Just as I prefer not to read from a kindle (for me, there is something incomplete about the experience of reading like that, no turning of pages or feeling the weight of the book move from one hand to the other as you read…) I was not drawn to the idea of an audiobook. That is, […]
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The Mitford Girls by Mary S. Lovell Opening sentence: “Sydney Bowles was fourteen years old when she first set eyes on David Freeman Mitford.” I really can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading this book. When a biography feels like a novel – in its tone, structure, plot development and engrossing story arcs of […]
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The Girls by Emma Cline Opening sentence: “I looked up because of the laughter and kept looking because of the girls.” I knew that this novel took inspiration from Charles Manson and his cult of followers who notoriously killed 7 people in the summer of 1969, including actress Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski. […]
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The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave Opening sentence: “They say the day the Governor arrived, the ravens did too.” Set on the fictional island of Joya, this enticing Young Adult book is told from the point of view of 13-year-old Isabella. It has had quite a lot of hype since its release […]
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The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion Opening sentence: “I may have found a solution to the Wife Problem.” One of the few novels I’ve read that I can apply the phrase ‘heart-warming’ to. If you don’t finish this book with a huge grin on your face and a warm glow, then you, my friend, are […]
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A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Opening sentence: “The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.” This blog got its name from the place I do most of my reading – the 7:47am train on the way to work. One morning this week the trains gave me (what in the past would have […]
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I, of course, do not mean my title literally – the whole point of library books is that you cannot keep them forever (the fine would be extortionate) but I mean it in the sense that I think libraries are one of the greatest services this country has. When I was at primary school, […]
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