Tag: Review

  • The Old Man of the Moon

    Penguin describes this edition as a Chinese official’s account of his all-consuming love for his wife, and that pretty much sums up the book. It is also an account of life in China in the 18th century of course, but it is the love story which is at the center of it. There were some… →

  • Dead Wicked

    2nd read for the #ReverseReadathon So, it is only three days since finishing Dead Wicked during the Readathon and I have finally some time to write down my thoughts. However, I found I had to strain myself recalling who the bad guy was and why. I think that sort of sums up rather how forgettable… →

  • Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime

    I started collecting Penguin’s Little Black Classics, and my random reading pilot drew this booklet. (I believe this was the first LBC I’ve read) I was never really crazy about The Picture of Dorian Grey. I read it and it wasn’t bad but not as good as I expected it would be (based on raving… →

  • How To Be a Woman

    Sometimes there is books you didn’t think you would read. But then you join a book club and their selection is How to Be a Woman. To be honest, it was sort of hate at first sight (the first thing I learned about it was that there was much talk of pubic hair), but I… →

  • Leonardo da Vinci

    For me Vasari’s addition to the little black classics showed once more that reading about great artists can be extraordinarily dull. While it was clear from the writing that Vasari admires Leonardo da Vinci and the other artists described in the book, I found it rather random and never warmed up to his style. I… →

  • Wow, No Thank You.

    I am new to reading essays. But everyone around me was reading essays, and completely in line with the essays in this book, I felt like I should try it. You can’t have the opinion before you gave it a try. And this one had a cute rabbit on the cover. It being my first… →

  • How Much Land Does A Man Need?

    Tolstoy may be known for his gigantic works like Anna Karenina and War & Peace, but this is a very neat short story, a parable of man’s greed and ambitions. What we have is never enough, we always want more. While it was clear where the story was heading – I am pretty sure someone… →

  • Noah Barleywater Runs Away

    It has been said that Noah Barleywater Runs Away is a mere children’s book. An adventure but not more than that. It has also been said that Noah Barleywater is a thought-provoking novel, even for adults. What side am I on? It’s aimed on children aged 8-12, but I believe there is so much more… →

  • The Life of a Stupid Man

    The Life of a Stupid Man collects three stories by Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. The first was the nicest, a short story about a murder told from the perspective of several witness, including – strangely enough – the murder victim. This one I quite liked. The other two stories were autobiographical and very fragmentary. Those… →

  • The Very First Damned Thing

    This short story in the St Mary’s series focuses on the very beginning of the institute when Dr. Bairstow is trying to secure funding for the project and try to convince them of the usefulness of it all. While this all takes place, some series favorites also happen to show up at the same time… →

  • Antigone

    I had actually never read Antigone until this point, although the story was familiar of course. Antigone, the titular character, goes against her uncle the King’s wishes and buries her brother who died in rebellion. →

  • Breath from Salt

    (Scroll down to see some science at work) As a PhD researcher working on Cystic Fibrosis I immediately knew I had to get this ARC and read Breath from Salt, which will be published tomorrow on September 8, the 31st anniversary of the publication of the CFTR gene →

  • Socrates’ Defence

    I couldn’t read this without hearing the song from Horrible Histories. Either way this was a very interesting read. I have read some Plato before for school, but never his more famous work on Socrates. Here he really tries to keep the style rather simple – for he is accused of bedazzling the audience with… →

  • Call Me By Your Name

    3rd read for the #ReverseReadathon I saw the movie first – as a part of watching all the Best Movie nominees I was ticking boxes and one of them was Call Me By Your Name. I remember I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it, since romantic movies are not one my favorite genres. However, I… →

  • Anthem For Damned Youth

    I saw some of Owen’s work in class, but it was a while ago and I can’t really recall it. However, his tragic end just before the armistice stuck with me, especially since his poems are very anti-war. Poetry in the Little Black Classics has not been the easiest for me. However, I found this… →

  • Dead Guilty

    Missing children cases are the worst. I also don’t like to read about them in books, to be honest. Nevertheless, it is a missing child that forms the spine of Dead Guilty. Of course, there is still a lot of other stuff going on as well. It was another quick read which I needed, but… →

  • The Figure in the Carpet

    I didn’t really like this and I think it is mainly due to the fact I disagree with what it proposes. It features a writer who cannot enjoy all the positive reviews for his latest work since he feels that all reviewers are missing the most important point he is trying to make. When one… →

  • Fangs

    I only found out that Sarah Andersen was publishing another book next month recently. It was on Netgalley, so I immediately dropped everything and set to reading it. I don’t follow the social media too much so most of the comics from Fangs were new to me. Fangs offers what you’ve come to expect. Short… →

  • The Reckoning

    This edition contains two short stories by the American author Edith Wharton. The first is on marriage and falling in and out of love. And while I quite liked the concept, I liked the second story a bit better. It’s about an old woman who’s main pleasure in life is watching the world pass by… →

  • Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet

    Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet. A cake filled with magic, it sounded like a recipe for success (pun definitely intended). Maire is a baker with a troublesome past (in the sense that she can’t remember it). Her cakes are magical – literally so – as they can convey feelings to the eater. I guess more intense… →

  • The Great Fire of London

    I thought it would be a no-brainer I would like this. It’s a historical account of London around and during the great fire of London in 1666, which burned down much of The City as well as burned out the plague (to name one good thing that came from it). The signs of the fire… →

  • Mutiny on the Bounty

    This book tells the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. Before I read this book, I hadn’t really heard about it. But that made it more thrilling for me, as I didn’t know how it was going to end and all. Boyne has a very pleasant way of telling stories, I really… →

  • The Nose

    This is a weird story. A man wakes up to find his nose missing and for him, this is the end of the world. How can he ever go out in public again, how could someone possibly take him serious ever again? This is rather absurd of course, and there is very little logic in… →

  • A Symphony of Echoes

    #TimeTravelTuesday I’m not a serial reader. I’m quite the opposite, even when I like books, I’m usually glad I can dive into another world next. However, having finished the first book in the St. Mary’s series, Just One Damned Thing After The Other, I couldn’t resist and immediately started the second book (and after that,… →