A book review? The type of top-quality content one would expect to find on a book blog? Never! The Gifts of Reading (almost) made me cry, and is a tiny (though size doesn’t matter, kids) testament to the joys of gifting books. It’s a slim, sharp read, an essay about books and book lovers, that’s heart-warming and… Read More The Gifts of Reading by Robert Macfarlane
The Miniaturist was the most emotionally exhausting book I’ve read since I binged on The Complete Works of Philip Larkin. Nevertheless, I didn’t mind having my heart ripped out, because at least it shows I’ve got one. As with most popular contemporary books, I’m years behind the bandwagon. The Miniaturist was first published in 2014 to a publishing war… Read More The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
[ (blank space because I still have no idea what to write, even though this is an incredible book reminiscent of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Poeta en Nueva York which blew my metaphorical socks off.)] I read around Who Is Mary Sue? – ‘part poetry and part reportage’, made up of ‘fictive-factive miniatures’, according to… Read More Who Is Mary Sue? by Sophie Collins
One of my goals this year was to read more fiction in translation, and I’m very glad that ALL THE MURAKAMI counts towards that. It’s rare (and therefore testament to his talent) for a Murakami to crop up in a charity shop, but I found After Dark lurking in the back of an Oxfam. Not one of… Read More After Dark by Haruki Murakami
There’s not a lot I can say about The Great Gatsby that you won’t hear from an English teacher, if I’m honest. I’m not a great Fitzgerald scholar – I’m not a great scholar, end of point – and there’s not a lot I can do apart from yell into the Great Internet Void. Which is precisely… Read More The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I’m going to produce my metaphorical megaphone and yell into the internet void/echo chamber/cavern of Liberal Feminist Ideals. Look (listen?): NOVEL WITH FASCINATING FEMALE PROTAGONIST. The premise of this novel (by the late, great, Jenny Diski) is a tad weird, admittedly. It’s even weirder when you begin reading it at 5 am, hungover, after 3… Read More Like Mother by Jenny Diski
The man himself describes La Belle Sauvage as an ‘equel’, designed to stand alongside His Dark Materials in all its magnificent glory. But does it really? YES. Yes! YES! (Notice how I’m trying to think about this book critically, rather than screaming ‘OH MY GOD THIS IS NEW PHILIP PULLMAN YES YES YES YES YES’. Like a good cheese,… Read More La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
