Ongoing Thoughts on the TV Show A couple of weeks ago, I prefaced my review of Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth with a few comments on His Dark Materials, the drama currently being shown on the BBC. Even without seeing the final episode of Series 1, I can say that nothing the writer and producers …
Before It’s Too Late
by Jane Isaac A Review 'A wet sponge touched my nose. I threw my eyes open. It was not a sponge. I shuddered, darted back. A rat.' It is always good to read a novel set in places one knows quite well. Before It's Too Late is one such story, a police procedural thriller based …
The Daemon’s in all of us!
The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman A Review Like many other fans of the original trilogy - and already well into The Secret Commonwealth - I sat down three weeks ago to watch the BBC's production of His Dark Materials. At lunchtime on the following day, I discussed it with a friend. Of course, it …
The Testaments
by Margaret Atwood A Review 'Just look at Tirzah! She sits there, With her strands of vagrant hair; See her down the sidewalk stride, Head held high and full of pride. See her catch the guardian's glance, Tempt him to sinful circumstance. Never does she change her way, Never does she kneel to pray! Soon …
One Day At A Time
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton A Review 'As with Bell, my skin prickles when I see Ravencourt in the mirror. Some part of me remembers my real face and is perplexed by this stranger staring back.' This novel was a 'left-over' from my recent holiday. Having been warned that it was …
In Black and White [3]
Early Keyboards [Hydraulis, Organ and Clavichord] by Andrew G Lockhart The hydraulis was invented in Alexandria by a talented engineer called Ctesibius, probably an Egyptian. However, at the time, Alexandria was a Greek city, the centre of Hellenic learning and culture, and whatever the inventor’s nationality, the organ is claimed as a Greek invention. By …
Forthcoming Reviews
It seems ages since I last wrote on WordPress. I had to take some time off to deal with important domestic matters and - just as important - to have a holiday! I'm back now, and with lots of great books to read and review. Here are some of the novels and non fiction works …
In Black and White (2)
Genesis of the Piano [A Fusion of Sounds] by Andrew G Lockhart The piano combines keyboard and strings in a unique way. As a keyboard instrument, it has much in common with the harpsichord and organ. But open up all three and the similarities fade. True, both harpsichord and piano have strings. However, the arrangement …
Millennium No.6
The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz (trans. George Goulding) 'She laid a hand on the Beretta in its holster and felt herself pitched into the same icy cold as when she threw the petrol-filled milk carton at her father.' This is David Lagercrantz's third excursion into the world of Larsson's zany heroine, Lisbeth …
Sepulchre
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse 'Enfin. At last. Meredith heard the word as if she'd spoken herself. It was so sharp, so loud, that she turned around, thinking that perhaps a person had come in behind her. There was no one there. Things shifting between past and present.' I first read this novel several years ago …
Magda Green Books 