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
Category: Book Review
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
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | ASK AGAIN, YES – MARY BETH KEANE
I don’t normally do family sagas. They’re just so detailed and finicky and full of petty drama and these complicated strands of storyline you have to keep a constant eye on. I find them wearing and exhausting and not generally worth the effort. But something about this one made me want to give it READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER – BERNARDINE EVARISTO
I was intimidated going into this book. It’s long, and it’s written in an experimental style of verse that doesn’t include periods or capitals. I was nervous I’d be unable to find my feet and that it would prove too difficult for me to get into. Not so. It took about 50 pages, but READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HOME IS BURNING – DAN MARSHALL
Continuing on my current kick of memoirs related to mental and physical illness, I finally got around to picking up Dan Marshall’s book that has been sitting on my shelves for years and years. This is the memoir of a man whose mother has cancer (has done most of his life) and whose father READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE WALL – JOHN LANCHESTER
I went into this with no expectations at all. I had been mildly interested in it before its nomination for the Booker Prize, and that made me pick it up sooner. But I don’t much care for dystopian books, and though the concept behind this is timely and brings up a few important issues, READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | VINTAGE 1954 – ANTOINE LAURAIN
I’ve only read one Antoine Laurain novel, the delightfully charming The Red Notebook. It was the closest I’ve come to finding a book that felt like watching the film Amélie, one of my favourites of all time. Laurain is a master at capturing details of character and setting that bring the story to life READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | FIVE FEET APART – RACHAEL LIPPINCOTT
I’ve had this book on my radar for a while. In my current quest to find books about illness, it drifted up to the top of my TBR – it helped that I also wanted to watch the movie and felt like the book had to come first. I’m going to be up front READ MORE