Welcome
I first began posting about my many, many books on Instagram in 2018. But I had always known that I was not interested in book stacks, TBR’s or reading lists. I just wanted to talk quietly and carefully about books (and take nice photos, too, of course). As time went on, I began to create longer reviews of books both old and new, fiction and nonfiction, that I had enjoyed (and some that I did not).
I have always adored nature writing, and prefer mid-twentieth-century fiction over the work of most contemporary authors. History — particularly social history — fascinates me. I know next-to-nothing about art, except what I like!
In reading and reviewing, I have always tended to follow Virginia Woolf’s advice, to ‘use your own reason […] come to your own conclusion.’ Each of my reviews is a considered reaction to a book as I experienced it at the time of reading.
Because not everyone likes or uses Instagram, I began here by posting the caption-length reviews that were originally published there, perhaps with a tweak or two along the way. But I hope that Substack will continue to give me scope for longer, more in-depth pieces, a chance to include the thoughts I had to delete in order to meet Instagram’s character limit.
I hope that sounds like something you’ll enjoy.
