Monthly Archives: May 2015

Reading Challenge from January 2015

Posted on May 31, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

It’s Mother’s Day here in France – so go ahead and indulge me. Am totally smitten by a beautiful yet much unneeded book I ended up buying (myself, any excuse) in W H Smith on the rue de Rivoli just recently … Continue reading →

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“Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov (1955) – book review

Posted on May 30, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Lo-lo-Lolita, eureka. Couldn’t believe it when got to the Tick That Box on this one. Must have picked it up and put it down half a dozen times in as many years. Dare I confess, it was borrowing and watching … Continue reading →

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“The Bees” by Laline Paull (2014) – book review

Posted on May 28, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Have just put this book down and am feeling nonplussed. On the one hand, was generally overjoyed at having finished all six of the 2015 shortlisted Baileys’s Prize picks inside the deadline; on the other am loath not to be … Continue reading →

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“Teatime in Paris: A Walk Through Easy French Pâtisserie Recipes” by Jill Colonna (2015) – book review

Posted on May 26, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Well, what a turn out for the books! Bit of a departure from the norm for me, but simply too good to resist… Found myself by sheer coincidence in just the right place at the right time last week: took … Continue reading →

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“Inside the O’Briens” by Lisa Genova (2015) – book review

Posted on May 24, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

A strong memory flew back into my mind as I was reading the closing pages of this new novel. The image of a hugely incapacitated lady being hand fed soup rather unsuccessfully by I presume her daughter, around four years … Continue reading →

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“The Sense of an Ending” by Julian Barnes (2011 ) – book review

Posted on May 23, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Still breathing out through my nose since finishing this book ten minutes ago (that was about a year ago, admittedly, but still remember picking up my pen to write this down at the time). I have got such a soft … Continue reading →

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“Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1985) – book review

Posted on May 21, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

Found my review of this from way back when. ‘Stunning. Like tumbling into a bath of soapy suds or one of rose petals. Utterly magnificent. What a spellbinding web he weaves’. Hark at me! Was clearly in full romantic mode … Continue reading →

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The Man Booker Prize and 2015 winner of the Man Booker International Prize

Posted on May 19, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

The Booker Prize, traditionally awarded for the best original novel written in English and published in the UK, is undisputedly one the most important fictional literary gongs going. As Wikipedia informs us, it is “greeted with great anticipation and fanfare… … Continue reading →

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“The Guest Cat” by Takashi Hiraide (2014) – book review

Posted on May 18, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

This is going to be a book that will divide the crowds. Love it or left untouched by it? Want to return to it indefinitely to linger over passages, or happy to put it down with a heartfelt sigh and … Continue reading →

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“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr (2014) – book review

Posted on May 16, 2015 by nicolaliteraryramblings

“No two persons ever read the same book.” Emily St. John Mandel quoted Edmund Wilson at the recent book reading at Shakespeare and Company, in reference to her “Station Eleven” narration, and this book is perhaps the perfect example of … Continue reading →

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