The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with 2026, American, Ann Patchett, book review, books that made me cry, Elizabeth Strout, epistolary, fiction, Fredrik Backman, grief-lit, Joan Didion, Kazuo Ishiguro, review, Virginia Evans February 25, 2026

Dear Ann,

I am writing to congratulate you on your most recent novel, State of Wonder, which was given to me for my birthday by my brother…

Yes, the protagonist, Sybil Van Atwerp, is referring to Ann Patchett. She goes on to say that if Ann was to ever visit Annapolis, she’d be glad to host her. Sybil’s familiar tone (which she also employs in letters to Joan Didion and Kazuo Ishiguro) is wonderfully endearing and I’d like to imagine, disarming for the receivers of those letters.

However, letters to authors are just a small part of The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Continue reading →

The Top 48 from the Best Books of 2025 List of Lists

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2025, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Allegra Goodman, Angela Flournoy, Arundhati Roy, book list, Charlotte McConaghy, Charlotte Wood, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Daniel Kehlmann, David Szalay, Emily Henry, Fredrik Backman, Geraldine Brooks, Haley Cohen Gilliland, Han Kang, Ian McEwan, Karen Russell, Kate Folk, Katie Kitamura, Katie Yee, Kiran Desai, Laila Lalami, Lily King, Lucas Schaefer, Maria Reva, Megha Majumdar, Nicholas Boggs, Ocean Vuong, Omar El Akkad, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Patrick Ryan, R. F. Kuang, Rob Franklin, Robert Macfarlane, S. A. Crosby, Sarah MacLean, Scott Anderson, Solvej Balle, Sophie Elmhurst, Stephanie Wambugu, Stephen Graham Jones, Susan Choi, Suzanne Collins, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Thomas Pynchon, Torrey Peters, V.E. Schwab, Vincenzo Latronico, Xenobe Purvis, Yiyun Li December 17, 2025

Presenting the 2025 Commonly-Agreed-by-the-People-Who-Publish-Best-of-2025-Book-Lists-Before-December-31 top 48 books.

(This is my annual community service to book-bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on the 54 lists that I listed on Best Books of 2025 – A List of Lists – enjoy!). Continue reading →

A mixed bag

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Non-fiction and tagged with 2020, Australian, AWW, AWW2020, book review, Clare Bowditch, epistolary, fiction, Fredrik Backman, grief-lit, Hugh van Cuylenburg, memoir, nonfiction, Ocean Vuong, review, Swedish, Vietnamese May 18, 2020

I seem to be incapable of writing reviews at the moment. I’m not going to labour over them. Instead, brief thoughts on some of what I’ve read over the last two months – 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, Fredrik Backman, Josephine Wilson, Miles Franklin Award, Rebecca Harrington, Sarah Krasnostein, television September 7, 2017

01. The winner of this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award is Extinctions by Josephine Wilson. I haven’t read it (yet) but the blurb suggests a bit of an Ove feel. Am I right? Continue reading →

August Rewind

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Elizabeth von Arnim, Fredrik Backman, Hannah Kent, Jennifer Down, Leslie Jamison, Liza Klaussman, rewind August 31, 2017

Clearly August equates to sensational reading. Every book on this month’s rewind is sensational. Really, truly sensational. Continue reading →

Book vs. Film: A Man Called Ove

Posted by Kate W in Book vs Film and tagged with books that made me cry, film, Fredrik Backman, movie, Swedish, translated June 5, 2017

Tie. Both were brilliant. Continue reading →

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

Posted by Kate W in Book vs Film, Shelves and Libraries, Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Alana Valentine, book group, Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts, Elena Ferrante, film, Fredrik Backman, home library, Joan Lindsay, John Birmingham, library, Mireille Juchau, movie, swimming, twitter May 25, 2017

01. So it really has been ages since I did a Bookish post… Over the last two months I’ve had a terrific holiday in Hong Kong; had a tense wait for results after having three more moles removed (all clear. Get your skin checked everyone); wrote eleventy-billion words for uni; and moved house. Our new house has a superb Crepe Myrtle in the backyard. I can’t wait to see it flower. Continue reading →

You make me feel like dancing…(and reading)

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with book list, Emma Jane Unsworth, Fredrik Backman, Gabriel García Márquez, Gillian Mears, Graham Swift, Jane Austen, Jonathan Dee, Lena Andersson, literary mix tape, Lucy Ellmann, Maggie Shipstead, Murray Bail, music, Top Ten Tuesday January 24, 2017

Okay, that’s a Leo Sayer song but this post is all about the Gibbs.

barry-gibb-6

I felt it was time for a Bee Gees literary mix tape (mainly because I’m still sulking about Barry’s cancelled Melbourne tour).

Marvel at the lustrous hair (chest and other) and the magnificent use of solid gold.

01. You Should Be Dancing / Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead Continue reading →

Top Ten Books for 2014

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with Anthony Doerr, book list, Donna Tartt, Emma Jane Unsworth, Favel Parrett, fiction, Fredrik Backman, James Meek, Karen Joy Fowler, Kerry Hudson, Sofie Laguna, Sonya Hartnett December 30, 2014

It’s that time of year (the penultimate reading day of 2014) where I pick my favourite and bests. The first nine are in no particular order: Continue reading →

What’s in a Name Challenge 2014 Wrap-up

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2014, Alix Kates Shulman, Craig Silvey, Damon Galgut, Fredrik Backman, Katherine Hill, Kerry Hudson, reading challenge, Richard Yates, Sarah Butler December 20, 2014

Of all the reading challenges, I have the most fun with What’s in a Name, hosted by The Worm Hole. I like browsing through my TBR stack to find titles that fit the challenge categories.

The challenge is simple – read one book that fits each of the five ‘categories’ – Continue reading →