Monday Musing: Liberalism, Literature, And The Myth Of ‘Political Correctness Gone Mad’

November 18, 2019 ~ The Book Habit

For those currently tuned into the mayhem of British and American politics, the world appears to be existing on the brink of apocalyptic doom. While political trends usually operate on an endless pendulum swing from left to right, the vitriol and division that seems to characterise both contemporary policy and propaganda has instilled the sense … Continue reading Monday Musing: Liberalism, Literature, And The Myth Of ‘Political Correctness Gone Mad’

Review: Inland by Téa Obreht

November 16, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ 2 Comments

"She learned letters and manners from the pale, dismayed wives of her father's subordinates, who raised her to defend the hearth and revile a lie - nominally at least, for the older she grew the more she came to recognize falsehood as the preservative that allowed the world to maintain its shape. The lumbermen, for … Continue reading Review: Inland by Téa Obreht

The Original Goths: Why Women Write Gothic Horror

November 6, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ Leave a comment

One of my first introductions to the history of women in the world was through the anti-suffrage propaganda poster 'A Woman's Mind Magnified'. A mind-bendingly offensive insight into the machinations of the political and social elite, this sort of propaganda has always accompanied efforts by marginalised groups to escape the confines into which their entire … Continue reading The Original Goths: Why Women Write Gothic Horror

Review: Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

November 2, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ Leave a comment

"The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness. There was something strange in my sensations, … Continue reading Review: Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Monthly Reader: October 2019

October 30, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ Leave a comment

The year's spookiest month is upon us, with pumpkins and inconveniently adhesive cobwebs a-plenty. My love for October has grown exponentially since I moved to the US. Where my childhood memories of the month have little in the way of costumes and candy, my husband's experience of pumpkin carving and the annual terrorising of neighbourhood … Continue reading The Monthly Reader: October 2019

The Genius Of Agatha Christie: 99 Years On

October 23, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ Leave a comment

A few years ago, I had the unbelievable good fortune of working on the film sets of both Poirot and Miss Marple. I stumbled into this as an unexpected consequence of my time spent as a tour guide and House deputy at the triumphantly gothic Knebworth House. The building's uniquely turreted, gargoyled exterior has secured its position as … Continue reading The Genius Of Agatha Christie: 99 Years On

The 10 Best Non-Horror Halloween Reads

October 3, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ 2 Comments

October is a month that I have grown to love. One of the first foundation-rocking disagreements between me and my husband was his determined preference of Halloween over the, clearly superior, shenanigans of the Christmas period. It was a major trial for our 'love across cultures', where my lack of never having participated in any … Continue reading The 10 Best Non-Horror Halloween Reads

Review: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

September 28, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ 1 Comment

"The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper. Recently, however, a shock of sorts has prompted me to look back over the most troubling episodes of my life and the lives of the several people I loved best. This is the story of how as a girl of sixteen I … Continue reading Review: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Review: The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

September 21, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ 3 Comments

"So they went into the basement, a long, white-washed room running the whole length of the house. A window at one end gave onto a coal hole; a little daylight filtered through at an angle from an iron grating in the pavement above. There was a clean, sweet smell of new wood and a tang … Continue reading Review: The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

Review: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

September 14, 2019September 16, 2019 ~ The Book Habit ~ 2 Comments

"Even in death the boys were trouble. The secret graveyard lay on the north side of the Nickel campus, in a patchy acre of wild grass between the old work barn and the school dump...The developers of the office park had earmarked the field for a lunch plaza, with four water features and a concrete … Continue reading Review: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead