I started this year with good intentions. I had intended to read lots of science fiction and fantasy books in order to get to know the genres better. I had also intended to lose 4 stone but New Year’s resolutions hardly ever work out though do they? I read a couple of fantasy books which I enjoyed and one dystopian novel which was ok…
A Curious Invitation
29 November 2012 by Leave a Comment
I love reading – of course I do, why would I review books if I hated reading. I am though a bit of a philistine. I don’t need beautiful looking books, I don’t need to have all books by the same author to have the same artwork. I’m much more interested by what’s inside than the cover. There are some exceptions to the rule though…
Dominion
4 November 2012 by Leave a Comment
Every 27th January we commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK (and across the world). It offers a time to remember the victims of the Nazis and to pledge not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The question is sometimes raised of the relevance to the UK of the Holocaust…
The Method
19 October 2012 by Leave a Comment
If there’s one thing that’s bound to give you a good laugh it’s a German novel set sometime in the not too distant future when all aspects of a person’s life and health are controlled by the state. Oh wait, no. Exactly the opposite is bound to be true …
Eeny Meeny Miny Moe
13 September 2012 by Leave a Comment
One of the joys of reviewing books is in discovering new authors and seeing their career move on from debut novels to the establishment of a series of novels. This time last year I reviewed Joanna Price’s debut A Means of Escape, the first to feature Somerset detective DS Kate Linton. I thoroughly enjoyed it…
The Submission
2 September 2012 by Leave a Comment
The September 11th 2001 attacks have inspired a number of novels, films, plays and compositions from artists trying to make sense of a tragedy witnessed by the world. Some such as Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close have focused on how family members cope with their grief…
Haiku for the Single Girl
16 July 2012 by Leave a Comment
Every time I sit down to write a review of a book that I’ve just read I wonder what to say and how much information to put in the review. One thing I’ve never thought about including though was where I was when reading the book – does it matter if I was on a train, or on a sofa in the living room or in bed? But I’m going to make an exception…
The Queen and I
7 June 2012 by Leave a Comment
Hard as it is to imagine this week, but there’s a number of people in Britain who don’t like the Monarchy. They would rather see Britain as a republic than have the Queen as our head of state. I personally think they are batty, but I suppose they are entitled to their opinions…
The Diamond Queen
4 June 2012 by Leave a Comment
This is a big week in British history – Her Majesty the Queen is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee. She has given sixty years of service to the nation (and the Commonwealth) and is only the second monarch to reach this milestone. The UK is Jubilee nuts at the moment, bunting on every street corner…
The Hangman’s Daughter
24 May 2012 by Leave a Comment
One of the books I meant to read before the end of last year was Oliver Pötzsch’s The Hangman’s Daughter, but being me and having my butterfly like mind and appalling time management skills I didn’t get round to it…