Litlove

LATEST ARTICLES ( 372 )

• Holiday!

  Mr Litlove decided, quite at the last minute, to take a week’s holiday this week. We have an assortment of plans and half-plans and I’m not sure of our final... Read more

  Posted on 23 June 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Blindness and Insight

  

  When I worked in Waterstone’s back in 1993, Raymond Carver was the man. I hadn’t even heard of him, but it wasn’t long before I realised he represented some... Read more

  Posted on 20 June 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Various Updates

  I realised that there have been a few ongoing plotlines chez Litlove that I haven’t updated lately. For instance, my painful arm and shoulder which I thought fo... Read more

  Posted on 17 June 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• On Not Being Able To Write

  

  At the end of the 1940s, Marion Milner was a psychoanalyst who had been involved in a lengthy study of the ways in which children learn, and once the official... Read more

  Posted on 11 June 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Good Epiphany Is Hard To Find

  

  When I sat down this afternoon to think about what post I could write, I had so far that day a) been to the dentist and b) had to listen to my son in tears... Read more

  Posted on 09 June 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Why I’m Rather Quiet

  

  I haven’t been posting as much as I usually do, because I’ve had one or two books to read for the magazine. The pile on the left are the ones awaiting review,... Read more

  Posted on 04 June 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• How Not To Give Good Advice

  I’ve been on a run of books lately that all deal with heartbreak and grief. In one a man flies aimlessly around the world for two years, unable to come to... Read more

  Posted on 30 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• What Some People Do In The Name Of Love

  

  We were brutally woken at dawn yesterday by thunderous hammering on our front door and yelling. It sounded like a raid, but when Mr Litlove went rushing to the... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Lost for Words

  

  A novel about warring judges on the panel of a prestigious book prize that is essentially a poorly-masked Booker? This sounded like a delightful hoot to me... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Turn of a Friendly Card

  

  I often wonder why it is so hard to do things that are positively good for us, and why it is so easy to allow weakness and self-sabotage to take over. Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Pleasures: Pure and Bittersweet

  

  Pure pleasure first of all: do hop over to Shiny New Books to check out the latest update we’ve made to the first edition. We’ve been calling it the... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• In Which I Try Something New

  You may recall a while back (October to be precise), I began having trouble with my left arm. The first thing I noticed was how painful it was to put my car int... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Rosie Project

  

  I have to preface this review with Mr Litlove’s favourite joke, culled from a collection sent to him over the internet one day entitled ‘jokes about... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Bad Samaritan

  I had such an unpleasant encounter in the book shop last week that it’s taken me a few days to reach the point of writing about it. In fact I’ve been very much... Read more

  Posted on 04 May 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Photo, Two Links and a Mystery

  

  Well this must be a first: I don’t think I’ve ever posted a proper photo of myself on this site and I wouldn’t break the routine now if it weren’t in honor of... Read more

  Posted on 29 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• First Cousin Once Removed of the Great American Novel

  

  The ‘Great American Novel’ is a redolent term that reviewers tend to use towards a certain kind of book: a thick doorstep of social realism, wide in scope,... Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Change of Heart

  

  It just so happened that both Annabel and I had copies of Jill Dawson’s new novel, The Tell-Tale Heart, and by swiftness of reading and writing, Annabel’s was... Read more

  Posted on 22 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Three Disasters

  1. I was sitting up in bed writing my diary about a week ago, when I heard Mr Litlove talking on the phone. Few people ring so late, so I was not surprised to... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Old School

  

  First, a brief questionnaire to assess your eligibility for this book: 1. Do you have a wickedly dry and deadpan sense of humour? 2. Do you appreciate gentle,... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Lost Diary

  Last week we renovated our study, and this involved moving the desk out for a while. We took the drawers out first and realised they were crammed full of... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE