Isabella Hammad, Norah Lofts, comfort reads – welcome to episode 135! In the first half, we discuss whether or not literary fiction can be comfort reads – thank you for the sugge…

Stuck In A Book Blog

19.02.2025

Overpriced Walnuts: Peas in a Podcast #20! – Stuck in a Book

Who’d have thought we’d get to episode 20? In the latest ep, my brother Colin and I cover all the usual important topics: shredded lettuce, the Suez canal, and Kaitlyn Dever. Not in con…

Stuck In A Book Blog

19.02.2025

Project 24: Book Three – Stuck in a Book

We’re halfway through February, and that means I’m due another book under Project 24, right? I was in London for a couple of days, and remembered about a lovely little bookshop called W…

Stuck In A Book Blog

19.02.2025

A whole bunch of non-reviews – Stuck in a Book

It’s that time again, where I blitz through a whole bunch of books I’ve read or listened to in the past few months. Think of it like that viral guy on Instagram who rates outfits at awa…

Stuck In A Book Blog

02.02.2025

StuckinaBook’s Weekend Miscellany – Stuck in a Book

Well, thank GOODNESS January is finally over. I can’t believe it was only a month. I feel like I’ve lived lifetimes in January, and none of them very good. Some of that I will share in …

Stuck In A Book Blog

01.02.2025

Unnecessary Rankings! Daphne du Maurier – Stuck in a Book

While trying to think whom to cover for another Unnecessary Rankings! post, I was looking around my bookcases and alighted on Daphne du Maurier. She was prolific, and I’ve read quite a few of…

Stuck In A Book Blog

29.01.2025

O is for Oyeyemi – Stuck in a Book

This is part of an ongoing series where I write about a different author for each letter of the alphabet. You can see them all here. How has it been 2.5 years since I last added to this series? Tim…

Stuck In A Book Blog

24.01.2025

Project 24: Books 1 and 2 – Stuck in a Book

Project 24 is in full swing! If you missed it, it’s a year where I only buy 24 books for myself. This must be the fourth time I’ve done Project 24, at least, and it’s always a fun…

Stuck In A Book Blog

19.01.2025

Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul – Stuck in a Book

I first came across Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul simply by browsing in Waterstones Piccadilly. It was on one of those display tables, and I was struck by how beautiful it was. Jonathan Cape h…

Stuck In A Book Blog

09.01.2025

A final haul before Project 24 – Stuck in a Book

Have I said on here that I’m doing Project 24 again in 2025? I think I’ll do it ever two or three years, to try and stem the flow of books into my house – and to read more books f…

Stuck In A Book Blog

07.01.2025

I Think You’re Doing Toothpaste Wrong: Peas in a Podcast #19! – Stuck in a Book

Hello, podcast fans! It’s the 19th episode of the podcast I do with my twin brother Colin. In this episode, we cover vital topics like Olympic sports we wouldn’t die during, petty rules…

Stuck In A Book Blog

03.01.2025

2024: Some Reading Stats – Stuck in a Book

Happy new year, everyone. As has become an annual tradition for so many of us in the book blogging world, let’s take a look back at 2024 in reading stats! (Hopefully you’ve already spot…

Stuck In A Book Blog

02.01.2025

#134: Our Top 10 Books of 2024 – Stuck in a Book

Happy new year! In episode 134, Rachel and I share our favourite books reads in 2024 – counting down from ten to one. And we each pick one of the other’s top 10 to read for our next epi…

Stuck In A Book Blog

01.01.2025

My top books of 2024 – Stuck in a Book

One of my favourite bookish moments of the year is sitting down with my reading diary – a list of the books I’ve read since 2002 – and choosing my favourites of the year. Usually …

Stuck In A Book Blog

31.12.2024

Finishing A Century of Books with Alice Thomas Ellis – Stuck in a Book

My final slot on A Century of Books turned out to be 1990, and I decided to read The Inn at the Edge of the World by Alice Thomas Ellis, which I bought last year in the Lake District. When I chose …

Stuck In A Book Blog

30.12.2024

Back by Henry Green – Stuck in a Book

You know when Caustic Cover Critic used to those funny posts of appalling cheap reprints of classics? Here’s an example. Among those that are simply confusing were a few that clearly put the …

Stuck In A Book Blog

27.12.2024

Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark – Stuck in a Book

When I ranked Muriel Spark’s novels recently, there were a couple I hadn’t yet read. A few people had good words to say about The Bachelor though nobody seemed very enthusiastic about A…

