The Jorgmund Pipe is on fire, and Gonzo Lubitsch and his Haulage & Hazmat Emergency Civil Freebooting Company have been employed to deal it.
The Jorgmund Pipe – what it is, who created it, what it transports and why it exists at all – is the whole raison d’être of The Gone-Away World, the debut novel [...]
Archive for May, 2008
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
Posted in Entries by Moira, Fiction: fantasy, Fiction: humour, Fiction: romance, Fiction: science fiction, tagged John le Carre, Nick Harkaway, post-apocalypse, The Gone-Away World, Wodehouse on May 31, 2008 | 10 Comments »
Mary Brunton: Self-Control AND Discipline
Posted in Entries by Leena, Fiction: 19th century, tagged 19th century, Jane Austen, Mary Brunton, Methodism, Regency on May 30, 2008 | 7 Comments »
If Mary Brunton’s name rings any bells, you are most likely thinking of this quote from Jane Austen:
I am looking over Self Control again, & my opinion is confirmed of its’ being an excellently-meant, elegantly-written Work, without anything of Nature or Probability in it. I declare I do not know whether Laura’s passage down the [...]
How to Kill your Husband (and other handy household hints) by Kathy Lette
Posted in Entries by Lisa, Fiction: humour, Fiction: women's, tagged How to Kill your Husband, Kathy Lette, Simon and Schuster on May 28, 2008 | 5 Comments »
“All husbands think they’re gods. If only their wives weren’t atheists.”
I wanted to love this novel. Kathy Lette is a brilliant comedian and How to Kill your Husband came highly recommended by a friend. Plus, with a title like this one, how could I possibly not read it? (if only to leave it around to [...]
Red Love, by Alexandra Kollontai
Posted in Entries by Kirsty, Fiction in translation, Fiction: literary, Fiction: women's, Russian Series, Uncategorized, tagged bolshevism, feminism, kollontai, red love, vasilisa malygina on May 27, 2008 | 12 Comments »
There are so many myths and half-truths surrounding the name of Alexandra Kollontai that, rather than write a plain old biographical sketch, I’m going to give you a quiz instead. The first commenter to get all the answers right gets a special place in the VL Hall of Fame, which is surely worth more [...]
Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt by William Nothdurft and Josh Smith
Posted in Entries by Jackie, Non-fiction: environment, Non-fiction: nature, Non-fiction: travel, tagged desert, Egypt, exploration, Germany, natural history, paleontology on May 26, 2008 | 7 Comments »
This book was sooo disappointing. It’s always exciting to read of new fossils found in various parts of the world and I looked forward to details of at least one discovery within. But following the thread of events proved as difficult as finding a nest of petrified dinosaur eggs. The book is [...]
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World by Deborah Cadbury
Posted in Entries by Moira, Non-fiction: biography, Non-fiction: history, Non-fiction: sociology, tagged Bazalgette, Bell Rock, Brooklyn Bridge, Deborah Cadbury, Hoover Dam, Industrial Revolution, Seven Wonders on May 23, 2008 | 9 Comments »
Hands up everyone who’s ever really liked a television series, bought the TV tie-in book and then, having thumbed through it once, never looked at it again – or worse, found that it added nothing to the series and was in fact just money down the drain.
Yes. Thought so. A not uncommon [...]
Feather Man by Rhyll McMaster
Posted in Entries by Lisa, Fiction: literary, tagged Feather Man, Lisa Glass, Marion Boyars, Rhyll McMaster on May 21, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Let me say first that Rhyll McMaster is an extraordinary writer. Her prose is dazzling, poetic and thought-provoking, and this is literary fiction at its best.
Feather Man is Sooky’s story and it’s set in 1950s Brisbane, moving through to London of the 70s. The book is split into four sections, which correspond with the four [...]

