Historical fiction is the ultimate 2-for-1
There is plenty to be learnt from fiction, where you can inhabit someone else’s reality for a time. But when…
Books in which setting is character, plot and mood
Some books are all about character, while others depend on their plot. Then there is another type of book altogether…
I’ll read anything written by my favourite authors … even if it’s a book about footy
In my mind, my favourite writers are organised in a heirarchy of how desperately I will try to get my…
I wonder if Geek Love would have survived cancel culture
I have to admit that I felt more than a little uneasy reading Katherine Dunn’s cult classic, Geek Love ……
The battle of the bookshelves
There are a lot of reasons to disagree at the moment. We can argue endlessly about the advantages and disadvantages…
You can’t judge a book by its review
The last book I read was fabulous. Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women shocked me, and moved me, and changed me. When…
Why I’m Stocking My Bookshelf with Books I’ve Already Read
I visited the charity shop earlier in the week and was thrilled to find Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies,…
I’m suffering from bookish FOMO
I’m about to start reading The Dictionary of Lost Words and I can’t get into it quickly enough. You see,…
Maybe the Horse Will Talk by Elliot Perlman
Elliot Perlman’s Maybe the Horse Will Talk is entirely different from his other books I have read – Three Dollars…
My reading highlights of the first half of 2021
Like last year, when it took me months to plough through The Brothers Karamazov, this year my reading has been…
