Many years ago I worked as a bookseller for Borders and I have to admit that the true crime section was not one that I thought of as full of ‘literature’. All the books had sensational covers with big red letters and bad photographs. They were small fat books that didn't get many visitors, and while I… Continue reading In Praise Of: True Crime
If This is a Woman by Sarah Helm: A Reading Experience
More than one of my fellow reviewers on GoodReads wrote that reading this book is more than that - you 'live it' as well. It is an experience I will never forget. If This is a Woman took me ten days to read, which for me is a long time - but then it is… Continue reading If This is a Woman by Sarah Helm: A Reading Experience
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Most Anticipated Upcoming Books
I try to read a mixture of old and new books, and often find myself reading 'new' books some time after they come out, purely because I always have so many books I want to read that I rarely get to read things when they are really new. Often I just get to look at… Continue reading Most Anticipated Upcoming Books
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My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
My Name is Lucy Barton has been included on the longlist for the Man Booker Prize 2016, and so understandably it’s quite popular at the moment generating a bit of hype. Almost every review I have read (both in newspapers/magazines and online) has been favourable, mentioning the beauty of the writing and the emotional depth… Continue reading My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
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The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
I’d heard of The Glass Castle long before I read it, and I was vaguely interested in it, but the real impetus to read it came from two things: my putting together reading lists of the books I most wanted to read; and the news that it has been adapted into a film starring some… Continue reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
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New Fiction: The Last Photograph by Emma Chapman
As some readers may know, I was a big fan of Emma Chapman's first novel How To Be A Good Wife. It was a taught thriller with wonderful characters and plotting, and though dark in subject matter it was a joy to read. Chapman's literary skills are similarly showcased in her new novel The Last… Continue reading New Fiction: The Last Photograph by Emma Chapman
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Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes
I bought this book last year, and somehow have only just got around to reading it. Too many books as always. Despite being about life during the Second World War I knew that it would not be a heavy read - and so I took it with me on holiday to Mallorca. The introduction and… Continue reading Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes
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Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O’Toole
I have read relatively little on feminism and gender since I left university, and so to that end I ordered myself a copy of Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O'Toole after seeing positive things about it on Twitter and various other blogs. It's a very appealing book - written by an academic but not… Continue reading Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O’Toole
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Tales of Survival: A Woman in Berlin and Gone to Ground
I decided to write about both these books in one post for several reasons. They share obvious themes for one, and they complement each other in that one is written by a free German woman, an 'ordinary citizen', and the other is written by a Jewish German woman who spent the war in hiding. They… Continue reading Tales of Survival: A Woman in Berlin and Gone to Ground
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Upcoming reads and reviews
I'm focusing purely on reading at the moment, and I know it'll be a week or so until my next review - so in the meantime I thought I'd share a 'preview' of what's coming up, both in my reading and here on the blog. I am about to finish reading the third book in… Continue reading Upcoming reads and reviews
These Little Words 