Clandestine In Chile – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I have a love-hate relationship with Marquez.  I totally adore the novella Chronicle of A Death Foretold.  I am not so fond of the 2-star Love In the Time of Cholera  and find 100 Years of Solitude unfinishable – or maybe that should read unstartable,  as I abandoned it after 50 pages.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, Marquez’s fictional retelling [...]

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The Best of 2010

When I finish my current read,the grand total for the year will be 88.  Less than in previous years actually but then there have been a number of off-blog diversions that have laid claim to my attention.  Not least a growing interest in photography and – er – diet and exercise.   While the TBR has not shrunk [...]

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2010 My Life In Books

Answer the following questions using only books read in 2010.  Do not repeat your answers. * Describe Yourself: A Fair Maiden * How do you feel: Reckless * Describe where you currently live: Clandestine in Chile * If you could go anywhere, where would you go:  A Castle In Romagna * Your favorite form of [...]

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The Legend of Elizabeth Siddal – Jan Marsh

Dear Lizzie You have fascinated me since I was a teenager when posters of your long flowing hair and robes and air of romantic tragedy graced my bedroom wall.  I am not alone.  When I reveal my nom-de-net, nearly everyone has an opinion about you, indeed a number of authors have said that they are considering writing a novel about you.   You see, [...]

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All of A Twitter – 10 mini reviews

I’m a reader first, blogger second. When reading takes precedence, I don’t write timeous reviews. That’s happened quite frequently this year and, so, I’m approaching the end of the year with a stack of unreviewed reads.  I began to tweet this year.  Couldn’t see the point of it for ages, but, having got stuck in that Scottish [...]

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Thanks to you and you and you …..

 My heartfelt thanks: 1) To whoever nominated Lizzy’s Literary Life for the Most Wanted Book Blogger’s Award 2010. 2) To anyone who even considers casting a vote for me or, indeed,  any of the nominees. 3) To all the wonderful UK (and other)  bloggers who have made my literary life so much more sociable and pleasurable during the [...]

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TSS – Wow factor books!

I love this idea from Winston’s Dad so much, I’m joining in the fun! Now that we’re down to the final three in X-factor 2010 and the winner being crowned tonight, the timing is perfect for me to unveil my top 3 wow-factor books. Wow being a factor based purely on design – not that [...]

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Chronicle of A Death Foretold – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa Marquez must have been so sure of himself be giving it all away in the title like that.  One benefit of this is that I have no need to worry about spoilers.  Indeed Marquez cuts straight to it with a first sentence starting On the day they were going to kill him [...]

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Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

When reputations precede reading, it can be a challenge in itself to pick up a book.  I’d been put off  having heard that Conrad’s classic novella was as exhausting as hacking  through as the African jungle itself and that Chinua Achebe considers it racist.  However, The Secret Agent is one of my all-time favourites, so I  [...]

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December is for ….

I do like to start a New Year all spick and span and so December is for finishing reading projects started earlier in the year and abandoning  for various reasons like a) Diverting from my chosen reading paths.  So I need to finish my November Novella Challenge.  I read 10 novellas in all, only 6 of which were [...]

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