Technically, this isn’t the first time I’ve read this book. My parents, odd ducks that they are, played the audiobook of this for all of us to listen to when I was about 6 or 7. I can’t remember it, of course, but it did feel generally familiar and comforting. Probably because of this
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | RAISING DEMONS – SHIRLEY JACKSON
Raising Demons is the sequel to Life Among the Savages, which I read last year. Both are memoirs of Shirley Jackson’s experiences as a mother to four boisterous and rowdy children. In this book the kids are a bit older, but other than that, it’s a lot like the first. It’s a series of
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | LOVE, NINA: DESPATCHES FROM FAMILY LIFE – NINA STIBBE
After having this on my shelf since shortly after its release, I finally picked it up because I found out it had been adapted to a mini-series starring Helena Bonham Carter. As most of us do, I prefer to read the book before watching the adaptation, so I figured I might as well get
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | DIETLAND – SARAI WALKER
It’s not hard to see why everyone has been talking about Dietland. This is a book that will challenge you. It’ll challenge you to think about your prejudices and pre-conceptions, it’ll make you uncomfortable, and it’ll even make you think about your ideas of wrong and right. Which makes it sound heavy and serious
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WHY NOT ME? – MINDY KALING
I’ve got a confession to make. Before reading this book, I’d never watched Mindy’s show The Mindy Project. I’d also meant to but never got around to reading her first memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? despite having heard fantastic things. So when I had the chance to review her new book, I
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RELEASE DAY REVIEW | THE BIG BAD BOOK OF BILL MURRAY – ROBERT SCHNAKENBERG
Bill Murray is a legendary misanthrope. His public image is full of quirks, oddities and random photo-bombs. Though not necessarily the most cheerful of celebrities, his antics have nonetheless earned him a large and loyal fan base. Though he has been notoriously overlooked for awards, Murray has nonetheless created a library of work that is
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BOOK REVIEW | BREAM GIVES ME HICCUPS – JESSE EISENBERG
Every once in a while, you just need some comic relief. I’ve laughed my ass off at Jesse Eisenberg’s comic portrayals over the years, my favourite of his films was Zombieland – because of course – but I also enjoyed Adventureland and admired his acting chops in The Social Network. He’s firmly earned a place
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HYPERBOLE AND A HALF – ALLIE BROSH
I’ve been a fan of Allie Brosh’s blog, also called Hyperbole and a Half, for quite some time now. So though I was given this book a while ago (thanks, Martha!), I’ve been saving it and saving it. Not only are Allie Brosh’s drawings fantastic, but the words she puts with them have been
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | ONE MORE THING – B.J. NOVAK
B.J. Novak’s One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories is an endlessly entertaining, surprisingly sensitive, and startlingly original debut that signals the arrival of a brilliant new voice in American fiction. A boy wins a $100,000 prize in a box of Frosted Flakes—only to discover how claiming the winnings might unravel his family. A
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SO ANYWAY… – JOHN CLEESE
Candid and brilliantly funny, this is the story of how a tall, shy youth from Weston-super-Mare went on to become a self-confessed legend. En route, John Cleese describes his nerve-racking first public appearance, at St Peter’s Preparatory School at the age of eight and five-sixths; his endlessly peripatetic home life with parents who seemed incapable
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE WOMAN WHO WENT TO BED FOR A YEAR – SUE TOWNSEND
The day her children leave home, Eva climbs into bed and stays there. She’s had enough – of her kids’ carelessness, her husband’s thoughtlessness and of the world’s general indifference. Brian can’t believe his wife is doing this. Who is going to make dinner? Taking it badly, he rings Eva’s mother – but she’s
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THE SUNDAY [BOOK & MOVIE] REVIEW | THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU – JONATHAN TROPPER
Let’s start with the exciting part. Thanks to Karen over at One More Page who frantically tweeted me last weekend telling me to wake up and get my act in gear, I was able (just barely) to enter Indigo Events‘ contest for tickets to an advance screening of This Is Where I Leave You. Which
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | COLD COMFORT FARM – STELLA GIBBONS
‘I saw something nasty in the woodshed’ When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders: cousin Judith, heaving with remorse for unspoken wickedness; Amos, preaching fire and damnation; their
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | Q’S LEGACY – HELENE HANFF
Here is the remarkable story of how Helene Hanff came to write 84, Charing Cross Road, and of all the things its success has brought her. Hanff recalls her serendipitous discovery of a volume of lectures by a Cambridge don, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. She devoured Q’s book, and, wanting to read all the books
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS – AISHA TYLER
Comedian, actress, co-host of CBS’s daytime hit The Talk, and creator of the top-ranked podcast Girl on Guy, Aisha Tyler offers a collection of hysterical and unflinchingly personal essays about the spectacular mistakes she has made in her life and what those epic fails have taught her. A fun, revealing and savory read, Self-Inflicted Wounds
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THE 8 STAGES OF A READING SLUMP
I love reading. Obviously. But as much as I love it, there are times when it just does not work. These are the dark days, my friends. Also known as: The Reading Slump. There are a lot of things that can spark a reading slump. Maybe you read a couple bad books in a row
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | UP A TREE IN THE PARK AT NIGHT WITH A HEDGEHOG – P. ROBERT SMITH
Benton Kirby is in a spot of bother… His life hasn’t exactly gone to plan. This is hardly surprising, however, as he never really had one in the first place. Armed with a philosophy degree, a dead fiance, a brother who drives Death around London in his black cab, and a girlfriend with a
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE UNCOMMON READER – ALAN BENNETT
From one of England’s most celebrated writers, the author of the award-winning The History Boys, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of reading. When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the
