Books

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Posted 2:13pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad is about people who chase their dreams, people who lose track of them, folk who fall off the bandwagon and who sometimes never quite make it back on again. Simultaneously a short story collection and a novel, Egan’s book is an interweaving of Read more...

Harry Potter & the Cursed Child

Posted 2:11pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Picking up where the epilogue of the seventh Harry Potter novel left off, we see adult Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley sending their children off to Hogwarts. Their middle child, Albus Severus (what a burden of a name), is anxious about his journey to Hogwarts, despite reassurances from his parents. Read more...

The Story of Your Life

Posted 1:11pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Jack Blair

Ted Chaing examines, through the eyes of Louise Banks (a linguist tasked with decoding the language of an alien species known as the Heptapods), how understanding language means more than simply understanding a conveyed message. As The Story of Your Life progresses, and Louise applies a theory of Read more...

The Nature of Jade

Posted 1:08pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Although technically classified as a YA novel, The Nature of Jade is one of those rare books which holds something inspiring and beautiful for readers of all ages. This book has been one of my firm favourites for years now, because of its captivating and accessible writing style, unexpected and Read more...

Nimona

Posted 1:17pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Lord Ballister Blackheart, our protagonist, scientist and villain, finds Nimona at his lair. Nimona is a young, powerful and impulsive shape-shifter with a desire to cause havoc and bring about destruction. She convinces him to take her on as a sidekick. The pair work together to mess things up in Read more...

I Hate Fairyland

Posted 1:14pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

It’s almost every child’s dream to be transported to a mystical fairyland to complete some complicated and epic quest, making bizarre and cute friends along the way, right?  The eight-year-old Gertrude might have fantasised about Fairyland, but she certainly wasn’t equipped Read more...

The Wisdom of Psychopaths

Posted 12:14pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Psychopaths look, smell, and sound like regular people, but they don’t care about you any more than they care about the steak they ate for lunch. The good news is, not all psychopaths are serial killers. The bad news is, you’ve probably bumped into a psychopath today. Approximately one Read more...

Pale Fire

Posted 12:10pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

The epic poem “Pale Fire” has been put into a book following the murder of its author, American poet John Shade. Accompanying the poem is a preface, extensive notes and commentaries by Shade’s editor, Charles Kinbote. At least, when you first approach Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, Read more...

Saga Volume 6

Posted 5:43pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Jack Blair

Finally! It’s book six, and our narrator is old enough to make decisions that impact the plot more than just needing a nappy change in the middle of a fight. I’m happy to report that despite the fact that our central character is four years old, the series does not backtrack in the Read more...

My Family and Other Animals

Posted 5:39pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

When the miserable English climate proves too much for young Gerald Durrell and his haphazard family, all five of the Durrells decide to relocate to the Greek island of Corfu. For Gerald, an aspiring naturalist, this is a dream come true. The wildlife of Corfu turns out to be a treasure trove of Read more...