Stuck In A Book Blog

23.12.2024

Laughable Loves by Milan Kundera – Stuck in a Book

I was quite a way into my choice for 1969 on A Century of Books – Margaret Drabble’s The Waterfall – when I decided I’d had enough. I’m sure I’ll go back and fin…

Stuck In A Book Blog

22.12.2024

Revisiting an old favourite – Stuck in a Book

When I had a cold a month ago, feeling sorry for myself and tired, the latest Slightly Foxed Edition arrived through my door. I was a bit surprised that it was the series’ first fictional off…

Stuck In A Book Blog

14.12.2024

#133: Do We Have Reading Rules? and Two Willa Cather Novels – Stuck in a Book

Willa Cather and reading rules – welcome to episode 133 of ‘Tea or Books?’! In the first half, we discuss reading rules – when we’re picking up a book, are there certa…

Stuck In A Book Blog

11.12.2024

Another Century of Books Round-Up – Stuck in a Book

As December continues apace, so does my need to catch up with A Century of Books posts. So here is a whole bunch of mini-reviews (more mini than review) of books I’ve read for ACOB that I don…

Stuck In A Book Blog

08.12.2024

Why I chose these books in Hay-on-Wye – Stuck in a Book

I’ve been away in Hay-on-Wye for a couple of nights, staying in a lovely airbnb cottage with some friends. I’ve stayed overnight in Hay once before, but I’ve never done two nights…

Stuck In A Book Blog

06.12.2024

Choose by M. de Momet – Stuck in a Book

Last year, I decided to watch three films which dealt with oh-so-relatable problem of “Oops! I remarried and my first spouse is still alive!” The first was the execrable modern schlock …

Stuck In A Book Blog

04.12.2024

A Woman’s Place 1910-1975 by Ruth Adam – Stuck in a Book

I have well over a hundred Persephone Books, and the hit rate of successes is astonishingly high. There’s a reason that they have the devotion and respect of legions of readers. And so why ha…

Stuck In A Book Blog

27.11.2024

Frederica by Georgette Heyer – Stuck in a Book

Believe it or not, I’ve only read one Georgette Heyer before – I listened to April Lady and really enjoyed it. In the three years since, I’ve bought quite a few Heyer novels but h…

Stuck In A Book Blog

25.11.2024

Books from Malvern and Tewkesbury – Stuck in a Book

As mentioned, I spent a couple of nights in beautiful Malvern – sadly I felt pretty ropey with a cold, but it didn’t stop me popping into the excellent Malvern Bookshop, and Amnesty sec…

Stuck In A Book Blog

24.11.2024

StuckinaBook’s Weekend Miscellany – Stuck in a Book

Hello hello – it’s been a while since I did a Weekend Miscellany, hasn’t it? And I am spending at least some of the weekend in a lovely airbnb in Malvern, as a little treat to mys…

Stuck In A Book Blog

13.11.2024

The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham – Stuck in a Book

Someone in my book group chose The Razor’s Edge (1944) by W. Somerset Maugham after hearing it recommended on a YouTube video – making it my second Maugham of the year, after reading Th…

Stuck In A Book Blog

13.11.2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Destination Titles – Stuck in a Book

I don’t often manage to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, but today I’m going to! This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is: “Destination Titles (titles wi…

Stuck In A Book Blog

11.11.2024

The Man on the Pier by Julia Strachey – Stuck in a Book

If you know the name ‘Julia Strachey’, it’s probably for Cheerful Weather for the Wedding – reprinted by Persephone Books, and later made into a very enjoyable film. Or perh…

Stuck In A Book Blog

08.11.2024

The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner – Stuck in a Book

I bought The Children’s Bach (1984) by Helen Garner in Oxford’s newest bookshop, Caper, a while ago. I might have mentioned the shop before. From the outside, it looks like a children&#…

Stuck In A Book Blog

07.11.2024

Norah Lofts – now in British Library Women Writers series! – Stuck in a Book

I realise I haven’t yet said that Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts is out in the British Library Women Writers series – with another lovely cover: It’s another quick turnaround &#…

Stuck In A Book Blog

04.11.2024

Casualties by Lynne Reid Banks – Stuck in a Book

Long-termers here will know how much I love The L-Shaped Room, and over the past couple of years I’ve been exploring more of Lynne Reid Banks’s considerable output – further promp…

Stuck In A Book Blog

02.11.2024

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid – Stuck in a Book

I don’t hear much about the latest fiction, but there are some titles that break through my early-20th-century mindset. Everyone was talking about Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid five years ago,…

