Notes from a Book Addict

01 May 2019

Susannah Newsletter, books 10 Comments Permalink

Oh sleep! It is a gentle thing,

Susannah 1 May 2019 10 Comments

“Oh sleep! It is a gentle thing
Beloved from pole to pole”

Read more

01 May 2019

Susannah Poets, Newsletter 2 Comments Permalink

Poet Laureate

Susannah 1 May 2019 2 Comments

For English poets, I guess the ultimate position is that of ‘Poet Laureate’, when a writer is appointed by the government or authority of the day to write poems celebrating special events. Read more

01 May 2019

Susannah Movies, Newsletter, books 14 Comments Permalink

The Professor and the Madman

Susannah 1 May 2019 14 Comments

Did you read Simon Winchester’s fabulous 1998 book The Surgeon of Crowthorne about James Murray who worked on the Oxford English Dictionary Read more

01 May 2019

Susannah Book of the Month, Monograph, Authors, Recommended Reading, books 6 Comments Permalink

Theodor Fontane & ‘Effi Briest’

Susannah 1 May 2019 6 Comments

Thomas Mann, the Nobel-winning German novelist, once stated that if one had to reduce one’s library to only six novels, then one of them would be Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest. Read more

01 May 2019

Susannah Poem of the Month, Poets, Poems, Newsletter 8 Comments Permalink

Tim Heath & ‘not as the crow flies’

Susannah 1 May 2019 8 Comments

New Zealand poet Tim Heath is a friend of mine and I have been very much enjoying his new volume of poems not as the crow flies. Read more

01 Apr 2019

Susannah Newsletter, books 4 Comments Permalink

Ada Lovelace & The Analytical Engine

Susannah 1 April 2019 4 Comments

I have been deep in the ‘Byronic world’ this past month. I fell in love with Byron’s poems as a teenager, sat in my room learning many by heart, and just revelled in his wonderful language. Read more

01 Apr 2019

Susannah Authors, reading, Newsletter, books 7 Comments Permalink

Historical Novels

Susannah 1 April 2019 7 Comments

At one of my talks I was recently asked about historical novels. A woman’s nephew, a student at high school, had been asked to choose an historical novel and he didn’t really know what the term meant. Read more

01 Apr 2019

Susannah Authors, Movies, Newsletter 10 Comments Permalink

New Movies

Susannah 1 April 2019 10 Comments

I am really looking forward to seeing All is True, a film about Shakespeare, directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh. Read more

01 Apr 2019

Susannah Book of the Month, Monograph, Authors, Recommended Reading, books, Literary Snapshots No Comments Permalink

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’

Susannah 1 April 2019 No Comments

My mother read me The Hound of the Baskervilles when I was about ten years old. I vividly remember lying along the end of her bed and listening with rapt attention to Read more

01 Apr 2019

Susannah Poem of the Month, Poets, Poems, Newsletter 10 Comments Permalink

Philip Larkin & ‘This Be the Verse’

Susannah 1 April 2019 10 Comments

Warning: You’d better skip this item if bad language is not your thing. Read more

01 Mar 2019

Susannah reading, Newsletter, books 8 Comments Permalink

Manhattan Beach

Susannah 1 March 2019 8 Comments

I recently enjoyed the historical novel Manhattan Beach by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan. Set in New York during the Depression and WWII, it described a heroine who becomes a navy diver at a time when professional diving was still in its infancy.

It was a surprising, unpredictable novel – I was never quite sure where it would take me, but I was gripped throughout. It’s a tale of migrants, Read more

01 Mar 2019

Susannah reading, Newsletter, books 6 Comments Permalink

UNESCO Worldwide Cities of Literature

Susannah 1 March 2019 6 Comments

Have you heard about the UNESCO World Cities of Literature scheme? This was a programme launched in 2004 to promote the “social, economic and cultural development” Read more

01 Mar 2019

Susannah Paintings, Talks, Newsletter No Comments Permalink

The Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces

Susannah 1 March 2019 No Comments

Have you been to see the fabulous Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces in Canberra yet? With glorious paintings from the Tate, it brings together many works that have been inspired by literature. Read more

01 Mar 2019

Susannah Book of the Month, Monograph, Authors, Recommended Reading, books, Literary Snapshots 2 Comments Permalink

Jerome K. Jerome & ‘Three Men in a Boat’

Susannah 1 March 2019 2 Comments

Humour tends to be a very individual thing, but it is generally agreed that Three Men in a Boat is one of the funniest novels ever written. Read more

01 Mar 2019

Susannah Poem of the Month, Poets, Poems, Newsletter No Comments Permalink

Christina Rossetti & ‘A Birthday’

Susannah 1 March 2019 No Comments

Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894) never married, (though she was briefly engaged to the artist James Collinson) and yet she wrote some beautiful love poems. Read more