It becomes obvious, almost from the first pages of The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden, where we meet the savvy though often misjudged Soweto latrine emptier Nombeko Mayeki, that Jonas Jonasson (The 100 Year Old Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared) is a talented heir apparent to Continue Reading
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Between the living and the dead: Scott Westerfield’s thrilling new novel Afterworlds
An interesting has happened to my reading patterns of late. Long held in thrall by adult fiction and deeply-detailed non-fiction tomes, it’s now increasingly finding room for quite a few Young Adult (YA) novels such as those by John Green (The Fault in Our Stars) and Patrick Ness (Chaos Continue Reading
Rip’d from the pages of my childhood: Winnie the Pooh
For all his talk of being “a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me”, Winnie the Pooh was actually the best sort of friend to have around when you were growing up (and honestly long into adulthood too). After all, apart from an enduring love of Continue Reading
Book review: The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
If there is one thing that defines humanity, it is our capacity for optimism, the seemingly endless capacity we possess for believing that despite all the wars, repressive regimes, famine and natural disasters, poverty and starvation, and whole host of other societal and personal demons too numerous to mention, Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: The books of our childhood tattooed on our heart … and elsewhere
I have always been a prodigious reader. I can’t remember a single moment from my childhood when I wasn’t reading any book I could get my hands from Dr. Seuss through to Tove Jannsson’s Moomins and Nils-Olof Franzén’s Agaton Sax series through to The Hardy Boys, the William series, Alfred Continue Reading
Book review: The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
The urge to belong is a powerful impulse. It impels us to do everything from mimicking certain patterns of speech, adopting different hair and clothing styles, seeking out fora both online and off that we can actively participate in, and giving up all manner of affectations, luxuries or vice, Continue Reading
(re)Visions: Alice – Interview: Amanda Ching, author of the novelette “House of Cards”
This is the fourth in a series of interviews with the (re)Visions: Alice that I published on a now sadly defunct writing site back in 2012. I hope you enjoy discovering more about the authors behind these remarkably imaginative re-imagined tales. Amanda Ching describes herself on her blog, Panda-monium, Continue Reading
(re)Visions: Alice – Interview: Hilary Thomas, author of the novelette “Knave”
This is the third in a series of interviews with the (re)Visions: Alice that I published on a now sadly defunct writing site back in 2012. I hope you enjoy discovering more about the authors behind these remarkably imaginative re-imagined tales. The publication of Hilary Thomas’s evocative novelette “Knave” Continue Reading
Dan Wagstaff has it covered: The art of books on books
I know the anonymous sages have told us time and again that we should never judge a book by its cover. And while there is a certain truth to this well-invoked adage, it is also true that that is how many people, myself included, buy their books. It’s not, Continue Reading
(re)Visions: Alice – Interview: C. A Young, author of the novelette “The World in a Thimble”
This is the second in a series of interviews with the (re)Visions: Alice that I published on a now sadly defunct writing site back in 2012. I hope you enjoy discovering more about the authors behind these remarkably imaginative re-imagined tales. C. A Young is an American author whose intricate writing Continue Reading