While each year I read dozens of excellent and memorable books, there are few that I feel compelled to reread. There are a handful, though, that I keep coming back to. No doubt the primary reason for re-reading is that these particular books have an emotional appeal. There is the added delight of discovering new … Continue reading Favourite Books
Reading
My Reading – January 2019
Call of the Curlew by Elizabeth Brooks Virginia Wrathmell knows she will walk on the marsh one New Year's Eve, and meet her end there. The Corset by Laura Purcell My sainted mother taught me the seven acts of corporeal mercy: to feed the hungry; refresh the thirsty; clothe the naked; shelter the traveller; visit … Continue reading My Reading – January 2019
2018 – A Year of Reading
For about twenty years now, my goal has been to read a book a week. It is not such a difficult thing to do, but something I seem to be incapable of achieving. I usually manage to read forty-eight books, give or take a couple, each year. In 2017 I reached fifty books but this … Continue reading 2018 – A Year of Reading
My Reading – December 2018
Shell by Kristina Olsson The day the great man sang, heat blazed in haloes over Bennelong Point. The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry No decent story ought to begin with a dead prostitute and for that, apologies, for it is not something upon which respectable persons would desire to dwell. The Ghost Tree … Continue reading My Reading – December 2018
My Reading – November 2018
Graveyard Clay (Cré na Cille) by Máirtín Ó Cadhain. Translated by by Liam Mac Con Iomaire and Tim Robinson I wonder am I buried in the Pound Plot or the Fifteen-Shilling Plot? Or did the devil possess them to dump me in the Half-Guinea Plot, after all my warnings? The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald It … Continue reading My Reading – November 2018
My Reading – October 2018
The Watchers. A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I by Stephen Alford The Spanish ambassador came to St. James's Palace in Westminster on 9 November 1558, a Wednesday, in time for dinner. The Lady of the Tower by Elizabeth St John Her slap shocked me, for until now she dared not strike where … Continue reading My Reading – October 2018
My Reading – September 2018
The Beaufort Bride by Judith Arnopp It is a wild night. Outside the trees are blackened by rain. Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant Dawn is a pale bruise rising in the night sky when, from inside the palace, a window is flung open and a face appears, its features distorted by the firelight thrown … Continue reading My Reading – September 2018
My Reading – August 2018
The Trick to Time by Kim de Waal Five o'clock, Monday morning, there's a purple light far out at sea. The King and the Catholics : the fight for rights 1829 by Antonia Fraser The story begins with violence: in the summer of 1780 London was the scene of the worst riots the city had … Continue reading My Reading – August 2018
My Reading – July 2018
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan They'd driven all the way to Mr Styles's house before Anna realized that her father was nervous. The Women in Black by Madeleine St John At the end of a hot November day Miss Baines and Mrs Williams of the Ladies' Frocks Department at Goode's were complaining to each other … Continue reading My Reading – July 2018
My Reading – June 2018
The Woman in the Shadows by Carol McGrath 'It is a glorious day: the sky a spread of blue with the midsummer sun slowly rising towards its zenith.' The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa 'Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. The daily recital of the Rosary was over.' The Shadow of the Pomegranate … Continue reading My Reading – June 2018
