Tag Archives: Female Author

Thoughts: The Transit of Venus, by Shirley Hazzard

Uh looks like I entirely forgot to post this after I wrote it? Here you go! Last book I started before giving birth, first book I finished afterwards. I read a couple of chapters to baby, in the hope that … Continue reading

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Thoughts: The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Bradley

Warning before we start – there’ll be mentions of real life crimes in this one, involving children. Some explanations are in order. I know we’re all meant to be living in a Death of the Author world but some things … Continue reading

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Thoughts: Grey is the Colour of Hope, by Irina Ratushinskaya, translated by Alonya Kojevnikov (with poems translated by David McDuff, Richard McKane and Helen Szamuely)

Grey is the Colour of Hope is Irina Ratushinskaya’s prison memoir, written in 1987 after her release from the Small Zone in the Barashevo camp, but before the dissolution of the USSR. This gives it both a very particular angle … Continue reading

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Thoughts: Der Hundertjährige, der zurückkam, um die Welt zu retten, by Jonas Jonasson, translated by Wibke Kuhn

This was our latest German Skype session reading, and now we have only one more Jonas Jonasson left to read, so I guess he’d better get cracking on the typewriter before we run out! Not a huge amount new to … Continue reading

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Bookthoughts Roundup 2021!

OK, so I spent most of last year not writing up the books I read. But I also didn’t do as much reading as usual, so I’m going to do a speedy roundup instead. Sorry! Or you’re welcome!

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Thoughts: The Bride Price, by Buchi Emecheta

I’ve read a little spread of postcolonial African literature, including some set in Nigeria, but I’ve never read anything like The Bride Price. Partly because the older ones were in French and some nuance was inevitably lost as I read … Continue reading

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Thoughts: Falling Awake, by Alice Oswald

This was a slightly strange reading experience, devoured from beginning to end in a hospital waiting room before an appointment I was pretty nervous about, heavily pregnant, wearing a mask for three hours and hating it. So a moment very … Continue reading

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Thoughts: Zennor in Darkness, by Helen Dunmore

I absolutely picked this one because of the title, because “Zennor” is a pleasing word to me. I didn’t realise it was a real place in Cornwall! I also didn’t really have any idea what the book was about. It’s … Continue reading

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Thoughts: The Return, by Victoria Hislop

First finished book of 2022 and the site is back up and running, so let’s get back into the habit. There’s a 2021 roundup post in the works, but I wanted to get back into regular posting while books are … Continue reading

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Thoughts: Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

Honestly I could end this post at “Everything Susanna Clarke does is sublime and all her books are books I wish I’d written, and everyone is correct that Piranesi is great”. But I guess I won’t, because I love the … Continue reading

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