I'd had The Reading Cure on my GoodReads TBR for a while, so I was pleased to see that it was shortlisted for The Young Writer Of The Year Award, and I would have a reason to actually hurry up and read it. It is a memoir that blends together the personal and the literary,… Continue reading The Reading Cure by Laura Freeman (2018) – shortlisted for The Sunday Times / Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer Of The Year Award, in association with The University of Warwick
Tag: Hardback
This Will Only Hurt A Little by Busy Philipps (2018)
Like many people, I was aware of, and liked, Busy Philipps from her various TV shows and movies, and my liking of her only grew when I followed her on Instagram and witnessed the joy and brilliance of her Stories on the app. I love that she is honest and frank on Instagram, and shows… Continue reading This Will Only Hurt A Little by Busy Philipps (2018)
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The Peters Fraser And Dunlop/Sunday Times Young Writer Of The Year Award – Shortlist Reveal!
As I ~may~ have mentioned, I am on the shadow panel for this year's Young Writer of the Year Award - and today the shortlist has been announced! Here they are: Kings of the Yukon: An Alaskan River Journey by Adam Weymouth (Particular Books) Kings of the Yukon is about Adam Weymouth's journey in a… Continue reading The Peters Fraser And Dunlop/Sunday Times Young Writer Of The Year Award – Shortlist Reveal!
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Joan: The Remarkable Life of Joan Leigh Fermor by Simon Fenwick (2017)
I honestly didn’t know much about Joan Leigh Fermor when I asked for this book for Christmas last year, but I knew a little about her travel writer husband Paddy, and the blurb intrigued me. I decided to take the book in holiday with me to Devon, where I read it in two days, mostly… Continue reading Joan: The Remarkable Life of Joan Leigh Fermor by Simon Fenwick (2017)
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I Love You Too Much by Alicia Drake (2018)
This gorgeous little book appeared somewhere on Twitter (or Instagram?) recently, and the yellow cover caught my eye. It intrigued me. The cover, the title, the fact that it was a debut novel - all things that interested me. I was in Blackwell's in the Oxford the other day (the new branch!) buying Mother's Day… Continue reading I Love You Too Much by Alicia Drake (2018)
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Men Explain Things to Me and Other Essays by Rebecca Solnit (2014)
Like most people, I am familiar with the term 'mansplaining'. I've also heard a fair bit of excitement about Rebecca Solnit as an interesting writer. Her essay Men Explain Things to Me is the origin of the term, something I only learned seeing the word in circulation - when it first became a thing there… Continue reading Men Explain Things to Me and Other Essays by Rebecca Solnit (2014)
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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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Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung by Min Kym
This book was one of the few review copies I have been accepting recently, and I'm glad I decided to read and review it, because it's something a little different - but once I got into it I realised it actually is the sort of thing I like. Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life… Continue reading Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung by Min Kym
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The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown
I have read a couple of books about English witch trials, and the history of why they happened, so this book wasn't entirely new ground for me - but is certainly an original take on the period the events. The Witchfinder's Sister gives the infamous Matthew Hopkins a fictional sister in the form of Alice,… Continue reading The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown
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The Good People by Hannah Kent
Like many readers I loved Hannah Kent's first novel Burial Rites (2013), so I had high expectations for The Good People. Like its predecessor it is set in the first half of the 19th century, this time in 1820s Ireland. Also like Burial Rites, it features unhappy women as its central characters. The blurb dedicates… Continue reading The Good People by Hannah Kent
These Little Words 