Archive for 'Book Review' Category

Review: ‘Wild Swans’ by Jung Chang

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Tuesday, July 12, 2011

When I was at secondary school we had a lovely chemistry teacher who would cunningly arrange school trips to places that she really wanted to visit herself.  She organised skiing trips to Canada and America which I happily ignored, but then when I was fourteen a letter went home about a proposed trip to China.  My [...]

Review: ‘The Prince of Mist’ by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Monday, July 11, 2011

Usually, I never go anywhere without a book, but on the recent bank holiday Monday I inexplicably found myself in Bournemouth with three and a half hours to kill before that evening’s Bellowhead concert and no book with which to attack them.  It’s probably because I travel everywhere by train so I’m used to needing at [...]

Review: ‘The House at Riverton’ by Kate Morton

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Thursday, June 30, 2011

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

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Wednesday, June 29, 2011

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

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Tuesday, June 28, 2011

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

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Monday, June 27, 2011

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

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Friday, June 24, 2011

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

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Thursday, June 23, 2011

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

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Wednesday, June 22, 2011

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

By oldenglishrose - Last updated: Monday, June 20, 2011

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 [...]