It will be nigh on impossible to write anything new or insightful about Tolstoy's War and Peace that has not be said before, so this will be a collection of loose impressions and thoughts that occurred to me throughout 2020 as I read a chapter-a-day (or more accurately seven chapters a week) with Nick. The … Continue reading War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy #RUSclassic
An Indiscreet Journey was a short story written in 1915 by Katherine Mansfield but published posthumously in the 1924 collection, Something Childish and other stories by her husband John Middleton Murry. Initially it reads like a fairly straight forward story about a woman on a train journey to visit her aunt and uncle in the middle … Continue reading An Indiscreet Journey | Katherine Mansfield #ShortStory
Text Publishing: Tom Hope doesn’t think he’s much of a farmer, but he’s doing his best. He can’t have been much of a husband to Trudy, either, judging by her sudden departure. It’s only when she returns, pregnant to someone else, that he discovers his surprising talent as a father. So when Trudy finds Jesus … Continue reading The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman
The Wonder Child is a gentle juvenile story about a family forced to be separated for years due to the gifted talents of one of the children. Challis plays the piano like a dream and goes off to Europe with her mother to make the family fortune.The other four children stay at home with their … Continue reading The Wonder Child by Ethel Turner
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
I wanted to like this collection of short stories more than I did. The cover of Jokes For the Gunmen was eye-catching; the topic interesting, important even. The writing and translation were fine too, but surreal and absurd doesn't always work for me. And in this case, I was left scratching my head too often … Continue reading Jokes For the Gunmen by Mazen Maarouf
I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get my thoughts together about The Song of Achilles, but sitting down to write about my response to this amazing story is probably a story in itself!It was during my early high school days that my love of history developed. My first history class … Continue reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A couple of weeks ago I listed The Skylarks' War by Hilary McKay on my post about books read but not reviewed in an attempt to remove the backlog of reviews bogging me down. But I always knew that I would have to return to this book. And thanks to Lenny's Book of Everything by … Continue reading The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay
In This Grave Hour is the thirteenth Maisie Dobb's book, and as the title suggests, WWII has just been declared. As with any long running series, some books are better than others. In the early stages of this one, I thought we had one of the lesser Maisie's on our hands. It felt a little … Continue reading Maisie Dobbs #13 In This Grave Hour
Historical fiction is my favourite of all genres. It's probably also why I love classic books so much. Even if they were contemporary stories when written a hundred years ago, they are now historical fiction to me.I'm not sure why I love being immersed in a time so far removed from our own, except I … Continue reading Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller
Northbridge Rectory was my very first Thirkell. But it certainly won't be my last. Lucky me! I still have 28 books in Thirkell's Barsetshire series ahead of me to enjoy at my leisure. I've added her to my Author Challenge list so I can keep track of my progress. In fact, I enjoyed my time … Continue reading Northbridge Rectory by Angela Thirkell
I can't believe that readers past and present have complained about the (lengthy) Waterloo scenes in Les Miserables!Actually, yes I can.Battle scenes are not for everyone. Jumping back in time and breaking the narrative flow also annoys many readers. The sudden appearance of the writer in the story can also disconcert. But this is Victor … Continue reading The Battle of Waterloo the Victor Hugo Way
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree has been attracting my attention for several months now, however it took its recent longlisting for this year's Stella Prize to finally make me pick it up. I'm nothing but a Stella groupie!The cover alone might have been enticement enough (a collage of three of Azar's art works), but … Continue reading The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
Given the amount of media time being given to the inappropriate, sexual, bullying behaviour of some men towards women in work, social and online areas lately, the story of Mademoiselle Fifi reminds us that the problem is in fact, an age-old one that moved across cultural divides with ease.Elisabeth Rousset (Simone Simon) and “Fifi” (Kurt … Continue reading Mademoiselle Fifi by Guy de Maupassant
Morris Gleitzman's Holocaust series for younger readers has already attracted much praise and many accolades. His stories carefully balance the reality of what actually happened with modern day sensibilities. Sad, bad things happen to his characters, but he doesn't describe them in gory detail. There is bleakness and injustice and cruelty, but there is also … Continue reading Maybe by Morris Gleitzman
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