History “Lessons” with Ian McEwan: A review of McEwan’s latest novel
Book Reviews / British / historical / The Latest

History “Lessons” with Ian McEwan: A review of McEwan’s latest novel

The novel follows the life of Roland Baines, and the novel swaps between Roland’s formative years at an all boys boarding school in the U.K. and his adult life as a single father to his son Lawrence, after his wife disappears one day. Continue reading

5 Life and Writing Lessons From A World Famous Author
Book Reviews / Japanese / nonfiction / The Artistic Process / The Latest / writing

5 Life and Writing Lessons From A World Famous Author

His latest work though is a very different kind of book. Instead of creating worlds in a well or alternate universes through tunnels, Murakami has released a book about his experiences as a career author, and in it, he details all the highs and lows of what it is really like to write books for over 35 years. In this book, he talks about each section being a speech rather than an essay or memoir, and I feel like that is perhaps the best way to think of this book. It does feel like Murakami is talking to you – delivering a speech at a graduation or event. Considering that Murakami rarely makes public appearances, he does this kind of speech writing well. Continue reading

A Review of “Isaac and the Egg”: Magic realism and grief
Book Reviews / British / The Latest

A Review of “Isaac and the Egg”: Magic realism and grief

This post contains affiliate links. Purchasing something through one of these links means I might make a very small commission. This helps me fund my blog. If you you would like to support in other ways, then please feel free to share this post with your friends or on your social media. When I started … Continue reading

Review of Niall Williams “This Is Happiness”: when the rain stops in Faha
Book Reviews / Irish / The Latest

Review of Niall Williams “This Is Happiness”: when the rain stops in Faha

When a telephone gets installed in Noe’s home, people line up to call loved ones from afar. However, the telephone calls are not really considered private. And indeed, many of the villagers feel that writing things down and sending letters is much more intimate and personal. Continue reading

A Review of “Shuggie Bain”: the lingering effects of poverty
Book Reviews / Scottish / The Latest

A Review of “Shuggie Bain”: the lingering effects of poverty

This article contains some affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I might get a small commission. It helps me a lot because I run and pay for this blog completely by myself. If you love what I do, but don’t like affiliate links, then you can always give me money directly … Continue reading

The Endless Pursuit of Chasing Your Dreams: A book review of William Boyd’s “Trio”
Book Reviews / British / Scottish / The Latest

The Endless Pursuit of Chasing Your Dreams: A book review of William Boyd’s “Trio”

This article contains affiliate links. These links don’t cost anything extra for you, but if you click on the link and buy a book through these links I can make a very small commission. This helps me keep my tiny blog afloat. Trio by William Boyd has been one of those books that has grown … Continue reading

Literary Olympics: The best literary fiction books of 2020-2021
Book Reviews / Opinion Pieces / reading / The Latest

Literary Olympics: The best literary fiction books of 2020-2021

The Olympics just finished up in Tokyo, Japan. It has been, to say the very least, a very strange time. On the one hand, my brain can’t seem to comprehend that we even had an Olympics given the current state of the world right now, and then, on the other hand, I also understand the importance of having something ‘normal’.

With all that said, I wanted to have some light-hearted fun and do the 2020-2021 Book Olympics! Continue reading

Brexit Literature: a complete review of Jonathan Coe’s “The Rotters’ Club” trilogy including “Middle England”
Book Reviews / British / The Latest

Brexit Literature: a complete review of Jonathan Coe’s “The Rotters’ Club” trilogy including “Middle England”

Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. Clicking through for additional information or to make a purchase may result in a small commission. This post as been a long time coming and I am so glad to be able to finally review all three of Jonathan Coe’s novels from his accidental trilogy, The Rotters’ Club. … Continue reading

“Boy Swallows Universe”: Housos, casual violence, and courage in Trent Dalton’s debut novel
Australian / The Latest

“Boy Swallows Universe”: Housos, casual violence, and courage in Trent Dalton’s debut novel

Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. Clicking through for additional information or to make a purchase may result in a small commission. This was the first book I bought after arriving back in Australia in October 2019. It is hard to miss this book; it has won quite a few literary awards, is in … Continue reading