The Mother of All Cookbooks: A Review of The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook There are few recipes you can conceive of which aren’t in this book, especially if you are interested in classic American cookery. From the perfect chicken pot…
Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Journey to Self-Realisation: A Review of Women Navigating Midlife by Robyn Vickers-Willis
Journey to Self-Realisation: A Review of Women Navigating Midlife by Robyn Vickers-Willis Feeling depressed, angry, bewildered, or just flat? Are you a woman aged between 35 and 50? You could be entering your midlife transition. This is not necessarily a…
A review of Salman Rushdie’s The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Love is the main hero of this novel which is about, among other things, love, loss, life, death, the lines between truth and fiction, beauty, and art. Reviewed by Magdalena Ball “In the front lobby, carved into a stone wall,…
Learning in the Kitchen: A Review of Cooking Around The Calendar with Kids by Amy Houts
Learning in the Kitchen: A Review of Cooking Around The Calendar with Kids by Amy Houts If you are homeschooling, this book is a fantastic resource which will provide a wealth of learning ideas. Even if you aren’t homeschooling, cooking…
Slow, Spare and Painful: Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist
Beyond the simple tale of Lauren Hartke and her grief, DeLillo’s short novel provides the reader with a mirror, showing us how flimsy our self-assurances of solidity, how delicate our mind and bodies, how easily undone and yet how beautiful…
A review of Lily Brett’s New York
Lily Brett’s New York is a lighthearted, easy to read book which looks at life in New York from the perspective of an Australian who has been living in Manhatten for over ten years.
A review of Julian Barnes’ Love, Etc
The book is an easy read, and appears to be a simple, light story of love and betrayal, but on closer reading and reflection, it is much more sinister, where the truth shifts, meaning distorts and ultimately the reader’s own sense of meaning is challenged in a very Pinteresque, post-modern way. The main characters are unreliable, with Stuart and Oliver showing their insecurities and failings and Gillian changing her story quite dramatically at times. Are the characters grappling with love, or is it hatred; desire for closeness, warmth and meaning, or just power?
A Review of A Writers Book of Days by Judy Reeves
By the end of the first month, it would be a rare writer who wasn’t writing more, even if they don’t decide to specifically do the writing exercises. There are simply so many ideas, so much encouragement, and so much that is evocative and challenging in A Writer’s Book of Days. Sensitive, informative, practical, and fun to read, this is a book to take with you; a portable and inexpensive writing class, and continual source of inspiration.
A review of Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh
Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh is a heady, sensual, wordy, moving, funny, wonderful book. It does for the English language what Joyce’s Ulysses did over a century ago, expanding our vocabulary and consequently our ability to perceive and describe the world and ourselves.
Hero of the Word: Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang
Hero of the Word: Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang Carey’s Kelly is hero of the word. Like his other famous characters, Illywacker Badgery, Jack Maggs, Tristan Smith, Oscar, and Harry Joy, their need get the story out…