Wandering the world

I love that The Paris library showcases the bravery of the librarians at the American Library in Paris during the Nazi occupation of WW2. It is not often that lovers of books are portrayed with heroism! The book is based on true events and that made me love it even more. The Paris library | Published February 2021 | Read November 2023 The author, herself having spent time working in the American Library, weaves well-researched fact and fiction into a story of the librarians w

The brightest star in the sky is the first Marian Keyes novel I read outside of the Walsh sisters series. I have enjoyed that series and I have grown to love the quirky nature of Keyes's writing and the Irishness of her works. Keyes's books are often described as chick-lit/romance so not at all my usual fare, but I don't mind the break from the dark and disturbing novels I mostly read. I would say, too, that on top of the fluff and humour, Keyes does make me think - about lif

I've now read the complete saga of Marian Keyes's Walsh family as it stands at the time of writing this post. Each book tells the story of one of the five sisters in the family: Claire, Rachel, Maggie, Anna and Helen. There is a second novel featuring Rachel as the protagonist and a second Anna story. Marian Keyes is an acquired taste and may not appeal to everyone. She is a hugely successful Irish novelist and non-fiction writer although best known for her 'chick lit', a lab

I picked up The resemblance at my local library having not previously heard of author, Lauren Nossett. The premise and setting intrigued me, given my own academic background. I was interested to read this debut novel from an academic-turned-novelist with a PhD in German literature. The resemblance | Published November 2022 | Read October 2023 The novel is set on the University of Georgia Athens campus, where Detective Marlitt Kaplan, whose mother is a professor of German at t