The Bibliophile's Compass

1840 Bon-Bon by Edgar Allen Poe US ( My Review ) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Edgar Allan Poe's short story about a self proclaimed philosopher, Pierre Bon-Bon, who has an encounter with the Devil and has a conversation with him. 1887  Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle UK Being the first novel is the Holmes detective series by Doyle, A Study in Scarlet largely introduces the reader to the forthcoming series by Doyle. 1919  Mr Pim Passes By by AA Milne UK A charming country estate, a respectable couple, and a peculiar visitor set the stage for delightful chaos in this sparkling comedy by A. A. Milne, best known for creating Winnie-the-Pooh. 1924 "La Révolution surréaliste" by André Breton FR 1997 Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris US David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. 1998 Amsterdam  by Ian McEwan UK A sharp contemporary morality tale, cleverly disguised as a comic novel,...

Title : Sexing the Cherry Author : Jeanette Winterson Publication Year : 1989 Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pages : 144 Source : book (2nd hand) Genre : literary fiction, Postmodernist Fiction, Historical Fiction Having read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, I thought I knew what to expect—oh, how delightfully wrong I was! Sexing the Cherry packs a whirlwind of postmodern mischief and symbolism into such a slim volume that I was left spinning (in the best way). Before reading the first pages, I couldn’t help but wonder: why is it called Sexing the Cherry when the cover parades bananas and pineapples? No spoilers, but the book wastes no time unraveling that fruity little mystery. This book doesn’t just break the historical fiction mold—it stomps on it, cartwheels over it, and then invites you to join a merry game of question-everything. Postmodernism here means nothing is safe: norms, identity, history, gender, time, space, love, even truth itself—all tossed into a literary blender. At first, yo...

1604  Othello by Shakespeare is first presented (UK) 1611  The Tempest by Shakespeare is performed at court in front of James I at Whitehall Palace - its first recorded performance (UK) 1904  John Bull's Other Island by George Bernard Shaw premieres in London (Ireland) John Bull's Other Island is a comedy about Ireland, written by George Bernard Shaw in 1904. Shaw himself was born in Dublin, yet this is one of only two plays of his where he thematically returned to his homeland, the other being O'Flaherty V.C. 1935  Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot (UK) T. S. Eliot's most famous drama, a retelling of the murder of the archbishop of Canterbury 1983 The Rape of Shavi by Buchi Emecheta (UK) ( My Review ) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ An allegorical tale, in which a collision between Westerners and tribal members imperils the stoic traditionalism of the Africans. 2005 Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah Joy Candellaro once loved Christmas more than any other time of t...

1902  The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky 2011 Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson (UK) It is a memoir about a life’s work to find happiness. It is a book full of stories: about a girl locked out of her home, sitting on the doorstep all night; about a religious zealot disguised as a mother who has two sets of false teeth and a revolver in the dresser, waiting for Armageddon; about growing up in a north England industrial town now changed beyond recognition; about the universe as a cosmic dustbin. Lambda Literary AwardWinner, 2013 2024 Little Fortified Stories by Barbara Black In Little Fortified Stories, award-winning writer Barbara Black conjures a microcosm of characters that defy convention.

2005 Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits  by  Laila Lalami The book begins as four Moroccans illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain.What has driven them to risk their lives? And will the rewards prove to be worth the danger? 2015 The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson (UK) In Jeanette Winterson’s retelling of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, we move from London, a city reeling after the 2008 financial crisis, to a storm-ravaged American city called New Bohemia. Her story is one of childhood friendship, money, status, technology and the elliptical nature of time. Written with energy and wit, this is a story of the consuming power of jealousy on the one hand, and redemption and the enduring love of a lost child on the other. 2020 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong. Finalist for the 2020 National Boo...

2005 Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson (UK) Atlas knows how it feels to carry the weight of the world, but why, he asks himself, does it have to be carried at all? And when you have eternity to ponder this question, the brief reprieve offered by Heracles - the only man strong enough to borrow the burden - can force you to demand an answer from the Gods. 2005 Twilight by  Stephenie Meyer It is the first book in the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington. 2021 My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson A young woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings driven from her neighborhood by a white militia. A university professor studying racism by conducting a secret social experiment on his own son. A single mother desperate to buy her first home even as the world hurtles toward catastrophe. Each fighting to survive in America. Winner of the Weather...

