Every once in a while I come across a book that is so much more than I expected. This was one such book. I had heard good things, and I’d read part of Jacob’s previous book and admired her writing style, but I went into this without too much in the way of expectations.On READ MORE
Category: Book Review
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | PUMPKINHEADS – RAINBOW ROWELL & FAITH ERIN HICKS
I picked this book up for a quick read and a bit of a light relief. I hadn’t read any Rainbow Rowell books in years, but I really enjoyed some of her novels, particularly Eleanor and Park. I look to her for an entertaining story, but also characters who are, in one way or READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | RED AT THE BONE – JACQUELINE WOODSON
I read Another Brooklyn a couple of years ago and was completely blown away by the delicacy of the prose and the insight Woodson imbued her characters with. So when Red at the Bone came out, it was high on my TBR. It did not disappoint. The story is a simple one – it READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SUCH A FUN AGE – KILEY REID
If you have any interest at all in books (and of course you do – you’re here), you have heard of this one. It was released just as the clocks turned to 2020, and has been talked about everywhere since. It has been getting positive reviews by everyone from The Guardian to The Atlantic READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | CHARACTERS I’D FOLLOW ON TWITTER
I follow a lot of people on Twitter, so many that I have no idea anymore who, exactly, I’m following. But there are always a few accounts that stand out. That either inspire me, inform me or just make me feel like fuck, yeah, you get it. You know what I’m talking about. We READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | OLIVE KITTERIDGE – ELIZABETH STROUT
I have to be honest, I didn’t really want to read this book. But the sequel, Olive, Again, came out this year and I knew there was a good chance it would show up on the list for the BookTube Prize. I am trying to read some of the books I think either will READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | JUST MERCY – BRYAN STEVENSON
This is another of those books that I want to review simply by saying it’s a vital read, and you should go pick it up. End of review. Of course I will try to go into more detail, because that’s not very persuasive. But it’s hard to know where to start. This book is READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | BLUE NIGHTS – JOAN DIDION
Blue Nights picks up pretty much where The Year of Magical Thinking leaves off. When The Year of Magical Thinking was published, Joan Didion’s daughter had passed away, but she had not written about it in the book. The book dealt, instead, with the loss of her husband who died of a heart attack READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | MY NAME IS WHY – LEMN SISSAY
I first heard of Lemn Sissay in a YouTube video. He is a poet, and I was very impressed with his eloquence and thoughtfulness. He briefly mentioned a bit about his childhood – the restrictions put on his reading by his parents, his relocation into state-run institutional homes at the age of twelve, and READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING – JOAN DIDION
I went into this book knowing it was going to be difficult. It’s Didion’s memoir of her husband’s death, but more importantly, of what came after. This book has gathered praise and acclaim for being an unflinching exploration of grief that tells Didion’s experience with an honesty rarely brought to the topic. That’s exactly READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | MRS. FLETCHER – TOM PERROTTA
I have had this book on my shelves for a long time, but finally decided to pick it up for two reasons: 1) the television show has just come out and I wanted to read it before watching and 2) I wanted something light and entertaining. This is a story about a middle-aged woman READ MORE
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 READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | BREAKING & MENDING – JOANNA CANNON
Most of you probably know Joanna Cannon’s name from her works of fiction, The Trouble With Goats and Sheep and Three Things About Elsie (longlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction). What you might not know about Cannon is that she is also a doctor – specifically a psychiatrist. That insight is part READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | GREENWOOD – MICHAEL CHRISTIE
Michael Christie’s first novel, If I Fall, If I Die, was one of my favourite books of the past five years. It was a surprise to me, but one I will be forever grateful to have discovered. Since closing the cover of that book, I’ve been waiting for Christie to publish another one. So when READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE TIME OF GREEN MAGIC – HILARY MCKAY
When we first meet Abi, her life has just been turned upside down. Her father has re-married a woman named Polly, who comes with two sons – one grumpy, the other always inexplicably sticky. To make matters worse, she is forced to move into their house, a place where despite having her own room READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE BOOKSHOP OF THE BROKEN HEARTED – ROBERT HILLMAN
I went into this expecting a somewhat entertaining and charming story with a bit of depth, but not too much, with decent characters, but not too deeply affecting, and some minor emotional tweaks but nothing heart shattering. I got a little bit more than I bargained for. This book starts with Tom’s wife leaving READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE BOOKISH LIFE OF NINA HILL – ABBI WAXMAN
This book was a breath of fresh air when I really needed one. It’s a quiet book, full of small interactions and introspection. It’s the story of a young woman called Nina HIll. Nina works in a bookstore and, quite frankly, prefers life spent between the covers of a good book. She suffers from READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | BRAIN ON FIRE – SUSANNAH CAHALAN
I have had this book on my TBR for so many years it’s ridiculous. The worst part is that it’s been one that I’ve really wanted to read the entire time it’s been there. I finally got around to it thanks to being on a bit of a medical memoir kick at the moment, READ MORE