Collections

Do you have any collections? Nooooo! My husband has a collection, each in thousands, of vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes, of music I would never listen to. And books, so many books… you know, the paperback sort, which fill the bookshelves and the bookshelves fill the house. I have to keep my books on...

What’s the Oldest Things You’re Wearing Today?

What's the oldest things you're wearing today? My trousers, which I found in the back of my daughter’s wardrobe two years ago. Although they looked very narrow in the waist, they stretch and fit perfectly. They don’t have pockets, however. All garments should have pockets IMO. I’m not sure why I’m writing this, as it’s...

Review of Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D H Lawrence

In 1960 Penguin Books were taken to court under The Obscene Publications Act 1959 for attempting to publish Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which Lawrence had written in 1928 but which had never been published in the UK. Despite Mervyn Griffith-Jones QC famously asking if this were a book we might wish our wives and servants to...

‘A Terrible Kindness’ by Jo Browning Wroe

In 21 October 1966, a coal slag heap fell on top of Pantglas Junior School and neighbouring houses in the small mining village of Aberfan in South Wales, killing 116 children and 28 adults. This is fact. I remember it happening. I can see now the headline in our local paper, lying on a chair...

‘The High Mountains of Portugal’ by Yann Martel

Yes, the high mountains of Portugal do exist, in the north east of the country, but, as the author writes, they are not very high at all. A more exact description of them would be a 'plateau', of scrubland and moor. The book The High Mountains of Portugal falls into three parts, with three different...

CassaStar by Alex Cavanaugh

Buy it here: CassaStar I don't normally do science fiction. When I was a child. at the time of the American missions to the moon, stories about spaceships and fictitious planets were all the rage - amongst the boys - but we girls found it a complete turnoff. A few months ago I said on...

‘Home Truths with Lady Grey’ by Katherine Blessan

What a long time since I posted on Dear Reader! But I have been busy, DR, doing a lot of reading actually. Buy it here: Home Truths with Lady Grey Confessions first. I know Katherine Blessan, well, but my review, as always, will be honest. I bought this in paperback from the bookstall at the...

‘Beyond the Samovar’ by Janet Hancock

'A tale of escape, love and loss' reads the strapline... against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War which followed. You know I have a thing for anything east European? Well, 'Beyond the Samovar' did not disappoint. Livvy and Peter are an English couple, with a baby (George), living in Baku...

Angels and Devils by William Wilson

A thoroughly enjoyable collection of short stories. I couldn't put it down. That's what they all say, isn't it, but, really and truly, I was reading after midnight two nights running. Some of the stories were flash and others some much longer. All carried a punch, many also with a twist. Scenarios ranged from a...

Open One, Get Three… Reviews

‘The Night Manager’ by John Le Carre This novel is set in the 1990s, in the post Cold War era. Jonathan Pine is working as a ‘night manger’ at a posh hotel in Zurich when he finds himself meeting and greeting a VIP visitor, businessman and criminal, Richard Roper, whom he holds responsible for the...