Book news, reviews and recommendations
I seem to have read more novellas than usual this year. Not entirely a conscious decision – I love that feeling of sinking into a doorstopper, particularly in winter – but several of the shorter novels I’ve reviewed have packed much more of a punch than a luxuriously fat, piece of storytelling often does. Nicolai […]
This meme was the brainchild of Fictionophile although I spotted it at Lisa’s ANZ Litlovers blog and was very taken with it. I’ve a feeling mine was much quicker to put together than Lisa’s as she has over 1,000 books in her TBR which has made me feel so much better about my own. Thank
My Blog’s Name in Books Read More »
I’ve read just one of this second selection of May paperbacks – Dorthe Nors’ Mirror, Shoulder, Signal which picked up a bit of attention when it was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. It sees fortysomething Sonja attempting to learn to drive, something she feels she really should have done some time ago,
Paperbacks to Look Out for in May 2018: Part Two Read More »
Each and every one of the short stories in Michael Andreasen’s The Sea Beast Takes a Lover is a work of surreal, off-the-wall fantasy, about as far from my usual literary purview as you can get yet they had me transfixed, wondering what kind of wacky journey Andreasen was going to take me on next.
The Sea Beast Takes a Lover by Michael Andreasen: A strange and wonderful collection Read More »
Impossible not to comment on that title which makes the old bookseller in me wonder just how much it will be mangled in customer enquiries. I’m sure the publishers breathed a sigh of relief that Twitter have extended their 140-character limit, too. That said, it was the title which attracted me to this novella along
I seem to start most of these posts with promises of many treats, or potential treats, on the paperback horizon and May’s no exception with publishers not yet assuming that we’ve put our brains away in preparation for summer reading. At the top of May’s goodie list for me is Megan Hunter’s The End We
Paperbacks to Look Out for in May 2018: Part One Read More »
More than once I’ve proclaimed myself not to be a thriller fan on this blog, usually before going on to review one, so it may seem surprising that several of the books in the second part of May’s preview appear to have a definite thread of suspense running through them beginning with Rachel Edwards’ Darling
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After a difficult winter which seemed never-ending, we were in dire need of a bit of sun and some relaxation so took ourselves off to Spain, flying to Madrid early on Thursday evening. Our second visit to the city started much like the first with a walk around the botanical gardens. Irises were in glorious
Two Days in Madrid, Five Days in Toledo and Just One Book Read More »
There are several juicy looking short story collections on offer in May, three of which I’m including in the first part of this preview kicking off with the excellent Curtis Sittenfeld’s You Think It, I’ll Say It which explores both the ineptitude some people display in reading others and our ability to deceive ourselves, apparently.
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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 other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the others on the
Six Degrees of Separation – from Memoirs of a Geisha to Capital #6Degrees Read More »
David Chariandy’s Brother is the second novel I’ve reviewed this year that I first spotted on Naomi’s Consumed by Ink, hoping that it would buck the British publishing trend of ignoring Canadian gems. The first was Katherena Vermette’s The Break, which lived up to the Margaret Atwood plaudit adorning its cover. Fingers crossed there’ll be more
Brother by David Chariandy: ‘Complicated grief’ Read More »