01 Jan 2020

Susannah Books, Newsletter, Reading 8 Comments Permalink

George Eliot turns 200

Susannah 1 January 2020 8 Comments

George Eliot turned 200 on 22nd November 2019. Virginia Woolf once described Middlemarch as “one of the few English novels written for grown-up people”. Read more

01 Jan 2020

Susannah Books, Newsletter, Reading 14 Comments Permalink

My 2019 Favourites

Susannah 1 January 2020 14 Comments

Each January I give you my list of Top Ten books of the year just ended. It’s always terribly hard deciding Read more

01 Jan 2020

Susannah Books, Newsletter, Reading 2 Comments Permalink

Forbes ‘Fictional 15’

Susannah 1 January 2020 2 Comments

I am sure you must have heard of the Forbes List, an annual listing of the world’s wealthiest billionaires? Read more

01 Dec 2019

Susannah Newsletter, Poem of the Month, Poems, Poets 15 Comments Permalink

Hone Tuwhare & ‘Rain’

Susannah 1 December 2019 15 Comments

Today’s newspaper included a photo of some young children in rural Australia jumping in puddles of rain that had just fallen. In this terrible time of drought, a poem about rain has extra resonance. Read more

01 Dec 2019

Susannah Books, Newsletter, Reading 19 Comments Permalink

BBC’s 100 Novels that Shaped our World

Susannah 1 December 2019 19 Comments

When I was about 15 my English teacher handed out lists of the books that we should have read if we were to consider ourselves a well-read person. Read more

01 Dec 2019

Susannah Books, Newsletter, Reading 6 Comments Permalink

A Good Obituary

Susannah 1 December 2019 6 Comments

I always enjoy reading a well-written obituary. My favourite one from 2019 was published in The Times in June, and concerned a legal professor named Sir Guenter Treitel, QC. Read more

01 Nov 2019

Susannah Newsletter, Reading 9 Comments Permalink

Living Where The Poets Lived

Susannah 1 November 2019 9 Comments

In April next year it will be poet William Wordsworth’s 250th birthday. Dove Cottage (pictured above), Read more

01 Nov 2019

Susannah Newsletter, Reading 2 Comments Permalink

Enriched by Reading

Susannah 1 November 2019 2 Comments

I have recently been watching a fascinating Netflix series called ‘Inside Bill’s Brain’ Read more

01 Nov 2019

Susannah Newsletter, Poem of the Month, Poems, Poets 4 Comments Permalink

Oscar Wilde & Symphony in Yellow

Susannah 1 November 2019 4 Comments

An omnibus across the bridge
Crawls like a yellow butterfly
And, here and there, a passer-by

Read more

01 Oct 2019

Susannah Newsletter, Poem of the Month, Poems, Poets 48 Comments Permalink

Hilaire Belloc & Tarantella

Susannah 1 October 2019 48 Comments

Do you remember an Inn,
Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?

Read more

01 Oct 2019

Susannah Newsletter, Reading 13 Comments Permalink

Do you weep over books?

Susannah 1 October 2019 13 Comments

As a child I regularly wept over books. The death of Beth in Little Women, of Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables, Read more

01 Oct 2019

Susannah Movies, Newsletter, Screen versions No Comments Permalink

Lost Boys and Lost Girls

Susannah 1 October 2019 No Comments

I love watching Emma Thompson on screen, so was interested to hear of a new movie being made which stars Emma, Read more

01 Oct 2019

Susannah Memoir, Newsletter, Reading 6 Comments Permalink

Two Memoirs

Susannah 1 October 2019 6 Comments

I have two intriguing and very different memoirs to recommend this month. Read more

01 Sep 2019

Susannah Authors, Newsletter, Screen versions 12 Comments Permalink

‘A Suitable Boy’ TV Series

Susannah 1 September 2019 12 Comments

Andrew Davies is a name familiar to many of us from Sunday night TV. He is the BBC’s veteran adaptor of classic novels Read more

01 Sep 2019

Susannah Newsletter, Reading No Comments Permalink

Global Literacy

Susannah 1 September 2019 No Comments

The ability to read is, in my view, one of the greatest gifts a child can be given. Sadly, there are still many in the world who are not able to read. Read more