The Promise | Damon Galgut (2021) Lately I have been struggling with the how, what, when, where and why of blogging. Some minor health issues have been impacting everyday life, work is exhausting me and I never seem to have enough time. But I am still reading! So that's a bright spot. Trying to pull … Continue reading The Promise | Damon Galgut #BookerPrize
The first thing we did was change our names. This post will look less like a book review and more like a list of feminist writers. But before we get to the list, a little about my journey with After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz. I deliberately chose to start reading After Sappho knowing next … Continue reading After Sappho | Selby Wynn Schwartz #BookReview
But we might never find them? Fermi's Paradox is at the heart of this story. The story goes that in 1950, Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi, made a passing comment asking 'where are all the aliens?' given the youngish nature of our planetary system and the relative ease of space travel. Fermi was not the first … Continue reading Bewilderment | Richard Powers #USAfiction
An entire day had passed since George Walker had spoken to his wife. As so often happens when reading, one book reminds you of another. A character, a plot development, a thing said or done becomes linked in your mind to something else, purely by the serendipity of happenchance. In the early days of my … Continue reading The Sweetness of Water | Nathan Harris #USAfiction
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
Right from page one, it is obvious to see (as I (re)read), that Mantel is setting up the story to show Cromwell in a favourable and sympathetic light. The first chapter of Wolf Hall graphically, and unforgettably, describes a young Thomas Cromwell being severely beaten by his father, Walter. This is not a one-off event … Continue reading Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel #Readalong
February will be the beginning of my Wolf Hall Trilogy Readalong. If you'd like to join in, here are some of the why, when and how details. The Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall Readalong: Feb – May 2021 I first read Wolf Hall in 2011 and Bring Up the Bodies in 2012.It is now nine years since I read them. Before … Continue reading Wolf Hall Trilogy Readalong
I'm still trying to catch up on posts leftover from my magnificent Christmas reading binge.Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel by Bernardine Evaristo is the final one. It is certainly not the least though. In fact, it very nearly overtook The Yield as my favourite book for 2019.What stopped it from doing so?Mostly time.I have lived … Continue reading Girl, Woman, Other | Bernardine Evaristo #BookerWinner
Hamish Hamilton | Penguin AustraliaIn 1989 Saul Adler (a narcissistic young historian) is hit by a car on the Abbey Road. He is apparently fine; he gets up and goes to see his art student girlfriend, Jennifer Moreau. They have sex then break up, but not before she has photographed Saul crossing the same Abbey … Continue reading The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy
My work has been a bit crazy this year. And during August and September it was hectic and full of changes. So a lot of the hype surrounding the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale passed me by. I saw some excited chattering on blogs, twitter and goodreads. I heard some of the discussion around it's … Continue reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
I have spent a ridiculous amount of time wondering how best to write the title of this book - FRAN KISS STEIN like the cover, FRANKISSSTEIN like the title page of the book or Frankissstein like Goodreads.FranKissStein appealed to me, but it's not a version I've spotted anywhere else.Whatever you call it, though, Frankissstein: A Love … Continue reading FranKissStein by Jeanette Winterson
What a hoot!I wasn't expecting a neo-noir comedy from such a grim title, but I had some genuine laugh out loud moments throughout My Sister, the Serial Killer. Oyinkan Braithwaite has written a punchy, sharp, witty story that blew in like a breath of fresh air in this year's Women's Prize shortlist.One of the reasons … Continue reading My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
I do love to theme my holiday reads where possible. A recent week long Far North Queensland break in beautiful, sunny Port Douglas on the edge of the Daintree Rainforest, gave me a chance to finally read this year's Pulitzer Prize winning book by Richard Power's The Overstory. (I also packed a book of essays … Continue reading The Overstory by Richard Powers
The hardest part about writing a review more than a week after finishing the book is trying to make sense of my notes and markings and trying not to get my current reads mixed up with the old book. So to help me get everything straight in my head, I'll start with the housekeeping.The Sea, … Continue reading The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Reading Washington Black by Esi Edugyan was like eating a big bag of sweets. Some were good, some not so good. And after gorging myself on the first half, I found the second half a bit too much take.The first half of Washington Black was unputdownable. I loved the engaging voice of the child narrator. His … Continue reading Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
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