If you could start your own business, do anything you wanted to earn a living, what would it be? That’s the question that lingered as I read this book. Kate MacDougall did this, in a way. She left her job at Sotheby’s and decided to start a dog walking agency. She’d grown up with READ MORE
Category: Book Review
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WILL YOU READ THIS, PLEASE? – JOANNA CANNON
It’s difficult, sometimes, to find good first person accounts of what it is like to experience a mental illness. Some of those who have been there don’t want to talk about it; some can’t. Others simply can’t find the right words. Joanna Cannon (author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep) came up with READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | GARDEN VARIETY – CHRISTY WILHELMI
I’m very into gardening at the moment, thanks to having just moved to a house that has a garden – the first time I’ve had proper earth space to plant in nearly two decades, and the first time I’ve had any sun to grow in. I’ve been looking for good books that centre gardening, READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | UNRAVELING – PEGGY ORENSTEIN
I’ve always been around knitting. My mum knitted – she made me a sweater when I was a toddler that I still have to this day. And, as Peggy Orenstein says over and over in this book, SLFHM – she learned from her mum. My maternal grandmother was a wizard with the knitting needles. READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | IN FIVE YEARS – REBECCA SERLE
This was a bit of an odd one. I didn’t know anything going in, which can be either a really good thing at times, and I’ve discovered some great surprises that way. This one, though… it just managed to not be at all what I expected while also having had no expectations at all. READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW – GABRIELLE ZEVIN
I loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I read it when it first came out, and it stuck with me. I’ve now recently re-read it and loved it almost as much, and I’ve even watched the film (twice) and found that mostly successful. And yet, I hadn’t read any of Zevin’s other books. READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET – FELICIA DAY
Felicia Day is iconic. Not only was she one of the first female gamers to become well known in the gaming industry, but she’s also an actress, author, screen write, producer…. etc. etc. In short, there’s not much she can’t do. And she’s funny AF. I am not a gamer. Mostly I know her READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS – FRANCESCA ZAPPIA
These days it’s fairly uncommon for me to pick up a YA book. I used to read a ton of them, but lately I’ve been gravitating more towards adult fiction, genre, or non-fiction. With the occasional graphic novel or memoir thrown in. But this has been sitting on my shelves for literally years, and READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THIS TIME TOMORROW – EMMA STRAUB
I went into this with no small amount of hesitancy, but also no expectations or idea what it was about. I decided to read it because I felt like I’d been seeing it everywhere, heard a few people say they enjoyed it, and was curious. Plus it was available at my library. The hesitancy READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LENNI AND MARGOT – MARIANNE CRONIN
I have to be honest – the first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover. I loved the shades of blue, the texture, the font of the text. And the title – that was good too. I decided to give it ago because I was at a loose end, reading-wise, and READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | IT’S ALL ABSOLUTELY FINE – RUBY ELLIOT
The first thing to say about this book is that I adored it. I hadn’t heard of Ruby Elliot before, but now that I have, I’m a confirmed fan. This is a graphic memoir in which Ruby shares what it’s like to live with everything from social anxiety to body image issues to uncontrollable READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE BOOKSHOP ON THE SHORE – JENNY COLGAN
As you may have guessed, this is the second book in the Scottish Bookshop series that began with The Bookshop on the Corner, which I read right before this one. I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to see where it would go next. This is technically a sequel, and does take place in READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – HARPER LEE
I read this a few years (okay, decades) ago, and I remembered loving it and being deeply affected by it… but that’s about it. I’ve been meaning to re-read it for years now, pretty much since Go Set a Watchman came out back in 2015. I recently read a book called The Reading List, READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | FUN HOME – ALISON BECHDEL
I have heard so much about this book, for so long, from so many people. It’s universally raved about and considered to be a must-read, particularly for fans of graphic novels and anyone interested in reading LGBTQ+ stories. And I can certainly see why. This is the story of Alison’s relationship with her father. READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB – RICHARD OSMAN
I enjoy a good thriller. I like intrigue, twists, surprises, clever narrators and anything that’s unexpected. And boy, did this book ever deliver. On all counts. I didn’t expect that much from this book going in – I’d heard good things, but nothing that hinted at it being a huge departure from any other READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR – MIZUKI TSUJIMURA
I read this book for a book club hosted by Allison Paiges on Patreon. But I had already heard of it, because she had raved about it at great length earlier in the year, saying it was one of her all time favourite books (she had even gotten a tattoo of the wolf girl READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | PIECES OF HER – KARIN SLAUGHTER
I committed the cardinal readers’ sin with this one – I watched the show before reading the book. I love Toni Collette, and I thought she did such a fantastic job that I wanted more, which is when I searched out the book from my library and devoured it. This story starts dramatically with READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION – EMILY HENRY
I’ve been hearing Emily Henry’s name all over the internet for a while now. I don’t normally go for romance novels, as any of you who have been around here for a while know, but every once in a while I decide to dip a toe in. Normally it gets nibbled by a hungry READ MORE