Occult London

Title: Occult London Writer: Merlin Coverley Publishing House: Oldcastle Books Date of Publication: May 1st 2018 (first published June 1st 2007) Rating: 4 stars ‘’London is a city whose origins remain obscure and whose identity remains bound up with the mythical and the legendary, the hidden and the occult.’’ One of my most beloved semi-urban myths/ modern fables/ occult instances/…

The Forest of Wool and Steel

Title: The Forest of Wool and Steel   (Original Title:羊と鋼の森) Writer: Natsu Miyashita Publishing House: Penguin Random House UK Date of Publication: April 25th 2019  (first published September 2015) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Inhale the scent of a forest close by. I can smell the earthy fragrance of autumn as night falls, the leaves gently rustling, I can feel the damp air…

Μystical Britain and Ireland

Title: Mystical Britain and Ireland Writer: Richard Jones (photography by John Mason) Publishing House: New Holland Australia Date of Publication: August 10th 2006 (first published 2003) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Those who pace its lanes and squares may yet hear the echoes of their footsteps on the sounding stones and read upon its gates…’’Who enters here leaves noise behind.’’ Charles Dickens…

Yesterday, at the Hotel Clarendon

Τitle: Yesterday, at the Hotel Clarendon Writer: Nicole Brossard (translated by Susanne De Lotbinière- Harwood Publishing House: Coach House Books Date of Publication: 2005 (first published March 19th 2001) Rating: 5 stars ‘’I take the opportunity to lend an ear to ambient life with an eagerness I never suspected. The idea of remaining calm doesn’t displease me. Some days I…

Flights

Title: Flights (original title: Bieguni ) Writer: Olga Tokarczuk (translated by Jennifer Croft) Publishing House: Fitzcarraldo Editions Date of Publication: May 17th 2017 (first published September 2007) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Each of my pilgrimages aims at some other pilgrim. In this case the pilgrim is in pieces, broken down.’’ This might very well be the first time that I have…

Magdalene: Poems

Title: Magdalene: Poems Writer: Maria Howe Publishing House: W. W. Norton Company Date of Publication: August 28th 2018 (first published March 28th 2017) Rating: 5 stars ‘’I liked Hell, I liked to go there alone relieved to lie in the wreckage, ruined, physically undone. The worst had happened. What else could hurt me then? I thought it was the worst,…

Fear and His Servant

Title: Fear and His Servant   (original title: Strah i njegov sluga ) Writer: Mirjana Novaković Publishing House: Peter Owen Publishers (originally published by Beograd:ReVision Publishing) Date of Publication:  April 1st 2018 (first published 1999) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Like everyone else, I want gifts that come from the heart, the gift without a price. I’ve wondered this earth for such a long…

The Artist Who Loved Cats: The Inspiring Tale of Théophile – Alexandre Steinlen

Title: The Artist Who Loved Cats: The Inspiring Tale of Théophile – Alexandre Steinlen Writer: Susan Schaefer Bernardo (illustrations by Courtenay Fletcher) Publishing House: Inner Flower Child Books Date of Publication: June 6th 2019 Rating: 5 stars ‘’Where shall I start? How does an artist begin to make art?’’ Paris is a city forever linked with certain images in…

Mars

Title: Mars: Stories Writer: Asja Bakić (translated by Jennifer Zoble) Publishing House: The Feminist Press at CUNY Date of Publication: March 19th 2019 (first published 2015) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Death is typically a European film. The scenes are evocative, the atmosphere and characters charged. But in my case, death took a different form.’’ When you start reading a book and…

The Dollmaker

Title: The Dollmaker Writer: Nina Allan Publishing House: Quercus Books Date of Publication: April 4th 2019 Rating: 5 stars ‘’In 21 cases there was death but no burial; in 10, funerals but no burials; in 8, funerals but no death.’’ Dolls never found a top spot in my favourite toys list. My mum didn’t like them at all but my…

Her Kind

Title: Her Kind Writer: Niamh Boyce Publishing House: Penguin UK Date of Publication: April 4th 2019 Rating: 1 star ‘’Our eyes will go to the worms And our livers will be given as food to the parish dogs. The hair will be torn from our heads The flesh flayed from our bones. They’ll find apple seeds and gooseberry skins…

Dylan Thomas – The Collected Stories

Title: The Collected Stories by Dylan Thomas Writer: Dylan Thomas Publishing House: New Directions Date of Publication: October 17th 1986 (first published June 1st 1983) Rating: 5 stars ‘’He would think that love fails on such nights, and that many of its children are cut down.’’ Dylan Thomas is the writer who made me love poetry with his dark imagery…