Stuck In A Book Blog

29.10.2024

A Pint of Semi-Skimmed Down The Old Gullet: Peas in a Podcast #18! – Stuck in a Book

Somehow it’s episode 18 of the podcast I do with my identical twin brother Colin! In this episode of the usual nonsense, we cover the important topics: favourite bridges, the milk marketing b…

Stuck In A Book Blog

25.10.2024

#132: Interview: Edward Carey on Edith Holler – Stuck in a Book

Edward Carey joins us to discuss his latest novel, Edith Holler. Welcome to episode 132! Rachel and I both love Edward Carey’s novels, so it was a real joy to have the opportunity to intervie…

Stuck In A Book Blog

23.10.2024

All Men Are Liars by Alberto Manguel – Stuck in a Book

I see quite a few people write about Alberto Manguel’s non-fiction, about reading and libraries, but not so often his novels. I picked up All Men Are Liars (2008, translated from Spanish by M…

Stuck In A Book Blog

22.10.2024

And the next club will be… – Stuck in a Book

Thanks so much for your contributions to the 1970 Club! There are so many books I now want to read (with The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons head of the pack) – and some I now know to avoid…

Stuck In A Book Blog

21.10.2024

The Listeners by Monica Dickens – #1970Club – Stuck in a Book

The 1970 Club is drawing to an end, and I have a LOT of reviews to catch up on – perhaps foolishly, I’ve been away since Thursday. But it’s been great, as always, and Karen and I …

Stuck In A Book Blog

17.10.2024

Island in Moonlight by Kathleen Sully – #1970Club – Stuck in a Book

You may well know Brad’s blog Neglected Books. As the name suggests, he reads and reviews books that are neglected – but we’re not talking about authors who could do with a boost,…

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Stuck In A Book Blog - Books & Literature

#135: Can Literary Fiction Be A Comfort Read? and Enter Ghost vs Lady Living Alone – Stuck in a Book

Overpriced Walnuts: Peas in a Podcast #20! – Stuck in a Book

Project 24: Book Three – Stuck in a Book

A whole bunch of non-reviews – Stuck in a Book

StuckinaBook’s Weekend Miscellany – Stuck in a Book

Unnecessary Rankings! Daphne du Maurier – Stuck in a Book

O is for Oyeyemi – Stuck in a Book

Project 24: Books 1 and 2 – Stuck in a Book

Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul – Stuck in a Book

A final haul before Project 24 – Stuck in a Book

I Think You’re Doing Toothpaste Wrong: Peas in a Podcast #19! – Stuck in a Book

2024: Some Reading Stats – Stuck in a Book

#134: Our Top 10 Books of 2024 – Stuck in a Book

My top books of 2024 – Stuck in a Book

Finishing A Century of Books with Alice Thomas Ellis – Stuck in a Book

Back by Henry Green – Stuck in a Book

Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark – Stuck in a Book

Laughable Loves by Milan Kundera – Stuck in a Book

Revisiting an old favourite – Stuck in a Book

#133: Do We Have Reading Rules? and Two Willa Cather Novels – Stuck in a Book

Another Century of Books Round-Up – Stuck in a Book

Why I chose these books in Hay-on-Wye – Stuck in a Book

Choose by M. de Momet – Stuck in a Book

A Woman’s Place 1910-1975 by Ruth Adam – Stuck in a Book

Frederica by Georgette Heyer – Stuck in a Book

Books from Malvern and Tewkesbury – Stuck in a Book

StuckinaBook’s Weekend Miscellany – Stuck in a Book

The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham – Stuck in a Book

Top Ten Tuesday: Destination Titles – Stuck in a Book

The Man on the Pier by Julia Strachey – Stuck in a Book

The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner – Stuck in a Book

Norah Lofts – now in British Library Women Writers series! – Stuck in a Book

Casualties by Lynne Reid Banks – Stuck in a Book

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid – Stuck in a Book

A Pint of Semi-Skimmed Down The Old Gullet: Peas in a Podcast #18! – Stuck in a Book

#132: Interview: Edward Carey on Edith Holler – Stuck in a Book

All Men Are Liars by Alberto Manguel – Stuck in a Book

And the next club will be… – Stuck in a Book

The Listeners by Monica Dickens – #1970Club – Stuck in a Book

Island in Moonlight by Kathleen Sully – #1970Club – Stuck in a Book

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