I was kindly sent a review copy of this book by the author, Victor Torvich, for which my thanks. In the many thousands of years human beings (homo sapiens) have inhabited this planet, we have come a long way from cave-dwelling and hunter-gatherer societies to agriculture, industry, technology and now information technology and AI, to…
Shelf Control #294: The Benefactress by Elizabeth Von Arnim
Wednesday, the 23rd of October 2024, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do…
Book Review: The Wolf Hunt (2021/2023) by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (trans. Sondra Silverston)
My thanks to Pushkin Press for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. Pivoted on the parent-child relationship, The Wolf Hunt (2021/2023) by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen is a complex novel which navigates a range of themes including family relationships, identity, belonging, race and racial violence, antisemitism, class and privilege, bullying and possible murder, making for…
Book Review: Rat Race (1970) by Dick Francis #1970Club
A steeplechase jockey who won over 350 races, champion of the British National Hunt, and jockey to the Queen Mother, Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis as he was popularly known went on to also become a journalist and writer of crime novels set in the horse racing world, with over 40 books to his…
Book Review: Fifth Business (1970) by Robertson Davies #1970Club
Chris @ Calmgrove and another friend have long recommended the books of Canadian author Robertson Davies to me but I didn’t seem to get to any so far; I’m glad though, that I finally have managed to with Fifth Business (1970). In addition to being a novelist, Davies was a playwright, critic, journalist, professor and…
Book Review: Fantastic Mr Fox (1970) by Roald Dahl #1970Club
Some of the nastiest and most obnoxious kinds of human beings are found in the books of Roald Dahl—be it the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, the spoiled Veruca Salt, the despotic and cruel Miss Trunchbull or the wealthy and vile Victor Hazell. And though not always so in the real world, in Dahl’s world, these characters…
Book Review: Thorns (2023) by L.H. Kahn
I was kindly sent a review copy of this book by the author Laura Kahn via Booktasters for which my thanks. Dealing with issues of the havoc humans inevitably wreak wherever they go, as also love and acceptance, difference and discrimination, and institutionalised unfairness, Thorns: When Earth Refugees are Aliens (2023) by Laura Kahn is…
Buddy Read: The Exploits of Moominpappa (1950) by Tove Jansson: Chapters 7, 8 and Epilogue
Here we are again with the final part of Emma and my ‘buddy-read’ of The Exploits of Moominpappa. After time spent as ‘colonisers’ on one of Daddy Jones’ Islands, our adventurers are ready to set off again on a new expedition, but before this, the Oshun Oxtra has undergone some renovations, too. In fact, she…
Buddy Read: The Exploits of Moominpappa (1950) by Tove Jansson: Chapters 3 and 4
A new month and a new Moomin book. In case you’ve missed previous posts here on Literary Potpourri or from Emma @WordsandPeace, the two of us have been ‘buddyreading’ the Moomin books since last month, one a month, and sharing our thoughts. This month we’re reading The Exploits of Moominpappa or in its revised version…
Shelf Control #293: Welcome to the Dead House by R.L. Stine
Wednesday, the 25th of September, 2024, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base here to Literary Potpourri. To participate, all you do…
Literary Potpourri 