Bitter experience has proven to me never judge a book by the reviews – especially those squeezed onto every spare bit of book real-estate, each one screaming ‘read this’. More than once I answered those siren calls, and after some pretty big disappointments I had decided – once and for all – my ego simply couldn’t take picking up these kinds of best sellers […]
April
21
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
posted by Ms K
If there was an award handed out to someone taking the longest time to finish a book, I’d win it hands-down. I have been beavering away at this one for m.o.n.t.hs! Poor Ms A has been galloping through her books while I could only reply to her inquisitive emails about my progress with ‘nope, still going’. I don’t know who’ll […]
April
15
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
posted by Ms A
Helen Oyeyemi is a bit of a British literary indie sensation with awards left, right and centre and an ability to interview as beautifully as she writes. Just Google her and you will see what I mean. Suffice to say, I had to read one of her books to see what all the fuss was […]
March
28
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
posted by Ms A
Apologies in advance to all the Margaret Atwood fans out there and to the beautiful friend who gave me a copy of her latest book. This review isn’t pretty. After just finishing The Heart Goes Last (a massive personal achievement that cannot be understated) I am getting off the Atwood express and calling for a worldwide derailment. […]
March
22
The Women’s Pages by Deborah Adelaide
posted by Ms K
There is a particular walk I get when I leave a shop with a newly purchased book I can’t wait to read…..it’s part jaunt, part quickstep with an occasional sashay – and it must look very odd to passersby I grant you. But when I picked up acclaimed author Deborah Adelaide’s new offering, my ‘new-book walk’ […]
March
15
The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida
posted by Ms K
Like a pig that can sniff out a truffle, I reckon we, Ms A and Ms K, can sniff out a book that is ripe to be made into a movie. Big call I know but we do have a track record, Readheads. Lots of those book-to-movie titles that pop up at your local Hoyts, yep, we sniffed those […]
March
03
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
posted by Ms A
Who’d have thought Barak Obama’s favourite book of 2015 would start with a sex scene? I’m talking about a green bikini, sand dunes and a couple of newlyweds – literally first page. Beyond the beach, Fates and Furies is contemporary literature at its best with language that is original, multi-layered and downright clever. Add characters that are strong, […]
February
23
Never Mind by Edward St Aubyn
posted by Ms A
I’m suspicious of the word “masterpiece” on the cover of a book. Just like the word miracle on a moisturiser, I should know better by now. In this case I was persuaded by a trusted and highly enthusiastic assistant at one of my favourite bookshops. I don’t want to name names but I am pretty sure […]
February
16
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
posted by Ms K
If you have been wanting to read Go Set a Watchman but have hesitated because you have not read To Kill A Mockingbird, please don’t panic. It doesn’t matter. I confess to being one of a handful of people on the planet who hasn’t read To Kill a Mockingbird (I’m a fool I know and not […]
February
01
One Life (My Mother’s Story) by Kate Grenville
posted by Ms A
This is the story of Nance Russell – Kate Grenville’s much adored mother who died in 2002. Grenville wrote this memoir of Nance’s life based on notes, diary entries and letters she found years after her death. She writes “My mother wasn’t the sort of person biographies are usually written about….Just the same, I think […]
