Title: Assassin’s ApprenticeAuthor: Robin HobbPublisher: Harper VoyagerDate: 2014 (1995)Genre: FantasySummary: In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the… Continue reading Book Review: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Title: Cards on the TableAuthor: Agatha ChristiePublisher: HarperCollinsDate: 2016 (1936)Genre: Crime & Mystery / ClassicsSummary: A flamboyant party host is murdered in full view of a roomful of bridge players… Mr Shaitana was famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless, he was a man of whom everybody was a little afraid. So, when he boasted to… Continue reading Book Review: Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
Today’s post is a mini-review of Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý! I intended for these ‘International Booker Prize 2021’ posts to be longer than my usual reviews but I just didn’t have much to say about this one. Title: WretchednessAuthor: Andrzej TichýTranslator: Nichola SmalleyPublisher: And Other StoriesDate: 2020 (2016)Genre: FictionSummary: Waiting by the canal in Malmö,… Continue reading Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý – International Booker Prize 2021 Longlist
Title: London Labour and the London PoorAuthor: Henry MayhewPublisher: Oxford University PressDate: 2012 (1861)Genre: Non-Fiction / JournalismSummary: By turns alarming, touching, and funny, the pages of London Labour and the London Poor exposed a previously hidden world. Henry Mayhew conducted hundreds of interviews that provided a first-hand account of costermongers and street-sellers, of sewer-scavengers and chimney-sweeps,… Continue reading Book Review: London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew
At the end of March, I decided that I was going to read the entire International Booker Prize 2021 longlist before the end of the year. These posts, like some of my WHM posts, are going to be a strange hybrid of book reviews and research posts. The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard (translated… Continue reading The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard – International Booker Prize 2021 Longlist
Title: HousekeepingAuthor: Marilynne RobinsonPublisher: Faber and FaberDate: 2005 (1980)Genre: FictionSummary: Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and Lucille, orphans growing up in the small desolate town of Fingerbone in the vast northwest of America. Abandoned by a succession of relatives, the sisters find themselves in the care of Sylvie, the remote and enigmatic sister of their… Continue reading Book Review: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Title: Invisible CitiesAuthor: Italo CalvinoTranslator: William WeaverPublisher: Vintage ClassicsDate: 2019 (1972)Genre: FictionSummary: As Marco tells the khan about Armilla, which “has nothing that makes it seem a city, except the water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be and spread out horizontally where the floors should be,” the spider-web city of Octavia, and other… Continue reading Book Review: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Title: MortAuthor: Terry PratchettPublisher: CorgiDate: 2012 (1987)Genre: FantasySummary: Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. After being assured that being dead was not compulsory, Mort accepted. However, he soon found that romantic longings did not mix easily with the responsibilities of being Death’s apprentice… Mort is the fourth… Continue reading Book Review: Mort by Terry Pratchett
Title: Murder in MesopotamiaAuthor: Agatha ChristiePublisher: HarperCollinsDate: 2015 (1936)Genre: Crime & Mystery / ClassicsSummary: An archaeologist’s wife is murdered on the shores of the River Tigris in Iraq… It was clear to Amy Leatheran that something sinister was going on at the Hassanieh dig in Iraq; something associated with the presence of ‘Lovely Louise’, wife of celebrated… Continue reading Book Review: Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
Title: Frenchman’s CreekAuthor: Daphne du MaurierPublisher: Virago Modern ClassicsDate: 2015 (1941)Genre: Historical Fiction / ClassicsSummary: Lady Dona St Columb seems to revel in scandal; she is involved in every intrigue of the Restoration Court. But secretly, the shallowness of Court life disgusts her, and in her heart she longs for freedom and honest love. Retreating to Navron, her… Continue reading Book Review: Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
