Nominated last year for the Waterstones Book of the Year, ‘Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life’ has recently become a popular bestseller through word-of-mouth. The book contains letters written by Nina Stibbe to her sister Victoria when she started working as a nanny in London at the age of twenty in 1982 and later as a student at Thames Polytechnic. She worked for Mary-Kay Wilmers, who has been the editor of the London Review of Books since 1992, and looked after her two sons, Sam aged ten, and Will aged nine.
Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life by Nina Stibbe
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A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Regarded as a national obsession in his native Norway, ‘A Death in the Family’ is the first book in the six volume ‘My Struggle’ series of autobiographical novels by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Despite being marketed as fiction, ‘My Struggle’ is an unflinchingly honest and controversial memoir which explores both the mundane everyday details and the more significant events in Knausgaard’s life.
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Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent is a novel based on the true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir who was convicted of murder and was the last woman to be executed in Iceland in 1830 at the age of 33. Sentenced to death along with Fridrik Sigurdsson and Sigrídur Sigga Gudmundsdóttir for killing Natan Ketilsson and his neighbour, Agnes is sent to live with District Officer Jón Jónsson, his wife Margrét and their daughters Steina and Lauga while she awaits execution. However, it is gradually revealed that her story is more complex than the original version of events presented in court. Continue reading
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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
‘The Thirteenth Tale’ by Diane Setterfield tells the story of Vida Winter, a successful author who commissions Margaret Lea, the reclusive daughter of a bookshop owner, to write her biography. Having previously avoided revealing any true details about her past to other interviewers, Vida is now seriously ill and wants to tell the real story of her childhood at Angelfield when she was known as Adeline March before she dies.
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The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
I love ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt which is one of my all-time favourite books and also really enjoyed ‘The Little Friend’ so one of the books I had been looking forward to reading the most is her new novel ‘The Goldfinch’ which I recently received as a Christmas present. Given that Tartt only publishes novels approximately once a decade, I expect nothing less than Great Things from her work. In other words, I can’t remember the last time I had such high expectations for a book.
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An Interview with Graeme Simsion
‘The Rosie Project’ by Graeme Simsion is a quirky and endearing story about Don Tillman, a genetics professor with autism who embarks on The Wife Project in an attempt to meet his ideal life partner through a detailed questionnaire. Instead, he meets Rosie Jarman who fits none of his very specific criteria – she smokes, drinks alcohol, doesn’t eat meat and is late for everything. However, Rosie’s quest to uncover the identity of her biological father leads Don on an eventful journey of his own.
I was lucky enough to have the chance to interview Graeme Simsion about the process of writing ‘The Rosie Project’ and the inspiration behind the story: Continue reading
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The 2013 End of Year Book Survey
I did this survey last year so here it is again….
1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (You can break it down by genre if you want) This is hard… in terms of fiction, highlights definitely include ‘A Tale for the Time Being‘ by Ruth Ozeki, ‘Life After Life‘ by Kate Atkinson and ‘Red Joan‘ by Jennie Rooney. The best non-fiction book was probably ‘Quiet‘ by Susan Cain. I don’t give books star ratings in my reviews so it is difficult to judge and compare a whole year’s worth of reading.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? I was not so much disappointed but just rather perplexed by ‘The Orphan Master’s Son‘ by Adam Johnson. I was intrigued by the story’s setting in North Korea but it didn’t really grab me as much as I thought it would. Continue reading
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The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
Whether or not it was her way of sticking two fingers up at her critics, I think it was pretty clever of J. K. Rowling to publish ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith after receiving mixed reviews for ‘The Casual Vacancy’ last year. Interestingly, the feedback for ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ was unanimously positive from both critics and readers before the identity of the real author was revealed. But does it live up to the hype? Continue reading
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Red Joan by Jennie Rooney
I was fascinated by the original premise of ‘Red Joan’ by Jennie Rooney which is based on the true story of Melita Norwood who was famously unmasked as the KGB’s longest serving British spy at the age of eighty-seven in 1999. In Rooney’s fictionalised version of events, Joan Stanley, an eighty-five year old woman living in the suburbs of south east London, receives a visit from two British intelligence operatives who have come to question her about her past after so many decades of silence. The story is cleverly told through a series of flashbacks as the links between Joan’s past and present are gradually revealed.
