It’s Christmas time and three seventy something female friends have come together to clean out a beach house. The house was owned by their fourth friend, Sylvie, who has recently died. There is a lot of work to do, so the surviving friends get started cleaning cupboards while trying to fill the gaps left by […]
Author Archives: Ms A
October
21
The Martian by Andy Weir – Guest review by Sebastian aged 12
posted by Ms A
“I guess you could call it a “failure”, but I prefer the term “learning experience.” Sol 23: Today I read The Martian. Not all of it, but enough of it to read it all throughout the day and into the night. I promised to myself “After this chapter, no actually, after this one, no, I can […]
October
20
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
posted by Ms A
Praise be! I finished a book. The year started so well, but by Easter I had lost control of the laundry v reading life equation. Trust Margaret Atwood to return my domestic equilibrium. Like her or not, it is impossible not to finish a Margaret Atwood book. The Testaments is the highly anticipated sequel to […]
April
23
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
posted by Ms A
For the love of music, the 70’s and cracking stories, you have to read this book. Written by Taylor Jenkins Reid and published in March, there has been a lot of hype leading up to its release. It already has its own Spotify playlist and Reece Witherspoon backed Netflix Series. Talk about a cross-disciplinary marketing juggernaut. […]
March
05
French Exit by Patrick deWitt
posted by Ms A
I didn’t sleep the night I finished this book. It is funny but also strangely emotional and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Released late last year, French Exit tells the story of a glamorous New York widow, Frances and her gloomy adult son, Malcolm. The two of them have spent the last of […]
January
28
The Overstory by Richard Powers
posted by Ms A
If the measure of a great book is whether it makes you think about things differently, then this is a great book. The Overstory starts off as a collection of stories that merge into a single tale of mankind and its relationship with the environment. Some people have labelled it “environmental fiction” but that strikes […]
December
03
Normal People by Sally Rooney
posted by Ms A
My favourite books are ones that appear simple. This is one of those books. On the face of it, Normal People tells the story of a boy and a girl and their on again/off again relationship. At school, he is the popular one and she is out of place but they get to college and […]
November
15
Severance by Ling Ma
posted by Ms A
Add this one to your summer reading list please. An irresistible, apocalyptic look at contemporary life that will keep you distracted by the pool for sure. Candace is a twenty-something single in NYC. She is so swept up in her daily routine of work, email and google that she barely notices a killer virus spreading […]
October
15
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
posted by Ms A
In times of war, there is a particular light given off by smouldering buildings, smoke and blacked out streets. It is called warlight. A fitting name for a shadowy book about a man trying to piece together memories of his wartime childhood. This story starts in 1945 in London. A mother is living a double […]
August
30
A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
posted by Ms A
Alan is a likeable, but insecure middle-aged business man. He owes money everywhere and is trying to reconcile relationships with his father, daughter and ex-wife. He has a memory for jokes and a problem saying no. I love him. For some perfectly random reason, Alan finds himself in Saudi Arabia to pitch security and IT […]
