Books

In a world where many feel justice is scant and those in power or with the means to insulate themselves from consequence seem to get off scot-free far more than they don’t, there’s something intrinsically compelling about mystery and crime novels that often the reader the chance to experience the Continue Reading

In a world beset by a myriad of challenges right now, most notably COVID-19 and climate change, throwing yourself deep into the expansive surrounds of a brilliantly-written soap opera can be the panacea for a host of reality-driven ills. If you feel the need for such a diversionary road, you Continue Reading

As a people, and even in the face of all evidence to the contrary, we like to believe that things can be as good as our daydreams. We see families as Norman Rockwell paintings of domestic perfection, Christmas as a uniform time of seamless joy and warm-spirited harmony and love, Continue Reading

How well do we really know those closest to us? There’s an assumption in many families that because we share the same bonds, and often times, the same space, that we must implicitly know what’s going with those nearest and dearest to us; after all, family is the closest thing Continue Reading

Humanity has evinced a sustained proclivity for being, well, human, no matter what momentous technological change throws at us. It doesn’t matter whether we are travelling on Sopwith Camels or jetting from one side of the planet to the other, listening to music on a gramophone or streaming via Spotify, Continue Reading

One of the enduring myths of grief is that at some unspecified point, the person caught in its enervating and seemingly endless grasp will simply get up, reassess the sorry state of their life and walk happy into a bright and shiny new life garlanded with alluring possibility, renewed hope Continue Reading

Grappling with a traumatic situation is never easy. But as Breathe Deep & Swim from Jenna Marcus explores with quiet intensity and a real sense of belonging, there is a power that comes from going through something so challenging with someone you love solidly and unswervingly by your side. Wolfgang Continue Reading

Is it possible for love and devotion to flourish at the end of the world? It would be entirely understandable if your instinctive answer to what must sound like a ludicrous question is a harsh and resounding “NO”; after all, when the world you have known and sometimes loved starts Continue Reading

Space is not a welcoming environment. The stars may look pretty twinkling far above us on a blue-green ball but venture into the galaxy and you are confronted by a host of challenges, not least of which is humanity itself who in Karen Osborne’s Architects of Memory (A Memory War Continue Reading

It is always a delight to come across a novel that embodies the very best of a genre and yet also manages to be its own marvellously unique creation. Digging Up Dirt by Pamela Hart sits very much in that rarefied camp, a book that manages to give Agatha Christie Continue Reading