'Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.' It has long been the opinion of at least some authorities on the English novel …
Category: Book Review
ARIADNE
by Jennifer Saint 'What do you imagine the wedding of an Olympian god to be like? The bridal pair descending in a chariot of clouds, pulled by silver horses?' Ariadne - library edition The author's debut novel, Ariadne is a retelling of an old Greek myth or, more correctly, two, maybe three, intertwined myths. First, …
A Song for the Dark Times
by Ian Rankin 'The face was turned away from him, the body twisted and still. Rebus knew a corpse when he saw one - and knew a likely crime scene, too.' Rankin's John Rebus stories are always fun to read, and this one is no exception. Of course, Rebus is now officially retired, but he …
The Evening and the Morning
by Ken Follett 'A moment later [Edgar] realized he was looking at something even worse than a monster: it was a Viking ship, with a dragon head at the tip of its long curved prow.' It is more than thirty years since Ken Follett published Pillars of the Earth, his first successful full length historical …
In the Name of Religion
The City of Tears by Kate Mosse A Review 'The assassin watched the whore sway, then saw the blossoming of red on green as she fell. He exhaled then relaxed his shoulders. He could not be sure she was mortally wounded but it was a palpable hit. Thanks be to God, his shot had found …
Hogwarts #7#
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling Harry Potter Hogwarts House Editions I think I may have written previously that I am collecting these special editions of the Harry Potter novels for my two granddaughters. Although they are still too young to read them, I am happy to announce that the collection of …
Germany
Memories of a Nation by Neil MacGregor 'What are the sounds of Germany? Most people's list would probably include, in ascending volume, and growing numbers, a Bach cantata, a Beethoven symphony, a Wagner opera and - loudest of all - the roar of the crowds as Germany wins the World Cup .... But just as …
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir 'I think my job is to solve the Petrova problem . . . . in a small lab, wearing a bedsheet toga, with no idea who I am, and no help other than a mindless computer and two mummified roommates.' In Project Hail Mary, Dr Ryland Grace is a thirty-something high school …
Hamnet
by Maggie O'Farrell 'A boy is coming down a flight of stairs. The passage is narrow and twists back on itself. He takes each step slowly....' After The Tale of Genji, Hamnet is a nice, easy read. Based on the life, and death, of the only son of William Shakespeare, it is a fictionalised account …
The Tale of Genji
by Murasaki Shikibu English translation by Arthur Waley ‘At the court of an emperor (he lived it matters not when) there was among the many gentlewomen of the Wardrobe and Chamber one, though she was not of very high rank was favored far beyond all the rest.’ For a reader in the West, The …
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