Tag Archives: humour

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 , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in 18th Century, Arts Criticism, Biography/Autobiography, Essays, General adult audience, Miscellaneous Non-Fiction, Social Commentary/Analysis, Travel and Geography Non-Fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in 13 years and up, Contemporary YA, Fantasy, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Adventure for kids, humour for grown-ups: Dragon Boy by Dick King-Smith

Dragon Boy by Dick King-Smith is another classic dragon story from my childhood by one of my favourite children’s authors (he also wrote The Sheep-pig aka Babe). Orphaned John is found crying in the forest by a dragon, Montague Bunsen-Burner. … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Children's, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tongue-in-cheek dragonlore: The Discovery of Dragons by Graeme Base

The Discovery of Dragons by Graeme Base is another delightful Australian picture book that works on multiple levels. Detailing the unlikely tale of how four unlikely people discovered dragons with beautiful illustrations, funny comic strips along the bottom of each … Continue reading

Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century Children's, Australian, Fantasy, Picture Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Dragon of Mith by Kate Walker

The Dragon of Mith is an Australian kids book by Kate Walker. It’s the story of a vegetarian dragon, a ridiculous number of dragon-slayers, a community of hermits and a blood-thirsty butcher (amongst others). I have vague memories of the … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Australian, Children's, Children's Classic, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a YA fantasy book. I knew it was a winner as soon as I saw that it has chapter titles like “In which Howl expresses his feelings with Green Slime”. It follows … Continue reading

Posted in 13 years and up, 20th Century YA, British, Fantasy, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion follows on where The Rosie Project left off. Don and Rosie are now married and living and working in New York. They’ve adjusted to many of the challenges of married life and abandoned the … Continue reading

Posted in Australian, Comedy, Contemporary, General adult audience, Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Victorian novel about decision paralysis: Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope has a name that is a bit off-putting. It suggests an obnoxious main character who will be hard to sympathise with. I didn’t find this to be the case. The main character, Alice … Continue reading

Posted in Classic, General adult audience, Novel, Novel of Manners, Romance, Social Novel, Victorian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

E.B. White is better known for Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, but my favourite of his books is The Trumpet of the Swan. It tells the story of Louis, a trumpeter swan who can’t trumpet, which has grave implications for … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Children's Classics, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment