Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’m a great fan of Daniel Kehlmann’s fiction which is why I was so keen to see his first play, The Mentor, premiered in my home town’s Ustinov Studio a couple of months ago. There I was all agog, tickets at the ready only to be too unwell to attend on the night but I […]
You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann (transl. Ross Benjamin): Short but not sweet Read More »
We’re deep into summer reading territory with the July publishing schedules, although I doubt that any of my paperback choices would be characterised as classic beach reads in publishers’ terms. Milena Busquet’s This Too Shall Pass is at least set near the sea. Blanca leaves Barcelona for the Spanish coastal town where her late mother
Paperbacks to Look Out for in July 2017 Read More »
This is one of those novels that’s been gathering a head of steam in my neck of the Twitter woods. Not in an off-putting, shouty, endless-stream-of-gushy-tweets way – just enough to pique my interest. It’s a debut from a young Irish author about two best friends – once lovers – who fall into a friendship
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney: Mulling things over Read More »
There’s something irresistible about a state-of-the-nation novel, even if that nation has shifted cataclysmically since the novel was conceived. This isn’t the first book in that vein Amanda Craig has written – I remember enjoying Hearts and Minds which explored the lives of immigrants in London a few years back. Two characters from that novel
The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig: Something nasty in the woodshed… Read More »
July sees publishing well into its summer reading season with far fewer books than usual to tempt me although Nickolas Butler’s The Hearts of Men more than makes up for that. His debut, Shotgun Lovesongs, was a wonderful, heart-tugging piece of writing. As ever, there’s that nagging worry about second novel syndrome but this new
Books to Look Out for in July 2017 Read More »
Coming towards the end of what felt like months of relentless electioneering, I was in need of a well turned out piece of escapism. Something I could lose myself in and forget about the world for a while. Invincible Summer looked just the ticket. It takes four friends who meet as undergraduates in 1997 and
Invincible Summer by Alice Adams: A smart beach read Read More »
Acclaimed poet Tom Malmquist’s book comes labelled by the publisher as a piece of ‘auto-fiction’ – a novel based on the author’s life rather than a memoir. Already garlanded with prizes in the author’s native Sweden, it’s the story of Tom whose partner Karin dies a few weeks after the premature birth of their daughter,
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. There seemed to be something of a vogue for Victorian novel pastiches a decade or so ago. May
Blasts from the Past: The Observations by Jane Harris (2006) Read More »
I’m not one for memes but Six Degrees of Separation, hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best, is one I’ve come to eagerly anticipate on other blogs so I thought I’d stick my toe in the water. It works like this: each month, a book is chosen as a starting point
Six Degrees of Separation – from Shopgirl to Shotgun Lovesongs #6Degrees Read More »
‘Check ignition and may God’s love be with you’ is the achingly familiar quote which prefaces Peter Terrin’s novella. It might be tempting to think that Monte Carlo was written after David Bowie’s death last year but it was originally published in Holland in 2014. Sometimes it’s a struggle to work out quite why an
Monte Carlo by Peter Terrin (transl. David Doherty): Sliding into obsession and madness Read More »
I have a weakness for Irish fiction. It’s often characterised by a restrained clarity – beautiful, elegant prose with a yearning quality about it – or at least the work of authors I favour fits that description. Colm Tóibín, John McGahern, William Trevor, Ann Enright, Deirdre Madden all come to mind and after reading When
When Light is Like Water by Molly McCloskey: Love in all its complexity Read More »