Balancing the Books – October 2025

I’ve done it again and neglected the blog. Time runs away with me as it always does and it’s November already. But before I do a round up of what happened then, I still need to balance the books for October. I read far more than I usually do, for some reason I was on…

What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullan – review

Published by Bloomsbury Publication date – 22 May 2025 Source – review copy Is there any sex in Jane Austen? Why do her plots rely on blunders? Which important characters never actually speak? In twenty short chapters, each of which answers a question prompted by Jane Austen’s novels, John Mullan illuminates the themes that matter…