Reading by Feeling

Whilst I appreciate a genre label as much as the next person, as a mood reader I also like to think about how a book might make me feel, especially after I have finished. These are the catagories that make sense to me – they don’t necessarily refer to the story or plot of a book but rather how I remember the experience of reading it.

History & Memory

Books layered with time. Stories shaped by the past, by personal or cultural history, or by the traces people and places leave behind.

Image of ruined fort in Delhi India. A single man stands atop the wall. Image used to represent books catagorised as being about history and memory

Place & Presence

Books where the location or landscape are a main charcter and linger beyond the final page. Might be a real place or an imagined one.

Image of single spiky, leafless tree against saltflats. Image used to represent books catagorised as having a strong sense of place.or presence

Quiet & Reflective

Books that have a sense of stillness about them. Where things happen quietly and the reader can slow down and contemplate.

Image of a man in shadow alone on a beach with a wide expanse of waves. He is visible through a fortground of grasses. Image used to represent books catagorised as being that re quiet and reflective

Sharp & Searching

Books that probe, question or even unsettle. They might be tense or acedemically curious but will always encourage thought.

An iage of an art instalation of stylised figures against a shadowed sky. Image used to represent books catagorised as being sharp and searching.

Wide & Expansive

Books that point outward. Those that have big broad ideas, or are wide in scale and imagination. They take the reader beyond.

A n image of a full organge sun dipping behind a range of shadow mountains. Image used to represent books catagorised asbeing wide and expansive.

Joyful Escapism

Books that are light yet absorbing. Reading that carry you elsewhere for the sheer pleasure of it. These books delight and entertain.

An intentional camera movement photo of sunbeds and parasols against a vivide blue sea. The blur is vertical. Image used to represent books catagorised as being about joyful escapism

  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    A community reflection on a murder

  • Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes

    Two women swap bags and briefly end up living inside each other’s lives.

  • Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

    Beautiful Ugly is a twist-heavy thriller built around an unlikeable, unreliable narrator, executed with confidence and pace. It’s absorbing and often clever, but its pleasures depend on how willing you are to accept a healthy dose of melodrama. Plot in a Nutshell Grady Green, a successful author, watches his life collapse after his wife disappears.…