A review of Rosie Garland’s “Vixen”: what happens when we don’t check our beliefs
Book Reviews / British / historical / The Latest

A review of Rosie Garland’s “Vixen”: what happens when we don’t check our beliefs


I read this book on my flight from Switzerland to Australia. Usually long haul flights tend to soften the sparkle of most reading experiences, in fact one could argue that they soften the sparkle of almost every experience. It is something about the snoring, the crying babies… not to mention the recycled stale air and … Continue reading

“Tricky Twenty-Two”: the latest Plum installment from Janet Evanovich
American / Book Reviews / comedy / crime / The Latest

“Tricky Twenty-Two”: the latest Plum installment from Janet Evanovich


The latest Stephanie Plum book, “Tricky Twenty-Two” was released in November this year. I’ve been following the series since book number one, “One For The Money” and every November, which is usually the release month for the Plum series, is like a Crime Fiction Christmas. And so here we are again with another review of … Continue reading

The Not So Elegant Hedgehog: a review of Muriel Barbery’s novel, “The Elegance of the Hedgehog”
Book Reviews / The Latest / translation

The Not So Elegant Hedgehog: a review of Muriel Barbery’s novel, “The Elegance of the Hedgehog”


I feel that I should start this review by saying that I have wanted to read this book for such a long time. After discovering the book, I thought that the title sounded intriguing and I had lots of people recommend the book to me, French and English speakers alike. It seemed to be a … Continue reading

The question of dignity and being a ‘people pleaser’ in Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Remains of the Day”
Book Reviews / British / Japanese / The Latest

The question of dignity and being a ‘people pleaser’ in Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Remains of the Day”


It has already been said that Ishiguro’s novel is a beautiful study of Englishness. The book for me, like all of Ishiguro’s works I have read, is extremely soothing to read. Somehow, Ishiguro has a way with words that not only calms, but also excites the reader. The book spans not only six days of … Continue reading

Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” still speaks to the modern struggles of academia and the pressures to succeed
American / Book Reviews / Classic / nonfiction / The Latest

Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” still speaks to the modern struggles of academia and the pressures to succeed


I recently re-read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. The book has been a favourite of mine, but this time around I really felt the book spoke to me in a way. Academia and I have a complicated relationship. I love to study and learn, and I also love to share that knowledge with fellow … Continue reading

Fluid Identity: what it means to be Bharati Mukherjee’s “Jasmine”
American / Book Reviews / indian / The Latest

Fluid Identity: what it means to be Bharati Mukherjee’s “Jasmine”


“We murder who we were so we can rebirth ourselves in the image of our dreams.” (29) This is, for me, the most powerful sentence in Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine. In this one sentence it summarises the story of the novel by embodying the nature of transcontinental lives and living. The main protagonist in Mukherjee’s novel … Continue reading