First off, my first McEwan, which feels overdue! Secondly, I love the atmosphere in this novel. The descriptions of the Oxford countryside, the very concise descriptions of young people struggling…
Perfect little treat for book lovers like me (us). A very impressive rosta of writers share their favourite books, and there’s a real mix of entries! Some are serious, some…
I practically hoover up these Greek and Roman retellings from different (often women or Gods or mythical character) perspectives, and Claire North is no different. This is the second book…
Oh Iris Murdoch. Her novel A Severed Head took me on a journey! What starts off as a rather conventional social novel set in London, where its townhouses act like…
A wonderful premise, this is a collection of stories, essays, and observations written under the guise of Dickens’s insomniac walking around London. Not so much an article of psychological self-exploration,…
I’d heard the hype around Yoshimoto’s book Kitchen, so was excited to give this author a try! The writing is exquisite, I love the character, and the set-up is great…
A book I was probably “pushed” to read after seeing it a lot on people’s lists, grids etc. Which is always a tough place to start from, as you’re very…
My kind of travel memoir where the personal intertwines with travel, art, and politics. It’s a short book that I feel like anyone would enjoy, but my heightened interest in…
This was a tough read, in the sense that it’s dark, it took me awhile to read, and the prose is dense, despite it being a relatively short book. Could…
I’ve obviously heard a lot about Muriel Spark before, and weirdly, this is actually my first read! Still got The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie on my tbr pile. This…