CONTEMPORARY By Sara Lawrence for the Daily Mail Published: 22:02 GMT, 20 February 2020 | Updated: 00:17 GMT, 21 February 2020 TOPICS OF CONVERSATION by Miranda Popkey (Serpents Tail £14.99, 224pp) This is a fascinating character study in which we catch up with our protagonist at various points in her life. From insecure student to … Read more
QUICK READS By Sally Morris for the Daily Mail Published: 22:02 GMT, 20 February 2020 | Updated: 00:18 GMT, 21 February 2020 We’re all rushed for time these days, but even so, the fact that one in three people in the UK doesn’t regularly read for pleasure is a shock. And research shows that one … Read more
BOOK OF THE WEEK EILEEN: THE MAKING OF GEORGE ORWELL by Sylvia Topp (Unbound £20, 560 pp) Back in 1934, a poem appeared in the Sunderland Church High School magazine, written by one of its alumnae, Eileen Maud O’Shaugnessy. Its title? End Of The Century, 1984. The poem foresaw a bleak near-future in which scholars, … Read more
MEMOIR MY PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY by Zeba Talkhani (Sceptre £9.99, 200pp) Zeba Talkhani’s mother was preparing for one of her many extravagant dinner parties when her daughter heard a scream. ‘Mama’ had caught her hand in the blender. Blood spattered everywhere. She was taken to bed, where her body began to convulse. Zeba … Read more
Ian McEwan’s latest novel is set in 1982, but not that of historical record. Here, after a disastrous British defeat in the Falklands, Labour leader Tony Benn is demanding the resignation Mrs Thatcher.
MEMOIR ROOTBOUND: REWILDING A LIFE by Alice Vincent (Canongate, £14.99, 368pp) How do you mend a broken heart? The dumped often find solace in getting drunk, gorging on ice cream or stalking their ex on Facebook. For journalist Alice Vincent, salvation came in the form of a tiny balcony. When this memoir begins, she is … Read more
PICTURE THIS By Ciara Dossett For The Daily Mail Published: 22:00 GMT, 27 February 2020 | Updated: 10:10 GMT, 28 February 2020 My Town by David Gentleman (Particular Books £25, March 5, 288 pp) My Town by David Gentleman (Particular Books £25, March 5, 288 pp) Published just before his 90th birthday, this delightful book … Read more
BOOK OF THE WEEK WHEN TIME STOPPED: A MEMOIR OF MY FATHER’S WAR by Ariana Neumann (Scribner £16.99, 368pp) In the opening pages of this beautifully written, heart-wrenching memoir of love and family and war is a detailed family tree of the author’s Czech heritage. It seems dauntingly complex as family trees often do, littered … Read more
Richard Layard, an economist, has written a study into how society can be happier. He has long promoted happiness as a better measure of society’s progress than GDP. Source link
Top secondary school students are choosing ‘easy’ books like David Walliams and failing to stretch themselves, study finds Brightest readers at secondary school choosing ‘easy’ books below ability levels Opting for Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and novels of David Walliams Report found 16 out of 20 of most popular books were by Walliams and … Read more