Heating & Cooling | Beth Ann Fennelly (2018) Kate @Books Are My Favourite & Best first piqued my interest with Heating & Cooling a month ago. So much so, I ordered the book at work the very next day and it turned up in time for me to take on my beach holiday to beautiful, … Continue reading Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs | Beth Ann Fennelly #BookReview
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany abdicated on 9 November 1918 and in the streets of Paris there was jubilation. One of the reasons I decided to pick up Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World at this point in history, was for the history. We are now 18 months into … Continue reading Pale Rider | Laura Spinney #USAnonfiction
It has taken me a while to finish The Salt Path by Raynor Winn, not because I wasn't enjoying it, but simply because it became my walking backpack book. It was the perfect choice. It was a slim paperback (i.e. lightweight). It was about going for a very long walk. It was non-fiction and therefore easy … Continue reading The Salt Path | Raynor Winn #GBRnonfiction
What a wonderful reading experience! From the beautifully designed hardcover dust jacket (the gold seams actually sparkle in real life), to the impressive translation that seems to have captured the beauty and thoughtfulness of Neuman's original story, Fracture is a journey to savour. I knew I was in for a treat from the very first … Continue reading Fracture | Andrés Neuman #ARGfiction
Every time I see these very chic, very elegant picture books, I want to say Cla-reece. I have an acquaintance called Cla-reece. However to read these stories, I have to make a huge mental effort to say 'Paris-Claris' in my head a few times to find the rhyme. I've been saving this post for today, … Continue reading Claris The Chicest Mouse in Paris | Megan Hess #PictureBook
How can someone so young be so successful already? Alice Oseman has been a YA publishing sensation for 6 years now. She was only 19 when her debut YA novel, Solitaire first appeared. Solitaire is narrated by Tori Spring 'a pessimistic...teenage speed skater with a penchant for solving mysteries'. The story is all about her, … Continue reading Heartstopper Vol 1 | Alice Oseman #GraphicNovel
Back in 2013, Mr Books and I embarked on the original 5:2 Fast Diet. It was easier and harder than we thought. We both lost the weight that we wanted to, we enjoyed the fasting days (weird but true) and we ate a much healthier diet throughout the whole week as a result of what … Continue reading The Fast 800 | Michael Mosley #Health
When one sets out to read a book, you enter into a contract of sorts with the author. You agree to be apart of their world and to go along for the ride. As I've discussed before, we all have our own criteria by which we judge a book and whether we will pick it … Continue reading Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens #USfiction
I do love the Costa Prize. It regularly throws up a new-to-me author or a book that I come to adore. The Costa folk have a happy knack of selecting engaging stories, quirky ideas and immensely readable books. There was a lot to love about the 2019 Fiction winner, Middle England. Set in Brexit England, with … Continue reading Middle England | Jonathan Coe #UKfiction
Text Publishing back cover blurb: Tom Hope doesn’t think he’s much of a farmer, but he’s doing his best. He can’t have been much of a husband to Trudy, either, judging by her sudden departure. It’s only when she returns, pregnant to someone else, that he discovers his surprising talent as a father. So when … Continue reading The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted | Robert Hillman #AUSfiction
Don't let me mislead you into thinking that In the Gardens of the Fugitives is a book about gardening, food and recipes, even though I'm going to start with a recipe. Apparently one of the food items uncovered during the excavations of Pompeii, was a medallion of ham flavoured with bay leaves and fig slices. Normally … Continue reading In the Garden of Fugitives | Ceridwen Dovey
This little curiosity has been sitting by my bed for over a year now. It has taken a hectic schedule and a determination to read as much Australian literature this month as possible to bring this particular book to the top of the pile. Why? Simply because, as the title says, it is 99 stories … Continue reading 99 Interpretations of The Drover’s Wives | Ryan O’Neill
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin has a fabulous premise - 'if you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?'Even before opening the book, Mr Books and I had one of those after dinner, slightly boozy conversations based purely on this premise. Did we really want to know when we were … Continue reading The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Ordinary People by Diana Evans found its way onto my TBR pile thanks to its shortlisting in this year's Women's Prize. Evan's is quite magnificent in describing the daily grind of marital malaise for thirty-something's. We see two couples who have settled down with the one they happened to be sleeping with in their late twenties. … Continue reading Ordinary People | Diana Evans
If Cats Disappeared from the World is an odd little book. I say odd because I'm not quite sure how I'm going to review it best.Obviously, it has a cute cover designed to attract the attention of any cat lover (me) and a title that would greatly concern said cat lover. I'm also a fan … Continue reading If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
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