I wasn’t immediately aware that this was actually my second book by Xiaolu Guo until I began reading it, but from the moment I started, I was captivated by its…
This Belgian modern classic from 1937 was referenced by famous French feminist, Simone de Beauvoir, and has been more recently rediscovered and made into a film. It’s a book about…
Short stories are an underappreciated literary art form: we should all read more short stories! They often get neglected as they are not seen as marketable as novels, but these…
You know a book has left its mark when you rush to find more books by the same author… only to feel that pang of disappointment when you discover it’s…
I really wanted to love this book more than I did. I knew this book had been controversial/banned when it first came out in 1965 so I was expecting a…
A devastating read that’s even more terrifying when you realise it’s based on a real Floridian “reform school” – Dozier. What horrors and secrets lie in the archives and burial…
Hercule Poirot is a beloved detective, a true icon of classic crime whose fastidious nature and over-the-top character have won him fans around the world. Poirot is meticulous, brilliant, and…
I have a soft spot for Miss Marple. Her unthreatening and endearing “dear old lady spinster” demeanour hides a steely determination: she subverts the notion of how old ladies should…
Why are we so drawn to difficult childhoods in literature? Do difficult childhoods make for great writers? There is something cathartic and compelling about reading stories of childhood survival and…
My ability to read literally anywhere and everywhere is something I’ve always treasured (my mother tells a childhood story of running out to stop me from walking down the road…