It was such a joy to see bibliotherapy in mainstream action recently. Philippa Perry, the psychotherapist who also does The Observer’s Agony Aunt column recommended a dose of Persuasion to one of her correspondents. Persuasion is Jane Austen writing for grown ups. Pride and Prejudice and Emma etc are all very well but have an… Continue reading Bibliotherapy: Persuasion by Jane Austen
Tag: fiction
Books of the Year! 2021 round up
Happy end of 2021! Isn’t it amazing how every year now feels less like the passing of time and more like a major achievement to tick off? I hope this blog post finds you well or at the very least, managing, which feels like as much as we can expect. So I come to my… Continue reading Books of the Year! 2021 round up
October reading round up
I got a good bit of reading in this month and tried to limit book buying, a mostly unsuccessful enterprise. A week’s holiday gave me a little bit more time to read though the times when I took 6 or 7 books away for a week and got through them are in the past. All… Continue reading October reading round up
August round up
How has your August been? I hope you got some time on a break of some kind? I had about 10 days off work, and a couple of weekends away and I feel like we made the most of the time. We went to a festival, city break, a day in London, a day at… Continue reading August round up
June reading round up
As I type, I’m still wearing jumpers and feeling a bit nippy. Where did the sun go? This month I did get to sit in the garden reading for, ooh, a couple of days? But it is still pretty grey out there at the moment – fingers crossed for next month. Reading this month has… Continue reading June reading round up
2019 reading round up
Another year, another round up of my reading. Every year I don’t think I will be able to read as much as the year before because I’m so busy and yet the books are quite probably the thing that keeps me sane and give me some needed down time. I’ve read 104 books so far… Continue reading 2019 reading round up
The never decreasing TBR pile
For the last two years I’ve been tracking my reading and book buying habits. Why?Well, really in response to a tweet from someone (I forget who) in publishing, an idle enquiry that got me thinking. Could I really justify buying as many books as I did? How did my reading ambitions fit with reality? I… Continue reading The never decreasing TBR pile
Review: Beyond Kidding by Lynda Clark
A disclaimer to start the review with – Lynda Clark is a friend of mine, we used to work together at a branch of a well-known bookselling chain. Aha! You say, you may have some exciting author insights? Well, not really no. My overriding impression of Lynda was how well she wore wide legged trousers,… Continue reading Review: Beyond Kidding by Lynda Clark
Review:The Woman in the Photograph – Stephanie Butland
I thought the opening to this book was as engrossing as anything I’ve read in a while, with an intriguing set up, historical notes and a heroine off to do her own thing in the face of her father’s and fiance’s disapproval. Veronica Moon is a photographer, one who rose to fame in the heady… Continue reading Review:The Woman in the Photograph – Stephanie Butland
Review: Somewhere Close to Happy by Lia Louis
How exciting to review a book by someone I know. (To clarify, I do not actually know Lia but we chat on Twitter – she posts about food, parenting, exhaustion and Bon Jovi, and who am I to diss any of that?) Somewhere Close to Happy is Lia’s debut novel and has the loveliest cover… Continue reading Review: Somewhere Close to Happy by Lia Louis
Susan E Barsby 