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Book Review: Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan
Rating: πππππ Genre: Fiction, Coming of Age Novel, Historical Novel. Publisher: Faber & Faber Review in one word: Halcyon (and On and On) *Contains no spoilers This is both an unsentimental and deeply emotional novel, a book about past, present and future friendship set over the course of 30 years. It’s beautifully written, witty, funny and like a sweeping,β¦
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Book Review: Featherweight by Mick Kitson
Rating: πππππ Genre: Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Outsider Fiction. Publisher: Canongate Review in one word: Triumphant *Contains no spoilers Annie Perry is an indomitable, strong and likeable main character. She is born into the muddy drudgery and coal mines of Tipton in the Black Country during the Industrial Revolution. Annie is born into an extremely poor Romi family andβ¦
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Book Review: The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
The surreal tale of a 100 year old man named Allan Karlsson who on his 100th birthday abandons his drooling and dottery compadres in a retirement home and skips town for an intriguing and unexpected adventure. Rating: πππππ Genre: Fiction, Adventure, Black Comedy, Thriller, Action. Publisher: Picador Review in one word: Playful Loads has been written about this book.β¦
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Book Review: Elmet by Fiona Mozley
A dark, crepuscular and gripping Yorkshire thriller about family and loyalty that is timeless, lyrical and immensely satisfying. Rating: ππππ Genre: Fiction, Gothic Noir, Yorkshire Noir, Thriller Publisher: Algonquin Books Review in one word: Stygian This debut book by Fiona Mozley was short-listed to win the Booker Prize in 2017 and it is easy to see why. This bookβ¦
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Book Review: Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed. Sixteen writers on the decision to not have kids
Rating: πππ Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology, Women’s Writing, Feminism, Family, Relationships. Publisher: Picador Review in one word: Provocative This book is designed to be confronting, provocative, emotional and stirring in all of the ways that many people don’t like to discuss in polite conversation. That’s because it tackles one of the most (ridiculously) controversial taboo topicsβ¦
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Book Review: Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems Vol. 1
Spiritually nourishing and grounded in the slow rumblings of nature and animals, Mary Oliver’s poems are a salve for the restless and jaded soul. Her poems are steeped in the luminescent beauty of nature and timeless wisdom of land and animals, yet she always has her bare feet planted deeply in the soil Rating: πππππ Genre: Poetry,β¦
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Book Review: The Book of Symbols by the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS)
The Book of Symbols is a masterpiece of art history, philosophy, mysticism, psychology, anthropology, biology and spirituality. It brings together the history of various symbols, concepts and objects from many cultures and civilisations.
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Book Review: Real Love – The Art of Mindful Connection by Sharon Salzberg
One of the most erudite, spiritually nourishing and comprehensive books on the topic of love – of self, others and the world. Encompassing romantic and platonic love, familial love, friendship and more, by one of the world’s foremost experts on Loving Kindness Meditation. Rating:Β ππππ Genre:Β Non-Fiction, Spirituality, Psychology, Buddhism, Self-Help Publisher:Β Flatiron books Review in one word:Β Helpfulβ¦
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Book Review: A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit
A Field Guide to Getting Lost is a collection of loosely related essays that expand upon the idea of wandering, being lost and our human sense of the unknown. The essays are insightful, vivid and at times slow-moving. This is a mosaic of cultural history, autobiography, nature writing and artistic criticism that roves far andβ¦
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Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Rating: ππ Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction. Publisher: Canongate Books Review in one word: Fluff A lot of people raved and hyped about this book and a friend recommended this to me, because he spent a long night in the cafe reading it. This is an indulgent, compulsive and enjoyable read, sort of likeβ¦
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Book Review: Auspicious Animals, The Art of Good Omens by Jun’ichi Uchiyama
If you have ever looked at a Japanese silk screen print or sculpture and wondered what the cranes, monkeys or bears mean…this book is for you! I found this beautiful book in an art gallery and decided that, despite the hefty price-tag, I simply had to own it! This elegant coffee table book charts theβ¦
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Book Review: The Secret Language of Animals by Janine M Benyus
An exquisite reference guide to the behaviour of animals, written without clinical distance but instead a warm, familial, empathic understanding of our sentient non-human cousins. Five stars.
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Book Review: Mystical Journey Oracle by Tennessee Charpentier
A sublimely beautiful deck of cards and book that provokes deep contemplation, meditation and clarity on one’s life path and future possibilities. Even if you don’t believe in the woo-woo of reading oracles or cards, you will still enjoy the stunning paintings by French artist Tenessee Charpetier and the deep accompanying storytelling of the book.β¦
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Book Review: Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung
Rating: ππππ Publisher: Black Inc Books Genre: Non-fiction, autobiography, Australian history, SE Asia. Review in one word: Witty This is vivid story of a family of migrants who flee from the killing fields of Cambodia to the inner west of Melbourne to find sanctuary in the early 80’s. Told from the perspective of the narratorβ¦
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Book Review: The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
Rating: ππππ Publisher: Faber & Faber Genre: Fiction, Psychological thriller, Literary Fiction. Review in one word: Subconscious Originally published in Dutch and winning the Man Booker International Prize in 2018, Lucas Rijneveld’s debut novel captures in bloody, beastly and corporeal detail the lives of a dysfunctional farming family in the rural Netherlands, some time inβ¦
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