This is one of the books I got for Christmas and it’s been a very quick read for me surprisingly, as I’m not a very fast reader, and this guy normally writes enormous books. Anne’s eldest gave it to me after he went through most of the tomes of Caro’s major work, The Years of… Continue reading Working – Robert A. Caro
Category: Books
The Island Of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak
There aren’t many books where a tree is one of the main protagonists. Normally, I’d find that kind of anthropomorphising a bit childish, but this is no Whomping Willow. The fig tree speaks mostly as a genuine actor in the story. Occasionally she dips into being a contrivance, but I didn’t mind those parts too… Continue reading The Island Of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
I think that Murakami is an acquired taste. If you like surreal; if you like David Lynch movies; if you like Kafkaesque craziness, then you may like this. I’ve read a couple of his fiction books before: Norwegian Wood and 1Q84, and I remember the second one in particular being very strange indeed. It begins… Continue reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
I first read this book years ago when I lived in Liverpool and was in a book group. It was a great group, and most of the people actually read the books beforehand so the discussions were always interesting. This one got a general thumbs up, as I recall, because who doesn’t like a post-apocalyptic… Continue reading Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
The Salt Path – Raynor Winn
For one of my pieces of coursework I was trying to find examples of travel writing when Anne handed me this book. And then I started underlining passages within it before she told me she’d borrowed it from a friend. Oops, sorry! A slightly bent cover - sorry about that too I was going to… Continue reading The Salt Path – Raynor Winn
The Betrayals – Bridget Collins
Anne got this book out of the library as we’d both read another one by her, The Binding, and loved it. This book follows a similar pattern in that she creates an environment that is familiar yet not quite. Like a parallel universe. The main setting is a university or academy, called Montverre, built in… Continue reading The Betrayals – Bridget Collins
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
The book, scribbled notes and all I’ve just finished reading, or should I say re-reading, this book. Because my writing course will focus on creative non-fiction, I’m trying to pick up a few more of that kind of book to learn how the professionals do it. Normally Murakami writes novels and I’ve enjoyed many of… Continue reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
The Halloween Tree – Ray Bradbury
The front cover of The Halloween Tree I have just finished a book that was recommended to me by a friend and fellow blogger, Kat. It’s a small book and could be finished off in just a half day if you have that to spare, but it took me three smaller sessions. To me, Ray… Continue reading The Halloween Tree – Ray Bradbury
War Lord – Bernard Cornwell
We were given this book by a friend because of where we live. The Wirral is a little nub of land that sticks out of the country on the west and lies between two rivers, the Dee and the Mersey, which merge into the Irish Sea. It’s a tiny strip in the scheme of things,… Continue reading War Lord – Bernard Cornwell
The Mirror And The Light – Hilary Mantel
Last night I finally finished the great tome that is The Mirror And The Light. It’s taken me ages. Not because it’s rubbish, far from it, but because of life getting in the way. But now, with relief and a little sadness, the trilogy is done. Hilary Mantel herself says that ‘It was the hardest… Continue reading The Mirror And The Light – Hilary Mantel
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