This historical fiction is set during the Second World War, amid the London Blitz, told through the eyes of children and teenagers. The teenage budding love, the romance between a soldier and a war officer, and the friendships formed around the music club were all heartwarming to read. Some parts felt a little too good …
Will and Lu travel to Seville for their second honeymoon, exactly during Semana Santa (Holy Week). It’s a wonderful mix of magical realism, time travel, and doppelgängers, with vivid imagery that reminded me of the film The Grand Budapest Hotel. I could imagine myself in Seville, capturing a picture of a café painted bright yellow, …
The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson is a mind-blowing, unputdownable Polynesian epic. While the book is about a specific group of people in the ancient Tongan Kingdom, exploring their beautiful culture and sometimes difficult practices, it is highly relatable to today’s world and to each individual. It is a vast book that has the universe and …
A beautifully illustrated collection of six stories by Oscar Wilde, perfect for children aged 4–11 and beyond. The six stories included are: The Selfish Giant, The Happy Prince, The Devoted Friend, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Remarkable Rocket, and The Young King. I especially enjoyed the descriptive language. It vividly brings each image to …
“We all encounter Austen differently and from the position of where and when we read her. How we read her changes as the world changes around us. And it is perhaps above all this relentless change that keeps us going back to Jane Austen. She knew that every life was a series of events – …
I had fairly high expectations for this concert, Franz Schubert: Master Storyteller by Benjamin Appl and Sholto Kynoch, which was also the opening concert of this year’s Oxford International Song Festival, for three reasons. Firstly, I had heard their wonderful performance back in May in Heidelberg, Germany. Secondly, I have been a lover of Lieder …
A very sweet bedtime story to curl up with children before falling asleep. The story begins with a gentle conversation between Little Rabbit and Mother Rabbit, starting with their admiration for the beautiful moon. Bathed in moonlight, Little Rabbit watched many night wanderers enjoying their fun and adventures, which made life as a rabbit seem …
Let’s do it the Cuban way: grab a cup of café con leche and sink into this beautiful, heartfelt, and reflective memoir—a journey through Havana, memory, and identity. The book is a loose travelogue, organized more by themes than by timeline. We move in and out of Havana alongside Barbara’s journey in January 2017, walking …
“Me and the horn are history.” After one disastrous concert, Cate made that decision. She walked away from the horn and reinvented herself as an English teacher. For ten years, her life was ruled by trauma. Instead of facing it, she spent those years in denial, chasing pleasure, traveling the world, partying in Italy, skiing, …
“Now she’s here, on this balcony: ‘It was the flowering season of the year.’ Buenos Aires in September. Everything is repeated and out of place at the same time.” – Clara Obligado The book begins with a spiral conch shell, the middle of the ring expanding outward through the stories. As Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: …