The Next Shelf
Thoughts on what I’m reading
Welcome to The Next Shelf, where I share my unsolicited thoughts and feelings about the books I’ve been reading and listening to… and my existential angst about all the books I’m yet to read.
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Read on: Why The Next Shelf?The first thing I do when I start a new book is I open the cover and smell the pages. The older and more loved the book, the better.
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Read on: Creation Lake – Rachel KushnerCreation Lake caught my attention – it sounded like a fun read, unusually so for the Booker list, which often tends more towards war, famine and broken families. My husband happened to be on the same wavelength, and bought it for me…
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Read on: I Am Malala – Malala Yousafzai and Christina LambI’m not usually a memoir person; I’m not particularly interested in reading the results of ghostwritten cash grab celebrity book deals. But as a bona fide twenty-first century teenage heroine, Malala gets a pass…
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Read on: Going Solo – Roald DahlA jolly good romp through the savannah is just the ticket, hey chaps!
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Read on: The Rose Field – Philip PullmanThe Rose Field is the long-awaited conclusion to Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust trilogy, which follows on from His Dark Materials, the original epic fantasy/science-fiction trilogy that earned a place in hearts and bookshelves around the world over two decades ago.
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Read on: The Will of the Many – James IslingtonHail Islington, master storyteller, recreator of ancient worlds, weaver of woeful tales!
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Read on: A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J MaasA Court of Thorns and Roses is not the worst book I’ve ever read, but it might be the best-worst…
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Read on: Dragonflight – Anne McCaffreyI recently decided to revisit some fantasy books I had enjoyed in my teenage years and see how they held up to rereading…
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Read on: The Places In Between – Rory StewartEvery now and then you come across a book that makes you want to run down the streets, waving it in the face of everyone you pass.
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Read on: The Satanic Verses – Salman RushdieAfter the knife incident, buying the book felt like the tiniest act of resistance against the terrorism of murderous thin-skinned religious zealots…
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Read on: Blood Over Bright Haven – M.L. WangReligion is truly the opiate of the masses in this standalone dark academia fantasy from M.L. Wang…
The Next Shelf 