i‘ve decided to read the His Dark Materials series - which means starting my re-reading The Northern Lights before i progress to unknown territory. And what a treat! i‘d forgotten what a great storyteller Pullman is - and with perhaps a little more insight than i had as a child, i relished in the questions this complex fantasy tale provokes

lOved this. a heroine who was both frustrating and lovable, funny and dark. the narrative seems deceptively cliche and superficial at first but is ultimately boldly political and moving. i thought it offered a real insight into the challenges of living with mental illness and the beginning of recovery, as well as racism in britain.

gobbling up christine keebler‘s autobiography before i start the BBC series. course, blunt prose suits the startling twists & turns of keebler‘s narrative. fascinating insight into the web of power, politics and sex of the 1960s. loving it so far!

despite loving historical fiction i‘ve never read any philippa gregory, but i got this out the library on a friend‘s advice. pace, romance, suspense - gregory packs all the ingredients of a page turner into this chunky volume. the writing felt clumsy at times, lacking subtlety, and the initial passivity of the main character grated. however, gregory does a great job of showing how difficult life was for women in tudor england.