Best reading/writing sites
Kinga at the Book Snob has a great post listing the 21 best sites about reading and writing. Along with well-known ones like Goodreads and London Review of…
Happy Birthday, Amnesty!
This weekend marks the 50th birthday of Amnesty International, an organisation I’ve been a member of since I was a teenager. It…
“Letter to D” by André Gorz
D is André Gorz’s 82-year-old, terminally ill wife, and this short book is a letter written to her about a year before…
“Death At Intervals” by Jose Saramago
I love the premise of this book. One day, in a particular country, people stop dying. They still get old, get sick,…
Luke Bitmead’s birthday
I had a message today from the mother of Luke Bitmead, the Legend Press novelist who died tragically young. 13th May is…
Admitting defeat
I don’t often admit defeat when I’m reading. I tend to slog away to the end of a book, even if I’m not enjoying it much. Partly this…
“Saturday” by Ian McEwan
Not my favourite McEwan – that is Atonement by a long way. This was OK, a more meditative book, full of long…
“Evening is the Whole Day” by Preeta Samarasan
Update: I interviewed Preeta Samarasan about this book and her writing in general – to listen to the interview, click here. This…
“Written on the Body” by Jeanette Winterson
There is a lot of beauty in this book. Every sentence is like a poem. You can feel the care and attention…