I’m probably the last book blogger (at least in the UK, who likes this sort of thing, etc…) to read this book. The hype around Sally Rooney has been quite something, and I often have mixed feelings about hype. Often with “popular” novelists, especially female ones, I find that the novels that get the most… Continue reading Conversations with Friends (2017) by Sally Rooney
Tag: 2017
Baby and Birth Books – My Reading So Far
I am now 34 weeks pregnant and while talking to friends and relatives with children about pregnancy and birth has been great, along with information from the midwife and the NCT course we just did, I have also been doing a bit of reading about all this as well - of course! I’ve got a… Continue reading Baby and Birth Books – My Reading So Far
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Elmet by Fiona Mozley (2017) – shortlisted for The Sunday Times / Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer Of The Year Award, in association with The University of Warwick
Elmet has been nominated for a lot of awards, most famously the Man Booker Prize in 2017, but I have to admit I hadn't heard of it before it came to me as part of the shortlist for the Young Writer of the Year Award 2018. Once I started reading I wasn't surprised that it… Continue reading Elmet by Fiona Mozley (2017) – shortlisted for The Sunday Times / Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer Of The Year Award, in association with The University of Warwick
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The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial by Maggie Nelson (2007)
I came across The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial in my GoodReads recommendations, and thought it seemed almost like the perfect book for me - a memoir about family history, women, and crime. The crime element particularly appealed to me as the book details Maggie Nelson's experience of the trial of the man of may… Continue reading The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial by Maggie Nelson (2007)
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History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (2017)
I had vaguely heard of this book before I saw it in Waterstones - probably because it was shortlisted for the Booker in 2017. I was in Barnstaple and wandering around the bookshop, having stupidly taken only one book away on holiday with me (perhaps the first time I have ever done that), and have… Continue reading History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (2017)
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Once We Were Sisters by Sheila Kohler (2017)
Like the last book I read, I found Once We Were Sisters through my GoodReads recommendations. I had never heard of Sheila Kohler but soon discovered that she is well-established writer of fiction, and this is her first memoir. It centres around her relationship with her older sister Maxine, and the devastation of Maxine's sudden… Continue reading Once We Were Sisters by Sheila Kohler (2017)
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Re-reading: Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (1947)
I first read Alone in Berlin in 2011 just after I'd left university. I'd read a lot of books about the Second World War for a course at university, and my further reading (and time on Twitter) led me to this novel. It was only translated into English in 2009, so in 2011 it was… Continue reading Re-reading: Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (1947)
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The Women of the Castle by Jessica Shattuck (2017)
[A side note: in the US, the title is The Women in the Castle.] I’ve always been interested in the literature of the Second World War, ever since a course on the Literatures of Genocide at university. I’ve read history books, personal accounts, and novels such as Alone in Berlin and City of Women; so,… Continue reading The Women of the Castle by Jessica Shattuck (2017)
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A Broken Mirror by Mercè Rodoreda (1962)
I came upon this book entirely by chance in Waterstone's - it was the cover that made me pick it up, and I am so, so glad I did. A Broken Mirror is described on the inside cover as "A haunting classic of modern Catalan literature from one of Spain's most prestigious writers", but honestly… Continue reading A Broken Mirror by Mercè Rodoreda (1962)
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Leopard at the Door by Jennifer McVeigh (2017)
I loved Jennifer McVeigh's first novel The Fever Tree (my review is here) so I was eager to read her new novel Leopard at the Door. It has a similar setup, in that it's central character is a young British woman thrown into turmoil on foreign soil. This time its Rachel, a British woman returning… Continue reading Leopard at the Door by Jennifer McVeigh (2017)
These Little Words 