Archive for June, 2011
Review: ‘The House at Riverton’ by Kate Morton
As you might have guessed from the enormous delay between finishing this book and a review actually appearing here, I’ve been rather busy recently. What with emergency dentist appointments, being ill, making wedding invitations and all the familycommitments which inevitably accompany a slew of bank holidays, I’ve been rushing hither and yon with very little time for [...]
Review: ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
You might remember that back in April my random number generator selected by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for my TBR Lucky Dip book that month. I know April seems a long time ago now, but this book has finally worked its way to the top of my review queue. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes comprises [...]
Review: ‘Alexander’s Bridge’ by Willa Cather
When you come across the name of an author that you’re certain you’re going to love, how do you decide where to start with reading their work? With the exception of books which have a series order which I will always follow religiously I have never consciously decided to read an author’s work in any [...]
Review: ‘Our Tragic Universe’ by Scarlett Thomas
Every week, W. H. Smith’s offers one relatively recent paperback title for only £2.99 when you buy the Times newspaper and, if it’s a book that looks interesting, I tend to take advantage of the offer. I’m not sure why, as inevitably I then read the book and completely ignore the newspaper, thus making it [...]
Review: ‘Wedding Tiers’ by Trisha Ashley
A while ago, I spent a very unpleasant morning paying my dentist a great deal of money to cause me a great deal of pain. What I thought would be a simple (hah!) wisdom tooth extraction ended up as a surgical procedure, complete with opening my gums, shaving bits of bone off my jaw, and [...]
Review: ‘Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons’ by Gerald Durrell
Evidently I was feeling in an avian mood when I read this book, as I followed Patrick Suskind’s with another book featuring pigeons: this time it was by Gerald Durrell. Not deliberate, I swear. Gerald Durrell is one of my favourite authors to turn to when I want to read something entertaining and well-written but [...]
Review: ‘The Pigeon’ by Patrick Suskind
Patrick Suskind is an author better known for his book (one which I have on my shelves but have not yet managed to read). Although I’m trying not to buy books by authors I already have on the TBR pile unless it’s for the cause of completing a series, I found myself unable to resist [...]
Review: ‘The Mill on the Floss’ by George Eliot
There has been some discussion circulating around book blogs recently concerning abandoning books, and whether people prefer to persevere with reading in spite of not enjoying a book or to put it aside because life is too short to read things that aren’t appealing. I’ve spoken before about how I subscribe to what I term [...]
Commonplace Quotations
In recent times, muffins have regained some popularity; in common with crumpets and pikelets, they provide a physical base and a pretext for eating melted butter. – The Pleasures of English Food by Alan Davidson
Review: ‘Death of a Naturalist’ by Seamus Heaney
Despite my resolution to read more poetry this year I don’t seem to have achieved that aim terribly well. Probably because I can’t read poetry on the train as I find poems tend to be too short for me not to become distracted by what’s going on around me. I also find that poetry requires a different type [...]