book editor, bibliophile + word nerd
It was my great intention to make 2016 the year I took on the classics that have been languishing on my bookcase for many years. I even moved Middlemarch by George Eliot from the shelf to the bedside table. Alas, I find myself halfway through the year and still to even open the cover. I know ...
Done With Men is a fun-filled Indian romantic comedy/romance that’s an easy read and one which I can see heading to the big screen one day. Think Bridget Jones’s Diary, only set on the beach in Goa. Quite apt that the book was released on Valentine’s Day 2014 (apologies this is an old review only just ...
This book was the choice of our book club friend (Grim Tim). Through him I have been introduced to The Road, Blood Meridian, Wool. You get the picture – dystopian or depressing. Coetzee’s story of Michael K set in South Africa during a civil war reminded me of McCarthy’s work – beautifully written and disturbingly ...
Indireads Done With Men is a fun-filled Indian romantic comedy/romance that’s an easy read and one which I can see heading to the big screen one day. Think Bridget Jones’s Diary, only set on the beach in Goa.Quite apt that the book is to be released on Valentine’s Day 2014. It has all the ingredients of ...
So often award-winning books fail to deliver the wow factor. So it was with some trepidation that I chose the 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson for our “mainly men” book club. Just for the record, these boys are hard to please. I chose the book primarily because of its setting: the ...
The quirky title of this book piques your curiosity and makes you want to know what will happen next. Unassuming Swede Allan Karlsson may be 100 years old but he is spirited, clever, funny, a tad tired and in need of a good stiff swig of vodka. Allan has had an extaordinary life and doesn’t ...
When the United Kingdom is divided into four based on the four humours - sanguine, melancholic, choleric or phlegmatic – people are sent to live in the quarter where they are deemed to belong. Thomas Parry is one such child, taken from his parents in the middle of the night. What follows is his journey ...
Courtesy Harper Loneliness, loss of faith and alcoholism in 1950s Ireland are just some of the “cheerful” themes Brian Moore tackles in his portrayal of Judith Hearne. The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne was first published in 1955 under the simple title of Judith Hearne and was Moore’s first book penned under his own name. It is still regarded today as ...
Courtesy UWAP Set at a quiet resort in Bali, Sustenance looks at the use of food as a means of both spiritual and physical comfort when all hope is gone. A warning; hotel chef Perpetua de Mello will have you drooling over the pages so try not to ruin your book, especially if it’s from the library! On a different level, Sustenance tackles ...
The joy of a book club (let’s call this one my mainly men book club) is that you read books and genres that you would never normally choose to explore. Sometimes this can lead to wonderful new discoveries and sometimes it can be downright challenging. Wool falls somewhere in between. It explores a post-apocalyptic dystopian world ...
What a hoot. Recommended by my crazy English friend Tops and is a fab holiday read. Interesting take on the monarchy and what goes on behind closed doors, (palace doors that is!). Imagine the Queen donned in a hoody taking the train to Scotland, looking for a bit of time out. I can now! As my friend ...
The Road A father and his son walk alone through burned America, heading slowly for the coast. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the men who stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food ...
I am an Australian freelance editor, proofreader and blogger with extensive experience working with books, magazines, newspapers, websites, social media and academic journals.
