Books to help you feel good about life
Kurt Vonnegut’s If This Isn’t Nice, What Is? is a slim collection of his speeches at school and university graduations. At the heart is the premise, adopted from his Uncle,…
What would you choose for ‘A Good Read’?
My husband drunkenly ponders and lists the eight songs he would choose for Desert Island Discs (Pixies, Bowie, Can, Dylan blah, blah, blah…)
London Life in WWII
I rediscovered Good Evening, Mrs Craven just before Christmas, and through happenstance was given Jan Struther’s Mrs Miniver not once, but twice for Christmas. The two are perfect bedfellows.
The Mitford Sisters
Does every reader go through a Mitford phase? There is a heady combination of ‘upper classishness’, political extremism, rebellion and style in their lives and writing. Unity is in…
Can you recommend something to read?
I am addicted to BBC Radio 4’s A Good Read. I listen to Harriett Gilbert and guests in back to back episodes, pausing on my commute or interrupting my…
The internet is a bad, bad thing
All brilliant, immensely readable books in their own right, Dave Eggers’ The Circle, Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and Jarett Kobek’s I Hate The Internet combine to make a powerful trio that unpick the negative impact of the internet on our lives.
