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
A few weeks ago, my wonderful aunt gave me some books belonging to my great grandmother. They were books won as prizes at school, for recognition of achievement - among them, Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and Charlotte Bronte's Villette. Both brilliant books. More importantly, however, they got me thinking about my own literary heritage. While … Continue reading A Celebration of Literary Heritage
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 has now been more than six years since the last instalment in the Harry Potter series was released. Six years since we have faced midnight queues and spent many diligent hours knitting our Gryffindor scarves (or is that just me?). Six years and I am still plagued by an intense feeling of despair whenever … Continue reading Your Guide To Overcoming Post-Harry Potter Grief
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)
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
Bonjour mes copains! This past Saturday marked the birthday of legendary French writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. For those of you who, like me, spent a good deal of your childhood in French classes, you are undoubtedly familiar with Saint-Exupéry's seminal work Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince). Existing today as the most translated book in … Continue reading Celebrating The Little Prince
The Book Habit 