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
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)
A few weeks ago, I received a message asking for travel book recommendations. Hardly surprising given that summer is undoubtedly the season for spur of the moment backpacking trips. I empathise completely with the itchy feet syndrome - a depleting bank account is all that prevents me from taking myself off to some unknown location. … Continue reading Review: Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
For those of you following The Book Habit on Facebook, you may recall that a couple of weeks ago I put out a call for Cormac McCarthy recommendations. His is a name that I have come across consistently for a number of years now, leaving me with a mental note-to-self that this was an author for … Continue reading Review: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
It is extremely rare for me to actively avoid a certain novel on the basis of difficulty. I enjoy a challenge and believe, for the most part, that reading should require us to push certain boundaries. In my view, those books that we steer away from because of personal prejudices or concerns are those we … Continue reading Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Forgive me if this review is a little hard to follow. I am just wrapping up my first exploration of the mind of Haruki Murakami. And for those of you familiar with his work, you are hopefully equipped to confirm that his books exercise a strange domination over everything. So attempting to recall the details … Continue reading Review: Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
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