This heart-in-the-mouth sweep of life-or-death moments had me hooked from the very first page. I simply couldn’t put it down. The reader in me gripped the edge of my seat as one dramatic twist succeeded another; the writer in me saluted the sense of immediacy and the crisp, concise style.
Linguistically, O’Farrell offers a masterclass in using the right words sparingly to maximise their punch. Personally, she shows just what can be achieved against the odds when life deals you a less-than-ideal hand.
So many aspects of her story resonated with me, most notably the conundrum of juggling writing and caring for a child with extra needs. The greatest proof of success? In the busy whirlwind of life, I actually read this book twice.
AS FEATURED ON DESERT ISLAND DISCS, BIG SCOTTISH BOOK CLUB AND THE ZOE BALL BOOKCLUB, A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, IRISH TIMES, OBSERVER, RED and THE TELEGRAPH. *SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE FOR MEMOIR AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY 2018*
I AM, I AM, I AM is a memoir with a difference - the unputdownable story of an extraordinary woman's life in near-death experiences. Insightful, inspirational, gorgeously written, it is a book to be read at a sitting, a story you finish newly conscious of life's fragility, determined to make every heartbeat count.
This book offers inspiration to mothers everywhere. Lisa was juggling being a mum to 7 children and a successful career as an interior designer when she wrote this, and she has since upped her offspring count to 9. In this fascinating book, she details precisely how she does it.
I loved this book for its honesty; Lisa willingly admits that she employed a nanny once she had her third child. She is also a firm advocate of outsourcing menial tasks, those jobs you don’t absolutely have to do yourself. There are countless refreshingly practical tips and suggestions to enable women everywhere to keep a firm foothold in both camps while not getting overwhelmed by either.
A guidebook for modern women; every working mum should have a copy of this on her bookshelf.
The Possibility Mom helps moms be less stressed, feel less guilt, and get more done while chasing their dreams.
Balancing the demands of modern motherhood is a tough job. Between kids, work obligations, social commitments, and household duties, trying to fit in a little me time (let alone a date night), balance can seem practically impossible. When moms do well at work, they feel like they're failing at home, and when they focus on their family, they feel like they're falling behind at work. The Possibility Mom provides readers solutions to trim the to-do list, clarify their priorities, get more…
Written to accompany the 2017-18 exhibition of the same name, this volume has become a bible to me of late.
These sparkling essays delve into what it really meant to be a woman and an artist working in this very unique city at a particular time. With its sumptuous array of pictures and its suite of familiar faces and hidden gems, what emerges here is a shared international history. This at a time when so many countries were at loggerheads. I found this compelling.
This isn’t the kind of book that you read cover to cover in one sitting, but whenever I dip into it, I feel I’ve been treated to both a history lesson and a tale of female empowerment, which gives a cheering reminder of just what can happen when talent meets determination.
A celebration of the work and lives of women artists who shaped the art world of 19th-century Paris
In the second half of the 19th century, Paris attracted an international gathering of women artists, drawn to the French capital by its academies and museums, studios and salons. Featuring thirty-six artists from eleven different countries, this beautifully illustrated book explores the strength of these women's creative achievements, through paintings by acclaimed Impressionists such as Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, and extraordinary lesser-known artists such as Marie Bashkirtseff, Anna Bilinska-Bohdanowicz, Paula Modersohn-Becker, and Hanna Pauli. It examines their work against the sociopolitical…
In the 1880s, Suzanne Valadon was considered the Impressionists’ most beautiful model. Then one day, Renoir caught her indulging in a passion she had been trying to conceal: the model was herself a talented artist.
Some found her vibrant still lifes and frank portraits as shocking as her bohemian lifestyle. At eighteen, she gave birth to an illegitimate child, who would grow up to become the troubled painter Maurice Utrillo. But her friends Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas could see her skill, and in 1894, her work was accepted to the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, an extraordinary achievement for a working-class woman with no formal art training.
This is the remarkable tale of an ambitious, headstrong woman fighting to find a professional voice in a male-dominated world.
This is a wonderful, sturdy book for inquisitive little hands. The use of photographed appliqué to illustrate is inspired, and the visuals clearly capture my youngest son’s imagination.
The different rhymes each elicit a smile of recognition now, and even just seeing the book being brought out sparks a squeal of excitement. This is a book that I think we’ll all remember sharing in years to come.
Featuring seven classic nursery favorites like Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep and Hey Diddle Diddle, this sturdy board book format is ideal for sharing with babies and toddlers.
I don’t normally go for ‘choose your own ending’ style books, but the O’Hara sisters have won me round. My 3-year-old never tires of this. All toddlers crave a bit of control, and this book gives them precisely that.
The language is imaginative. It pushes my son just a bit (so that I feel he’s learning) but not too much (so that he feels he’s having fun). Plus, the artwork is exquisite. It’s another book I think we’ll both remember sharing when he’s an adult.
From the inimitable O'Hara sisters, Once Upon a Fairytale is a story where the reader gets to decide on the adventure - the possibilities are endless.
Did you ever wish to feast with fairies, live in a tree, or ride a unicorn across the sun-lit sky? Here, in this magical world, you can. You can choose to be a clever princess, or a curious gingerbread man, or perhaps a gentle knight. Maybe you'll live in a tree, or a tower on a hill. You can eat fresh-buttered sunbeams with fairies, or newt pie and pigtail pudding with ogres. Everywhere you…
Between Julia Donaldson’s inimitable rhyming style and Axel Scheffler’s ebullient drawings, this book has become a modern classic, and with good reason. It has everything to appeal to an imaginative 3-year-old like mine: knights, castles, flying dragons, and the recognisable, daily frustration of trying to win adult approval.
My son has actually learnt a lot about storytelling from this book and regularly uses phrases he’s picked up here to construct stories of his own. Fun for both adults and children, this book is a clear winner in our house.
1
author picked
Zog
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
2,
3,
4, and
5.
What is this book about?
The magical and exciting picture book from the number one bestselling author and illustrator of The Gruffalo, Zog and Stick Man. 'Madam Dragon ran a school, many moons ago.
She taught young dragons all the things that dragons need to know.
Zog, the biggest dragon, was the keenest one by far.
He tried his hardest every day to win a golden star.'
Zog is the keenest dragon in school. He's also the most accident-prone, flying into trees and even setting his own wing on fire.
Luckily, a mysterious little girl always comes by and patches up his bumps and bruises.…
