I sometimes listen to Rural Romance (RuRo) novels on audiobook and enjoy them tremendously. You might assume that I relate to these books because I grew up in the country, however, I experienced no romance at all while living rurally. Because of this, I have created a new genre called Realistic Rural Romance (ReRuRo). It… Read Post »

I watched an episode of Jennifer Byrne Presents this week on Bragging Rights. The panelists were discussing books that are famously difficult to read. Lawrence Mooney was adamant that listening to the audio book doesn’t count. He described a ‘dirty world’ of cheats listening to recorded books in their cars. I was pleased that Jennifer… Read Post »

I’ve just read What is Property by Joseph-Pierre Proudhon, which stridently argues that all property is theft. Proudhon wrote in the mid-19th century and has a flourishing style. In particular, he loves exclamation marks, writing sentences such as, “Days of conflagration and anguish!” He really peaks in brilliance though, with his two word explosions of… Read Post »

I’ve just started listening to Things to Make and Mend by Ruth Thomas read by Finty Williams. It’s a story about craft and friendship so I’m concerned that it might be twee. I have a highly developed (and perhaps somewhat arbitrary) twee-dar. I first started dismissing people/films/art movements with this word after interviewing a potential… Read Post »