Mum was fond of Margaret Forster, and I also really enjoy her writing – she drills right down into the minutiae of ordinary lives, and, being a British rather than an American author like Anne […]
Category: Book reviews
64. ‘The Girl at the Lion D’Or’, by Sebastian Faulks.
The second in his French trilogy, un-related to the first, ‘Birdsong’, except in reference to the lingering trauma from the First World War, and the location. This is a story of doomed love, set against […]
63. ‘On Chesil Beach’, by Ian McEwan.
Chesil Beach is a weird and wonderful part of the south coast of England. Around 18 miles long, it’s all shingle, with a tidal lagoon known as the Fleet behind it, and it is an […]
62. ‘Birdsong’ by Sebastian Faulks.
No beating about the bush here, this is without a doubt one of my favourite books, I have read it several times, and in fact this copy is one I bought for Mum on a […]
61. ‘Breathing Lessons’ by Anne Tyler.
I read this quite fast, even for me…and before I launch into what I really thought about it, I will add a disclaimer…I found myself so irritated by the central character, Maggie Moran, that I […]
60. Two books today – ‘tuesdays with Morrie’ by Mitch Albom, and ‘Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant’ by Anne Tyler
Two books, very different from one another, both by American authors, and both read by me in the sunshine last week. Let’s start with ‘tuesdays with Morrie’. It describes itself as, ‘an old man, a […]
59. ‘Wives and Daughters’ by Elizabeth Gaskell.
A wonderful book! and a special copy of it too. As you can see, Mum first read this in Australia in May 2005, when she was visiting me, and for a second time in September […]
58. ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ by John Le Carre
I did warn you I might embark on a John Le Carre spree! I had the intention of reading all the Smiley books in order, having purely by chance started with the first, but I […]
57. ‘Call for the Dead’ by John Le Carre
A complete change of genre for me this week; I found some of Mum’s copies of her John Le Carre books while looking for something completely different…as one does…and promptly sat down in the glorious […]
56. ‘One Good Turn’ by Kate Atkinson.
Bang. Absolutely the best book I have read so far this year in this genre…such a skillful book. Every time a fleeting thought along the lines of ‘I should get up and do…’ entered my […]
