Category: My Reading

  • Raising Hare – Chloe Dalton

    When I was a teenager in West Somerset, my father would drive me to the school bus stop each morning, about a mile away. During March and April we were frequently alarmingly late…and it was a logistical nightmare if I missed the bus! The reason for our tardiness was that we were watching hares from […]

  • By Any Other Name – Jodi Picoult

    It is the well-known title for many a university thesis or dissertation: Did Shakespeare write the works that are today attributed to him? And, of course, if he didn’t then who did? I will declare my personal position before we go any further: I really don’t care that much. I am very fond of some […]

  • Two Women in Rome – Elizabeth Buchan

    I asked some time ago: what book should I have taken on my visit to Rome as I read ‘A Room with a View’ whilst in Florence. Well, I think I have answered my own question, I should have had ‘Two women in Rome’ with me by Elizabeth Buchan. It would have been perfect I […]

  • The Lincoln Highway – Amor Towles

    For the first time ever I found a book I wanted in Waterstone’s bargain box. Hardback, heavy, 500 pages and costing £3.00. This is the second Amor Towles book I have read, The Gentleman in Moscow being the first. I fell in love, totally, with that novel but this was utterly different. It is a […]

  • Angels of Mud – Vanessa Nicolson

    The art history based introduction to the book I have just read: Florence- Ordeal by Water. Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, was written by Vanessa Nicolson and was very informative. The colophon gave further details of both writers and said that Vanessa Nicolson lived in Sissinghurst and London. At that point I suddenly thought oh right, those […]

  • The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

    ‘I cannot believe you haven’t read this! Why haven’t you read it?’ Thus said my daughter to me, after discovering that I had not read Richard Osman’s huge bestseller about a group of retirees who have a penchant for solving murders. So why had I avoided this book I wonder. Well, I think I was […]

  • So Late In The Day – Claire Keegan

    Whichever bookshop I am in, here or on my visit to New York City recently, I have been assaulted by huge displays of Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. Not to my taste, as faithful readers may know by now. Luckily however there is always another bookshelf to browse, just around the corner. Here I found a […]

  • A House In Sicily – Daphne Phelps

    This was an interesting read, not quite an autobiography, maybe somewhere in between a memoir and a travelogue. Through familial contacts and a mixture of circumstance and serendipitous happenings, Daphne Phelps, a young psychiatric social worker becomes the custodian and then the owner of a beautiful house in Taormina, Sicily. There is an obvious lack […]

  • The Bastard of Istanbul – Elif Shafak

    Elif Shafak has a new book out: ‘There are rivers in the sky,’ and so she is absolutely everywhere. She obviously has a very good publicity agent as every paper, magazine or journal I pick up is pushing this new novel. The author has been speaking at the RA and making podcasts etc. I had […]

  • Enduring Love – Ian McEwan

    When I had read ‘Lessons’ by Ian McEwan I decided I had to read more by this acclaimed writer. ‘Enduring Love’ is a fascinating if rather disturbing read. A hot air balloon floats over the Chilterns and suddenly seems to be in trouble. Several people picnicking go to help and grab hold of ropes. There […]