Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021) by Sally Rooney

As I talked about in my previous post, I missed the Sally Rooney hype the first time around in 2017, and it was the release of this novel that got me a little more interested in her. I started with Conversations with Friends, but then decided to dive right into Beautiful World, Where Are You… Continue reading Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021) by Sally Rooney

Conversations with Friends (2017) by Sally Rooney

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

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)

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

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Guest Post)

This is a guest post written by Meg Hayes Fisher. I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am. Having been a thoroughly invested fan of Sylvia Plath’s poetry since I first came across my mum’s battered copy of Ariel, I was apprehensive about… Continue reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Guest Post)

October’s Faber Social at The Social

Every month Faber holds its Social at The Social (ha ha). This month's Social (held on Monday 3rd October) celebrated the art of the short story. The readers were Hanif Kureishi (charming, modest, witty), Sarah Hall (energetic, quiet but with a glint in her eye), Stuart Evers (lots of hair and jokes) and the amazing Edna O'Brien (ingratiating, engaging...lovely). They all read a story from… Continue reading October’s Faber Social at The Social