literary hoohah
I’d had this on my reading list for a while, and when I decided to sack off TBR 20 (we all knew it was coming - more in another blog post to come) I went to Waterstones in Oxford, and this was one the three books I bought (three! Such a delight. Lots of points… Continue reading Witches: James I and the English Witch Hunts by Tracy Borman
I came across The Blue Tattoo by chance, when author Peggy Riley tweeted about it (so long ago that I'm afraid I can't find the original tweet). As soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to read it. It was unlike anything I had ever read before, but it instantly appealed to… Continue reading The Blue Tattoo by Margot Mifflin (2009)
I think we can all agree that a mythology has grown around Sylvia Plath and her husband Ted Hughes. Both her writing and her short life were undoubtedly remarkable, but it is also the fact of Hughes' control over what was published or not published after her death that has gained notoriety and drawn endless… Continue reading Can We Agree On No More Sylvia Plath Biographies?
When we learn about trauma, we also learn about catharsis, about 'getting it out' and finding closure. About having a cathartic experience. This is why we read books about war and suffering, why survivor testimonies are always popular books in whatever form they may take - from the wonder of writers like Primo Levi, to… Continue reading In Praise Of: Sad Stories
I mentioned The Undertaker's Daughter in my post about 'simplifying women' in book titles. Kate Mayfield is more than just the daughter of an undertaker, of course; but the title is warranted here as this book covers the first part of her life, when she mostly lived at home, and when her father was an… Continue reading The Undertaker’s Daughter by Kate Mayfield
Wild was published last year and I read quite a lot about it at the time. I like a good memoir, and since reading Martha Gellhorn for the first time last year I've wanted to read more travel memoirs and travelogues, and Wild by Cheryl Strayed seemed like a book for me. However, I always… Continue reading Review: Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The full title of this book is Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present. Despite what this may imply, I do not think of it as a specifically feminist book. As far as I can tell it does not set out with a feminist agenda;… Continue reading Review: Mad, Bad and Sad by Lisa Appignanesi
Juliane Koepcke was born in 1954, in Lima, Peru, to German parents. Her father was a biologist and her mother was an ornithologist; they had moved to Peru to study the wildlife, and young Juliane was brought up between the city of Lima and their home in the jungle, Panguana. Panguana is a remote spot… Continue reading When I Fell From The Sky: The True Story of One Woman’s Miraculous Survival by Juliane Koepcke
I was walking down Long Acre with my boyfriend; we wandered into Stanford's to ogle maps and travel books. After having a wander we came to the books table back near the entrance. I was attracted to the dated-in-a-good-way cover of Travels With Myself and Another (from Eland), not only because of the layout and… Continue reading Travels With Myself and Another: Five Journeys From Hell by Martha Gellhorn
These Little Words 