Flâneuse, by Lauren Elkin
As soon as I saw this book I knew that reading it was a must, as a companion to Edmund White’s masterly Flâneur, and it absolutely did not disappoint. Lauren … Continue reading
Why I’m reading all 13 volumes of Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage
This began as a replacement Christmas present. The Fitbit-type gadget I got for Christmas failed to sync with my phone, contra its advertising. After much struggle we got the money back and … Continue reading
Hawksmoor, by Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor (1985) doesn’t really need another review, having been around and acclaimed for 30 years. This is more of a personal reflection on reading the book for the … Continue reading
High Rise, by J G Ballard
If ever Vulpes Libris has a theme week on novels with arresting openings (and I think we should) I’ll already have expended my favourite candidate in High Rise. It really … Continue reading
Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London: Body Work
Body Work is an interstitial series of comics in the muted superhero tradition. It fits between and around books two and three in Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series, a very … Continue reading
Princess Bari, by Hwang Sok-yong
Princess Bari (2014) by the respected Korean author Hwang Sok-yong mixes magical realism with the history of North Korea’s famine, with people trafficking and forced labour in present-day London, and … Continue reading
Cormoran Strike mysteries by Robert Galbraith
Unlike most people, I haven’t read the Harry Potter books, so when my local book group did The Cuckoo’s Calling last year, I went into it with an open mind. … Continue reading
Night Haunts by Sukhdev Sandhu
A Journey through the London Night “Nobody knows we’re here. Nobody. The Port of London sent a river pilot to assess my competence. I’ve been on the Thames for fifty … Continue reading
Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
Shelf of Shame Week 2 I find I can relate somewhat to Bookfox Moira’s experience here, except that the person most strongly nagging me to read Mrs Dalloway was my … Continue reading
The Old Curiosity Shop
Charles Dickens’ novel about ‘Little Nell’ (hardly ever called ‘Little’ in the story, just ‘the child’) has been on my Shelf of Shame for ever, because I was totally put … Continue reading
The Spirit of London, by Paul Cohen-Portheim
This book was first published in 1935, and has been re-published in its lovely Batsford Brian Cook dust-wrapper. I’ve had it for over a year now; it was a welcome … Continue reading
Coming up on Vulpes Libris
Spring has sprung (at least, it has here in Germany). The grass is riz (ditto). I wonder where the Foxes is? Oh look, there they are. On Monday, Kate thinks cautiously … Continue reading
Mr. Selfridge
Last month, Americans finished watching the first season of Mr. Selfridge, another British import series featured on the PBS ‘Masterpiece’ program. Even though many in the UK deride their offerings … Continue reading
Never Coming Home by Evonne Wareham
Imagine, if you will, an unlikely collaboration between Katie Fforde and Lee Child: a novel in which a garden designer with a fabulous figure and two gold medals from the … Continue reading
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