The cyclical nature of things—of time, of nature, and indeed of manmade things is the subject of Rudyard Kipling’s (1865–1936) ‘Cities and Thrones and Powers’, which also reflects on how then does one live life, with this knowledge that it must eventually end. This poem formed part of his collection, Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906),…
Book Review: The Little Captain by Paul Biegel, translated by Gillian Hume and Paul Biegel and illustrated by Sally Collins
My thanks to Pushkin Press and Edelweiss for a review copy of this book. I have been enjoying exploring Pushkin Press’s vast and interesting list of translated literature from different parts of the globe, and from its children’s catalogue have found especially fun titles from Dutch children’s fiction. I’ve read and loved titles by Tonke…
Shelf Control #194: Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen
Wednesday, the 27th of July, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. To participate, all you do is pick a book from your TBR pile, and write a post about it--what…
Book Review: The Martins by David Foenkinos and translated by Sam Taylor
My thanks to Gallic Books/Consortium Book Sales and Distribution and Edelweiss for a review copy of this book. The Martins is a French novel by author David Foenkinos and translated by Sam Taylor which takes us on an amusing journey with an author writing a book. In the book, our narrator an author, accustomed to…
Book Review: The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
The Box in the Woods (2021) is the fourth of a young adult mystery series, Truly Devious, with the difference from the first three books being that while those formed a connected mystery/set of mysteries, book 4 is a complete book in itself. The Truly Devious series is set around Stephanie ‘Stevie’ Bell, who gets…
Shelf Control #193: Fool Errant by Patricia Wentworth
Wednesday, the 20th of July, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. To participate, all you do is pick a book from your TBR pile, and write a post about it--what…
Book Review: The Game with No Name by L. G. Cunningham
My thanks to the author L.G. Cunningham for a review copy of this book vis BookTasters. The Game with No Name is an imaginative, entertaining and fun children’s (or more specifically middle-grade) horror–fantasy–adventure, likely inspired by Jumanji, but also its own story. In The Game with No Name, twins (not identical) Isabella ‘Izzy’ and Noah…
Book Review: Murder at the Priory Hotel by Merryn Allingham
My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a review copy of this book. Murder at the Priory Hotel is the fourth entry in the Flora Steele series of mysteries by Merryn Allingham set in 1950s England, and one of the few series I’ve kept up with from the start. Flora is a young woman in…
Shelf Control #192: The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai and translated by Lara Vergnaud
Thursday, the 14th of July, and I'm a day late on my Shelf Control post, but posting all the same! Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. It appears every Wednesday. To participate, all you do is pick…
Book Review: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis #Narniathon21
Having fallen rather behind on my reading, I only got down to reading and putting down my thoughts on the final Narnia novel, The Last Battle (1956) rather late. While I had read the other six Narnia books earlier (some more than once), this was my first time reading The Last Battle and it was…
Literary Potpourri 