1997  Underworld by Don DeLillo The novel is centered on the efforts of Nick Shay, a waste management executive who grew up in the Bronx, to trace the history of the baseball that won the New York Giants the pennant in 1951, and encompasses numerous subplots drawn from American history in the second half of the twentieth century. Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize Finalist for the National Book Award Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award Winner of the Howell’s Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters 2013 The Forward Book of Poetry 2014 by Jeanette Winterson (UK) The Forward Book of Poetry showcases the best of contemporary poetry published in the British Isles over the last year, including the winners of 2013's hotly contested Forward Poetry Prizes. 2019 Grand Union by Zadie Smith (UK) In her first short story collection, she combines her power of observation and her inimitable voice to mine the fraught and complex experience of life in ...

1659 Crusoe starts to salvage items from the wreck 1868  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. 1960  A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka It explores the themes of tradition, history, and the challenges of postcolonial Africa. 1985 Saints and Strangers by Angela Carter (UK) Drawing on American history, literary legend, and folk tale, Angela Carter transports us to that shadowy country between fact and myth in this book of short stories. 1989  Daddy by Danielle Steel Oliver Watson's world suddenly dissolves around him when Sarah, his wife of eighteen years, returns to Harvard to get her master's degree. Oliver is left on his own, with three children and a freedom he never wanted and doesn't completely understand. His family's needs and demands suddenly consume his life. 1994 When Lightning Strikes by Kristin...

1651 Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe Crusoe runs away to sea and is promptly shipwrecked 1652 Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe Crusoe captured by Turkish pirates and enslaved for two years at Salé, on the Barbary Coast. 1659 Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe Crusoe leaves Brazil on his disastrous slaving voyage. 1773 "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" by American slave Phillis Wheatley published in the UK - first known book of poetry published by a Black woman 1913 George Bernard Shaw's play "Androcles and the Lion" premieres in London The play is Shaw's retelling of the tale of Androcles, a slave who is saved by the requiting mercy of a lion. 1982 Naira Power by Buchi Emecheta is published (Uk-Nigeria) It is a narrative about corruption in which the main character Ramonu wielded power over justice due to his riches. Everything went wrong when the power went off. 2003 The King of Capri by Jeanette Winterson is published (UK) When a greedy king wakes ...

🔴 2007 The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson published

Title : Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Author : Jeanette Winterson Publication Year : 1985 Pages : 171 pages Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre : Semi-autobiographical, Queer, Feminism Source : Book Upon revisiting Jeanette Winterson's "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit," I found myself immersed in a refreshingly complex pool of emotions. This semi-autobiographical gem chronicles the life of young Jeanette—who shares her name with the author—after her adoption by fervent evangelists so strict they'd consider having coffee on Sunday morning an act of rebellion. What unfolds is one of the most poignant yet darkly humorous coming-of-age tales imaginable. Jeanette's search for identity—particularly as a lesbian in a family, community, and society that appear to be from a different planet or see Jeanette from a different planet, depending on which planet you belong to—will resonate with anyone who has felt like a mismatched puzzle piece. Her journey to find agency in a wor...

The Stone Gods is the second novel by Jeanette Winterson I've finished this month. It's a delightful surprise, especially for someone like me who isn't exactly racing to the nearest sci-fi convention. Though dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and futuristic fiction usually aren't my cup of tea, this book pulled me in like a black hole at a star party. If I could give it five stars and a standing ovation, I absolutely would. Winterson seems to have asked herself, "Why choose just one genre when you can throw everything into a literary blender?" And wow, did that blender whir! It's not just a novel—it's a thought-provoking workout for your brain. She masterfully weaves together literary, social, philosophical, gender, AI, cyborg, climate change, and historical theories into one book. The result is brilliant and captivating. Every sentence feels like a philosophical TikTok waiting to go viral—just make sure you’re not sharing it online, or you might end up in...