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Tag Archives: British
My Favourite Thursday Next Novel: The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots in the third installment of the speculative, absurdist Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde… Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, British, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction
Tagged absurdist, action, adventure, British, bureaucracy, classics, convoluted plot, fantasy, fiction, greed, humour, Jasper Fforde, literature, memory troubles, novel writing, publishing, quirky, rich setting, satire, shady business practices, society, Thursday Next, well written, Wordplay
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The most enjoyable ‘collected letters’ I’ve ever read: 84, Charing Cross Road (and the Duchess of Bloomsbury street)
From 1950 to 1970, an American scriptwriter, Helene Hanff, embarked on self-education by book with the aid of some British secondhand booksellers. 84, Charing Cross Road is a collection of the letters which passed primarily between Hanff and the shop’s … Continue reading
Posted in 20th Century, American, British, Diary, General adult audience, Letters
Tagged American, books, British, criticism, epistolary, friendship, literary criticism, literature, rationing, trans-Atlantic, travel
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Would you like world-ending pink topping with that? Lost is a Good Book is a generous second helping of Thursday Next from Jasper Fforde
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde is the second book in the Thursday Next series. Despite a sudden celebrity for saving Jane Eyre and improving the ending, not every one is happy with what Thursday has done. A … Continue reading
Posted in British, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction
Tagged absurdist, action, adventure, apocalypse, British, bureaucracy, convoluted plot, fantasy, fiction, greed, humour, Jasper Fforde, legal trouble, literature, novel writing, probability, quirky, rich setting, satire, shady business practices, society, supernatural, Thursday Next, vampires, well written, Wordplay
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Inventor of the post box and novel-making machine: Autobiography is the self-told story of one of my favourite Victorian novelists, Anthony Trollope
Autobiography by Anthony Trollope was an easy and amusing read. It focuses on Trollope’s two careers – as post office official and author – with only brief forays into personal life, although Trollope-as-a-person comes through on every page. Part of … Continue reading
Posted in Biography/Autobiography, British, General adult audience, Nonfiction, Victorian
Tagged autobiography, British, hunting, novel writing, postal service, work
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Our attitudes and experiences of near neighbours haven’t changed all that much in the last 160 years, if Emily Eden’s The Semi-Detached House is any guide
The Semi-Detached House by Emily Eden is a social satire written in the mid-19th century. When young Lady Chester moves into a semi-detached house in the suburbs she anticipates being forced into awkward intimacy with vulgar neighbours, whose daughters will … Continue reading
Posted in 18th Century, British, General adult audience, Novel, Novel of Manners, Victorian
Tagged birds, British, fiction, friendship, having children, humour, mild romance, newly weds, novel of manners, observant, pregnancy, satire, society, some anti-semitism, suburban life, Victorian Era, women
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Radio plays that were The Mark Drama of the 1940s: The Man Born to Be King by Dorothy L. Sayers
As I read The Man Born to be King I found myself thinking, this was the Mark Drama of the 1940s! A series of twelve radio plays about the life of Jesus Christ, they were written by Dorothy L. Sayers … Continue reading
Posted in 20th Century, Biography/Autobiography, Christian, Christian Non-fiction, General adult audience, Nonfiction, Script/Play
Tagged 20th Century, ascension, British, character-driven, Christianity, Christmas, crucifixion, disciples, Dorothy L. Sayers, drama, Easter, good for spiritual health, good out loud, Gospels, historical, holiday reading, Jesus' ministry, radio plays, resurrection, The Inklings, wartime
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A book that argues the indispensable value of spinsters: Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym is about capable spinsters – truly excellent women capable of dealing with any sort of drama – observant, helpful, available and overlooked. Mildred, the protagonist, is just one of these women, pondering her life and … Continue reading
A nonsensical tale for grown-ups: Once On a Time by A.A. Milne
A little known story by A.A. Milne, Once On a Time is an absurd and whimsical fairy story. It starts when one king takes exception to another king taking a morning walk over his battlements during breakfast time while wearing … Continue reading
Posted in 20th Century, Fantasy, General adult audience
Tagged 20th Century, adventure, British, fantasy, fiction, food and fighting, good out loud, humour, seven league boots, whimsical
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Take themes of bureaucracy and greed, add non-stop word-wit and shellfish-references, throw in the waning of magic and a very old dragon and you have The Last Dragonslayer: teen fantasy Jasper Fforde-style
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde is a story about magic, dragons and red tape. After reading it I concluded that my ideal pet would be a quarkbeast (no fur, funny-looking, loyal and affectionate, not exactly huggable but still better … Continue reading
Spending time with a delightful dead guy: The Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb
I was curious about Charles Lamb after references to him in Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and I was surprised at how enjoyable The Essays of Elia and The Last Essays of Elia actually were. Published in magazines … Continue reading →