"Well, there’s so much to read, and I’m so far behind." Wallace Stegner
My dear son James has given me a task for my last years, or months, or whatever time I have left beyond the many years I have lived so far. Sometime in April or May last year, I was given an advance reading copy of Kate Grenville's A Room Made of Leaves. I was very … Continue reading A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
It had stopped raining. Okay, I'm now a Niall Williams convert. This is Happiness is a delight of a book, from start to finish. Full of wonderful, poignant story-telling and rich, humorous characterisation. It is proudly Irish, with glorious descriptions of the weather and the matter-of-fact grimness and poverty of everyday life in County Clare … Continue reading This is Happiness | Niall Williams #IRLfiction
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
'Tis the season for book award longlists and shortlists! I've decided to use this season to pull together which books I've read from the various lists and which ones I hope to read. However, the main reason for embarking on this list-making is to 'force' me to tidy up the relevant books posts from last … Continue reading Longlists and Shortlists
My journey with The Parisian has been a labour of love. I started reading it the week before Australia went pear-shaped with Covid-19 back in March. I was really enjoying it, but it's a thoughtful read and I struggled to give this book the attention it deserved during those early, weird weeks of Covid confusion. … Continue reading The Parisian | Isabella Hammad
A big thank you to the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction for shortlisting Sugar Money by Jane Harris otherwise I may never have stumbled across this gem of a story. Based on real events in Grenada in 1765, we follow young Lucien and his older brother Emile as they attempt to convince the hospital slaves … Continue reading Sugar Money by Jane Harris
Patrick DeWitt is a Canadian author who now lives in Oregon, USA. The Sisters Brothers won the 75th Canadian Governor General's Literary Awards and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the 2012 Walter Scott Prize.The Man Booker shortlist synopsis states that,this dazzlingly original novel is a darkly funny, offbeat western about … Continue reading The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
I found the The Vanishing Futurist to be a rather peculiar read.I'm always fascinated by the Russian Revolution and this was a curious and different angle from which to view it. But it was rather weird reading a book that I wasn't completely sure if I was enjoying it or not. The cover by LaBoca, on the … Continue reading The Vanishing Futurist by Charlotte Hobson
This Reading Life 