May 2010 – A Challenging Month and the In-Shelf

They say a change is as good as a rest and a change is what I needed.  Perhaps I’ve been simply reading too much. Anyway May 1989 was the month in which we scouted out Scotland as a potential home – the weather was glorious for two weeks – and we decided to move here [...]

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Interview with Pushkin Press on the release of its first young adult title

Check out my categories over on the right and you’ll see that Pushkin Press have their own section.  I love their taste, their books and their committment to printing lots and lots of Stefan Zweig.  Today they’re branching into young adult fiction.  The first title The Moonstone Legacy claims to pick up where Wilkie Collins’s [...]

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Effie: A Victorian Scandal – Merryn Williams

Whether or not you enjoyed the sensational BBC serial Desperate Romantics last year, there have been benefits for fans of  pre-raphaelite art  and history in the form of new publications.  Merryn Williams retelling of the triangle involving John Ruskin, his wife Effie and the painter, John Millais, is the first to make its way to me. I [...]

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Lizzy in London (4)

I left the book blogger’s meetup with Kimbofo reminding me to visit a certain somewhere.  Once I’d looked up the address and discovered that it was located at 83 High Marlyebone Road, it seemed almost churlish not to visit.  Perfect symmetry and all that.  I was, after all, staying at 83 Gower Street.  I decided [...]

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The Snows of Yesteryear – Gregor von Rezzori

My first ever NYRB read was my first book of 2010 – Simenon’s Dirty Snow.  It was a pleasure both to read and to hold because NYRB books are fine objects in themselves, with lovely cover art and spines that do not crease!  It was only a matter of time before I read more and this week’s  Spotlight Series on NYRB has [...]

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Lizzy in London (3)

Following a 90-minute breather at the hotel, I was refreshed and ready for the next adventure.  A walk through Bloomsbury followed – destination 48 Doughty Street.  From the home of John Millais to the home of Charles Dickens.  This trip was  turning into a real C19th extravanga.  Even though I’m by no means the greatest Dickens fan- [...]

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Lizzy in London (2)

Following my visit to the Big Green Bookshop, it was time to check into the hotel.  Not any old hotel but one with preraphaelite connections.  I have no idea how I found this but John Millais used to live at 83 Gower Street, a residence that is now the Arosfa Hotel.  The entrance hall is hung with [...]

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Lizzy in London (1)

My thanks to Simon from Stuck-in-a-Book for organising what seems likely to be the inaugural UK bookbloggers’ meetup in London and giving me the delicious excuse for a weekend jaunt down to London.  My thanks also to that unpronouncable and unspellable Icelandic volcano for calming down enough to allow my flights to and from Glasgow [...]

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After The Fire, A Still Small Voice – Evie Wyld

Winner of the 2009 John Llewllyn Rhys Prize, Evie Wyld’s debut novel first came to my attention with Kimbofo’s review back in December of last year. The beautiful art work on the dustjacket surely one of the best of 2009.   Since then the book has garnered further praise and now has a well-deserved place on the short list for [...]

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The In-Shelf (April 2010)

So what torture test of will-power had I devised for myself last time?  Buy 1 book for every 4 read.  OK, so I had a great reading month in April – I read 11 books.  When rounded up (what else?), that gave me permission to buy 3.  So I bought the two I was hankering after [...]

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