My name is Alison Porter and I began my life, in 1958, in Bridport, Dorset. My parents had grown up in Dorset, and their parents before them. My dad worked in the local bank and my mum did repairs and alterations for a nearby dressmaker. My brother, Michael, was four years older than me. We … Continue reading Alison | Lizzy Stewart #GraphicNovel
The arrivals hall at Vienna airport was so quiet that Lorna had no difficulty picking her out, even though they had never met before. It's a bit of a pity when the first book reviewed for a brand new year turns out to be one of those just okay books. I thoroughly enjoyed Middle England … Continue reading Bournville | Jonathan Coe #UKfiction
"Long-distance call for Bruce," a F.A.N.Y. sergeant, soured by the years of peace between the wars, looked into the commonroom and addressed me in the third person. "It can be taken in the office but must be short. Personal calls are not encouraged during a state of emergency." What a delightful way to spend a … Continue reading Spam Tomorrow | Verily Anderson #DeanStreetDecember
In an attempt to get back into blogging about individual books again, I have decided to revive the 'favourite' format I was using pre-pandemic. I'm not sure why I stopped as I found it a useful way to focus my thoughts on what I had been reading. H is for Hawk is part nature writing, … Continue reading H is For Hawk | Helen Macdonald #GBRnonfiction
I had planned on writing extended reviews for some of these books, but Covid. Assembly especially, which packed a punch much weightier than its mere 100 pages would suggest, deserves to be more widely considered and discussed. But for now, all I will say is READ IT. You have to stop this, she said. This … Continue reading June Mini Reviews [2]
She rides out of the forest alone. Seventeen years old, in the cold March drizzle, Marie who comes from France. I was curious to find out how someone who lives in Gainesville, Florida came to write a book about nuns living in an impoverished abbey in rural England in the 12th century. Of course, authors … Continue reading Matrix | Lauren Groff #USAfiction
There are lots of ways to start a story, but this begins with a chicken. One of the many strings to Risbridger's bow, is food writer. She has written a children's book, edited a poetry anthology as well as numerous other journalistic efforts, but food writing seems to be the things she keeps going back … Continue reading Midnight Chicken | Ella Risbridger #GBRnonfiction
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
No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine. I was thrilled when Adam announced that he was planning to reinstate his Austen in August reading event. I have reread all my Austen's multiple times, of course, but I have more than one edition … Continue reading The Annotated Northanger Abbey | Jane Austen & David M. Shapard #CCspin
There was 'nothing for him' in England. The trouble with reading faster than one is blogging, is the backlog of reviews and trying to remember what I wanted to say about each book. I currently have eight books waiting to be reviewed. Thankfully I jot down notes as I go along and I underline interesting … Continue reading My Phantoms | Gwendoline Riley #GBRfiction
All I can remember, and this is what I told the police over and over again, is that there was a party at the house and I'd been drinking. It took me several weeks to read Benang in preparation for Indigenous Literature Week. It was intense, demanding and confronting. I'm very grateful to have finally … Continue reading After Story | Larissa Behrendt #AWWfiction
Goshawk Common, Newford, Surrey. Not the most remarkable expanse of open country, scrubby grass and tumbling hillside in the south of England, just as Newford probably wasn't the most remarkable town. I fell in love with Common Ground and Ishiguro's writing from page one. The only weird part, for me, was the name of the … Continue reading Common Ground | Naomi Ishiguro #GBRfiction
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
Once the queen's head is severed, he walks away. Didn't Anne die in the previous book? And didn't we deal with the time immediately after her death already? Is this opening line a signal that a big recap is coming? Yes and no. As it turns out The Mirror and the Light is an overlong … Continue reading The Mirror and the Light | Hilary Mantel #Readalong
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 #GBRfiction
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