Category: Books
Childhood, Youth, Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen – Book Review
This trilogy of autobiographical novellas from one of Denmark’s best-known poets and writers is one of the most striking memoirs I’ve read, reflecting on life, art and addiction with remarkable, matter-of-fact clarity and honesty.
Quote of the Day – Writing
“You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn’t care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can’t be a way of life – the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.“
— Doris Lessing
Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie – Book Review
An enjoyable stand-alone collection of short stories featuring one of Christie’s lesser known detectives.
Top Ten Tuesday – Places of Worship Around the World I Visited
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is a Non-book Freebie! My list was inspired by the recent classical concert at Melbourne’s St Paul’s Cathedral, and is dedicated to the memorable cathedrals, churches, temples and mosques I visited on my travels. I decided to limit to one place per country, otherwise nearly half of my list would just be Italy.
Though I’m not a believer myself, I’ve always enjoyed religious buildings, for their historical and artistic value as well as their atmosphere of peace and reaching out to something greater beyond. I have fond memories of my grandmother taking me to a Russian Orthodox church when I was little, where I listened to the choir and looked at the beautiful frescoes of angels and saints.
Top Ten Tuesday – Book Covers with Animals
I haven’t done the bookish lists from That Artsy Reader Girl in a while, so I thought I’d jump back in with this week’s fun topic, Covers with Animals On Them. I deliberately decided to exclude domestic cats, since it would be all too easy for me to get carried away and make an all-feline list.
Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie – Book Review
My Christie re-readathon keeps coming up with pleasant surprises. I’ve never read these loosely linked short stories before, but the last Tommy and Tuppence book on my list turned out to be the most enjoyable one in the series.
Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner – Book Review
This razor-sharp, shrewdly observed novel about marriage, divorce and middle-age malaise provoked a whole range of reactions in me. I was engrossed at first, then a tad frustrated, and finally appreciative when I realised what a clever Trojan horse of a story it really was.
While the Light Lasts by Agatha Christie – Book Review
A collection of early short stories that I suspect would only be of interest to diehard Christie devotees and completists.
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe – Book Review
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