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
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
Here we are at the end of March, and hopefully, the end of our (re)read of both Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. A road trip holiday has delayed my ability to finish BUTB on time, but I'm close. Very, very close. My (re)read of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies has reminded … Continue reading #WolfHallReadalong2021 Update
Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan appears to be one of those books especially designed for that subset of people born in the 1960's - the babies of the baby boomers and the very first Gen X-er's. Those people too young to get caught up in the whole 60's music scene, but by dint of being born … Continue reading Mayflies | Andrew O’Hagan #UKfiction
The Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall Readalong runs from the 1st Feb until the 31st May 2021. I first read Wolf Hall in 2011. I remember that I took it our summer holiday to the beach. After exhausting ourselves in the waves every morning, I would look forward to an hour or so every afternoon, lying in the … Continue reading Wolf Hall Trilogy Readalong Master Post
Back in March, when Covid news was dominating every airway and program, I turned to Angela Thirkell's High Rising for some light relief and old-fashioned comfort. So when I spotted A Literary Christmas over at In the Bookcase, I knew that another trip to High Rising was imminent. Christmas at High Rising is a collection … Continue reading Christmas at High Rising | Angela Thirkell #ALiteraryChristmas
For the first half of this year, I was avoiding plague literature, like the plague! But since reading Camus' The Plague during August, I seem to be verging on obsession. What are the signs, I hear you ask? First up, how many people do you know, who take plague literature with them on a holiday … Continue reading A Journal of the Plague Year | Daniel Defoe #UKclassic
I've been wanting to read a Sherlock Holmes story for a long time now. I purchased my lovely Knickerbocker classic editions about five years ago with the good intentions of reading them in chronological order. Ever since then, I have been putting A Study in Scarlet on my CC Spin list, in the hope it … Continue reading A Study in Scarlet | Arthur Conan Doyle #CCSpin
Many years ago, the year 2000 to be precise [I know this because], I read and loved Simon Winchester's The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words. Curiously and more sensationally, it was retitled The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford … Continue reading The Dictionary of Lost Words | Pip Williams #AUSfiction
This is how it happens.Barely a week into 20 Books of Summer Winter, with only two books from the list half started, my lovely Penguin rep hands over a September new release and says, "I defy you to read the first chapter and not want to read the rest."Challenge accepted!Given my predilection for cosy crime, … Continue reading The Thursday Murder Club | Richard Osman #CosyCrime
A number of years ago, I read a few Barbara Pym books. I enjoyed them so much I decided to go back and read her books in chronological order. Some Tame Gazelle (1950), her first published novel, has been waiting patiently on my shelf for nearly 7 years now. It took a pandemic to give me … Continue reading Some Tame Gazelle | Barbara Pym #ComfortRead
Given these weird and scary times we now live in, Angela Thirkell seems like the only sensible option! Her gentle social satire, quintessential British humour and lightness of touch in the face of adversity is not only comforting but inspiring.High Rising is the first book in a 29 book series, the Barsetshire Chronicles, a homage … Continue reading High Rising | Angela Thirkell #ComfortRead
