Writing Blog
Book review: The Devil Wears Prada
This is one of the book turned movie novels that I’ve only gotten around to reading recently. I enjoyed this movie, but had never thought to pick up the book. I only read it recently, and I’m glad I did. With summer upon us (today!), this is a great summer read. Andie is a recent…
Read MoreNovels turned short stories
“Lots of short stories are actually the first chapters of novels.” —Pat Barker A nice observation on short stories by a contemporary British novelist. It says something about the lure of short stories, that readers are often left wanting more. Even a short story leaves readers invested in their characters, and sometimes wanting to follow…
Read MoreBook review : Fog Island
I picked up this novel for the same reason I suspect many other readers did. I read the author biography, and was curious to see how the author would handle a thriller set in a modern-day cult. The novel’s author, Mariette Lindstein, is a Swede who spent twenty years in Scientology, including years at their…
Read MoreOur terrible, horrible, no good, very bad May
A nod to Alexander of the beloved children’s story, but even poor Alexander only had to suffer through one bad day. We’ve had a whole month of awful days. Cold. Grey skies. Rain. Lots and lots of rain. In Rome, May is one of our most beautiful months, but not this year. Think London with…
Read MoreWomen’s Prize for Fiction 2019 shortlist out!
Yes, it’s that time of year again. The formerly Orange prize/formerly Bailey’s Prize/currently Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019 shortlist has been announced. I haven’t read any of these, so I have a lot to look forward to in coming months. I always pick a few new reads off this annual shortlist of female authors worldwide.…
Read MoreBook review: The Great Alone
I didn’t love the only novel I’d read by author Kristin Hannah, The Winter Garden. To me, it seemed a pale copy to Helen Dunmore’s much more impressive The Siege. But I was intrigued by the storyline of The Great Alone and decided to take a chance on this novel. I’m glad I did. I…
Read MoreBook review: The Rosie Project
I enjoyed reading The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, an amusing, lighthearted novel about a highly intelligent but socially awkward man who has devised a ‘foolproof’ test for finding a wife. I always have a soft spot for novels about social misfits, and Professor Tillman fit the bill perfectly. What is perhaps most interesting about…
Read MoreMarch travels to Alaska, North Korea, Australia, Dubai & NY
Although I am an avid traveller, I am neither an airline pilot nor an international spy (even if both professions sound rather intriguing…) I did travel to all these places last month, but alas, only on the written page. And isn’t that the point of novels? To transport us around the world, to different periods…
Read MoreBeach reading season 2019 officially begins…
Last weekend was the first weekend of spring. The sun was shining. The temperatures were rising. And a trip to the beach was far too tempting… My younger son and I took off to one of our favorite beach hangouts south of Rome – the beautiful, medieval beach town of Sperlonga. And …. it was…
Read MoreBook review: Middle England
I somehow missed this novel by Jonathan Coe, and only learned about it when a colleague suggested I read it, and lent me her copy. This novel is set in London and ‘Middle England’, which I learned to be Birmingham, opens in 2010, in the wake of the worldwide financial crisis, and as London is…
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