Book news, reviews and recommendations
A multitude of paperback goodies to look out for this June, several of which fell foul of the pandemic-induced schedule changes that have bedevilled both authors and publishers for well over a year, including the paperback edition of Emma Forrest’s Royals delayed since June 2020. Forrest’s novel is about a working-class Jewish boy drawn into …
Paperbacks to Look Out For in June 2021: Part One Read More »
I reviewed Maylis de Kerangal’s The Birth of a Bridge back in 2015. It left me admiring but not entirely sure what I felt about it so I passed on her next novel, Mend the Living, wondering if I’d missed out when I read other bloggers’ reviews. That and its art theme made me put …
Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal (transl Jessica Moore): Tricking the eye Read More »
Four years ago, I was sent a book by Jhumpa Lahiri which had intrigued me when I saw it listed as a translated work. In Other Words is her account of a passion for the Italian language so intense she uprooted her family from the US so that she could immerse herself in it. The …
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri (transl. by the author): ’Solitude: it’s become my trade’ Read More »
June’s first batch of new fiction began with a much trumpeted novel with a literary theme as does the second. Lots of pre-publication brouhaha for Francesca Reece’s Voyeur which sees a young woman who’s left London for Paris, delighted when she gets a job as a writer’s assistant. Leah’s enthusiasm proves infectious, inspiring Michael to …
I included Sunjeev Sahota’s The Year of the Runaways in my Five Books I’ve Read post about immigrants, having enjoyed it very much. About a group of economic migrants, it was notable for its empathetic portrayal of their precarious lives. His new novel, China Room, interweaves two stories, both set in the Punjab: the first …
I first noticed Ailsa McFarlane’s Highway Blue in The Observer’s ’10 Best Debuts of 2021’ feature at the beginning of the year. Inevitably, given my weakness for first novels, several titles expanded my TBR list but McFarlane’s is the first I’ve read. Highway Blue follows Anne Marie and her estranged husband Cal who are on …
Highway Blue by Ailsa McFarlane: A startlingly good debut Read More »
Several long-trailed titles are due to be published in June including Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl which has been all over my Twitter timeline for quite some time. Lots of publishing folk eager to get their hands on a proof and once you’re read the premise you’ll see why. Wagner Books’ only black …
Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list, …
Six Degrees of Separation – From Beezus and Ramona to Claudine at School Read More »
I was delighted to spot Daniela Krien’s gorgeously jacketed Love in Five Acts in my Twitter timeline towards the end of last year. I’d read the haunting Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything back in 2015 which feels like an age ago now – pre-Brexit, pre-Trump and pre-pandemic. Born in the GDR, Krien was a …
Love in Five Acts by Daniela Krien (transl. Jamie Bulloch): Take five women Read More »
Four years ago, I started my review of Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 with a paean of praise for this writer who seems to excel himself with each new book. His superb new novel, Lean Fall Stand, continues that progression with its story of a man returning from his beloved Antarctica, irrevocably changed, and his wife …
Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor: Surviving catastrophe Read More »
This second batch of May paperbacks kicks off with a favourite from last year: Nick Bradley’s The Cat and the City. Set in Tokyo, Bradley’s episodic novel follows a set of characters through their teeming city as it prepares to play host to the Olympics, each of whose lives are touched by a very particular …
Paperbacks to Look Out For in May 2021: Part Two Read More »