"We are the memories we don't remember, which live in us, which we feel, which make us sing and dance and pray the way we do, feelings from memories that flare and bloom unexpectedly in our lives like blood through a blanket from a wound made by a bullet fired by a man shooting us … Continue reading Review: ‘There There’ by Tommy Orange
I couldn't be more excited for the autumn. It has always been my favourite season and no less so now that I live in the US. If anything, enduring five months of 40C weather has made me even more enamoured with the prospect of turning leaves, wooly scarves, and steaming bowls of soups. To me, … Continue reading 8 Books To Conjure That Cosy Autumn Feeling
Welcome to the first review of 2014! And what better way to set a tone for the year than with another dip into the work of Jane Austen? While Pride and Prejudice undoubtedly remains my favourite of her works, there are certainly a couple of worthy rivals. Sense and Sensibility is among them. My first … Continue reading Review: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
I am, by anyone's reckoning, quite the Jane Austen fanatic (a true Austenite, if you will). My numerous copies of Pride and Prejudice are extremely well thumbed, and her most recognised masterpieces hold a similarly prominent place on my bookshelf (as well as in my heart). I have, however, long neglected her less celebrated works. … Continue reading Review: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
If my previous rants on the subject didn't already make it clear to you, censorship is something of a hot button issue with me. For any bibliophile, the banning of literary works is one of the more perverse mechanisms of oppression and social control. Unfortunately, it is a reality that exists in almost every society. … Continue reading Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
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
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
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
The Book Habit 