Shiny New Books

What to Read Next and Why

  • About
  • Editorial & Review
  • Privacy
  • Fiction Review Index

Category: Five Fascinating Facts

May 14, 2019

Five Fascinating Facts About… Daphne du Maurier

Compiled by Annabel Ali at her blog, Heavenali, is hosting Daphne du Maurier reading week from May 13-19, so we’re joining in. One:  Jamaica Inn, the…

August 3, 2017

Five Fascinating Facts about… Anthony Burgess

Compiled by Annabel Researching Burgess for this article, I found so many nuggets, I could easily have compiled a list of fifty facts –…

May 11, 2017

Five Fascinating Facts about… Arnold Bennett

Compiled by Julie Barham 1.Bennett was an ardent Francophile, frequently looking to France as a source of literary inspiration. He would moor his yacht…

July 14, 2016

Five Fascinating Facts About… A.A. Milne

Written by Simon Thomas 1.) A.A. Milne had a famous schoolteacher. A.A. Milne’s father John ran a small boys’ school, Henley House, and one of…

April 5, 2016

Five Fascinating Facts about… Vita Sackville-West

Compiled by Simon Vita Sackville-West is probably best remembered today as the inamorata of Virginia Woolf or the garden designer behind Sissinghurst. Less remembered, on…

October 23, 2015

Five Fascinating Facts about… Richmal Crompton

Written by Simon The author of the much loved William books, about a well-meaning but disastrous young boy, also wrote over thirty books for…

October 22, 2015

Five Fascinating Facts about … Margaret Atwood

By Shoshi Ish-Horowicz 1.  She had an unconventional childhood with her family, spending every spring and summer in the northern Canadian wilderness; Atwood didn’t…

June 11, 2015

Ruth Rendell (1930-2015)

By Harriet Devine Ruth Rendell’s death on 2 May this year has brought to an end a career spanning an astonishing fifty years. By…

April 23, 2015

Five Fascinating Facts About… Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Compiled by the Shiny editors. We join in the celebrations of the 150th Anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with our own little…

April 2, 2015

Five Fascinating Facts About… Winston Graham

Compiled by Annabel. 1. Born in 1908 in Manchester, the Graham family moved to Perranporth in Cornwall when Winston was seventeen. He stayed there…

January 27, 2015

Five Fascinating Facts About… Virginia Woolf

Written by Simon Thomas We’re featuring a few Virginia Woolf titles in this issue, so it seemed a good time to turn attention to…

anthony_trollope waddy cartoon
January 13, 2015

Five Fascinating Facts About… Anthony Trollope

Compiled by Harriet 1. Born in 1815, Trollope had a miserable childhood. His father lost all his money, he was bullied at school, and…

October 21, 2014

Five Fascinating Facts about… E.F. Benson

By Guy Fraser-Sampson. 1. His father was Archbishop of Canterbury. Through this connection Benson gained privileged access to high society, including royalty and the aristocracy. He…

October 9, 2014

Five Fascinating Facts about… Frances Hodgson Burnett

Compiled by Harriet Devine 1. Frances was born near Manchester, in England. Her father was a successful ironmonger, but her family fell on hard…

July 28, 2014

Five Fascinating Facts About… Robert Aickman

Winkled out by Annabel Gaskell 1.  Although we’ve come to know Aickman as an author, he was a prominent conservationist. In 1946, he was…

July 9, 2014

Five Fascinating Facts About… Alexander Pushkin

Written by Karen Langley 1. His matrilineal great grandfather was a Black African Page brought over to Russia as a slave. Abram Petrovich Gannibal (1696–1781)…

April 24, 2014

Five Fascinating Facts about Rumer Godden

Compiled by Victoria Best As an accompaniment to Harriet’s review of Rumer Godden novels An Episode of Sparrows and The Dark Horse, here are five things you might…

April 17, 2014

Five Fascinating Facts about… Nathanael West

Compiled by Oliver Tearle To accompany our review of Daunt Books’ new reprint of Nathanael West’s Miss Lonelyhearts, reviewed here, we’ve asked Oliver Tearle to…

Categories

Subscribe to receive posts via email

Loading

Top Posts & Pages

  • Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the world by Mark Aldridge
  • Jane Austen: Writing, Society, Politics by Tom Keymer
  • Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries 1918-1938, edited by Simon Heffer
  • How We Are Translated by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson
  • Fiction Review Index
  • The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell
  • A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel
  • Editorial & Review
  • Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden
  • The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

Our Affiliate LInk to Blackwell’s – When you click through and purchase, it earns us a small commission to help pay for this site’s upkeep. Thank you.

www.blackwells.co.uk
My Tweets

Recent Comments

  • Donna S Bolton on Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the world by Mark Aldridge
  • Shiny New Books on A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel
  • Davida Chazan on Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
  • Shiny New Books on Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
  • Davida Chazan on Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Recent Posts

  • Heavy Light: A Journey through Madness, Mania and Healing by Horatio Clare
  • A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel
  • Where Stands a Wingèd Sentry by Margaret Kennedy
  • Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
  • Hyphens & Hashtags* by Claire Cock-Starkey
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Shiny on Facebook

Shiny on Facebook

Blog Stats

  • 548,423 hits

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

© 2014-2021, Shiny New Books and its Contributors

Archives

  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • April 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • April 2014
Copyright Shiny New Books. All rights reserved. | Theme by SuperbThemes