Claire’s Corner

Have you seen Nymeth’s 1930s Mini-Challenge? I require no additional encouragement to read from the time period (I love inter-war literature) so I shall definitely be participating, especially when all that is required is to read one book during a three month period (beginning this week), which helpfully overlaps with Persephone Reading Week. Excluding those [...]

Showing Fervour for Fevvers

Just before Christmas last year I participated in Aarti of Booklust’s wonderful Rosie’s Riveters feature, before it came to an end. I hope that Aarti doesn’t mind me recycling that post; I was inspired by a survey posted by My Friend Amy today: What Books Do You Wish Everyone Would Read? It will, I hope, [...]

Black Venus by Angela Carter

Black Venus was Angela Carter’s third collection (the fourth, American Ghosts and Old World Wonders was published posthumously in 1993), published in 1985 (it is entitled Saints and Strangers in the U.S.). I like it more than the early, experimental Fireworks (reviewed here) but less than the inventive, fairy-tale dependent, The Bloody Chamber. Black Venus [...]

A Single Man

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood is set in California during a single day in 1962 and concerns George, a grieving middle-aged English college professor, in th e aftermath of the death of his partner, Jim. A tender and stark evocation of grief, A Single Man is also exceptionally perceptive and was one of the [...]

Recent Acquisitions

Alarmingly my recent acquisition posts seem to be occurring once a week, which indicates to me that there are too many books arriving at Paperback Reader headquarters. If I only read 2-3 books a week then surely 6 coming through the letter-box is a little more than I can manage to read if it continues [...]

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