Reviews of Books
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Oct 31st, 2012
I have read The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House which made me keen to read Ms Summerscale’s next work. I checked out a large print version from the library and there wasn’t any images – were the images in the normal version? Anyway, this was quite a fascinating story. Did [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Nov 19th, 2011
I read a review of this book somewhere (probably The Australian Review) and thought it sounded interesting and then I found a copy on sale at Borders – it was meant to be. The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws is an original and brilliant work. Margaret Drabble weaves her own story [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Feb 1st, 2011
Firstly, this is a beautiful book. The pages are thick and the photographs and illustrations (by Karl Lagerfeld) are beautiful. This was an accessible and easy to read biography. Each chapter covers a different phase/aspect of Chanel’s life. The information is well-grouped and draws attention to recurring patterns in her life that might have been [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Sep 30th, 2010
I chose to read this book because I read about the necessity of 10 000 hours of practice to master something; music, computer programming etc, and I was intrigued. Gladwell has a very accessible and entertaining style. Here is the blurb … Why do some people achieve so much more than others? Can they lie [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction on Feb 8th, 2010
This was one of my husband’s Christmas presents and I thought I would read it too. I’ve never been particularly interested in economics – I studied it at school and that was enough. However, this book is fun and interesting almost makes me want to go back and study economics. Although it appears microeconomics rather [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Dec 30th, 2009
I picked this book up from here while looking for a Christmas present for my Sister in Law (I don’t think I did very well on the christmas present). Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on my shelves, I encountered dozens of others that I had never read, or forgotten I owned, [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Jun 11th, 2009
I haven’t read much True Crime. I’ve read Helen Garner’s Joe Cinque’s Consolation - which was fabulous. Helen Garner is brutally honest about herself and her motivations. She is very much part of the story she tells. Kate Summerscale doens’t intrude into the story at all. It is written in a lovely conversational tone – very [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended, Serious on Dec 3rd, 2008
I liked this book. Ms Foreman combines an easy reading style with scholarly research. If you are at all interested in 18th Century History, Social History, Political History, then you should definitely read this book.
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Sep 8th, 2008
I’m a parent (if you didn’t know), so I read this book. It is great – a very easy read and it will make you feel better about your children spending hours playing in the sandpit or mixing all of their puzzle pieces up because the pieces are really lollies and they’re having a tea [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction on Aug 18th, 2008
I went to The Well for a book signing by Geraldine Brooks and while waiting I picked up a copy of the above – she was so late I had to leave before she arrived. I put in my pile of ‘to be read later’ books. This month, however, for book club we decided to [...]