I read this at the time of Covid 19 pandemic, and the fact that two orphan children in this novel are trying to survive on an island by fishing and growing their food and foraging, put a lot of things into perspective. It is an atmospheric read, don’t expect incredible plot twists or a crowd […]
If the world as we know it were to end tomorrow, would you be able to take care of yourself? (I think the lockdown gave us all a glimpse of helplessness, but still) Can you light a fire? Do you know which mushrooms are poisonous? How to catch fish without a spinner? Wait, forget about […]
What to read on the experience of self-isolating
If there is one person you want to teach you about giving up plastic, it’s the Head of Oceans at Greenpeace UK, Will McCallum.
I’m sure this book doesn’t need any more PR as I’ve heard about it many times before finally buying it. A close friend’s words ‘it is life-changing’ were the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
I was never big on The English Patient. I did enjoy certain passages, and the characters made lasting impressions on me – I can still recall tiniest details about them, but overall I can’t say I loved the book. So I was not sure about picking up Warlight when it came out in June.
This surreal novel by Iraqi author and film-maker Ahmed Saadawi is not a travel sequel starring Mary Shelley’s creation (you’d laugh but I actually went to a literary event about the book where the host implied that 😭 you don’t have to read all of it, but at least be prepared if you are going […]
As Zadie Smith admits in the part of this book named That Crafty Feeling where she shares her writing experiences and advice, she was never a macro planner
Colson Whitehead took the historical metaphor of abolitionism in the US and imagined The Underground Railroad, which stood for a network of secret routes and safe houses to aid slaves’ escape, as an actual railroad with trains and conductors. What a clever way to wed fiction and reality.
I first came across this book when browsing shelves in a local Waterstones and chatting to the bookseller who heartily recommended it.