It’s that time of the year when newspapers and magazines publish their ‘Best of 2021’ lists. These are the books that we would have been talking about around the water-cooler, had we not been working from home.
Lists usually begin appearing early November and keep going until the end of the year – I will keep adding as they are published.
The Best of 2021 According to #ALLTHELISTS will be coming soon – stay tuned! (See previous lists here). Continue reading
I could not tear my eyes away from Helen Naylor’s memoir, My Mother, Munchausen’s and Me. Continue reading
Colin Clark’s memoir, My Week With Marilyn, chronicles his time as a ‘third assistant director’ (aka gofer) on the set of Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier’s 1956 movie, The Prince and the Showgirl.
Clark, 23-years-old at the time, was a devoted keeper of a journal. Keen to work in the film industry, he wangled a position on the Showgirl film-set through family connections – his parents were great friends of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. His journal documents the lead-up to filming, including arranging for a house for Monroe, who was traveling to England with new husband, Arthur Miller.
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01. So many lovely catch-ups with friends this week – highlight was The LuWOW cocktail bar (such fun and felt like we were on the set of White Lotus) {image}. Continue reading
What Happened to You? by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey Continue reading
I’m not in the habit of reviewing books that I read for work, but every so often one comes along that I think is useful. My criteria for ‘useful’ is a book that’s written in a straightforward, easy to understand style; that has its basis in science (yes, there are plenty of ‘spiritual’ self-help books available but I find they’re only ‘useful’ for a small audience at a very specific time in their lives); that presents information in multiple ways (think diagrams, case studies, check-lists, and practice exercises); and is one that you might revisit.
Setting Boundaries by Rebecca Ray fits the criteria. Continue reading
Truly, there is nothing new left to say about Bret Easton Ellis’s generation-defining novel, Less Than Zero. And, despite having a bunch of options for week one of Novellas in November, I decided to re-read Less Than Zero, purely because I am absolutely engrossed in the podcast Once Upon a Time at Bennington College (to the point where I’m waiting for each new episode to drop). The podcast examines the years that Ellis, Donna Tartt and Jonathan Lethem were at college together, and specifically, the people and events that inspired characters in both Less Than Zero and The Secret History.
So, this is not a review but rather a collection of Less-Than-Zero-associated-thoughts: Continue reading
I realised halfway through Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet, that the ‘story’ went well beyond the novel I held in my hands. It’s one of those books that, as I was reading, I was side-tracked by internet searches. And if you’ve read Case Study, you’ll know that the Googling (and I absolutely couldn’t help myself) highlights just how clever Burnet is.
Case Study is told from three perspectives. It begins with Burnet, who describes how he came across charismatic psychotherapist Collins Braithwaite, and was then contacted by a stranger in possession of notebooks belonging to one of Braithwaite’s patients. The stranger urged Burnet to tell the patient’s story and, although Burnet was initially concerned about the authenticity of the notebooks, he did some fact-checking and took on the task. Continue reading
Can’t recall the last time I felt terrified while reading but Animal by Lisa Taddeo had me terrified for the first 200 pages and uneasy for the remainder.
The title sets the tone, and from the outset it is unclear whether the narrator, Joan, is the hunter, or the hunted. Continue reading
Someone has said, When you are born into this world there are at least two of you, but going out you are on your own. Death happens to every one of us, yet it remains the most solitary of human experiences, one that separates rather than unites us.
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez is a story about assisted dying. It’s a complex topic and frankly, not one that I am going to explore on this blog. However, I was attracted to this book because of the topic – I want to read about it, I want to think about it, but I don’t want to ‘review’ it. And there’s lots to say about aspects of this book other than assisted dying. Continue reading