Coming Up on Vulpes Libris: All Creatures Great and Small and Fidel

The so-called “Russian series” is the odd one out this week, as all the other Foxes indulge their animal passions with a range of furred and feathered titles. On Monday, Jackie smiles at Pangur Ban, the Irish cat poem that is centuries old. On Tuesday, Kirsty casts an eye over the Fidel Castro Reader. On [...]

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The Wonderful O, by James Thurber

And so the locksmith became a lcksmith, and the bootmaker a btmaker, and people whispered like conspirators when they said the names.  Love’s Labours Lost and Mother Goose flattened out like a pricked balloon.  Books were bks and Robin Hood was Rbinhd.  Little Goody Two Shoes lost her Os and so did Goldilocks, and the [...]

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The Sick Rose by William Blake

The Sick Rose by William Blake O Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. I was stranded in the airport recently waiting for a (very late) plane to arrive. [...]

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Thursday Soapbox:A Fondness for Field Guides

One of the first books I remember owning is a Golden Nature Guide to Mammals by Herbert S. Zim. My family was poor, so buying a book was rare, this one came from a discount store when I was 6. As I look at the familiar cover, light green with a white-tailed deer, I wince [...]

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Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay: when Neighbourhood Watch goes terribly, terribly wrong …

When the Cutter family’s next-door neighbours, the Langleys, are gunned down in their house one hot July night, the Cutters’ safe, predictable existence is instantly shattered. For violent death to have come so close to them is as shocking as it is inexplicable. The Langleys were an ordinary suburban family. If they could be the [...]

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The Cello Suites: the search for a baroque masterpiece, by Eric Siblin

Reading Eric Siblin’s eloquent and accessible book has made me think about how I came to conceive my passion for the music of J S Bach. For me, no other composer comes near to writing music of such beauty, depth and transcendence. However the common view of his music is that it is cold and [...]

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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

“If it were up to me, I would try to forget the Hunger Games entirely. Never speak of them. Pretend they were nothing but a bad dream. But the Victory Tour makes that impossible. Strategically placed almost midway between the annual Games, it is the Capitol’s way of keeping the horror fresh and immediate. Not [...]

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Coming up on Vulpes Libris

Lots of verbs of action on VL this week as the Foxes interact with a very interesting, and very diverse, selection of books. On Monday, Sam devours the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire. But does it live up to expectations? On Tuesday, Hilary compares her personal response to a musical icon with Eric Siblin’s in [...]

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The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies

So, the winner of the Waterstone’s Children’s Prize has been announced and it’s… ta-da… I’m really pleased, although it wasn’t my number 1 choice, it was in my top list… very near the top.  One of the really great things about The Great Hamster Massacre is that it’s a book for 5 – 8 year [...]

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I don’t know exactly when it was, but sometime last year I fell out of love with reading. Books that would usually be read in a couple of days were taking weeks to finish, whole weeks went by when I didn’t even think of picking up a book. It wasn’t that I was reading bad [...]

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