Book news, reviews and recommendations
This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy in as many hands as I could. I’d not come across Ethan Canin’s writing before a rep gave me a copy of For Kings and […]
Blasts from the Past: For Kings and Planets by Ethan Canin (1998) Read More »
Daniel Mason is probably best known for the much acclaimed North Woods which has been recommended by several bloggers whose opinions I trust but I still haven’t got around to reading it. Country People is also set in New England this time in Vermont where a Californian family are spending a year, Miles ostensibly to
Country People by Daniel Mason: In which the hero is a dog Read More »
Coming of age is a common theme in fiction with characters growing into maturity, or not, as their creators develop them, but in some novels it’s more dominant. Below are five that see young people growing into themselves, some facing adversity, others surprised by life, all with links to my reviews. In The Party, Tessa
Five Coming-of-Age Novels I’ve Read Read More »
I thoroughly enjoyed Chloë Ashby’s debut, Wet Paint, back into 2022 which was why I put up my hand for Family Friends, although the setup of two families who’ve been getting together once a year in a run-down chateau for two decades piqued my interest. Family Friends spans two weeks in a French heatwave after
Family Friends by Chloë Ashby: Happy holidays Read More »
Not my favourite prize but I can’t resist putting together a wish list for the Booker. To be eligible for this year’s prize all books must be published in the UK or Ireland between 1st October 2025 and 30th September 2026 and have been written in English. The judges usually stick to twelve although sometimes
My 2026 Booker Wish List Read More »
Slim paperback pickings for August thanks to summer reading dominating the schedules. Not usually my cup of tea although some readers might think my first few titles fit that bill. Beatriz Serrano’s Discontent is about Mansa whose life appears enviable but isn’t. She lives in central Madrid in an apartment above her lover’s, having quickly been
Paperbacks to Look Out For in August 2026 Read More »
I snapped up Rebecca Birrell’s Venus, Vanishing, as soon as it was pitched to me. Opening in Berlin just as Hitler’s rise in popularity has begun, art historian Birrell’s first novel follows eighteen-year-old Hannah Sherman, determined to become an artist rather than marry into a life of domestic drudgery. Elke wanted me to know how
Venus, Vanishing by Rebecca Birrell: Art, deception and desire in 1930s Berlin Read More »
I dithered about reading Roshan Sethi’s The Simp, put off by a few dismissive reviews, but given it’s published by a favourite imprint, decided to take the plunge. As Thackeray fans will have spotted from the subtitle, it’s a twenty-first century take on Vanity Fair, set in Hollywood in 2020, the year Black Lives Matter
The Simp by Roshan Sethi: A novel without a hero Read More »
August’s second instalment begins with a book from a favourite author of mine. Donal Ryan’s Where Are the Kings follows twelve-year-old Jack over two years after a terrible loss sees his grandparents take him in. One day his mother sets off in the battered family car with Jack careering after her on his bike, too
Books to Look Out For in August 2026: Part Two Read More »
Given how much I enjoyed both her short story collection, How to Gut a Fish, and her debut novel, Falling Animals, you’d think I’d jump at the change to read Sheila Armstrong’s The Red Mouth, but the blurb’s hints of otherworldliness, curses and strange magnetism put me off. Fortunately, the supernatural strand proved to be
The Red Mouth by Sheila Armstrong: Uncovering the past Read More »
This month I’m reading a short story collection by a novelist I’ve had a slightly patchy experience with, a memoir combining travel and food – two of my favourite things besides reading – and a prize-winning novel I’d hoped to enjoy more than I am. The short story collection I’m reading is Tessa Hadley’s After
A Snapshot of My Reading #17 Read More »