The Lifeboat

(photo from charlotterogan.com) 

I've just finished reading The Lifeboat, by Charlotte Rogan, and here I am, recommending it to you. Set in 1914, it follows the experiences of Grace Winter, a survivor of a sunken cruise ship, crammed onto a lifeboat that is dangerously over-capacity with dozens of other men and women. It's fascinating to see the power struggles, the rumours, storytelling and feuds that start and spread through the cramped boat as it floats for three weeks in the middle of the Atlantic. As it becomes clear that the only way for the boat to survive in the merciless ocean is by lightening its load, it leads you to question your own morals - who would you choose to go overboard? Would you sacrifice yourself for 30 others? Would you kill somebody?

My sister, who, in turn, recommended it to me described it as 'a combination of The Life of Pi and Alias Grace', an apt description indeed. The cramped boat is a wonderful stage for the action, and the narrator is deliciously unreliable!

E xxx

Out of Print Clothing

I know everyone's in a bit of a Gatsby fever at the moment (have you seen the new film? The combination of a) it not coming out in England til this Thursday and b) me being in the middle of exams means I won't get to see it for a while but I am very excited - I know Leo and Carey will be sensational though I've read Baz Lurhman overdoes it a bit) but I thought this t-shirt from Out of Print Clothing http://outofprintclothing.com/was rather lovely:

You can also get the classic American cover:

Both Gatsby ones come in lots of different colours! I adore this website, they have so many cute book cover tshirts and jumpers. You can shop by book title to see if your favourite is there! They also do jumpers (sweaters) and totes.

I feel like I want them all, but I especially like Charlotte's Web, Tales of the Jazz Age, and the cover of Jane Eyre, which looks like a bad romance novel! 

Which do you like? Would you wear one?

E xxx

The Sisters Brothers

Altogether not the book I was expecting. I knew it was about the Gold Rush and the Wild West - and Eli and Charlie Sisters (brothers), and that is true. It was also absolutely divinely written, funny and sorrowful, and ultimately a wonderful tale of a journey. It's also fairly short, so will be perfect to read inon a Sunday, looking at the grey skies of England and dreaming of the Dust Bowl...

It's always best to support local bookshops, but Amazon are selling it so cheap it's so difficult for me to say no...

Which cover do you like best, the one from the UK (the first) or US (the second)? Both striking, but the American one a trifle unsettling - or is it just me?

E xxx