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- Third strike and you’re out… April 5, 2016
- “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt (1997) – a blistering if controversial tale of an unforgettable childhood March 28, 2016
- Baileys’ Women’s Prize for Fiction – Longlist (and shortlist) 2016 March 8, 2016
- Wish List old and new : March 2016 March 6, 2016
- “L’Amica Geniale” / “My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante (2011) – taking the world by storm February 24, 2016
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Categories
Monthly Archives: July 2015
The Man Booker Prize 2015 Longlist has been announced!
The race is on: the international Prize’s Baker’s Dozen of contenders has been whittled down from its original list of 156 to just 13 titles. The shortlist will be mid September, with the grand finale winner divulged a month later. … Continue reading
Posted in Book Prizes
Tagged A Spool of Blue Thread, Anne Enright, Anne Tyler, The Man Booker Prize
15 Comments
“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller (2011) – tales of the unexpected
To say this is not the Iliad we all vaguely know and love is a slight understatement. The Trojans are indeed waging war in the background, and we are faintly aware that Penelope must be by now weaving furiously at … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged Madeline Miller, Orange Prize, The Guardian, The Song of Achilles
5 Comments
Literary Trail III – books based in and on the Big Apple
Simone de Beauvoir is apparently often quoted for maintaining that “There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless“, while Groucho Marx infamously declared that “Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book – … Continue reading
Posted in Book Lists, Literary Trails
Tagged Americanah, Brooklyn, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Colm Toibin, Colum McCann, donna tartt, Edith Wharton, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer, Let the Great World Spin, Matthew Thomas, Nicole Krauss, The Age of Innocence, the goldfinch, The History of Love, The House of Mirth, We Are Not Ourselves
8 Comments
Literary Trail I – New York: Helen Mirren, “The Lady/Woman in Gold” & “The Audience”
Miracles never cease. If D hadn’t pulled off an amazing one-time-only week of work placement in New York, and if N hadn’t mentioned the idea of going to the cinema there and seeing “The Woman in Gold” before it came … Continue reading
“The Undertaking” by Audrey Magee (2014) – book review
Every now and then a book comes along that gets under your skin and literally knocks you off your size sixes. “The Undertaking” is such a novel, and it is going to stay with me for a very long time. … Continue reading
Book Group III – the Global Nomads
The “Global Nomads” have been meeting to discuss books from all over the world since 2010. Many thanks to Julie for letting me have this varied list to add to the growing collection of books read and still to be read, … Continue reading
“Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont” by Elizabeth Taylor (1971) – book review
More of the dubious joys of growing older, and not necessarily disgracefully so. This time it’s the genteel daily grind of mannish yet magnificently assured and unruffled Mrs P. Recently widowed, and decidedly distant from daughter Jane, who is “noisy … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Books on the Big Screen
Tagged Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont
6 Comments
“Charlotte” by David Foenkinos (2014) – book review
“Celui qui, vivant, ne vient pas à bout de sa vie, a besoin d’une main pour écarter un peu le désespoir que lui cause son destin”. Never have read any Kafka, and clearly this is to be redressed. Most recent … Continue reading
Anne Tyler Part Two : “Breathing Lessons” (1988) and “The Accidental Tourist” (2002) – book reviews
One could, and I suspect will, wax lyrical about Anne Tyler indefinitely. Two more book reviews from Mr P and Yours Truly for another couple of classic reads: Nicola on “Breathing Lessons” Yet again, Mrs T’s touch is unerringly sure, … Continue reading
