I haven’t updated you on my Project 24 buying for a good while – and please know that that is absolutely not because I’ve been behaving on that front. In fact, I’m getting a…

Stuck In A Book Blog

01.06.2025

Finishing #ABookADayInMay – Stuck in a Book

I finished A Book A Day In May today with O Caledonia (1991) by Elspeth Baker. Rachel and I will be pitting it against The Sundial by Shirley Jackson in the next episode of Tea or Books?, so I won&…

Stuck In A Book Blog

31.05.2025

The Snake Has All The Lines by Jean Kerr – #ABookADayInMay Day 30 – Stuck in a Book

Back in 2012, I read Jean Kerr’s best-known book, apparently turned into a beloved film, Please Don’t Eat The Daisies. She followed it in 1960 with The Snake Has All The Lines – a…

Stuck In A Book Blog

30.05.2025

A couple of underwhelming #ABookADayInMay choices – Days 28 + 29 – Stuck in a Book

Coming towards the end of A Book A Day In May, I’ve read a couple of books that weren’t particularly bad, but left me pretty underwhelmed. So let’s race through them. One Writer&#…

Stuck In A Book Blog

28.05.2025

Eastwards and Far by Chris Lee-Francis – #ABookADayInMay Day 27 – Stuck in a Book

I think I stumbled across Eastwards and Far (2023) by Chris Lee-Francis on Lee-Francis’s Twitter profile, and was intrigued enough to order a copy pronto. As a memoir of cycling across Canada…

Stuck In A Book Blog

27.05.2025

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion – #ABookADayInMay Day 26 – Stuck in a Book

I have long meant to read Joan Didion, but didn’t really know what her writing would be like. I knew she wrote about grief in My Year of Magical Thinking, but – despite having read vari…

Stuck In A Book Blog

27.05.2025

Help us celebrate 10 years of Tea or Books?! – Stuck in a Book

A super quick mini-episode – well, not really an episode – asking for your contributions to the next episode of ‘Tea or Books?’. It will be TEN YEARS since Rachel and I firs…

Stuck In A Book Blog

26.05.2025

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster – #ABookADayInMay Days 23-25 – Stuck in a Book

I was away for the weekend with my church, and so I thought what better what to efficiently cover off three titles for A Book A Day In May than with a trilogy in one paperback? I was also chatting …

Stuck In A Book Blog

23.05.2025

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams – #ABookADayInMay Day 22 – Stuck in a Book

Today I finished the audiobook of Careless People (2025), the recent memoir-exposé by Sarah Wynn-Williams about her time at Facebook. After a chapter about surviving a shark attack as a child, seem…

Stuck In A Book Blog

22.05.2025

The Tin Men by Michael Frayn – #ABookADayInMay Day 21 – Stuck in a Book

I’ve read a couple of books by Michael Frayn from later in his career, but it’s quite a departure to read his debut novel – The Tin Men (1965). It is a raucous satire of – w…

Stuck In A Book Blog

21.05.2025

The Swan in the Evening by Rosamond Lehmann – #ABookADayInMay Day 20 – Stuck in a Book

Crossing Day 20 feels like we’re on the home stretch, and I am still really enjoying doing A Book A Day in May – certainly finding it much easier than last year, when my eyes were still…

Stuck In A Book Blog

20.05.2025

#ABookADayInMay – Days 17,18,19 – Stuck in a Book

Unlike Madame Bibi, I am getting behind with my reviewing – I am still managing to finish a book a day in May, and that’s the main thing, but telling you about them is another thing. My…

Stuck In A Book Blog

17.05.2025

#ABookADayInMay: Days 14,15,16 – Stuck in a Book

Playing catch up with some quick thoughts about three books – one of which was excellent, one of which was very good, and one of which is absolutely not my cup of tea. Day 14 – Box Offi…

Stuck In A Book Blog

14.05.2025

Messages From My Father by Calvin Trillin – #ABookADayInMay Day 13 – Stuck in a Book

There is something very reassuring about Calvin Trillin’s non-fiction. In the UK I think he is best known, if at all, as the author of Tepper Isn’t Going Out. That was my first encounte…

Stuck In A Book Blog

13.05.2025

Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys – Stuck in a Book

When I was in Canada a couple of years ago, I was on the hunt for Canadian writers – but with the proviso that I wanted them to be writing about Canada. On the plane on the way home, I read o…

Stuck In A Book Blog

12.05.2025

#138: Do We Care About Authors’ Personal Lives? and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne vs The Beautiful Visit – Stuck in a Book

Elizabeth Jane Howard, Brian Moore, and authors’ personal lives – welcome to episode 138! In the first half of the episode, we do a question that Lindsey suggested: do we care about aut…

