Earlier this year, I read James Hawes’s The Shortest History of Germany – it was illuminating to say the least (and I thought I knew a thing or two about German history). So I decided t…| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
The good news is the event is on! The not so good is that some do not know that German Literature Month has a new home. Over on my second blog – Lizzy’s Literary Life (Volume Two). There you’ll find the announcement post, my not-so-shortlist on interpreting this year’s prompts, and the twelve posts I’ve […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
As I hinted at the beginning of the year, this site is full. I have two options. I can a) retire gracefully or b) grow old disgracefully. 🤔 Anyone who knows me in IRL knows within 5 minutes that option a) is about as likely as my ever completing the TBR. So, as I still […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
Not too shabby a stack for 6 weeks reading, is it? Well 8 weeks actually – I started a little early. 17 books from 16 different Indie publishers, 15 of which I reviewed. I hit most of the specific reading prompts I set for myself. They also included an unplanned theme read – 5 books […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
For the final day of the extended Read Indies 2022, I decided to segue into Reading Ireland Month, hosted by Cathy at 746 books. What to choose? I was prompted by the blurb on the novella I reviewed yesterday. It was written by Ronan Hession, known for his warm-hearted novels, and, with the world in […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
Translated from German by Jo Heinrich Following Wednesday’s visit to a C19th mansion on the Landwehr Canal, we are now travelling eastwards, 14 stops on the M6 tram, to the district of Marzahn, one of the GDR’s massive Plattenbau estates, built in 1977. An area with an infamous reputation: after the fall of the Wall […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
A few years ago I read Rory Maclean’s Berlin, Imagine A City, in which 500 years of history is recounted through portraits of 24 key individuals Utterly marvellous. Read it if you can. I’m now making the same recommendation for Kirsty Bell’s The Undercurrents, published today by Fitzcarraldo Editions, which covers some of the same […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
It was just over a year ago when I attended an online poetry reading by Mairi Murphy. I was struck by the accessibility of her verse, but more than that its passion and warm heartedness. So much so that her book landed on my doorstep just a couple of days later. Ok, so it took […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
Dan Rhodes has a grudge. A publisher of his previous novels (a Scottish Indie no less) didn’t pay him as they should have. It’s no secret. He tells the full story of that and his ongoing battles to receive his due here. He remains bitter and angry, and incorporates the experience into his latest novel, […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
It’s 1591 and Geillis Duncan sits alone in a cold, dark cell deep beneath Edinburgh. She is awaiting her execution, scheduled for the morrow. There is no chance of reprieve; she has been convicted of witchcraft. However Geillis will not die without some comfort. A girl named Iris, travels from 2021 through what Fagan calls […]| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
Where were we? Ah yes – at the storming of the Stasi Headquarters in Berlin in January 1990. In an almost seamless transition, Ralph Hope’s book starts with the storming of the regional Stasi…| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)
… in which a Glaswegian pens a novel set in Edinburgh and an Edinburgher co-pens one set in Glasgow. Both authors are big names in Scottish crime fiction and those books are released today. Denise …| Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One)