what I now admit to being a binge on Amazon. I bought it because I liked the cover and the title sounded interesting. Plus, I had never heard of it and thought it might be worth a go. How naive I was. Firstly, when it arrived,… Continue reading ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’, Steven Galloway
Share this:
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Guest Post)
This is a guest post written by Hannah Gillow Kloster. When I picked up (by which I mean downloaded for free and converted to Kindle) my copy (file) of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, I knew almost nothing about the book. I knew about Truman Capote, of course. I also saw Phillip Seymour Hoffman in London once.… Continue reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Guest Post)
Share this:
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
I came to hear of Djuna Barnes when I started reading Anais Nin, who was influenced by her. I read a little about Barnes and liked what I read - she was an American in Paris in the 1920s, wrapped up in the Modernist scene. I read recommendations from TS Eliot. This was enough to… Continue reading Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
Share this:
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Blue Nights is a funny little book. The hardback is beautiful, with a blue background and lettering, a black and white photograph of a young Quintana covering the back. Beautiful, but funny. It is several things; but should not be viewed as a sequel to The Year of Magical Thinking. The earlier book was the literary actualisation of… Continue reading Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Share this:
This is Life by Dan Rhodes (Guest Post)
This is a guest post written by Hannah Gillow Kloster. The day Dan Rhodes' last work, Little Hands Clapping, was released I hopped on a train to London and went straight to Waterstone's at Trafalgar Square. Upon arrival I cast a cursory glance around the shop, marched up to the counter and demanded "Do you have… Continue reading This is Life by Dan Rhodes (Guest Post)
Share this:
Little Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes (Guest Post)
This is a guest post written by Hannah Gillow Kloster. Dan Rhodes' latest novel, Little Hands Clapping, was published amid great expectations in 2010,following successes such as Little White Car, Timoleon Vieta Come Home and Gold, perhaps my personal favourite. I have had the good fortune to have met Dan a few times, and he is one of… Continue reading Little Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes (Guest Post)
Share this:
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Guest Post)
This is a guest post written by Meg Hayes Fisher. ‘It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life that it purloined. Over the years, as the memory of Sophie Mol ... slowly faded, the Loss of Sophie Mol grew robust and… Continue reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Guest Post)
These Little Words 