The revenge of the book nerd
Growing up, I was never fond of being called a bookworm. And while Roald Dahl’s Matilda went some way to improving the reputation of young booklovers, no one wants to…
The arts can be an everyday reality
Reality television should come with a warning like that on cigarette packs, such is its addictiveness. Perhaps, then, I would have been aware of what I was getting myself into…
Books as gifts – to buy or not to buy?
There is a tradition in Iceland of giving loved ones the gift of a book on Christmas Eve. Closer to home, as we frantically hit the shops to find that…
Travel is better by the book than by the guidebook
Few travelers are disappointed by the sight of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The Moorish palace and fort is one of the world’s most impressive monuments, from its stunning architecture…
There’s more to teen fiction than Harry Potter
The teenage years are renowned as being some of life’s most impressionable. It is a time when Kurt Cobain speaks to the soul and Eddie Furlong speaks to the heart.…
Introverts can be saved by the book
High school years can be a minefield for introverts. During a typical day, opportunities to socialise are many, from arrival in the morning until the after-school pick-up. But opportunities for…
What makes a book ‘good’?
The idea of a book being good or bad is enough to send many book lovers into a flurry of indignation. All books, they might say with fierceness and finality,…
Facebook won’t change your mind, but books might
It can be hard to listen to someone whose opinion you don’t agree with. Infuriating, even. Imagine listening to that opinion daily for up to two months, without having the…
Let’s take the morality out of beauty
Rebecca Judd and Roald Dahl's The Twits might be strange bedfellows, but one response to the hoopla surrounding Judd's postpartum body selfie reminded me of a line from the book.…
Uniting the generations is not just a fairytale
Children’s literature doesn't always treat the elderly well. Fairytales often depict the elderly as wicked or weak, from the evil witch in Hansel and Gretel to Red Riding Hood’s helpless,…
The problem with book clubs
The best way to kill a book is to make it required reading at high school. Some of the world’s great novels have been ruined in this way, rendering tiresome…
In praise of modern libraries
The sound of toddlers singing ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ rings out across the room, punctuated by squeals of laughter and the occasional teary tantrum. No, we are not at…
Literary humour can be lost in translation
There is a particular kind of humour to be found in the pages of a book. It is often subtle and unexpected, creeping up on the reader who didn't expect…
Lessons are lovely but fun comes first
Children can be fickle creatures. One minute they like something, the next minute they push it away in disgust. I’ve seen my kids do it with food, toys and occasionally,…
The evolution of fatherhood in life and fiction
"For the times, they are a-changing" The lyrics of Bob Dylan's famous song continue to ring true, particularly in their call to writers and critics to herald change. One area…
What makes a word beautiful or ugly?
There is a beautiful village in the Cotswolds in England, all stone walls and flower boxes, called Upper Slaughter, and another called Lower Slaughter. The macabre place names could not…
How to read to a reluctant baby or toddler
Forget Sudoku for toddlers, in utero Mozart concertos and Baby Einstein DVDs, one of the best ways to promote babies' development is to read to them. And it is never…
Why we can’t look away from a fall from grace
A promising young swimmer is about to achieve his dreams of sporting glory, but just as his fingers are about to take hold of the prize, it slides out of…
Therapy does not have to be by the book
Fiction can serve a lot of different purposes. It can entertain us, inform us, uplift us and move us. But can it counsel us as well? According to writers, researchers…
The complex sibling relationship in life and fiction
I hate conflict so much that I’ll accept a cold, undercooked meal garnished with a strand of the chef’s hair rather than complain. I let other drivers cut me off…
Aussie kids need Aussie books, too
As I flew into Heathrow Airport for the first time, I felt like I had arrived home. Here I was, in the land of the Famous Five, The Secret Garden…
Truth is, business needs more fiction
The titles of traditional business books are enough to make me want to have a cup of tea, a piece of toast and a little lie down. Smarter Faster Better;…
Rereading a book can be twice as nice
My husband knows almost every line from The Blues Brothers. And nothing would make him happier than to watch it again. I, on the other hand, hate watching a movie…
In praise of trashy novels
More than 130 million Mills & Boon books are sold around the world every year, equating to four books every second. These books are not just popular, they are a…
The Natural Way of Things – misogyny out loud
Sometimes it is not the spoken but the whispered threat that is the most menacing. So it is with sexism. While important issues such as the gender pay gap and…
The rise of the literary groupie
Some people swoon over Ryan Gosling in The Notebook. Others prefer Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise. A twist of Mick Jagger’s hips drives some people wild. Others can’t get…
Which book character are you?
Most readers of Cinderella like to identify with the modest, honest and hard-working title character. Realistically, they probably have as much in common with the Ugly Stepsisters. It is one…
A reading room with a view
When I was a child, I used to enjoy drawing ground plan of my dream house. In it, I included a ballroom, a cinema, a pool and a tennis court.…
Why is it so hard to leave a book half-read?
Having grown up as part of a relatively large Catholic family, I refuse to leave any food on my plate, such is my memory of competitively hungry siblings and the…
A mother’s gift of books
Jewishness is passed down the generations by women. In my family, while scant attention was paid to our Jewish roots, another gift was handed from grandmother, to mother, to daughter…
Naughty can be nice in kids’ books
One farmer is fat, another is boozy and the third is a pot-bellied dwarf. Then there is the grandmother described as ‘an old hag’ and likened to a witch. This…
Anyone who says they’re too busy to read is kidding themselves
Mark Zuckerberg reads a new book every two weeks. Bill Gates considers himself a great reader and Barack Obama packed six books when he went on his summer holiday last…
Charlotte Gray shines a light on the children of the Holocaust
It is very difficult to empathise with people we have never met, who lived a long time ago, in a country on the other side of the world. It is…
Children’s books have no age limit
They used to speak of their passion in hushed tones. After all, they thought, what fully-grown adult would freely admit to their love of young adult literature? More recently, the…
The trouble with book reviews
Never has it been easier to write a review. Eat at a restaurant where the service is sluggish and you can post a scathing diatribe before the dishes have been…
Review: The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Some books are so unlike any others that it takes a while to understand what is happening when you start reading them. Their characters are unfamiliar and the situations unrecognisable,…
Don’t judge a book by its cover … but by its reader
It is easy for a reader to deliver a damning verdict on a book. Whether it is a debut novel or the masterpiece of a genius, the dismissal can be…
Please, Don’t Tell Me Reading is a Waste of Time
Conversation at polite dinner parties is constrained by an implicit set of rules. No talking religion, no talking politics and no talking sex. In the future, I might have to…
A Tale of Two Bookshops
To me, it seemed like the worst of times. A big, bright, multinational bookstore had opened up directly across the road from my favourite independent bookseller. Book lovers were miffed.…
Is it worth reading ‘difficult’ books?
There are two types of people in the world: one who loves a challenge, and one who likes nothing less. I’ve always thought that I was in the latter category,…
The Lure of Shared Sadness
Sadness is something we shun. We shrink from the grieving as if their condition was contagious, and we implore the depressed to ‘cheer up’. In fear of the spectre of…
Children’s books have no age limit
They used to speak of their passion in hushed tones. After all, they thought, what fully-grown adult would freely admit to their love of young adult literature? More recently, the…
