What began as a slow and cold (le Carré-esque) waiting game grew into a white hot flash of deceit, anxiety, and dangerous thrills. I cannot claim to know the full horrors and trials of World War II- nor can I draw a true comparison between that dark time and the present, but the world of this book is a different world from our current version. One constant remains: the truth is subjective. In 1940 a young woman is recruited into the fold of MI5. Europe […]
Seeing comes before words.
I picked up this book for a multitude of reasons. Mainly because the cover was brilliant, the physical size of the book is perfect for twisting in your hands and it’s beautiful enough that I wanted to be seen with it. The first page is remarkable. It starts with one sentence “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it speaks.” And then whitespace. I’m such a sucker for whitespace. This book should have had more whitespace. It’s set in a bold Univers […]
Old Story, New Voices
Faintingviolet already did a great review of this glorious audio book, but I’ll try to give it justice as well. While abridged, this amazing full cast rendition of “The Hobbit” was a thoroughly enjoyable listen, and I highly recommend it. It’s complete with a musical score, sound effects, and Bilbo breaking the fourth wall to talk directly to the audience as if he’s recounting his tale right out of his “there and back again” memoir. I thought it was a neat artistic touch that Bilbo […]
Douglas Adams + Dirk Maggs – be still my beating heart
I have a love affair with the work of Douglas Adams. Starting from a young age, when my elder brother brought home some books with covers that linked up to make a bigger picture (mind blown!). He has a turn of phrase that I find relentlessly hilarious. Dirk Maggs produces radio dramatisations for BBC radio, something I discovered a couple of years ago, when Good Omens (a top 10 book for me) was on the radio at Christmastime. (Spoiler: it was phenomenal.) So, imagine my joy when I found a […]