Stuck In A Book Blog

12.05.2025

My Late Wives by Carter Dickson – #ABookADayInMay Day 11 – Stuck in a Book

Carter Dickson is the not-especially-hidden pseudonym of John Dickson Carr, and he wrote murder mysteries under both names and a handful more. He specialises in the locked-room mystery, which is on…

Stuck In A Book Blog

11.05.2025

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan – #ABookADayInMay Day 10 – Stuck in a Book

It’s been a busy day, but I finished an audiobook that I borrowed from the library: The Cement Garden (1978) by Ian McEwan. And boy, what a journey that novella is. I don’t have much ti…

Stuck In A Book Blog

10.05.2025

The Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway – #ABookADayInMay Day 9 – Stuck in a Book

Ernest Hemingway is one of those big-name authors that I’ve never previously read. Truth be told, I’ve always assumed that I wouldn’t like his books, and that’s only partly …

Stuck In A Book Blog

09.05.2025

Alison by Lizzy Stewart – #ABookADayInMay Day 8 – Stuck in a Book

It’s been quite a while since I read a graphic novel, and A Book A Day In May seemed like an excellent opportunity to remedy that. I bought Alison (2022) by Lizzy Stewart last year, on the ba…

Stuck In A Book Blog

08.05.2025

The Odd Woman and the City by Vivian Gornick – #ABookADayInMay Day 7 – Stuck in a Book

I’m only buying 24 books this year, and so naturally I’m choosing them carefully. I knew I had to have The Odd Woman and the City (2015) by Vivian Gornick when Jacqui wrote a brilliant …

Stuck In A Book Blog

07.05.2025

The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons – #ABookADayInMay Day 6 – Stuck in a Book

Many people have spoken highly of Stella Gibbons’ The Woods in Winter (1970) – including when I ranked her novels. It comes very late in her body of work, though is almost entirely set …

Stuck In A Book Blog

06.05.2025

#ABookADayInMay: Days 3, 4, 5 – Stuck in a Book

I was away for the Bank Holiday weekend, which is why I’m behind with reviewing books for A Book A Day In May – but I did manage to keep reading, hopefully without being too antisocial …

Stuck In A Book Blog

03.05.2025

The Happy Ending by Leo Walmsley – #ABookADayInMay Day 2 – Stuck in a Book

The Happy Ending (1957) is the third book in Leo Walmsley’s trilogy of autobiographical novels – starting with Love in the Sun and followed (rather later) by The Golden Waterwheel. Clic…

Stuck In A Book Blog

02.05.2025

People in the Room by Norah Lange – #ABookADayInMay Day 1 – Stuck in a Book

It’s May, and that means it’s A Book A Day in May time! I’m delighted to see that Madame Bibi is back at the challenge too, and I thank her for inspiring me every year to take it …

Stuck In A Book Blog

02.05.2025

Announcing the 10th Anniversary Reading Week Club! – Stuck in a Book

Thank you to everyone who took part in the 1952 Club and, yes, I still indeed to read lots more posts(!) – and thank you especially to everyone who submitted ideas for the special 10th annive…

Stuck In A Book Blog

29.04.2025

The next club… your suggestions! – Stuck in a Book

What a fun 1952 Club it’s been! I’ve tried to collect all of your reviews, though do let me know if I’ve missed anything – and I have an awful lot of them still to read, as …

Stuck In A Book Blog

28.04.2025

Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

My post about Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison is going to be short – because what on earth was I thinking, back in 2012, when I bought this Virago Modern Classic? Well, maybe I’ve answe…

Stuck In A Book Blog

27.04.2025

Don’t Look Round by Violet Trefusis – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

There was a time when I would indiscriminately buy almost any book connected to the Bloomsbury Group. To a certain extent, that’s a book-buying era I’m still living – but I don&#8…

Stuck In A Book Blog

26.04.2025

A couple of #1952Club mysteries – Stuck in a Book

Almost any club year will have a host of vintage murder mysteries (and Neeru always comes up with some good candidates) – 1952 is no exception. I’m not sure when the Golden Age technica…

Stuck In A Book Blog

26.04.2025

Fever of Love by Rosamond Harcourt-Smith – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

I’m always willing to take a punt on a cheaply priced mid-century novel by a British woman, and that’s how Fever of Love by Rosamond Harcourt-Smith ended up in my hands on a trip to Hay…

Stuck In A Book Blog

25.04.2025

Trial By Terror by Paul Gallico #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

Paul Gallico is one of the most varied writers I’ve encountered. Not just in terms of quality – though that’s probably true – but in terms of the types of books he writes. H…

Stuck In A Book Blog

25.04.2025

Barmy in Wonderland by P.G. Wodehouse – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every club year will have appearances by Georges Simenon and Georgette Heyer – but there’s another prolific mid-century writer who usually tu…

