The Black Crescent | Jane Johnson | Book Review

The importance of the book is not for me in the friendship – which I think is where lots of others get hooked – but in the express wishes of Tully, and in turn Jimmy, to have his death be something of which he could be proud.

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Doing Harm | Maya Dusenbery | Book Review

My collection of books about women’s rage is large. It’s not quite as large (yet) as my collection of books about women’s failure to be adequately cared for by health care systems. I suspect one category has something to do with the other- but let’s not dwell on that. Doing Harm by Maya Dusenbery fits completely into the latter category, but she doesn’t ignore the former.

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Five Days Gone | Laura Cumming | Book Review

A book entitled “Five Days Gone: The Mystery of my Mother’s Disappearance as a Child” almost inevitably gives you psychological thriller vibes. Or at least criminal mystery vibes. Or vibes bordering on ‘this could be intriguing’. Having now read the book, I regret to say that this subtitle is perhaps … misleading at best. It could have been called “Five Days Gone: The Days I Won’t get Back from Reading this Book.”

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Mayflies | Andrew O’Hagan | Book Review

The importance of the book is not for me in the friendship – which I think is where lots of others get hooked – but in the express wishes of Tully, and in turn Jimmy, to have his death be something of which he could be proud.

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The Story Museum in Oxford: A Must-Visit

I visited lots of museums and churches and old things while in Oxford. But the Story Museum was by far my top choice. Whether you are a child, have a child, or would like to remind yourself that you aren’t a child anymore, there’s something for everyone.

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How to Keep Track of Your To-Be-Read List (an odd sanity saver)

When I was small, I loved going to bookstores and libraries in other towns. I didn’t think it at all inappropriate to bring a notebook and a pencil in with me, locate books I would like to read and -rather than buying them- write down their titles and authors to borrow from my local library later on. I’m now told this behaviour was somewhat questionable – though I’m not sure I’d agree.

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What I’ve Read: First Half of 2022

We’re already 6 months into the year and my Goodreads account tells me I’m 8 books behind on my reading challenge. Off to a great start. If you’re new to Goodreads, they have a reading challenge each year, and participants can choose how many books they’d like to get through in 12 months. I try to set relatively high goals but clearly this year I’m not winning yet.
I’ve had a very mixed bag of reads this winter/spring.

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