I’m a huge fan of the TV series Call the Midwife based on this trilogy of books. For those who don’t know, these books are the experiences of a young midwife working in Poplar, a poor neighbourhood in East London following WWII. She is one of a team of midwives who READ MORE
Category: Book Review
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | BORN A CRIME – TREVOR NOAH
I’ve been meaning to read this book for years. I’ve tried it a few times, and liked it, but not gotten absorbed into it. I finally decided that audiobook was the way to go. Which was the perfect choice since it’s narrated by Trevor Noah, and everything’s better when it’s read by Trevor Noah. READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR – PAUL KALANITHI
This is probably one of the best-known memoirs to come out in the past decade. It’s written by a neural surgeon who was diagnosed with terminal cancer just as he was preparing to finish his training. So going into it, you know it’s going to be an intense read, and that you should probably READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THIS BOOK IS ANTIRACIST – TIFFANY JEWELL
This Book is Anti-Racist is a graphic non-fiction book for young readers that covers the basics of racism – history, terminology, identities, and how to deal with and address it. I picked it up mostly because I liked the graphic style and have been looking for books on the topic for any age, as I READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | ALONE TOGETHER – JENNIFER HAUPT, ED.
The past year and a half has been rough. For everyone. In the entire world. Most of us have suddenly had to narrow our lives down to only a few people, some of us haven’t even had that. We’ve been coping with fear, loss, uncertainty. Some of us have been coping with death or READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | REDHEAD BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD – ANNE TYLER
The title of this book is the first thing that drew me in. Who is this redhead? What are they doing by the side of the road? Why are they there? How did they get there? It fascinated me, and I wanted to find out the answers – turns out the explanation isn’t anything READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HOMELAND ELEGIES – AYAD AKHTAR
This book caught my attention when it first came out – the premise is timely and interesting, and I was curious to explore the mixture of fiction and non-. This novel is about a man called Akhtar (like the author), a playwright who has reached some acclaim (like the author). The novel traces his READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | A CHILDREN’S BIBLE – LYDIA MILLET
This is another book I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read, for a few reasons. First, I’m not well versed in religion. Christianity is, for me, a bit of a mystery. I’ve heard some of the more pervasive references (Noah, Kane and Abel, the story of Jesus’ birth and that of his death, READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THERE THERE – TOMMY ORANGE
I loved the premise of this book. It’s about twelve different Native American characters who live in urban settings, and what it’s like for them in their different walks of life. It shows which parts of their experiences overlap, where they diverge and where they connect – and they all do connect – in READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SHUGGIE BAIN – DOUGLAS STUART
Shuggie Bain has been hard to avoid over the past year. It’s a debut novel, but seemed to emerge fully-formed, and wowed pretty much every reader it was put in front of. It was nominated for multiple literary prizes, and won the The Booker Prize. It’s interesting to me that Shuggie seems to have READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE PULL OF THE STARS – EMMA DONOGHUE
I only read this book because it was on the BookTube Prize longlist, and it was one of the list that was available as an audiobook from my digital library. I started listening to it having no idea what I was getting into – I hadn’t even read the blurb. So you can imagine READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE GLASS HOTEL – EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL
I’m a huge fan of Emily St. John Mandel. The first book of hers I read was Station Eleven, which I went into with no expectations, and which completely wowed me. It was delicate, thought provoking, had beautiful imagery and also terrified me to the depths of my soul. I then went on to READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | BROKEN – JENNY LAWSON
Oh, I just love Jenny Lawson. She has been making me laugh for years, and also making me feel like I’m not alone in my particular brand of crazy. I loved her blog. Then came her first book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, which was like her blog but longer. Then came Furiously Happy, READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | PIRANESI – SUSANNA CLARKE
I didn’t get along with Susanna Clarke’s most popular book, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, at all. I’ll say that up front. I tried, I really did. I tried reading the book (twice), I tried listening to the audiobook, and I even tried watching the TV show. None of them got very far at READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WRITERS & LOVERS – LILY KING
I’ve never read any Lily King before, though I’ve had her novel Euphoria on my TBR for ages. This book appealed to me – partly because of the books on the cover, partly because of the title, and then a little bit because of the blurb. Having meant to try Lily King, this seemed READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | REAL LIFE – BRANDON TAYLOR
This is one of the first books I read from my round of judging for the BookTube Prize. I had tried to read it twice before, and wasn’t able to get into it. I hoped that, with the added motivation of reading it for the prize, I’d be able to get through the rocky READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WHY I’M NO LONGER TALKING TO WHITE PEOPLE ABOUT RACE – RENI EDDO-LODGE
This book is brilliant. That’s the first thing you need to know. It has been widely talked about and acclaimed since its publication in 2017, and for good reason. Eddo-Lodge is one of the smartest and most eloquent writers I’ve had the pleasure of reading this year (in the last few years, at that), READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | CATALOGUE BABY – MYRIAM STEINBERG
When I received a review request for this book I was instantly intrigued. The premise is one close to my heart; women sharing their most intimate stories is something I think is not only brave, but vitally important. Our voices have been silenced or subdued for so long, and they need to be heard. READ MORE