Litlove

LATEST ARTICLES ( 389 )

• How Things Have Been

  

  Hard to believe, but it’s been very nearly three weeks since my mother died. I think we’re all bearing up pretty well. There were certain conventions around a... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Claire Keegan – So Late in the Day

  

  In a desperate attempt to read at least one book by an Irish writer before the end of the month, I remembered that I had Claire Keegan’s novella – well,... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Reading Roundup for February

  

  So, sadly my mother died last week, swiftly and peacefully when it came to it. I’m not sure how I feel right now, except mostly relieved that she is at peace. Read more

  Posted on 10 March 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Elegy for a Fresher

  It’s a golden autumn day with a hopeful blue sky on the 3rd October 1987, when my parents drive me to college for the first time. The car is a capsule containin... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Finally, Some Books! Laura Cumming and Samantha Harvey

  

  On Chapel Sands is essentially a book about subtext in life and art. The two go hand in hand; if we know to look beyond the surface of an image, it’s because... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• #Rollercoaster

  You find us at an unusually low point here at casa Litlove, and what follows is not a cheerful post. So if February is being tough on you, you might want to rea... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Colette at Shiny

  

  My review of Michele Roberts’ book, Colette, My Literary Mother, is up at Shiny New Books! I absolutely loved this book, and if you’ve ever read and enjoyed... Read more

  Posted on 13 February 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A World of His Own

  

  It is the 22nd April 1833 and Hans Christian Andersen is surrounded by a crowd of people come to see him off from the harbour in Copenhagen. This is a... Read more

  Posted on 12 February 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Book Traffic

  

  It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in a difficult situation is in need of some good new books. Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy

  

  , published in the mid-eighties remains a classic of postmodern writing, despite the fact that Auster dislikes and rejects the term. Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Where We Are Now

  The situation with my mother is about as bad as it can be. She has drifted into a semi-comatose state from which no nurse or doctor can rouse her. But she does... Read more

  Posted on 30 January 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Unwild Child

  One of the essays in Emilie Pine’s collection, Notes to Self, details her rackety, out-of-control adolescence, full of drugs and drink and underage sex and... Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Good News and Bad News

  

  My mother is back in hospital, having had another stroke. We’re still at the stage of not really knowing what has happened to her, but it seems fair to say... Read more

  Posted on 22 January 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Some Questions Without Answers

  

  If you’re writing a short biography of a great writer, what matters more – the life or the works? I found myself pondering this question quite a lot when readin... Read more

  Posted on 10 January 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Hope Never Knew Horizon

  

  I came To Douglas Bruton’s novel on the back of two rave reviews from Susan and Karen, readers whose opinions I trust implicitly. But rave reviews can be... Read more

  Posted on 05 January 2025 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Looking Ahead – Reading in 2025

  

  Is there anything more beautiful than a pile of books you want to read? My main Christmas (and birthday) present from Mr Litlove was a course in Writing Lives... Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2024 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Best Books of the Year

  

  So I returned to blogging four months ago and already I’m being reminded of all the reasons I loved it and all the reasons why I gave it up. Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2024 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Loving Willa Cather

  

  As I pick my way over the rubble of half-finished books and broken intentions at the end of this year, my thoughts are turning to plans for 2025. Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2024 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin

  

  Reading Scaffolding made me think of a Nouvel Observateur article in which French intellectuals, Julia Kristeva and Philippe Sollers, discussed their open... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2024 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Ballet Class

  I like to think of my old ballet mistress as the character that Dickens forgot to write. Rejoicing in the name of Esyilt Gwerica Briscoe, she was 78 when I bega... Read more

  Posted on 26 November 2024 BOOKS, CULTURE