The Pull of the Stars

Title: The Pull of the Stars Writer: Emma Donoghue Publishing House: Picador Date of Publication: July 28th 2020  Rating: 5 stars ‘’The bone man was making fool of us all. That was what we kids called death in my part of the country – the bone man, that skeletal rider who kept his grinning skull…

Birdsong

Title: Birdsong Writer: Sebastian Faulks Publishing House: Vintage International Date of Publication: June 2nd 1997 (first published September 27th 1993) Rating: 5 stars “But you must live your own life eventually. You have one chance only.” A poetic, heart-breaking novel, about the atrocities of war and the hope that springs even under the most harrowing circumstances. Sebastian Faulks…

Russian Short Stories (1918 – 1941)

Τitle: Ανθολογία ρωσικού διηγήματος του μεσοπολέμου Writer: Various (selected and translated by Tania Rahmatoulina Publishing House: Πλέθρον Date of Publication: December 2005 Rating: 5 stars *All extracts translated by me, taken from the original edition translated by Tania Rahmatoulina* ‘’All beauty in this world was born out of the love for a woman.’’ During the turbulent years in the…

A Spell of Winter

Title: A Spell of Winter Writer: Helen Dunmore Publishing House: Penguin Date of Publication: June 6th 2019 (first published January 1st 1995) Rating: 5 stars ‘’They were bringing my uncle Joseph down the stairs. Narrow, twisty stairs they put in houses where they’d given no thought to the living or the dead. You couldn’t get a coffin up them.’’ Helen…

Wakenhyrst

Title: Wakenhyrst Writer: Michelle Paver Publishing House: Head of Zeus Date of Publication: April 11th 2019 Rating: 5 stars ‘’The reeds stood tall and dead: I had the oddest feeling they wanted me gone. The light was failing. I caught a swampy smell of decay. Behind me something rustles and I saw the reeds part for some unseen creature. I…

Captain Rosalie

Title: Captain Rosalie Writer:  Timothée de Fombelle, illustration by Isabelle Arsenault (tr. by Sam Gordon) Publishing House: Candlewick Press Date of Publication: June 11th 2019 Rating: 5 stars ‘’Dogs bark in the distance, out there by the farms. The dead leaves whistle their way across the school yard.’’ 1917, a cold autumn day in France. WWI has darkened Europe….

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…

House of Glass

Title: House of Glass Writer: Susan Fletcher Publishing House: Virago Date of Publication: November 1st 2018 Rating: 5 stars ‘’This was the time of day my mother had warned me against, years before. The half-light, she explained, can change how things appear so that distances may seem less. Our eyes might detect movement when in fact there is none; a…