Still running out of time for reviews

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Non-fiction and tagged with 2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize, Elizabeth Strout, fiction, Karen Nimmo, Meg Wolitzer, nonfiction, Rose Tremain, Zadie Smith December 26, 2019

I’m determined to review everything I’ve read, even if it means a measly few words… 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 →

Broadside 2019 – Zadie Smith

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2019, author talk, Jia Tolentino, Wheeler Centre, Zadie Smith November 16, 2019

There were moments when I wanted to call out “Stop! Wait! I need to process that!” during the conversation between Jia Tolentino and Zadie Smith at last weekend’s Broadside festival. Their banter was rapid-fire; the topics they were discussing were big and intense ; and it’s taken me a week to reflect on all that was covered.

Zadie got straight into it with, “I’m always thinking a lot about death. And human autonomy, free will. Shit like that.” She was being truthful and funny all at once. 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 Anne Frank, Ariel Levy, author talk, book list, Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts, Clare Wright, Curtis Sittenfeld, Donna Tartt, Emma Jane Unsworth, film, Hanya Yanagihara, Helen Garner, holidays, Kate Atkinson, library, Margaret Atwood, Maria Tumarkin, Monica Lewinsky, movie, Sarah Krasnostein, television, twitter, Zadie Smith September 25, 2019

01. It’s school holidays in Australia. We spent a few days with family in Kyneton (with some mountain-biking in Harcourt and a hike to the summit of Hanging Rock). Continue reading →

The Top 50 from the Best Books of 2018 List of Lists

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2018, A. J. Finn, Akwaeke Emezi, Andrew Roberts, book list, Chloe Benjamin, Curtis Sittenfeld, David Sedaris, Denis Johnson, Esi Edugyan, Gary Shteyngart, Idra Novey, Kristin Hannah, Lauren Groff, Leïla Slimani, Leslie Jamison, Ling Ma, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Lisa Halliday, Luis Alberto Urrea, Madeline Miller, Meg Wolitzer, Melissa Broder, Michael Ondaatje, Michelle Obama, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Olga Tokarczuk, Olivia Laing, Ottessa Moshfegh, Pat Barker, Patrick deWitt, R. O. Kwon, Rachel Cusk, Rachel Kushner, Rebecca Makkai, Richard Powers, Rumaan Alam, Sally Rooney, Sarah Perry, Sayaka Murata, Sheila Heti, Shobha Rao, Sigrid Nunez, Susan Orlean, Tara Westover, Tayari Jones, Tommy Orange, William Trevor, Zadie Smith, Zora Neale Hurston December 9, 2018

This is my annual community service to book-bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on all of the lists (37 of them) I listed on Best Books of 2018 – A List of Lists.

Here it is, the 2018 Commonly-Agreed-by-the-People-Who-Publish-Best-of-2018-Book-Lists-Before-December-31 top 50 books. Continue reading →

Six Degrees of Separation – from Pride and Prejudice to Swing Time

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with book jackets, Booker Prize, Claire Fuller, Courtney Brkic, Edan Lepucki, Francine Pascal, Gillian Best, Jane Austen, Six Degrees of Separation, Zadie Smith August 5, 2017

It’s time for #6degrees. Join in and thrill us with your clever links!

Given that we’ve recently marked 200 years since Jane Austen’s death, it seemed fitting to begin this month’s chain with the universally loved Pride and Prejudice. Continue reading →

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Alice Pung, AS Patrić, author talk, Booker Prize, Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts, Colson Whitehead, Elizabeth Kostova, film, gin, Hannah Kent, Heather Rose, Jenny Valentish, Joyce Carol Oates, Kate Cole-Adams, Kate Grenville, Kate Holden, Laura Becherer, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Megan Abbott, Melbourne Writers Festival, Mohsin Hamid, movie, Randa Abdel-Fattah, Tracy Chevalier, Virginia Woolf, Zadie Smith, Zelda Fitzgerald July 27, 2017

01. Are we excited about the Man Booker 2017 longlist? I’ve read two (Exit West – didn’t like it much at all; Swing Time – loved some bits, other bits not so much) and have one more in the reading pile (The Underground Railroad). I’m intrigued by 4 3 2 1 and Lincoln in the Bardo. Tell me who you think will win and I’ll endeavour to read those before it’s announced so I can feel smug about being ahead of the curve 🙂 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, cooking, Margaret Atwood, music, television, theatre, twitter, Zadie Smith July 12, 2017

01. My favourite tweet this month. No, scratch that. This year.

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Quick! I need to read a whole book.

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with book group, Caroline Smailes, Elizabeth Strout, Graham Swift, Ian McEwan, Kent Haruf, Kim Thuy, Lena Andersson, Muriel Barbery, Nancy Mitford, Nora Ephron, novella, short story, Sonya Hartnett, Top Ten Tuesday, Zadie Smith March 21, 2017

Sometimes a very, very short book is just the ticket – reading slump, testing a new genre, choosing something for your book group (because you know they don’t have the stamina for anything over 200 pages), a long train ride…

Here’s a list of my favourite very short books. Continue reading →

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with Annie Proulx, author talk, Baileys Prize, Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts, Charlotte Wood, Chris Johnston, Claire Fuller, Elliot Perlman, film, Giulia Enders, Jennifer Down, movie, podcast, Rosie Jones, twitter, Zadie Smith March 9, 2017

01. Look at this library.

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