One (Wo)man Booker failure

Hm, can one call it a failure if I never actually stated that I would read the entirety of the longlist before the prize was awarded? To be fair, that hasn’t be done yet and only the shortlist is being announced today… Suffice to say, though, I have only read four of this year’s Man [...]

The Book Depository

In the nature of full disclosure, the advertisement you see to the left and the banner below are because I joined the new affiliates scheme for The Book Depository. A few of my favourite bloggers brought this to my attention and I thought it would be a fun way to make some extra pennies! Anybody [...]

Randomness

A friend sent me a panicked message today, “help! what’s that fabulous story where the man turns into the cockroach?” Amidst my laughter at the uncanny timing (having just read and reviewed it), I promptly returned with “”Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. Then ensued an interesting chat ranging from a similar story “Axolotl” by Julio Cortazar; [...]

Baking Banana Bread and Other Stories

Baking Banana Bread and Other Stories makes a quaint title for a collection of short stories, I think; somewhat like Mary Norton’s Bread and Butter Stores (Virago). Alas, it is not a collection that yet exists, nor that I am reviewing but refers to the banana bread I currently have in the oven. It is [...]

What's life without drama?

My book journal tells me that it has been two years since I read any plays. The last drama in my life was Peter Schaffer’s Equus in March 2007, unless you count seeing Spamalot before it ended this January. I used to read (and study) a lot of plays but the only Tennessee WIlliams I [...]