The Accidental by Ali Smith: And now for something completely different …

The Smart family’s lacklustre holiday in Norwich is turned upside down when a beguiling stranger called Amber appears, bringing with her love, joy, pain and upheaval. The Smarts try to make sense of their bewildering emotions as Amber tramples over family boundaries and forces them to think about their world and themselves in an entirely [...]

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Rural Rides, by William Cobbett

I was inspired to pick up my copy of Rural Rides when I heard of the death of that great radical of my time, Michael Foot. Foot and Cobbett did not have one of the most obvious things in common – Cobbett was no socialist, and was the scourge of those who professed any sort [...]

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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This book ticked all my boxes. The first line of the blurb had me gripped: ‘Tell me the truth.’ It is a simple request, but that shakes the reclusive and enigmatic novelist, Vida Winter, to her very core. Now that’s what you call a hook – it raises so many questions and I bought this [...]

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The Madness of Queen Maria by Jenifer Roberts

Nowadays we think of Portugal as a pleasant vacation spot, but in centuries past, it was a major player on the world’s stage. This biography covers a pivotal time in the country’s history. After generations of weak rulers, where a cabinet minister, Marquis de Pombal, had risen to dictator, because the king(Maria’s father) was too [...]

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Coming Up on Vulpes Libris

No furry creatures this week on Vulpes Libris, but plenty of difficult concepts! On Monday, Jackie considers The Madness of Queen Maria by Jenifer Roberts. On Tuesday, Nikki reviews Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. On Wednesday, Hilary is inspired by the tributes to Michael Foot to go back to his passionate predecessor, William Cobbett, and [...]

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Arrrgggghhhh….

I wish to humbly apologise for 1. my post not being up this morning and 2. for not managing to redeem myself by posting it tonight. Let’s just say…. it has been one hell of a day. On a positive note though it was World Book Day this week in the UK and hundreds of [...]

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Hang in there!

Eve will indeed be here with her insights on YA literature today… but unfortunately not until a little later.  Due to circumstances beyond her control, she’ll only be able to post this evening. In the meantime, for the benefit of all those anonymous readers who find us by googling for “bunnies”, here you are. This [...]

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Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

“Stories about food are stories about us – our history and our values.” When I sat down to write this review I did so with 16 pages of notes and ambitions to compose a review that would change the eating habits of every person who read it. Only such lofty goals, I felt, could do [...]

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The Bird Room by Chris Killen: humour and pathos in the modern world

When Will meets Alice, he can’t believe his luck. She’s smart, sexy and, much to Will’s surprise, in love with him. Alice brings meaning to his urban existence. But true love never came easy and soon devotion leads Will to something darker. My goodness, The Bird Room is a book of two halves, and isn’t [...]

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The Stuffed Owl. An Anthology of Bad Verse, selected and arranged by D B Wyndham Lewis and Charles Lee.

There are other anthologies of bad and unintentionally funny verse, but none quite like ‘The Stuffed Owl’. That is because this one is compiled with such malicious glee, and it is funny from the first word of the preface to the last word of the index (I’ll come back to the index). In fact, the [...]

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