Arrangements in Blue by Amy Key Continue reading
Tag Archives: true crime
The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne
I really wish I’d kept a list of all of the names that Griffin Dunne drops in The Friday Afternoon Club. ‘Drops’ might be a little unfair – the people he mentions are/were family friends, relatives, and colleagues. But to give you a flavour, the list would include Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, Carrie Fisher, Roman Polanski, George Clooney, and Joan Didion (and husband John Dunne).
During one of my parents’ extravagant parties I got up to pee and caught Judy Garland rifling through the medicine cabinet in my bathroom. Warren Beaty once played the piano in our living room in lieu of joining a drunken game of charades captained by a smashed Ida Lupino. Sean Connery saved me from drowning. Continue reading
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie
It’s rare that book news breaks into mainstream media headlines. Help me out readers – what comes to mind? For me there’s only a handful over the last twenty-odd years – the James Frey fiasco; the year no Pulitzer was awarded; the controversial publication of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman; Doris Lessing’s fabulous doorstep interview when she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007 (and the lack of agreement about whether Bob Dylan should have won the prize in 2017) and maybe, Margaret Atwood’s publication of The Testaments (because Americans were living a real-life Handmaid’s Tale in Trump’s first presidential term). But I think the most recent one was the shocking attempt on Salman Rushdie’s life at an author talk in 2022.
In Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, Rushdie reflects on the event and the aftermath. Continue reading
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. The week began with a Reading Holiday – away with two friends; I read two and half books; had two glorious ocean swims; and basically the BEST, most relaxing time. The friend who hosted us (at Phillip Island) suggested that it be an annual event – hurrah! Continue reading
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
In Senegal, the polite expression for saying someone died is to say his or her library has burned. Continue reading
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. Two days in Warburton for some forest-bathing. First stop was the Redwood Forest – much to love but especially the quiet spring of the redwood needles underfoot. Continue reading
Sample Saturday – a serial killer, a student, and siblings
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. Continue reading
Sample Saturday – nonfiction picks
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. Continue reading
Drawing a line under 2023 reviews
I’m loathe to do another bunch of short reviews, particularly as I have lots to say about some of these books (and a squillion quotes highlighted) but I also know that I’m unlikely to find the time required, so… Continue reading
Sample Saturday – three recommendations from Kim
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 three come from Reading Matters 20 Books of Summer reviews. Continue reading