Last night I dreamtthat their names came alive,floating down from my shelvestransforming into glorious embodiments of their previous forms; lords, ladies, lovers and friends - My footsteps creaked on the cold planks as laughter rose like a flute's pure notes,skipping along the vaulted ceiling,arching overhead leaving behind a trail of stars - Light bounced off the frameas the smooth handle turned,bathing me in a gentle...

I've decided to review a film.  You heard it here first, I woke up today and thought, "why not? People deserve to be notified of good films." And today's good film was one I actually watched about two nights ago and it was a rare gem indeed.  Defendor and yes that is correct, with an 'or' ending, is to put it bluntly - AWESOME....

This year the Costa Book of the Year prize winner was very deservingly Jo Shapcott and her collection of poems entitled Of Mutability. I read an interview in The Telegraph with her by Sinclair McKay in which Jo talks about how her poems are about much more than her fight with cancer and the medical treatment that she received. Although the collection openly 'owes...

On Tuesday night I went to Random House to attend an evening hosted by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and to listen to a talk by the wonderful Candy Gourlay. Already she has been shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize, the Blue Peter Favourite Story Prize, the Leeds Children's Book Prize, and nominated for the Carnegie Medal among others! It...

I promised a review of Yasunari Kawabata's novel Snow Country and I'm a lady of my word, so here goes. It should be noted that it was originally published as periodicals between 1935 and 1937 in Japan but wasn't translated into English until 1957 - and hadn't been on my shelf until last week. If I'm to be honest, I struggled at first with...

I am one of those people who spends ages in charity shops looking for an old book that needs a new home. Personally I love books that have inscriptions, I think it gives you more of a sense of the book's history, where it has been and who owned it- call me a romantic but I love to imagine who read books before...

My brother recently came back from a trip to visit his lovely girlfriend in Japan. Knowing that I was a Moomin fan he brought me back an array of Moomin memorabilia- apparently Moomins are pretty popular in Japan! So much to my delight I am now the proud owner of a Moomin pencil case, pass holder, biscuits, pen and notebook and can now reminisce on afternoons...

Rolling back the years to when I was eight years old my Mum bought me a book to read by her favourite author. The book was called Friends Next Door and the author was Susan Hill, I really loved that book and it still stands at a jaunty angle on my bookshelf, among my cherished Brambly Hedge series by Jill Barklem and the...

3 for 2 never gets old does it? Today was saw a very successful trip into Waterstones. It usually happens that when I am looking for a specific genre I can never find the right book and end up scooting home empty handed. However today was not that day. Today I entered Waterstones with no expectations of what I was looking for, and...

Last night I attended the Society of Young Publishers Question Time held at the Swedenborg Hall in Bloomsbury. Having only joined in October it was the first Question Time I had attended and I thought it was marvellous. The panel were as follows: Joanne Dickinson - Fiction Publisher, Sphere and Piatkus, at Little, Brown Dan Franklin - Digital Editor, Random House Barry McIlheney...

We have a visitor coming to see us today, Winter Son.He is gentle and quiet - doesn’t like to intrude.His visits are rare and fleeting but when he arrivesEveryone smiles and says his name,Oh, so happy to see their Prodigal Son. His brother is Summer Son,He is the popular brother,Everyone cheers when he comes to visit,He stays for a very long time,Arriving early...

I finished the book! All 766 pages- I don't think I have ever been more engrossed in a novel. Justin Cronin has created a fantastical world centred around an ambitious government experiment gone wrong. Giving an alternative reality to the Twilight series, Cronin explores the darker side of blood-hungry monsters and revels in the details of their past. Twelve criminals waiting on death...

Recently I have barely been able to tear my eyes away from the pages of The Passage by Justin Cronin. It truly is a superb supernatural thriller and I thought I should tell you all about it. Anyway, here is a picture of the stonking great big book and I shall report back when I have finished it. Tally-ho! ...