Recent Acquisitions

My latest acquisitions have been accumulating in a couple of piles over the last few weeks and are a mixture of books bought and sent. The Viragoes at the top were both one and the other; the stunning lilac edition of Janet Frame short stories was kindly sent by Sophie of Virago (please have a [...]

Precious by Sapphire

Precious by Sapphire is a book -and adapted film – that is emotionally draining; I hasten to use the word “harrowing” as I know it is a word that can immediately deter readers of novels from a blurb, but it is a story of social deprivation; child abuse and molestation; incest; teenage pregnancy; sexual disease; [...]

Books, Red Wine and Chocolate

When I’m reading I do like doing it with a cuppa and some chocolate; I have also been known to have a glass of wine in one hand and a book in the other. When I was given the opportunity to review chocolate with red wine, it was an offer I could not decline. I [...]

Claire’s Corner

The latest installments of The Bloomsbury Group series -complete with vibrantly coloured covers- arrived at Paperback Reader abode today (published in the UK July 5th). The one I am most excited about reading is the double-header photographed above: Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York (or, And Other Adventures, as [...]

The Orange Juice

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (published by Faber) has won the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction. Have you read it? I have a copy on hand to read but haven’t managed to yet; truth be told, I was uninspired by the shortlist this year and some of the remaining longlisted titles were calling to me [...]

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