When the environment is in trouble, art reflects our fears and helps us get closer to nature
There is a big, white wall in our living room that we are looking to fill with an art work…
Book review: Beloved by Toni Morrison
I’ve been holding off on reviewing Toni Morrison's Beloved because how can you really critique such a book? It won the 1988…
Book review: The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
With the follow up just published, I finally got around to reading Dervla McTiernan’s The Ruin. Set in Galway, The…
Is there such a thing as competitive reading?
Lately I have been hearing a lot about competitive reading, and the pressure to have read ‘the right’ book.I have…
Books offer shades of grey … and a far brighter palette
In a recent podcast, author and the enviably-titled Director of Books at Booktopia, John Purcell, spoke about the way books…
Book review: The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
It is with trepidation that I start reading an author of a book that I adored, and so it was…
Books can offer escapism, humour and hope in tough times
Books serve different purposes at different times. Sometimes, they offer entertainment, other times they help us feel less alone. When…
Celebrating Valentine’s Day with the best love stories in literature
As seen on Ten Daily For some people, the best love stories are those in which the passion is fast…
Do you have to like an author to appreciate their books?
I was standing in the bookshop (otherwise known as Target’s book section) and trying to choose a book to take…
Book review: Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Kamila Shamsie's award-winning novel Home Fire begins as a story of two families on either side of the fight against…
