Search

Search only in certain items:

Roar: A Story for Every Woman
Roar: A Story for Every Woman
Cecelia Ahearn | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy
7
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
On the whole, I enjoyed this book of short stories. They’re all stories about women who are unhappy about some aspect of their lives, have lost their way and are working out how to get back. They’re all a bit magical realism, and just plain fantasy sometimes (this is not a bad thing for me, by the way!), and ‘Feminist Aesop’s Fables’ kept popping in to my head. It’s definitely a book to dip in to, and I did so whilst reading other books - I could see that reading all of these in one go could be overwhelming.

I think that these stories have a bit of something for everyone. I didn’t enjoy all of them, but I did have my favourites: The Woman Who Grew Wings is about a woman who flees her country with her family to live in the West, and the negative attitudes of the other mothers at the school gates (they’re not nice people) - this brought me to tears actually. The Woman Who Was Swallowed Up by the Floor and Who Met Lots of Other Women Down There Too - because who HASN’T had this happen to them at least once in their lives?! The Woman Who Ate Photographs was another tear jerker about how visual prompts (the photos) can bring back feelings connected to smell, touch, and the memories of our children before they grew into hairy teenagers (this one did for me, I’m afraid!).

I think all of these stories will resonate with someone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book to read and review.
  
Show all 3 comments.
40x40

ClareR (6253 KP) Nov 13, 2019

@James Koppert now THERE’S an idea!!🤣

40x40

Sarah (7800 KP) Nov 13, 2019

I'm in a phase of reading motivational books at the moment so will have to give this one a go!

40x40

Anand Wilder recommended O Lucky Man! by Alan Price in Music (curated)

 
O Lucky Man! by Alan Price
O Lucky Man! by Alan Price
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Alan Price is definitely someone my parents introduced me to, it's one of those stories like, "Your father took me out on a date to O Lucky Man! and I knew he was cool", but then in high school I had the required Malcolm McDowell obsession - all rebellious and of course once you've watched Clockwork Orange you've got to go back to if...., and I'm pretty sure that O Lucky Man! is the continuation of the same character from if.... and it's just one of those great modern fables. I'm surprised people aren't as into it. If you watch that opening scene in black and white, it's kind of the same over the top kangaroo court scene that we were trying to get in the Break Line song 'I'm To Blame'. The silent scene in the movie is brutal but it's also ridiculous and over the top. Malcolm McDowell has a giant moustache, he's like a South American coffee picker - he's caught stealing coffee beans and they go to his trial and this disgusting judge smoking a cigar, drooling, sentences him to getting his hands chopped off; it's very extreme and it just flashes "GUILTY. GUILTY. GUILTY" and we do that in our song with everyone saying "guilty", it's a little O Lucky Man! homage. The line in that song, "In case of murder in the second degree/ The jury now all agrees guilty/ So you will hang, hang by the noose" and my friend's dad said you don't get hanged for murder in the second degree, but we need that "murder in the second de-gree", that extra syllable!"

Source
  
40x40

Natasha Khan recommended Disintegration by The Cure in Music (curated)

 
Disintegration by The Cure
Disintegration by The Cure
2005 | Rock

"I was probably about 17 [when I first heard it] and this one for me is very much about falling in love. I didn't realise for ages how much it must have influenced me because of the phasey synths, the layers of phasey guitar, the romance and the gloominess and depression, but within that depression there's always those bursts of euphoria and that sad/happy line. In music I tend to really enjoy the sad/happy dichotomy; they've been put together and it breaks your heart but you love it at the same time. You want to cry but you want to smile, and I think really hearing phasey guitars, massive intros, really lush, long droning synths, and Robert Smith for me, on 'Lullaby', it's just such great storytelling: "Quietly he laughs and shaking his head / Creeps closer now, closer to the foot of the bed". It's just like weird, dark, gothic literature or weird Roald Dahl stories or kids' stories about adult anxiety but told through Charlotte's Web-like fables and storytelling. 'Untitled' has harmonium and stuff and then it kicks into massively reverby drums, quite shoegazy, and 'Disintegration' is such a great song, I absolutely love it, and there's loads of really long intros where he just sings at the end and when you hear him yelping, "yeeeeah!". I felt like him and Björk at the time were both really exploring feral, expressive vocal sounds - and I think Robert Smith is a really underrated vocalist, not even underrated but I think he's like [mimics Robert Smith] and it's really free and endearing, just very unique I think."

Source
  
Fables & Lies: A WWII Novel Based on a True Story
Fables & Lies: A WWII Novel Based on a True Story
Elisabeth Storrs | 2026 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
FABLES & LIES tells a story of World War II from the perspective of Freyja, a Berliner who learns that not everything is as true as she is being told. It's a hard realisation for her when the newspapers, radio, etc., all tell the same story - that Germany is the one trying to hold peace together, and it is the rest of the world that is the aggressor. People she meets along the way, whether in the apartment block she lives in, at work, or even the underground Church movement to help Jews leave Berlin/Germany, help to open her eyes as to what's really going on. By that time, it is too late in one respect, but Freyja doesn't give up.

This was a gripping story that completely held my attention. It is sensitively written, while still showing the difficulties and horrors faced by the German people who didn't necessarily agree 100% with what they were being told.

I have lived in Germany for sixteen years, and I respect their attitude to the First and Second World Wars. They teach it in the schools as lessons to be learnt, to ensure it doesn't happen again. So reading a story from their perspective was really eye-opening.

If reading about the Second World War is something that fascinates you, then I can HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book.

** The same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
 
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
 
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jul 3, 2026
  
Fables & Fairy Tales to Cross Stitch
Fables & Fairy Tales to Cross Stitch
Véronique Enginger | 2018 | Reference
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Huge variety of patterns and ideas- (0 more)
Cross Stitch/ point de croix~with a retro feel!
There are so many patterns to choose from in this book by, Véronique Enginger. This is a newer release book and originally available in French with a different cover and at a much higher price. I adore Véronique's patterns and am a big fan of her work! This book is full of fairy tale characters, characters from fables and French nursery rhymes. My favorite is Little Red Riding Hood but Beauty & The Beast and The Little Mermaid were also in the run for my favorite. I would complete all of the patterns, I love this book, that much! I like that Véronique creates patterns that can tell a story or you can choose to stitch a smaller scene or character. Véronique's patterns of faces are incredible and look like true works of art. It is very difficult finding cross stitch patterns with such natural looking faces. I have made several of her patterns and they are easy to follow and look just like the finished samples on the pages of her books. This book has given me so much inspiration and joy and I can't wait to work on more of the patterns. The book is hardcover and has nice big pages to make it easy to work from. The patterns have a retro feel that you might find on a 1940's-50's apron, blanket or tablecloth. I highly recommend this book for cross stitch enthusiasts, like myself. This isn't a beginner's book, however and should know how to read a cross stitch graph. It's also helpful to know how to stitch on linen to give these a more professional feel and more realistic look.