This sporadic post covering all manner of things I’ve recently read, watched and done is where I hold forth on matters both serious and silly. You are invited along for the ride.
London
Panicked Note!
With all the excitement of Moomin Day and Tove Jansson’s birthday celebrations last Saturday, I neglected to mention I will be away for most of this week, which means no wind up until 23rd August!
BOOK REVIEW: The Stepney Doorstep Society
While the men were at war women ruled the streets. Kate Thompson tells the vivid and moving stories of the matriarchs who remain the backbone of London’s East End to this day.
Winding Up the Week #94
This week we look at books read and reviewed, discover some of the best writing about literature on the blogosphere, look forward to Paul Auster Reading Week and highlight fascinating features from across the Internet.
BOOK REVIEW: Starling Days
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s novel is a grim story of loneliness, isolation and unhappiness, played out between London and New York.
1965 CLUB: The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
Collaborative book blogging: my contribution to the 1965 Club.
THE CLASSICS CLUB: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
I share my thoughts on a collection of twelve short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
DEWITHON WEEK 4: The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by W.H. Davies
As the fourth week of the inaugural Wales Readathon comes to an end, we discuss chapters 22-28 of the official Dewithon 19 book.
BOOK REVIEW: Murder by the Book: The crime that shocked Victorian literary London
A gripping investigation into a crime that scandalized literary London.
THE CLASSICS CLUB: Brave New World
Aldous Huxley’s ingenious fantasy of the future sheds a blazing light on the present and is considered to be his most enduring masterwork.
BOOK REVIEW: Disbanded Kingdom
A 21st-century coming-of-age story, set against the emotive backdrop of the United Kingdom’s breakaway from the European Union and its threatened rupture with Scotland.
THOUGHTS ON: 24 Stories: of Hope for Survivors of the Grenfell Tower Fire
We look at an anthology of short stories written on themes of community and hope by a mix of the UK’s best known writers and previously unpublished authors, whose pieces were chosen by Kathy Burke from over 250 entries.
THOUGHTS ON: Around the World in Eighty Days
One ill-fated evening at the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg rashly bets his companions £20,000 that he can travel around the world in 80 days – and he is determined not to lose!
How to Read a Novel: Week #3
So ends week three of How to Read a Novel, the month-long online course I’m taking courtesy of FutureLearn and the University of Edinburgh.
BOOK REVIEW: Turn a Blind Eye (DI Maya Rahman, #1)
A headmistress is found strangled in her East London school, her death the result of a brutal and ritualistic act of violence. Found at the scene is a single piece of card, written upon which is an ancient Buddhist precept: “I shall abstain from taking the ungiven.”
THOUGHTS ON: The Outrun
Without a doubt, this book has been my favourite read of 2017.