The abandoned hotel comes into view. Derelict, windswept. Who is Mette Jakobsen and how is it I have never heard of her before? In 2011 she wrote The Vanishing Act about a young girl growing up on a small snow covered island. In October of the same year, a brief story called The Island appeared … Continue reading The Wingmaker | Mette Jakobsen #AWW
My mother was blue, a pale blue mixed with the colour of ashes. I find myself drawn to memoirs that dive deep into difficult, complicated mother-daughter relationships. It's a dynamic fraught with push me/pull me tensions. Tensions that seem to only evolve with time. Is it possible to work them out? Come to terms with … Continue reading Nothing Holds Back the Night | Delphine de Vigan #FRAmemoir
The rave reviews are the hardest, aren't they? It took me a few chapters to fall into this story, but when I fell, I really fell! The Dutch House turned out to be one of those wonderful, rich reading experiences that you wish would never end. Part gothic fairy tale and part psychological study of two … Continue reading The Dutch House | Ann Patchett #20BooksofWinter
Oh, this was utterly delicious. Deliciously melancholy, if that's a thing. The Heather Blazing is the story of Judge Eamon Redmond, and the loss and grief that has defined his whole life. Tóibin writes these rather sad, introspective characters so well. Like Nora Webster, you're left wondering, if perhaps Eamon's first person story is missing … Continue reading The Heather Blazing | Colm Tóibin #Begorrathon
Sometimes you read a book, or discover an author, that opens up a new world to you. Or a world that you knew existed, but one that doesn't really intersect very often with your own every day, ordinary life. A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar was one such book and one such author. It's … Continue reading A Month in Siena | Hisham Matar #NonFiction
The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay was a tremendous read. Fascinating, absorbing and eye-opening. I say eye-opening, because even though I've read a lot of Indian literature over the years, I don't believe I've read many that cover the conflict in Kashmir. Vijay doesn't answer all the questions or provide all the answers, she doesn't … Continue reading The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay
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
Sometimes a reading experience is not as straight forward as you might first think. There are some books that demand more of the reader. The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones was one of those books for me. I feel a little guilty about confessing that this was my first Gail Jones. One of … Continue reading The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones
It's a long weekend in Australia, and for the first time in over a year, we've enjoyed a lazy, nothing-to-do-but-flop-around-the-house kind of weekend. It has been blissful. Even with the ghastly high temps and even higher humidity, or maybe because of, it has been the perfect time for reading, snoozing and listening to music as … Continue reading Flames by Robbie Arnott
It's hard to sum up what an extraordinary read Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales really was. I started off a little sceptical, doubtful that Sales would find the right tone to keep me interested, but I was wrong. Very wrong. I thought I knew what the book would be about thanks to the generous media … Continue reading Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales
Following on from my recent post featuring several fabulous Australian junior fiction titles, I thought it was time to venture further afield to see what the rest of the world (or at least the US, UK and Japan) were doing in this field.The Afterwards is a new story by U.K. poet A. F. Harrold, illustrated … Continue reading Junior Fiction – the rest!
I've loved Japanese literature for many years now, but since visiting Japan earlier this year, my fascination and interest has exploded! Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto popped up on several lists as a great contemporary example of Japanese literature.Kitchen is a slim book containing two stories - Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow - both deal with death, grief, … Continue reading Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
I delightful batch of dog stories have turned up at work this month. I loved all three for different reasons, but my favourite of the batch was The Tales of Mr Walker by Jess Black.Based on a true story, Mr Walker is a delightful illustrated chapter book about the Labrador Ambassador at the Park Hyatt … Continue reading Dog Stories
Reading Frankenstein for the first time was a curious thing. We all think we know the story. At least, I thought I did. I was expecting a slock-horror story full of scary, lurking, creeping monster moments with lots of people screaming and fleeing his terrible claws. I didn't get this. I also hadn't appreciated that … Continue reading Frankenstein | Mary Shelley
One of the things I love about reading is the synchronicity that can happen sometimes. Last night I finished A Gentlemen in Moscow after a wonderful reading week in its company. This morning I started Frankenstein, which I thought was set in Europe somewhere, maybe Switzerland. It may still be, as I've only just tackled the … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #17
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