Erica

LATEST ARTICLES ( 422 )

• Mary Stewart – My Brother Michael (1959)

  Book review by Jane Varley: ‘The contemporary thriller at its very best’, wrote the Guardian. ‘The result of my own visits to Greece and the impact of that... Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2020 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Fortune (1917) by Douglas Goldring

  This month the reading group looked at books featuring war resisters and the war-sceptical. I read The Fortune by Douglas Goldring, a novel which could not... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2020 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Bulpington of Blup (1932) by H.G. Wells

  

  Book Review by George S: 1932 is a long time after H.G. Wells’s brilliant scientific fables of the 1890s, and over the intervening period he had developed into ... Read more

  Posted on 16 February 2020 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The History of Mr Polly (1910) by H G Wells

  

  John Mills as Mr Polly in the 1949 film of the book. Book Review by Sylvia D: The last time the Reading Group considered books by H G Wells, I read Ann... Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2020 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Chain of Witnesses: The Cases of Miss Phipps (2014) – Phyllis Bentley

  

  Review by George S: As well as her historical novels set in Yorkshire, Phyllis Bentley had a less well-known sideline writing detective stories. Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2020 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Phyllis Bentley in Batley

  

  Phyllis Bentley, in the ‘Famous Writers’ cigarette cards collection. From Sue Roe: Recently I have been helping my husband out with his research on the former... Read more

  Posted on 09 January 2020 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Put Out the Light (1931) by Ethel Lina White

  

  Book Review by Sylvia D: This is one of the earlier published works of Ethel Lina White (1876-1944). I found it rather strange, albeit intriguing. It was a... Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Third Eye (1937) by Ethel Lina White

  

  Book Review by George S: The Third Eye is a paranoid novel, a book in which a young woman is caught up in the evil schemes of utterly ruthless enemies, and is... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• August Folly (1936) by Angela Thirkell

  As the Penguin blurb to August Folly said (1949): ‘The village of Worsted is one of those English rural communities where life is as full of interest as it is... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Fear Stalks the Village (1932)- by Ethel Lina White

  Book Review by Jane V: I enjoyed reading this book although it is not a genre I would normally pick up for pleasure reading. I feel that authors of this genre... Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Mrs Miniver (1939) by Jan Struther

  

  Book Review by Sylvia D.: For our comfort reading session, I initially considered one of the books I had loved as a child but then discovered I had parted... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Full Moon (1947) by P.G. Wodehouse

  

  Book Review by George S: November is the Group’s comfort reading month, so instinctively I went for a P.G. Wodehouse. I thought Full Moon might be a Blandings... Read more

  Posted on 15 November 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Cold Comfort Farm (1932) by Stella Gibbons

  Book Review by Jane V. Stella Gibbons trained as a journalist but thought of herself as a poet. She wrote many other novels but Cold Comfort Farm was her first... Read more

  Posted on 13 November 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Man and Maid (1922) by Elinor Glyn

  

  Elinor Glyn Book Review by George S: This is a thoroughly unpleasant book. It takes the form of the journal of Sir Nicholas Thormonde, who has been wounded in... Read more

  Posted on 22 October 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Gate Marked Private (1928) by Ethel M Dell

  

  Book review by Sylvia Dunkley: I listened with fascination to all the tales of rape and violence in most of the books by Ethel M Dell read by the other members... Read more

  Posted on 21 October 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Happy Jack (1936) by Max Brand

  

  Book Review by George S: Happy Jack was published in book form in 1936, but it had first appeared in 1930, as a serial in Western Story Magazine, under one of... Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Heritage of the Sioux (1916) by BM Bower

  

  Book Review by Kathryn R: Bower was a prolific writer of westerns. She wrote novels short stories and screenplays. She made a good living at it – shown by the... Read more

  Posted on 03 September 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Summer Half (1937) by Angela Thirkell

  Book Review by Hilary Temple ‘It seems to me highly improbable that any such school, masters, or boys could ever have existed. Read more

  Posted on 30 July 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Sylvester (1957) by Georgette Heyer

  

  I have been a fan of Georgette Heyer since a teacher recommended her, in an attempt to get the class in the mood for our Year 10 set book, Pride and Prejudice.... Read more

  Posted on 16 July 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Toll-Gate (1955) by Georgette Heyer

  

  Book Review by George S.: I’ve read reviews on the internet complaining that The Toll-Gate is not a proper ‘Regency Romance’ in the usual Georgette Heyer manner... Read more

  Posted on 11 July 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE