Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’ve had several successes with Swift Press, notably Ben Shattuck’s The History of Sound, one of last year’s favourites, enough to keep an eye on their upcoming titles. Alexander Starritt’s Drayton and Mackenzie is very different. Opening in the early 2000s, it follows James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie whose chance meeting a couple of years […]
Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Starritt: The odd couple Read More »
I liked the premise of Hal Ebbott’s debut and the starry endorsements from the likes of Miranda Cowley and Cate Lombardo suggested that it might appeal at a time when I was after a bit of quality easy reading. Beginning with a weekend when two wealthy New York couples celebrate a birthday in the country,
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott: A curate’s egg Read More »
August can be a dull month for new fiction given that the holiday season is in full swing but this first instalment starts off with a novel that’s far from boring although it may not suit everyone. Nicola Barker’s TonyInterruptor explores the fallout from a question shouted from the audience at a jazz gig which
Books to Look Out For in August 2025: Part One Read More »
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 – Theory and Practice to Boxer Beetle Read More »
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. This is an unusual one for me. As regular readers know, I rarely read thrillers but there was
Blasts from the Past: Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon (1997) Read More »
It’s ten years since I reviewed Laura Barnett’s The Versions of Us which, rereading my review, I obviously enjoyed but never got around to reading anything else by her. She writes absorbing, well turned-out fiction, tending towards the commercial end of the scale. Her new novel follows a group of six friends over the year
Births, Deaths & Marriages by Laura Barnett: A celebration of friendship Read More »
Just as I enjoy a good road movie, I love a well turned out road novel. Lots of time for reflection, meeting new characters and maybe a bit of vivid landscape description. Beginning with one that’s named after a road, and a very famous one too, below are five novels that take their readers along
Five Road Novels I’ve Read Read More »
I’d been so impressed by Wendy Erskine’s quietly brilliant short story collection, Dance Move, that I jumped at the chance to read her debut novel. Set in Belfast, The Benefactors follows the fallout from the rape of a young woman by three boys she’d thought were her friends. Being with their mum felt like when
The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine: Family first Read More »
Once a year H and I travel north to see our dear friends M, who lives one side of the Pennines, and N, who lives the other. This year we rented a cottage in Holmfirth on the Yorkshire side planning to meet N later in the week, sadly scuppered as he and his partner had
Three Days in Yorkshire, One in Shropshire and Most of a Book Read More »
Back from Yorkshire (more of which later in the week) with the last of July’s previews. It’s a long time since I read Dinaw Mengestu’s All Our Names but it’s stayed with me as did Children of the Revolution. His new novel, Someone Like Us, follows Mamush who returns to his Ethiopian community in Washington
Paperbacks to Look Out For in July 2025: Part Two Read More »
This first batch of July paperbacks leans more towards the commercial than usual starting with David Nicholls whose writing always hits the spot for me. His new one, You Are Here, sees Marnie feeling stuck and Michael left by his wife. A determined mutual friend succeeds in getting them to take a walk together which,
Paperbacks to Look Out For in July 2025: Part One Read More »