Archives by Tag 'Fiction'
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: ‘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 [...]
Review: ‘The Circle Cast’ by Alex Epstein
Stories of King Arthur and the characters around him have been a large part of my reading diet for as long as I can remember. I’ve read classic retellings, obscure retellings and a desire to discover the early retellings is what led to me becoming an unemployable medieval English postgraduate. They’re stories that have become [...]
Review: ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ by Charles Dickens
Think of Victorian novels and which one author leaps immediately to mind? For me, and I suspect for many others, it is Charles Dickens. When taking part in a reading challenge which relates to Victorian literature, it seems only right to read something by the great man of Victorian literature himself. However, I have a [...]
‘The Salzburg Tales’ by Christina Stead
Well, it’s finally happened: the honeymoon period is over. I suppose the day had to come when I encountered a Virago Modern Classic for which I didn’t particularly care, and it seems that that day is today. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I actively disliked The Salzburg Tales by Christina [...]
‘Alice Hartley’s Happiness’ by Philippa Gregory
There are a lot of authors whose books I can pick up without knowing any specifics but with a fair idea of how the book will go. Dickens? Deserving poor, a host of comedic supporting characters with amusing names, and a downtrodden central character who is elevated through their own goodness. Angela Carter? A twisted, chaotic storyline [...]