A few minutes past midnight on Tuesday, 10 September 1940, an air raid struck Mecklenburgh Square. After a mini-reading slump in April, I needed something to capture my attention and my heart. Normally I would go to some cosy crime, or pick up a Jane Austen. Instead, this time, I found myself in the warm … Continue reading Square Haunting | Francesca Wade #GBRnonfiction
Week 1: (Oct 31-Nov 4) – Your Year in Nonfiction : Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favourite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the … Continue reading Non-Fiction November 2022 – Week 1
Not much to say about 2021 really. Lots of intimate family time at home, lots of walking every street and byway in my suburb, again and again and again as well as a hard slog at work. A quick two week driving tour to Melbourne and back (between lockdowns) to see family at Easter was … Continue reading 2021 in Review
‘All over the country, brooding on squatters’ verandahs, or mooning in selectors’ huts,’ so A. G. Stephens wrote in the Bulletin in 1901, ‘there are scattered here and there hundreds of lively, dreamy Australian girls whose queer uncomprehended ambitions are the despair of the household. They yearn, they aspire for they know not what…’ I … Continue reading Friends & Rivals | Brenda Niall #AWWbiography
Today, I beg your indulgence. I am going to combine two sign up/week one reading challenge posts into one. There has been quite a bit of overlap in my non-fiction and novella choices this past year, so it seemed an obvious solution to my current time-poor situation. Week 1: (November 1-5) – Your Year in … Continue reading Nonfiction November & Novellas in November
In her childhood Virginia Woolf was a keen hunter of butterflies and moths. I first attempted to read Virginia Woolf in my early twenties – To the Lighthouse – I couldn’t get into it, even though I really wanted to. There was something about Virginia that fascinated me, but her writing was too dense for … Continue reading Virginia Woolf | Nigel Nicolson #GBRbiography
‘Whither, O splendid ship’ the poet asked as he lay on the shore and watched the great sailing ship pass away on the horizon. The six essays in The London Scene were first written by Woolf in late 1931 and then published in Good Housekeeping between December 1931 to December 1932. This edition includes a … Continue reading The London Scene | Virginia Woolf #GBRnonfiction
Have you ever wondered how many times a day you say thank you? This week I have been determined to catch up on some of my outstanding book reviews. Don’t judge me for focusing on the easier, slimmer ones! I promise I will one day soon, very soon, write up my thoughts on The Pea … Continue reading Gratitude | Delphine de Vigan #FRAfiction
My Week: I’ve had better. I continue to feel too tired and wiped-out after work each day to even think about blogging. And I’m lucky to read a chapter of my book before falling asleep at night. I remember when I was a kid, how I would read on and off all day. Mostly on. … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #39
The final chapters in Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the War by Francesca Wade are devoted to Virginia Woolf. Her time in Mecklenburgh Square was right at the end of her life. 37 Mecklenburgh Square was Virginia and Leonard’s last London home before they retired completely to their country home, Rodmell, after … Continue reading A Poem For a Thursday
I have been reading (and loving a lot) Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the War by Francesca Wade. Last week I featured a poem by the first woman, H. D. and I had hoped to do the same for each of the five woman. But Dorothy L. Sayers poetry was way too … Continue reading One Girl | Sappho #Poetry
H. D., also known as Hilda Doolittle (1886 Pennsylvania – 1961 Switzerland), probably has one of the longest bio’s on the Poetry Foundation site I have ever seen! I’m currently reading Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade. Hilda is one of the five women. I had never heard … Continue reading Sea Poppies | H. D. #Poetry
Below are the links, in alphabetical order by title, to all the adult books I have read whilst blogging at This Reading Life. For the books I read during my 11 years at Brona’s Books, please visit the Brona’s Books tab on the menu. A. Adam Bede | George Eliot After Sappho | Selby Wynn … Continue reading A-Z Adult
The Magician’s Elephant is my first time reading a Kate DiCamillo story. I’ve heard all the rave reviews about her other books and I don’t know how The Magician’s Elephant stacks up against them, but I loved this book. It was beautifully written, magically created, gorgeously realised and utterly compelling from start to finish. It … Continue reading The Magician’s Elephant | Kate DiCamillo
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