Well this couldn’t have been published at a more appropriate time. As I write, the current clampdown on reproductive freedom in the US is getting more and more extreme; there are ongoing race relations issues all across the world and discussions about how we tell the stories of past atrocities are still being hotly debated;… Continue reading Review: Take my Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Category: reviews
April reading round up
Spring is here! I am always conflicted by the coming of spring – on the one hand, as a cold person I love to see the spring flowers and every year remember anew how much joy they give, and it is great to anticipate shucking off layers of woollens and being free of heavy winter… Continue reading April reading round up
Review: At The Table – Claire Powell
What an accomplished debut novel this is. It is set across the space of a year and features the Maguire family, mum Linda, dad Gerry and their grown up children Nicole and Jamie. Every scene is set around a meal or drinks of some kind and in the opening, the family gather to celebrate Linda’s… Continue reading Review: At The Table – Claire Powell
Review: And A Dog Called Fig by Helen Humphreys
The sub-title of this book is Solitude, Connection, The Writing Life. Having said that, this is mainly a book about dogs, and less about writing. This is not a bad thing; there is a space for examining relationships with animals and nature and how these can impact on our comfortable routines. Humphreys seems to be… Continue reading Review: And A Dog Called Fig by Helen Humphreys
February reading round up
The shortest month which, until the last week or so, did start to feel like a hopeful month with the days getting noticeably longer and we filled the house with £1 bunches of daffodils. How was your reading this month? My resolution to not buy any books this month to try and beat my backlog… Continue reading February reading round up
January reading round up
Before we start, I published December’s reading round up and then promptly finished reading another book that I hadn’t included. So in the interests of completion, here is one further book I read last year: A Winter Away – Elizabeth Fair This is a reissue of a book published originally in the 1950s and one… Continue reading January reading round up
March reading round up
Was it just me or did March feel like about three months long? And it was such an up and down month too, with the anniversary of lockdown casting a shadow over everything and finishing with this glorious spring weather. Still, here is what I read this month: The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne… Continue reading March reading round up
Reading under lockdown – April round up
I finished March unsure how much reading I would get done. The lockdown had shot my concentration and my usual solace, reading, had not helped. But into April and I found myself adjusting, relaxing into the new rhythms of the days and, although I missed my commute to read in, I found my way back.… Continue reading Reading under lockdown – April round up
March non-reading hiatus
Well, who knew the first thing to desert me in a time of national crisis is my desire and ability to lose myself in a book? And bearing in mind that I started March so excited by the publication of The Mirror and The Light it’s just really rubbish timing. I’m 250 pages in, can’t… Continue reading March non-reading hiatus
February reading round up
The Secrets of Strangers – Charity Norman I received an early copy of this (published May 2020) on Netgalley. ‘Women’s fiction’ is a genre that often gets belittled or derided but it contains some absolute gems that offer a really good read, with strong characters and emotional depths. The Secrets of Strangers is one such… Continue reading February reading round up
Susan E Barsby 