Sample Saturday – a woman, a girl, and a man

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Anonymous, Deborah Levy, Mona Awad, Sample Saturday September 19, 2020

Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. This week, all thee came from #6degrees chains. Continue reading →

Six Degrees of Separation – from Daisy Jones to Fake

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Christine Mangan, Deborah Levy, Heather Rose, Marina Abramovic, Nora Ikstena, Six Degrees of Separation, Stephanie Wood, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Vendela Vida January 4, 2020

It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up. Continue reading →

The Top 50 from the Best Books of 2019 List of Lists

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2019, Adrienne Brodeur, Ali Smith, Ann Patchett, Ben Lerner, Bernardine Evaristo, book list, Bryan Washington, Candice Carty-Williams, Carmen Machado, Casey Cep, Casey Mcquiston, Chanel Miller, Colson Whitehead, David Wallace-Wells, Deborah Levy, Elizabeth Gilbert, Elizabeth McCracken, Elizabeth Strout, Esme Wang, Helen Oyeyemi, Helen Phillips, Jacqueline Woodson, Jami Attenberg, Jason Greene, Jennifer Weiner, Jenny Odell, Jia Tolentino, Jodi Kantor, Julia Phillips, Karen Russell, Kevin Barry, Kevin Wilson, Kristen Arnett, Laila Lalami, Lauren Wilkinson, Leigh Bardugo, Lisa Taddeo, Lori Gottlieb, Lucy Ellmann, Margaret Atwood, Marlon James, Max Porter, Mira Jacob, Miriam Toews, Namwali Serpell, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Ocean Vuong, Olga Tokarczuk, Patrick Keefe, Rion Scott, Robert Macfarlane, Ronan Farrow, Saeed Jones, Sally Rooney, Sarah Broom, Sarah Moss, Stephen King, Susan Choi, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Tamsyn Muir, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Tea Obreht, Tony Chiang, Tressie Cottom, Valeria Luiselli, Yangsze Choo, Yoko Ogawa, Zadie Smith December 16, 2019

This is my annual community service to book-bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on the 56 lists that I listed on Best Books of 2019 – A List of Lists. Continue reading →

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts, Deborah Levy, holidays, Matt Haig, Paul Dolan, Stella Prize, swimming, swimming pool, TBR January 30, 2019

01. I love the cloudscapes by artist, Kelly Money.

02. I didn’t have a beach holiday this summer but I have restored the soul with a McCrae day trip. There will be a few more before Easter. Continue reading →

I’m waiting for… 2019 edition

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2019, Angela Savage, Carrie Tiffany, Catherine Knepper, Christos Tsiolkas, Dani Shapiro, David Nicholls, Deborah Levy, Elizabeth Gilbert, Elizabeth McCracken, Elizabeth Strout, Elliot Perlman, Emily Nussbaum, Erin Somers, Halle Butler, Heather Rose, Heidi Diehl, Helen Oyeyemi, Ian McEwan, Jen Beagin, Jennifer Down, Leanne Shapton, Leslie Jamison, Lindsay Stern, Mary Laura Philpott, Maylis de Kerangal, Naja Marie Aidt, Nora McInerny, Polly Rosenwaike, Siri Hustvedt, Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Tessa Hadley, TJ Stimson, Yara Zgheib January 14, 2019

Seems there’s lots of good reading to be done this year (have I ever started a year not thinking the same…? No). Continue reading →

October Rewind

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Akhil Sharma, Deborah Levy, Helen Fielding, Jessie Burton, Leanne Shapton, rewind, Sarah Krasnostein October 31, 2017

My October rewind includes three books that I still think about, years after reading them. Continue reading →

My Best Books for 2016

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2016, book list, Deborah Levy, Elizabeth McKenzie, Elizabeth Strout, Graham Swift, Ian McEwan, Italo Calvino, Jonathan Safran Foer, Kent Haruf, Lionel Shriver, Rebecca Harrington, Sara Stridsberg, Shirley Barrett, Wallace Stegner, Zadie Smith December 31, 2016

A ‘classic’ was defined by Italian author Italo Calvino as “…a book that’s never finished saying what it has to say.”

Now, I’m not claiming that the books I truly loved this year are ‘classics’, however, I’m borrowing Calvino’s definition to guide my list of top picks for 2016. This year, I’m paying less attention to five-star ratings and more attention to the books that are still speaking to me. Continue reading →

The Top 36 from the Best Books of 2016 List of Lists

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2016, Adam Haslett, Affinity Konar, Alexander Chee, Amor Towles, Ann Patchett, Annie Proulx, book list, Brit Bennett, C. E. Morgan, Claire Louise Bennett, Colson Whitehead, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, David Szalay, Deborah Levy, Don DeLillo, Elizabeth Strout, Emma Cline, Garth Greenwell, Han Kang, Helen Oyeyemi, Jacqueline Woodson, Jade Chang, Jonathan Safran Foer, Julian Barnes, Karan Mahajan, Louise Erdrich, Madeleine Thien, Maria Semple, Matthew Desmond, Michael Chabon, Nathan Hill, Paul Kalanithi, Paulette Jiles, Stephanie Danler, Zadie Smith December 7, 2016

This is my community service to book bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on all of the lists I listed on Best Books of 2016 – A List of Lists. So before I have to write the word ‘list’ again, here it is, the 2016 Commonly-Agreed-by-the-People-Who-Publish-Best-of-2016-Book-Lists-Before-December-31 top 36 books. Continue reading →

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts, Charlotte Bronte, Deborah Levy, Emily Bronte, foodie fiction, music October 27, 2016

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01. Last week I spotted my first Asperitas cloud. It’s rare, so capturing it meant my position on the international cloud-spotters chart improved significantly. Continue reading →

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with 2016, audiobook, book review, British, Deborah Levy, fiction, review October 25, 2016

I think if I knew more about Greek mythology, anthropology, medusae, father-complex and cultural memory, then Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk would be even better, and more layered with meaning, than it already is.

As it is, I understand enough about hypochondria and passive-aggressiveness to know that what Levy has created in the characters of Rose and Sofia is truly excellent stuff.

“Hello Sofia. I can see that you’ve been having a nice time at the beach.”
I told her the beach was desolate and that I’d been staring for two hours at a pile of gas canisters. It was my special skill, to make my day smaller so as to make her day bigger. Continue reading →