On the last day of work before Christmas break, one of our much-loved colleagues was retiring and each of us was asked to provide a couple of book recommendations. Choosing novels was simple enough, after all, I had just finished The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, but as I sat there, trying to think how […]
I have never viewed myself as much of a Halloween person. I tend to see it as a bother, rather than a seasonal celebration, but this year I missed it. In some ways, I went through the rhythms of the season; a trip to the pumpkin patch, my friend’s – socially distanced – pumpkin carving […]
Sometimes I can’t help but pause and wonder whether, as a reader, the books we read find us, rather than vice versa? This idea has been playing around in my brain over the last few days, as I finished two of the loveliest books, both of which provided much needed respite from the pandemic that […]
There’s a fighting chance that this week’s book review should actually be part of last week’s because they’re by the same writer and I read them in quick succession. Please don’t worry, I’ve now read everything Abbi Waxman has written, so there won’t be a follow up (although secretly, or not, I really wish that […]
There are some books that are like a warm, comforting blanket when you read them. They wrap themselves around you and immerse you in their world. It’s a happy place, somewhere that you like and want to be. These are the books that we want to take on holiday or recover with, the books that […]
If you want a book that is genuinely going to make you smile this summer, then you could do a lot worse than purchasing or borrowing The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms. It’s a total enjoyment fest! I had never heard of Kelly Harms, but by chance came across her whilst on […]
The Cost of Living is my first Deborah Levy book, but I have questions for those of you who have had the good fortune to read others. Are they all this good? Do you always need to read them with a pen and piece of paper at your side to jot down beautiful quotes? Is […]
There are some books that you simply live as you read, part wishing that this life could be yours. Paris By The Book by Liam Callanan is one of them. Callanan tells the story of Leah, a mother of two girls, living in Milwaukee and married to novelist, Robert Eady. Robert has a good deal […]
For a while I have been feeling a little restless, wanting to read something that’s different from the books that I normally choose. It’s hard to break out from patterns of your own making, but I really wanted to. I’d seen Adele in my local bookstore a few times and although it matched such criteria, […]
There is always a special place in life for the books that surprise you, taking you somewhere utterly different to where you had assumed you were going. The Changeling by Victor Lavalle is one such novel and in my mind, it’s a masterpiece, which is not a term I use lightly. This novel languished on […]
Nutshell Book Reviews 