Some of you may know of my love for the US author Richard Russo. When I heard he was making a rare UK appearance at Damian Barr’s Literary Salon at the Savoy I knew I had to make the effort to go. A Monday night and a trip from Nottingham and back for work the… Continue reading Damian Barr’s Literary Salon
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Bringing back the bodies… *
I was delving into the BBC’s website the other day and came across one of my favourite authors, Barbara Trapido, on the Book Club programme. She and the audience were discussing The Travelling Hornplayer. Trapido has written seven novels and four of them are linked. By linked, I mean that characters return and live on… Continue reading Bringing back the bodies… *
Review: The End We Start From – Megan Hunter
Novellas still seem rare but are often intriguing. There is much in the 170 pages of The End We Start From that could have been fleshed out and given more detail but I’m not sure the end result would have been as powerful. All you need to know is that an enormous flood has wiped… Continue reading Review: The End We Start From – Megan Hunter
See What I Have Done – Sarah Schmidt
If you haven’t seen any of the pre-publication hype over this book, then you may have been living in a cave for the last few months. It’s been hyped. And so I will start by boldly stating: it is well worth the hype. There’s a good chance that, even if you know nothing else about… Continue reading See What I Have Done – Sarah Schmidt
April reading round up
I feel perhaps I should change the target for my reading challenge this year, I’m well over halfway towards it already. I didn’t expect to get through so many books this year and still manage to keep up with writing every day but it turns out a healthier eating and exercise regime can have unexpected… Continue reading April reading round up
The Comfort of Others: Q&A with Kay Langdale
I’m so pleased to welcome Kay Langdale to the blog today, to answer questions about her most recent book, The Comfort of Others. Minnie and her sister Clara are two elderly spinsters living in an old house in the middle of a housing estate. They have an ordered lifestyle, trying where they can to stop… Continue reading The Comfort of Others: Q&A with Kay Langdale
The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull
I’m so pleased to be hosting the blog tour for Rebecca Mascull today! I really enjoyed reading The Wild Air – it’s got a great heroine and a story that sheds light on a little known part of history. Here’s my review: We need more adventure books these days. Especially us women. I don’t mean… Continue reading The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull
Bookmarks, collecting and not folding that page corner over
I admit it. I often fold the corners over of my books to mark my page. I never used to do this – as a child that read avidly I mainly used bus tickets as bookmarks and would never dream of ‘damaging’ a book in this way. Working in a bookshop tends to take away… Continue reading Bookmarks, collecting and not folding that page corner over
March reading round up
I am so far ahead in my reading challenge this year! 23 books and counting. My knitting has lapsed to make room for it. And there were some absolute crackers this month. See What I Have Done – Sarah Schmidt I will post a proper review for this once it’s published but in the meantime,… Continue reading March reading round up
Poetry and me
It was World Poetry Day this week. I’ve always had a troubled relationship with poetry. Where does it fit? Do you curl up and read a volume of poems the way you do with a novel? Is it possible to get lost in it, in the characters, the situations, the way you do with a… Continue reading Poetry and me
Susan E Barsby 