A few weeks ago, I had a revelation. Assisting with an advertising campaign for Hitchin British Schools (where I played the role of wife and mother very effectively), I stumbled upon the fabulous Eric T. Moore Books - a seller of secondhand, out-of-print, and antiquarian books. It is an absolute treasure trove. If I hadn't … Continue reading Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker
A couple of weeks ago in my column for The Riveter, I talked about the importance of literature in cultural exploration. As I think anyone who has occupied multiple countries will appreciate, fiction can provide an invaluable window into the historical, social, and political factors (among many others) that feed culture. When I first moved … Continue reading Review: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
In trying to broaden my reading experience as much as possible, I recently made the decision to join a book club. I know many people, dotted around the globe, who conduct most of their reading at the impetus of discussion groups. The idea of 'reading on demand' has never really appealed to me but (as … Continue reading Review: The Buddha, Geoff and Me by Edward Canfor-Dumas
Books can be the ultimate mood enhancer. When I find myself facing a tough or particularly stressful time, I tend to turn to light-hearted fiction as an appropriate means of escapism. None can provide this literary relief with quite the same efficacy as comic genius P.G. Wodehouse. I have been a big fan of Jeeves … Continue reading Review: Summer Lightning by P.G. Wodehouse
For diligent readers of The Book Habit (otherwise known as 'mother'), this review will be noted as out-of-sync with my recent reads. Pat Barker's Regeneration has succeeded in leap-frogging the backlog of books currently awaiting review. There are two reasons for this: (1) It is a truly fantastic work that has earned priority status; and (2) My … Continue reading Review: Regeneration by Pat Barker
I am undoubtedly a Murakami convert. I finished Kafka on the Shore with a strange sense of uncertainty, ambiguous on my feelings about the novel. Rarely am I faced with this situation. But I was certain about one thing - that Kafka was fundamentally unlike any other novel that I had read. As I sat … Continue reading Review: 1Q84 Books One and Two by Haruki Murakami
My recent review of Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi left me not only with a better understanding of the Iranian experience, but also with a fairly extensive reading list. After tackling Flaubert's controversial Madame Bovary, I felt that it was time to work through Nafisi's primary novel of focus - Lolita by Vladimir … Continue reading Review: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
After working my way through some contemporary novels, I thought it time to return to the list of classics stacked in my To Read pile. For a while now, I have been waiting for a chance (when time and taste coincide) to pick up Flaubert's celebrated masterpiece Madame Bovary. It is a book that I … Continue reading Review: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
It is always a fascinating experience when personal interests collide. Fortunately, my two principal passions - literature and human rights - are constantly intersecting. This said, with the majority of my day typically given over to human rights-based research, I do tend to steer clear of giving my personal reading time over to the subject. … Continue reading Review: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
For the past week, the literary world has been possessed by the news that J.K. Rowling secretly published a book earlier this year, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Choosing to do so in order to escape the inevitable, and often biased, scrutiny that accompanies her publications, The Cuckoo's Calling ends a year of debate regarding … Continue reading Review: The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
The Book Habit 