Monthly Archives: April 2015

Wellcome Trust Book Prize – winner announced 28th April 2015, and “The Iceberg: A Memoir” by Marion Coutts (2014) – book review

Posted on April 30, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

The 2015 winner of the perhaps not so well known “Wellcome Book Prize” has just been announced from its shortlist. Established all the way back in 1936, the Trust is the UK’s largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research, … Continue reading →

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“Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013) – book review

Posted on April 27, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Not my first, but the third read from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and am hoping by the next review I will be able to confidently type her name without needing to double check each word before I write. Daft thought: this … Continue reading →

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“A Spell of Winter” by Helen Dunmore (1995) – book review

Posted on April 25, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

As well as her poetry, Helen Dunmore has so far written thirteen ‘grown up’ books and a whole bookshelf of children’s works, and in fact I first became aware of her when Offspring Number 2 fell in love with the Ingo … Continue reading →

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BBC’s ‘The Big Read’ – the best loved novels of all time

Posted on April 23, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

‘There is nothing like a dame, Jane…with a lengthy book list’…  ‘Hear, hear, Elizabeth…’ Thanks to Clare’s recent posting on A Little Blog of Books, I learnt that tonight is World Book Night, celebrating reading and sharing good reads with people … Continue reading →

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“The Children Act” by Ian McEwan (2014) – book review

Posted on April 22, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Oops, broke my resolve and bought this latest slim tome at the airport, dropping my boy back off on his return ‘home’ (agh, dagger to heart) to university life – it’s always a very dangerous thing to buy even a … Continue reading →

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Pulitzer Prize 2015 – announced today 20th April

Posted on April 20, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Last year the goose with the genuinely golden egg was “The Goldfinch”; just today the American prize has gone to Anthony Doerr for the greatly acclaimed “All The Light We Cannot See”, set in World War II and moving from … Continue reading →

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“Thérèse Raquin” by Émile Zola (1867) – book review

Posted on April 19, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

One of the few books I have read three times –first as a fairly impressionable student, then in my early far-flung thirties and now recently again once I reluctantly hit the 50 mark and the point of no return. I … Continue reading →

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“The End of the Affair” by Graham Greene (1951) – book review

Posted on April 18, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

After reluctantly putting this book down, couldn’t help but ignorantly wonder if parts of this book were autobiographical, particularly in terms of the recurring religious theme. Help was forthcoming in terms of the New York Times review (written in 1951, … Continue reading →

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Hot off the Press April 2015

Posted on April 16, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

“Knowing I loved my books, he furnished me From mine own library with volumes that I prize above my dukedom.” (Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”)             I think we bookworms all feel the same way sometimes – there’s a mountain … Continue reading →

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“The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt (2013) – book review

Posted on April 15, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

What to say about “The Goldfinch” that hasn’t already been said before? This has got to be one of the most talked-about and hyped up launches of last year : Donna Tartt, infamous for being somewhat reclusive and producing a … Continue reading →

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