Archive for 'Book Review' Category
‘Queen Lucia’ by E. F. Benson
“Oh, if you like those books, then you really should read the Mapp and Lucia books,” said the lovely man at the Winchester book stall, eyeing the pile of books in my arms. I thanked him, paid for my stack of books and promptly hunted down the series, which conveniently turned up in my local [...]
‘False Friends Faux Amis’ by Ellie Malet Spradbery
Language is something that I find absolutely fascinating: I love reading about how different languages developed, their particular foibles, the origins of words and the meanings of obscure idioms. I was therefore ever so pleased to be sent a free copy of by Ellie Malet Spradbery to review through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme. I’ve [...]
‘The Poisonwood Bible’ by Barbara Kingsolver
I’ll be honest: I don’t know very much about Africa other than that it is quite hot. Nor, for that matter, have I read many books set there other than those thrust upon me at university. I don’t actively dislike Africa as a setting for literature, I just tend to gravitate more towards Victorian and [...]
‘The Last Battle’ by C. S. Lewis
One of my aims for 2010 was to read all of C. S. Lewis Narnia books, so it seems appropriate that my final book for 2010 was The Last Battle (I apologise for being so behind with reviews; Christmas and New Year are not terribly convenient times for spending time on the computer). Although I [...]
Slightly Foxed 11: A Private, Circumspect People
As the vast majority of my reading takes place on public transport of one form or another, I am mostly unperturbed by the prospect of tackling weighty books while surrounded by the inevitable distractions that ensue when there are Other People around. Nonetheless, when the mode of transportation in question is an aeroplane, it’s nice [...]
‘The Silver Chair’ by C. S. Lewis
The Narnia series has a great many things to recommend it to readers, but their chief appeal for me at this particular moment in time is how small and compact they are, thus making them the perfect books to read on the tube. I’ll soon be looking for some new light reading (both literally and [...]
‘Baudolino’ by Umberto Eco
first came into my possession when I was helping a friend sort through some of his books at university when he moved from a large room into a much smaller one. When I unearthed this book, he expressed surprise that I hadn’t already read it and then insisted that I rehome it as naturally, being [...]
‘The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’ by C. S. Lewis
Back in June of 2010 it came to my attention that, although they may be firmly embedded in my consciousness, I had never actually read all of the Narnia books. This struck me as something of an oversight and I resolved to rectify the situation as soon as possible and read them all before the [...]
‘Five Children and It’ by E. Nesbit
What do you read when it’s dark and cold outside, it’s an hour of day which no diurnal creature is supposed to see and you have to leave your nice, warm, snug bed and venture out into the snow and ice for the pleasure of spending a day at work, that is if the train [...]
‘Christmas Please!’ ed. Douglas Brooks-Davies
Title: Author: ed. Douglas Brooks-Davies. Illustrated by Dovrat Ben-Nahum Published: Phoenix, 2000, pp. 221. First edition Genre: Poetry Blurb: Here, in this beautifully illustrated anthology, is the spirit of Christmas in one hundred poems. When, where and why: I was given this book for Christmas many years ago, but somehow never got around to reading [...]