Humanity is, by and large, not very good at dealing with anyone or anything that steps outside the accepted norm. Square peg in a square hole? Yes, thank you. Square peg in a round hole. not so much, no. It’s fertile ground on which to base a novel, and Continue Reading
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Re-stacking the shelves: The 10 books I loved most in 2015
One of the great drawbacks of being a pop culture consuming omnivore is that I don’t have nearly enough time to read as I would like to. Movies happen at set times at the cinema and so I must be there or miss out, music can be listened to Continue Reading
On 11th day of Christmas … I read Hester & Harriet by Hilary Spiers
Hester & Harriet look like they’re on track for another bog standard Christmas at The Laurels, the small cottage the two widowed sisters share in a small, reasonably uneventful English village. Invited to cousin George’s home where they will endure his wife Isabelle’s ghastly cooking and their insufferably insolent Continue Reading
On 9th Day of Christmas … I read Klaus #1, first in a series about Santa’s dark origins
SNAPSHOT Set in a dark fantastic past of myth and magic, Klaus tells the story of how Santa Claus really came to be. Where did he begin? What was he like when he was young? Why does he do what he does? How does he do what he does? Continue Reading
On 2nd day of Christmas … I read Stick Man by Julie Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
There’s a very good reason why the song “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, first recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby and written for soldiers fighting overseas and far from their loved ones, is such a Christmas favourite. It encapsulates everything that most of us – I appreciate not everyone Continue Reading
Book review: The Story of Alice – Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
Like many of us, Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Johnson, was a rich study in contrasts. Born to a moderately well off middle class family in the isolated Cheshire parish of Daresbury, Carroll was to all appearances a shy, studious man, more given to the pursuit of religion, mathematics Continue Reading
Alice in Wonderland at 150: Why fantasy stories about girls transcend time (curated article)
It’s 150 years since an Oxford mathematics don published the most important work of children’s literature and one of the most influential books of all time. The origins of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in a story that Charles Dodgson told 10-year-old Alice Liddell and her two sisters while rowing Continue Reading
Book review: Hotel Alpha by Mark Watson
It’s a rare life indeed that isn’t without some kind of drama or another. But to listen to Howard York, the ebullient, charming, larger-than-life owner of the Hotel Alpha on London’s Euston Road, you would swear that life is simply a series of slightly annoying obstacles easily overcome with Continue Reading
Simon’s Cat is Off to the Vet … and he ain’t happy about it
SNAPSHOT In this brand new book we see Simon’s Cat face any feline’s most dreaded scenario – he’s off to the vet. And he’s not at all happy about it. The book shares its theme with the first ever full colour Simon’s Cat 12 minute longer format film (to Continue Reading
Halloween books: Who’s the scariest monster in literature?
So who’s the scariest of them all? Well, when it comes to monsters in literature that is. No one doubt there will be as many opinions as there are monsters – as a great big scaredy cat, I will happily admit to finding them all quite scary in their Continue Reading