THE NEVER-ENDING BOOK STORY

It's very much 'back to normal' for this post after all the excitement the arrival of Margaret Atwood's The Testaments brought! The idea of this blog is that each book inspires and kind of leads the way, or in some way directs me, to what I read next. I'm not just reading one random book after the next. This is a journey, of sorts. The last chapter of the Never-ending Book Story focused on The Handmaid's Tale. The world of Gilead which it describes is, in many ways, very insular. Very inward looking. Although the novel and its new sequel seem to be frighteningly describing a world that seems increasingly more possible, it's still - thankfully - a fairly alien world. We know from the historical notes included at the conclusion of each book that, ultimately, Gilead fails. From what we read it seems that the world is on a downward spiral until events start to turn in another direction. I thought for my next step I wanted to read something where the worst ha

Goodness! What a week or two it has been in the world of books. After a very long wait, it's finally here. The Testaments . At long last The Handmaid's Tale has a sequel. And so, to commemorate this momentous...erm...moment, I'm sidestepping away from the only-just-begun never-ending book story for this post because I simply couldn't wait to read this! I tried watching the live midnight launch in London on Instagram but I gave up pretty quickly. There was far too much screaming going on. Screaming? At a book launch ? I ask you! Well, I suppose fans can be forgiven. It's not every day this kind of thing happens. Even London's Southbank was lit up green to mark the occasion. And the view from the critics is pretty much saying it is really well worth the fuss. It was longlisted - and then shortlisted - for the Booker before publication. The Guardian say that to read it is "to feel the world turning". The Telegraph said "it races along like a

Wow! You came back! Thanks so much. Have any of you treated yourself to a copy of How To Be Invisible after my last post? I really do hope so!  You'll no doubt remember that the next step on my adventure was to re-visit The Handmaids Tale. I've been reading the glorious Folio Society edition . I'm very, very slowly (they are not cheap!!) building up a nice collection of Folio editions and they are a real pleasure to read. The paper feels so luxurious. And the illustrations are always interesting and add another layer to the reading experience. If you've never had a Folio Society book before, I urge you to treat yourself. They really are gorgeous books. Here, for your viewing pleasure, are some images of The Handmaids Tale: From the off I should say that this blog is likely to feature spoilers. I'm also assuming you don't need to be given a summary of the plot. I think that's fair given it was published 30-odd years ago!  I first read T