There is nothing new or surprising about sharing such an iconic poem at this time of year. But it has been on my mind the past few weeks. Every time we drive to the mountains, I find myself saying 'tis the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness' under my breath, combining two popular seasonal lines … Continue reading To Autumn | John Keats #Poetry
The longlist for the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award was announced this afternoon. What is the Miles Franklin Literary Award (MFLA), I hear some of you ask? According to the MFLA website it is, “Australia’s most prestigious literary award was established through the will of the writer Stella Miles Franklin, best known for her novel My … Continue reading Miles Franklin Longlist 2021
Please feel free to use my Southern Hemisphere badge if you're also reading 20 books over the winter months. It's that time of the year again, when we share 20 books we hope/plan/wish to read over the next three months. Cathy @746 Books is our wonderful host, with the most relaxed house rules you can … Continue reading 20 Books of Summer [Winter] 2021
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
On December the third the wind changed overnight and it was winter. Time is of the essence right now. Lots of big reading plans; not much blogging time. But I'm rather smitten with Daphne du Maurier's work and I look forward to Ali's special reading week each year to celebrate their shared birthdays. The only … Continue reading The Birds | Daphne du Maurier #ShortStory
It is easier to feel young in new York. Lily Brett feels like one of my very dear old friends. I've been reading her fiction and non-fiction for over 20 years now. Most of her books I read pre-blog, with Lola Bensky being the only foray into her work during my blogging years (although I … Continue reading Old Seems to be Other People | Lily Brett #AWW
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 once told you, Jeffers, about the time I met the devil on a train leaving Paris, and about how after that meeting the evil that usually lies undisturbed beneath the surface of things rose up and disgorged itself over every part of life. Second Place was my very first Rachel Cusk. Her work has … Continue reading Second Place | Rachel Cusk #UKfiction
“We are all dying, just at different speeds.” The end is nigh. For our Wolf Hall trilogy readalong and for Thomas Cromwell. I hope you enjoyed your Tudor mini-break throughout April; I certainly did. But I am now more than ready to tackle the final episode in this courtly drama, The Mirror and the Light, … Continue reading #WolfHallReadalong2021
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
His children are falling from the sky. Part of my desire in (re)reading Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies was to refresh my memory, so that I could have it all front of mind for my very first reading of The Mirror and the Light. As I started BUTB, I realised that Mantel helps … Continue reading Bring Up the Bodies | Hilary Mantel #Readalong
