audiobook Archives - Page 2 of 5 - The Quick and the Read

(Audio)Book Review: ‘Square Haunting’ by Francesca Wade

Another book that I’m shamefully late in reading – but very glad that I did.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review – I also bought a copy of the audiobook from Audible and so my review reflects my experiences of both.

This book centres on Mecklenburgh Square, an address in Bloomsbury, London that was home to five groundbreaking and fascinating women during the interwar years. It’s an interesting idea, that this little corner of London famous for its thinkers and writers, was the shared address of these brilliant women – even though they didn’t live there at the same time and were often resident at very different points in their lives. For all of them, Mecklenburgh Square proved to be the ‘room of one’s own’ (in Virgina Woolf’s words) that gave the women the freedom to develop their careers independently.

(Audio)Book Review: ‘Madhouse at the End of the Earth’ by Julian Sancton

I’m quite obsessed with Antarctica and love historical non-fiction, so this was an obvious choice for me. The book’s subtitle – ‘The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night’ sold it to me instantly!

(Audio)Book Review: ’24 Hours in Ancient Rome’ by Philip Matyszak

I love an Audible bargain and this is one of my best purchases of recent times!

The book covers 24 hours in the life of Ancient Rome, with each ‘hour’ focusing on a different person who lives in the city. We see a diverse selection of people over the course of the day, as well as learn a lot about how the inhabitants of Rome lived. This is clever and entertaining social history.

January Wrap-Up and February TBR

January was both approximately four years long and very busy at work.

Despite the endlessness of the month, I only managed to read 13 books – a totally respectable number, but I wonder what on earth I did with the rest of the eternal days and weeks!

This puts me on 13/120 for my Goodreads Challenge for 2022.

All links are affiliate ones - as always, thanks so much for any purchases as they are really sppreciated and help pay for my blog!

(Audio)Book Review: ‘The Confession’ by Jessie Burton

I’m really sorry that I let this one sit on my NetGalley shelf for so long! Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The story opens in 1980 with the chance meeting of two women on Hampstead Common. Elise Morceau is young and naive and immedialtely falls under the spell of Constance Holden. Connie is older, already a successful writer and confident in ways Elise isn’t. When Connie’s book gets made into a Hollywood film, Elise accompanies her to Los Angeles and the pair fall into a glamorous party lifestyle.

This 1980s story – essentially of the relationship between the two women – is interspersed with a present day story in which Rose Simmonds is looking for her mother. When she learns that Connie was part of her mother’s life, she decides to ask some difficult questions of the writer – now in her 70s and a recluse…

Book Review: ‘Between the Covers’ by Jilly Cooper

I love Jilly Cooper – her Rutshire Chronicles were pretty much my constant companions throughout my teens and twenties – and was so pleased to be granted access to read this collection of her journalism. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book features a selection of Cooper’s journalism covering the period she wrote columns for The Times (roughly from the end of the 1960s to the early 1980s). As expected from Cooper, it features meditations on sex – the raunchy nature of her fiction books is well-known – but also mid-life, family, pets, domesticity, relationships and plenty more. It is also packed with humour – there’s lots of self-deprecation, witty turns of phrase, puns and plenty of Cooper’s ability to see the ridiculous in situations.

How on earth could ‘Pride and Prejudice’, with its Georgian mores and sensibilities, be dragged into modern-day America? I had to find out.

Tag: audiobook

(Audio)Book Review: ‘Square Haunting’ by Francesca Wade

(Audio)Book Review: ‘Madhouse at the End of the Earth’ by Julian Sancton

January Wrap-Up and February TBR

(Audio)Book Review: ‘The Confession’ by Jessie Burton

Book Review: ‘Between the Covers’ by Jilly Cooper

Book Review: ‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams

(Audio)Book Review: ‘Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’ by Andrew Lownie

November 2021 Wrap-Up and December TBR

(Audio)Book Review: ‘Eligible’ by Curtis Sittenfeld