Day 120. This year I’ve turned 50. It’s a bit of a weird one… on one side… well let’s face it… it makes no difference to the traffic of everyday life. Maybe I’m not as supple, yes I have grey hair… but I’m still me and I don’t get why so much fuss should be …
Day 117. I think I have another favourite writer. Last year I read If Beale street could talk and loved it. If you can say that about a book so raw and powerful, that I chickened out from watching the movie adaptation. Then recently, Baldwin keeps appearing everywhere, interviews, talks, articles and essays… and I …
Book club choice. The Cow Book, by John Connell. Not what I would normally read BUT I am a firm believer that sometimes books choose you and happen to appear at the right time with the right message and this one did exactly that. Of course, before you all get worried, I’m not going to …
Marmite. I always approach with a little caution a book that has been hyped a lot by the media, in part because ‘hello? can anything really be that good?’ but also because I like to make my own mind about things and hate to be follow the herd, especially when it comes to books Marmite. …
Frankisstein (a love story) Genius. Absolutely genial and profound. I wasn’t sure what to expect because I don’t really know Winterson’s style (I had only read her first biography ‘Oranges are not the only fruit’ which I loved, but not any other of her books) AND I’d never read the original Mary Shelley’s classic. I …
I realised that the first review of this book was quite flippant and superficial… I read it as part of my course in Crime Fiction and the more I delved into the subject the more I thought about it and the more I felt the need to revised what I’d written. What a surprising read …
I was in New York quite a few years ago, Mr M was there for work and I played ‘corporate wife’… ie went around museums and walked miles and miles and showed up for business dinners. It was fun. Anyway, I stumbled upon this lovely bookstore, wooden shelves, soft carpet, just the right amount of …
Lives of Girls and Women, by Alice Munro. In the limbo week between Christmas and New Year, life goes on, a little bit slower than normal, a little fuzzy at the edges but still on it rolls. I like it. I like not having a clue what day of the week it is, I like …
by Michael Morpurgo. Famous writer. The boys have read quite a few of his books, and I’ve skimmed through a couple to find out what they were reading (anyone else doing that?)… he’s quite a prolific author, and I’ve also seen one of his plays, not the famous one ‘War horse’ but ‘the butterfly lion’ …
You have to admit… the cover of this book is rather splendid, isn’t it? And so is the book. Shimi and Beryl are both over ninety. She’s worried about losing her memory, ex English teacher proud of her vocabulary is trying to write a memoir of all the men in her life, while despairing over …
while you're ahead... 