The Secret Commonwealth, Philip Pullman

Oh Lyra Belacqua, Lyra Silvertongue. I devoured the original trilogy of your journeys to the North. Bolvangar, Svalbad, Iorek Byrnison, The World of the Dead. I adored the Miltonic and Blakean echoes. Fell in love with the mercurial, quick witted, innocent girl. Loved the world created by Pullman, the familiarity of it, the uncanniness, the… Continue reading The Secret Commonwealth, Philip Pullman

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 18!

Returning to this Book Challenge - I fear optimistically as the prospect of returning to work looms! - we meet Day 18 and A book you like by an author no longer living. Now, as I've said before, I've had to read widely and enjoyed a huge variety of books written by people who have… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 18!

The Shepherd’s Crown, Terry Pratchett

  My first Discworld novel was Carpe Jugulum which is still my favourite, so it seems very fitting for me that my last (new) Discworld novel takes me back to Lancre, the redoubtable Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Tiffany Aching. Pratchett never finished this novel - not the half-dozen other novels which he appears to… Continue reading The Shepherd’s Crown, Terry Pratchett

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman

There is only really one word to describe this book. Perfect. Absolutely and undoubtedly, a perfect book. Powerful, moving, honest. A true book. A summary of the plot here will not serve to convey its power. Go out and read this book. In my own small way, however, here goes. The adult narrator returns to… Continue reading The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman