Author Archives: Shanutopia

Book List: 50 Nonfiction Books + Some Additions

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Shanutopia

Lists of books are tricky for all the reasons one might expect: subjectivity, taste, culture, etc. The most common influence I see is time, as in ‘this year’, ‘the 21st century’, ‘the last 10 years’, and so on and so … Continue reading →

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Review: The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Shanutopia

This could have been so much more than it was. I love the genre of books where the main characters are notorious or famous people, and the narrator of the book is close to them (think Amadeus the play/film for … Continue reading →

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Books I’m Reading

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Shanutopia

Amazon knows how to hook you and keep you hooked. One day I noticed that it charged my credit card for Kindle Unlimited. I must have signed up for a trial or something, but I didn’t remember doing that as I’d not … Continue reading →

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Things No One Wants to Hear Me Go On About Any More

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Shanutopia

Religion, atheism, how I can’t stand religion, we should end religion, tax the churches, religious people are hypocrites, there is no god, everything that is bad is religion Kids are not my thing, I don’t like kids, can you please … Continue reading →

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Review: Into the Void by Joe Simpson

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Shanutopia

Ah, the joy of finishing a book after a streak of not finishing anything! It’s been January since I finished a book, and I was getting very discouraged and feeling like reading was a burden instead of a pleasure. Thankfully … Continue reading →

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Confession: I read more than one book at a time

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Shanutopia

I am not always good at focusing. I do best when I have a deadline, preferably one where someone is waiting for me to do something for them. I’ve always loved reading and although its a solitary pastime it’s something … Continue reading →

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Review: My Struggle Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgard

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Shanutopia

I don’t remember why I bought this book and left it on my kindle for six months. I think it was listed in several different reviews saying it was brilliant and it was an unusually candid memoir, so maybe that’s why … Continue reading →

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Novels in the Time of Dystopia

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Shanutopia

There are some news stories circulating that say Orwell’s 1984 is trending on Amazon and that publishers are having to print more books to keep up with demand (one story is here). Whilst 1984 is one of my favourite books, I view … Continue reading →

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The 100 Page Rule

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Shanutopia

In book club we are often faced with reading books we would not normally choose to read as they are not our normal taste in books. We do vote for book choices, but sometimes your choice isn’t the winner (even … Continue reading →

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The Polarising Power of Poetry

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Shanutopia

The name of this article struck me and forced me to read it: Why Do Some People Hate Poetry? Why the hatred of poetry? What has it done to you? Ok, maybe it tortured you in your early school years with … Continue reading →

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