Stuck In A Book Blog

24.04.2025

The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

I bought The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson in Canada back in 2017, based on her being a Persephone author. Since then, I’ve read another couple of novels by her – but I think this o…

Stuck In A Book Blog

24.04.2025

The Bright Blue Eye by Katherine Dunning – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning was my favourite read of last year, and has been reprinted in the British Library Women Writers series (hurrah!) so naturally that set me off to see what else…

Stuck In A Book Blog

23.04.2025

Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

One of the things I love about our clubs are when it leads me to read books that have languished on my shelves for years – and they end up exceeding my expectations. In some cases, by a long …

Stuck In A Book Blog

22.04.2025

Treasure Hunt by Molly Keane – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

The first post-it that came out of my 1952 Club bowl was Treasure Hunt by M.J. Farrell – the pseudonym of Molly Keane, and my Virago Modern Classic uses both names on the cover, though the ne…

Stuck In A Book Blog

22.04.2025

The 1952 Club: your reviews – Stuck in a Book

The 1952 Club is here! There already seems to be a bit of a buzz in the blogosphere, which is lovely. Because this is the biannual event where Karen and I ask everyone to read and review books publ…

Stuck In A Book Blog

17.04.2025

Maggie on the Walls: Peas in a Podcast #21! – Stuck in a Book

It’s episode 21 of the podcast I do with my identical twin bro Colin! In this episode we discuss international standard units of measurements, big apples, tips for job interviews, and Dr Crip…

Stuck In A Book Blog

06.04.2025

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson – Stuck in a Book

As you may know, if you’ve been here for a while, my doctoral thesis looked at fantastic novels – specifically those aimed at a middlebrow audience, published between the World Wars. By…

home›Stuck In A Book Blog›Books & Literature

Stuck In A Book Blog - Books & Literature

Project 24 update (books 6-14) – Stuck in a Book

Finishing #ABookADayInMay – Stuck in a Book

The Snake Has All The Lines by Jean Kerr – #ABookADayInMay Day 30 – Stuck in a Book

A couple of underwhelming #ABookADayInMay choices – Days 28 + 29 – Stuck in a Book

Eastwards and Far by Chris Lee-Francis – #ABookADayInMay Day 27 – Stuck in a Book

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion – #ABookADayInMay Day 26 – Stuck in a Book

Help us celebrate 10 years of Tea or Books?! – Stuck in a Book

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster – #ABookADayInMay Days 23-25 – Stuck in a Book

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams – #ABookADayInMay Day 22 – Stuck in a Book

The Tin Men by Michael Frayn – #ABookADayInMay Day 21 – Stuck in a Book

The Swan in the Evening by Rosamond Lehmann – #ABookADayInMay Day 20 – Stuck in a Book

#ABookADayInMay – Days 17,18,19 – Stuck in a Book

#ABookADayInMay: Days 14,15,16 – Stuck in a Book

Messages From My Father by Calvin Trillin – #ABookADayInMay Day 13 – Stuck in a Book

Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys – Stuck in a Book

#138: Do We Care About Authors’ Personal Lives? and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne vs The Beautiful Visit – Stuck in a Book

My Late Wives by Carter Dickson – #ABookADayInMay Day 11 – Stuck in a Book

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan – #ABookADayInMay Day 10 – Stuck in a Book

The Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway – #ABookADayInMay Day 9 – Stuck in a Book

Alison by Lizzy Stewart – #ABookADayInMay Day 8 – Stuck in a Book

The Odd Woman and the City by Vivian Gornick – #ABookADayInMay Day 7 – Stuck in a Book

The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons – #ABookADayInMay Day 6 – Stuck in a Book

#ABookADayInMay: Days 3, 4, 5 – Stuck in a Book

The Happy Ending by Leo Walmsley – #ABookADayInMay Day 2 – Stuck in a Book

People in the Room by Norah Lange – #ABookADayInMay Day 1 – Stuck in a Book

Announcing the 10th Anniversary Reading Week Club! – Stuck in a Book

The next club… your suggestions! – Stuck in a Book

Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

Don’t Look Round by Violet Trefusis – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

A couple of #1952Club mysteries – Stuck in a Book

Fever of Love by Rosamond Harcourt-Smith – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

Trial By Terror by Paul Gallico #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

Barmy in Wonderland by P.G. Wodehouse – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

The Bright Blue Eye by Katherine Dunning – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

Treasure Hunt by Molly Keane – #1952Club – Stuck in a Book

The 1952 Club: your reviews – Stuck in a Book

Maggie on the Walls: Peas in a Podcast #21! – Stuck in a Book

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson – Stuck in a Book

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