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The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling’s first novel for adults, ‘The Casual Vacancy’, opens with the sudden death of Barry Fairweather, a popular local parish councillor. This event sends shockwaves through the small town of Pagford and the upcoming election sharply divides the community, particularly with regard to the future of a nearby council estate known as The Fields.
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Caboodle National Book Tokens Competition
If you’re looking for something to do this weekend and want the chance to win a year’s supply of books (£250 token), why not enter the Caboodle National Book Tokens Competition? All you have to do is guess the 20 book titles hidden in the pictures below. There are two games to play on the website to double your chances of winning.
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Other Books I Read In 2013 But Didn’t Review
When I first started this blog, I reviewed more or less everything I read in the order that I read them. However, I am no longer quite so organised. I still review the majority of the books I read but this year, I read quite a few other books which I didn’t write about on my blog for the following reasons: Continue reading
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The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill is the first book in the Simon Serrailler series of crime novels. A series of mysterious disappearances on the Hill near the small cathedral town of Lafferton catches the attention of Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham. A middle-aged woman, a man, a young girl and a dog have all gone missing at the same spot. But what exactly happened to them all and why?
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Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Once again, I was lucky enough to win another book to review from the Pot Luck draw for Waterstones cardholders a few weeks ago. This time, it was ‘Crossing to Safety’ by Wallace Stegner which was first published in 1987 a few years before his death and has recently been reprinted by Penguin Classics featuring an introduction by Jane Smiley. You can read my brief review here on the Waterstones website under the name Clare90. Continue reading
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Canada by Richard Ford
I randomly picked ‘Canada’ by Richard Ford off the shelf in a shop not long after it was first published last year and turned to the first page. I was immediately struck by the first two sentences: “First, I’ll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later.” As opening lines go, I found those to be pretty memorable and also very intriguing. Continue reading
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Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn
Even though I love music, I rarely seek out autobiographies or biographies about musicians. In fact, I don’t think I have read any books even vaguely related to music since starting this blog over eighteen months ago. However, I love love LOVE Tracey Thorn and was very excited to get hold of a copy of her memoir ‘Bedsit Disco Queen: How I grew up and tried to be a popstar’ at the library this week. If her writing was half as eloquent and understated as her songwriting, then I knew I would be in for a treat. Continue reading
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Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
‘Sweet Tooth’ by Ian McEwan tells the story of a young woman called Serena Frome (rhymes with plume) who is recruited by MI5 after she finishes studying at Cambridge University in the early 1970s. She is assigned to an operation named Sweet Tooth in which a cultural foundation is set up to offer financial assistance to writers who speak out against communism. However, her romantic relationship with one of the young writers involved in the project, Tom Haley, starts to complicate things. Continue reading
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The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan
‘The Panopticon’ by Jenni Fagan tells the story of Anais Hendricks, a fifteen-year-old young offender from Scotland who has spent all of her life in care and is more or less constantly in trouble with the police. After being accused of assaulting a police officer who ends up in a coma, she spends time in the Panopticon, an institution for chronic young offenders which takes its name from Jeremy Bentham’s suggested “circular prison with cells so constructed that the prisoners can be observed at all times”.
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Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2003, ‘Notes on a Scandal’ by Zoe Heller is a tightly-written psychological thriller driven almost entirely by the characters rather than the actual events. The story is told retrospectively from the point of view of Barbara Covett, a History teacher at a North London comprehensive school. Lonely and nearing retirement, she forms a friendship with a new pottery teacher, Sheba Hart. However, Sheba’s affair with one of her fifteen-year-old male pupils has far-reaching consequences for everyone, especially Barbara.
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