My thanks to Parthian Books for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. Sugar and Slate, originally published in 2002, and now being republished by Parthian Books is academic and author Charlotte Williams’ memoir exploring her search for identity, belonging and home. Born to a White, Welsh mother, and Black Guyanese father, her mixed…
Book Review: Practical Anarchism by Scott Branson #ReadIndies
My thanks to Pluto Press for a review copy of the book via Edelweiss. From my previous (though very limited) experience with reading and looking at the Pluto Press catalogue, I have found titles which push one’s understanding of the themes discussed much beyond popular perceptions. And Practical Anarchism (2022) by Scott Branson is another…
Book Review: Dickens and Travel: The Start of Modern Travel Writing by Lucinda Hawksley
My thanks to Pen & Sword for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. Perhaps the most famous of Victorian writers, Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812–1870) was known for not only for the novels he wrote but also for the many wonderful, whimsical, inimitable and memorable characters he created, the love for Christmas he…
Book Review: Hedy Lamarr by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara and illustrated by Maggie Cole
My thanks to Francis Lincoln Books for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss! Hedy Lamarr is another entry in the Little People, Big Dreams series, and one I was keen to read for two reasons; one because I have been seeing reviews of different books in the series and find them a great…
Book Review: The Battle Cry of the Siamese Kitten (2022) by Philipp Schott
My thanks to ECW Press for a review copy of this book via NetGalley. The Battle Cry of the Siamese Kitten (2022) is the third volume of memoirs/anecdotes by German-born, Canadian veterinary doctor and writer, Dr Philipp Schott (I have previously read and reviewed the second volume, How to Examine a Wolverine, as well…
Book Review: A Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell #DeanStreetDecember
Light-hearted and humorous but also poignant and harrowing, A Chelsea Concerto (1959) is Frances Faviell’s (or Olivia Faviell Lucas’) memoir of the London Blitz. At this time, Faviell, who was an artist (having studied at the Slade School of Art) lived in Chelsea and served as a Red Cross volunteer in various capacities, experiencing both…
Book Revew: The Trauma of Caste by Thenmozhi Soundararajan
My thanks to North Atlantic Books and NetGalley for a review copy of this book. In The Trauma of Caste, Dalit American activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan considers caste discrimination, one of the oldest systems of discrimination in the world, and its horrific and scarring impacts on millions, not only in South Asia with which the system…
Book Review: Ti Amo by Hanne Ørstavik and translated by Martin Aitken #NovNov
My thanks to Archipelago/Steerforth Press for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Ti Amo (2022) is a raw, honest, beautiful, heart-breaking, autobiographical account of a woman whose husband is suffering terminal cancer. Written originally in Norwegian by author Hanne Ørstavik, the version I read is translated brilliantly by Martin Aitken. In Ti Amo,…
Book Review: Montaigne by Stefan Zweig and translated by Will Stone #NovNov #NonfictionNovember #GermanLitMonth
In such epochs where the highest values of life—our peace, our independence, our basic rights, all that makes our existence more pure, more beautiful, all that justifies it—are sacrificed to the demon inhabiting a dozen fanatics and ideologues, all the problems of the man who fears for his humanity come down to the same question:…
Book Review: Father Goose by William Lishman
I had received Father Goose (1995) by William Lishman as a present many years ago, but despite it being about a rather interesting person and subject, I never somehow got down to reading it. But this year, having added it to my #10BooksofSummer list, I finally did. Father Goose is an autobiographical account of William…
Literary Potpourri 