anisha_inkspill's reviews
169 reviews

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

4.0

Thomas Cromwell is at the beckon call of Henry’s whim when he tires of his current wife, Anne Boleyn. What unfolds is a car crash that Cromwell tries to steer so it’s a small mess and not a huge one. 

Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking

4.0

I want to understand this book better to read A Briefer History of Time, but the book I really want to read is A Brief History of Time, and am working my way towards this in stages.
 
I’m glad it’s this book I am trying to grasp first. Stephen Hawkins’s sense of humour just comes through and makes me believe I can do this.

Jane Austen: The BBC Radio Drama Collection by Jane Austen

4.0

 {3.5 – 4*}
 
As an overall experience this was enjoyable, and I would borrow this again, especially to listen to Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey, but I’d actually end up listening to all of it, for me the bonus of this audiobook is it makes getting to know these six Jane Austen novels fun.
 
the adaptions for audio drama included:
=================================
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Emma
Persuasion 

The Women by Clare Boothe Luce

4.0

 This was an amusing read, it reminded me how much I miss watching those old Hollywood classics. 

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

4.0

I like how the story draws a complex picture to attain racial equality, and so many times I felt the pain for the unnamed narrator wanting things to work out for him. When he is unfairly expelled from college, I couldn’t believe it, this was his dream but it would be nothing to what comes later, then things seem to be looking up when he joins the brotherhood only to realise a very, very harsh truth.
 
 This is not a perfect read, the story seems to meander (quite a bit) but what a read (!!!) this is. 

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein

3.0

I like text that presents language in unexpected ways. I didn’t warm to this as much as I wanted to but there were parts that stood out. I could see how daring this was in its own time. 

Passing by Nella Larsen

4.5

Nella Larsen’s story is beautifully told and a shows complicated dynamics between race and personal identity.  All the way through I could see something dreadful was ahead, and then it happened and I had to pause, recollect myself before carrying on. 

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

4.0

 I actually listened to an audiobook* which I can’t find here. 

It includes abridged versions of Emma, Persuasion and  Northanger Abbey, I enjoyed all and listened to all twice, and if I had the time I would listen to them again. 


*details of audiobook: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66938394-jane-austen-collection-volume-2

Euripides: Hecuba by Euripides, Janet Lembke

3.5

 This is not a happy read, where grief becomes vengeance in the name of justice.
 
Troy has fallen, Hecuba has lost everything, where her grief is added to when she discovers a trusted friend had murdered her young defenceless son. In revenge she blinds this friend and kills his two sons, then she eloquently argues her action, this is what’s surprising, why this play is worth reading, even in the depths of her grief reasoning and rational do not fail her. 

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

5.0

 This has been in my Kindle library for a while, this did not disappoint and was an amazing read. This has everything I enjoy in a read, quirky, poignant and thought-provoking. I have so many favourite stories but all of them have moments that stand out. I thought some stories were brave, and its light-hearted style was an invitation to just sit back, absorb and enjoy. And enjoy I did.