Archives by Tag 'Fiction'
‘Marie’ by Madeleine Bourdouxhe
One of my aims for this year is to try to read things which I might not normally pick. French modernist literature features incredibly low on on the list of types of book I usually select (nor for that matter, modernism in any language). Consequently I have no idea how I ended up with by [...]
‘The Final Reckoning’ by Robin Jarvis
I’ve recently mentioned how much I enjoy Robin Jarvis’ writing now that I’m reading his Deptford Mice Trilogy as an adult, and The Crystal Prison ended on such a cliffhanger that I had to go on and read the final book in the trilogy, ominously entitled , soon afterwards. In The Final Reckoning the mice find themselves [...]
‘A Month in the Country’ by J. L. Carr
Although I’m usually pretty good about writing reviews for books shortly after I finish them, I’ve fallen rather behind recently and find myself faced with a stack of ten books which have been read but not yet reviewed. At the top of that pile is J. L. Carr’s short novella and it is reminding me [...]
‘The Crystal Prison’ by Robin Jarvis
I remember reading Robin Jarvis’ Deptford Histories Trilogy when I was younger and being utterly, deliciously terrified by them. They were books that I would only read with my back placed firmly against a wall so that I could be absolutely sure that nothing was sneaking up behind me waiting to grab me. I’ve never [...]
‘We Had It So Good’ by Linda Grant
Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled when I found out that Virago, my favourite publishers, had decided to launch a book club this year. For one reason or another I’m not particularly good at reading contemporary fiction, tending to stick to older books, and this seemed like a good way of broadening my horizons [...]
‘Willow’ by Wayland Drew
Do you enjoy watching film adaptations of books you’ve read, or do you regard them with some suspicion and decide that you’d rather not, thank you very much? Every time a book that I enjoy is turned into a film, I have to debate with myself whether I want to go to see it or [...]
‘Primeval: Extinction Event’ by Dan Abnett
Recently, I’ve been enjoying an excess of Victorianism. I read The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope, a very unexpected Victorian novel, and then, purely by chance, I ended up simultaneously reading Lady’s Maid by Margaret Forster and The Crimson Petal and the Whiteby Michael Faber (which is still ongoing), both neo-Victorian novels. While these are [...]
‘Lady’s Maid’ by Margaret Forster
When I came up with the idea of using a random number generator to select one book for me every month, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was letting myself in for. I needn’t have worried about January’s choice though, as it seems to have been remarkably kind to me in my first month. by [...]
‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ by Anthony Hope
Every so often I feel like reading something which doesn’t require me to think. I find it relaxing for my brain to read a book once in a while where I’m not constantly thinking about the beautiful, stylish writing, the complex subtexts and the hidden meanings. Sometimes it’s nice to gallop through a plot which is, [...]
‘South Riding’ by Winifred Holtby
My favourite place that I’ve ever lived is, without any hesitation, York. I lived in a cold, dingy cellar room where I used to become trapped in the house if it rained heavily because the area between my doorstep and the stairs up towards street level used to flood with almost a foot of water, but [...]