Following my two-week hiatus, I look at books recently read and reviewed, discover standout literary writing across the blogosphere, keep pace with a host of anniversaries (including the birthdays of William Butler Yeats, Dorothy L. Sayers and Harriet Beecher Stowe), revisit past posts ripe for rediscovery and highlight fascinating features from around the Internet.
Carmen Maria Machado’s absorbing and brilliantly unorthodox account of an abusive relationship is due for publication in the UK on 2nd January 2020.
A glimpse into a complex situation through the eyes of a naive young woman who discovers a country, makes friends, falls in love and is confronted with the plight of the Palestinians.
An uplifting exploration of the power of books to shape our lives in an era of constant connectivity.
A deft, dazzling, diligently researched debut about a literary icon and his beautiful, wealthy, spoiled Swans.
A dip-in doorstop filled with risqué anecdotes, humorous stories, unintended hilarity and intriguing revelations.
Its publication date scheduled to coincide with International Women’s Day, Julia Pierpont’s The Little Book of Feminist Saints is a joyous celebration of one hundred women who achieved something of significance during their lives.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is remembered above all for creating a monster – the grotesque but perceptive creature from her 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
Without a doubt, this book has been my favourite read of 2017.
Tove Jansson, author of the Moomins and one of the great idiosyncratic talents of the 20th century, must surely have found her ideal biographer in Boel Westin.