Book news, reviews and recommendations
I suppose it was inevitable that I’d read and review Bookshops having worked in one for over a decade and spent a great deal of time in many others, both in my own country and abroad. It’s quite some time since I could call myself a bookseller but I still tidy up those table displays, […]
Bookshops by Jorge Carrión (translated by Peter Bush): An anorak’s delight Read More »
It’s a both a joy and a worry when a second novel appears on the horizon following one quite so spectacularly good as Robert Seethaler’s A Whole Life. Will it measure up or be a disappointment? What I hadn’t considered was that The Tobacconist would exceed my expectations. Very much darker than the A Whole
The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler (transl. Charlotte Collins): Dark days in Vienna Read More »
A new Zadie Smith novel is always the cause of a great deal of pre-publication anticipation. Twitter has been all agog for some time ensuring that Swing Time will turn up in quite a few Christmas stockings. Moving between Smith’s home territory of north-west London to West Africa and New York, it spans the years
Books to Look Out for In November 2016 Read More »
I suspect Carol Birch has something of a fascination with the world of circuses and freak shows. Set in the nineteenth century, her last novel, Jamrach’s Menagerie, followed Jaffy who is sent to the Dutch East Indies to capture a ‘dragon’ for the eponymous menagerie but finds himself shipwrecked. Orphans of the Carnival ventures far
Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch: Roll up, roll up… Read More »
I ended my review of Donal Ryan’s last novel, The Thing About December, by quoting Litlove’s idea that the higher your expectations for a book, the greater your disappointment when they’re not met. Both Ryan’s novels had been praised to the skies and although there was much to admire in his second, those raised expectations
All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan: Redemption in spades Read More »
breach is based on Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes’ exchanges with refugees who have lived in the camp known as the Jungle and the people of Calais where it’s based. Meike Ziervogel of Peirene Press commissioned the book to, in her words, ‘distil [their] stories into a work of fiction about escape, hope and aspiration.
Regular readers may have noticed I have a weakness for novels which follow a handful of young people from the time they first become acquainted through the first few years of adult life. Lots of space for character development which is what attracted me to Tony Tulathimutte’s Private Citizens. Smart, funny and sometimes exhausting, it
Private Citizens by Tony Tulathimutte: Social satire for the Millennials Read More »
I have something of a chequered relationship with Ann Patchett’s writing: I loved The Magician’s Assistant but couldn’t see what all the fuss was about with the Orange Prize-winning Bel Canto. I was a little wary of becoming too excited about Commonwealth, then, despite an engaging blurb and a particularly attractive cover, but it completely
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett: The many stories of a family 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 into as many hands as I could. Bit of an uncharacteristic choice for me, this one: not only is it a piece of crime fiction
Blasts from the Past: The Alienist by Caleb Carr (1994) Read More »
I’m not a fan of dystopian fiction. There’s quite enough of that in the twenty-four-hour news misery cycle playing out every day which seems even more miserable in 2016 than usual – or perhaps that’s just me. The blurb for Jenni Fagan’s The Sunlight Pilgrims sounded as if it might have a distinctly dystopian bent
The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan: A touch of the Iain Banks Read More »
If you’re a fan of Jay McInerney’s series of novels which began with Brightness Falls way back in 1992, you won’t need to be told who the Calloways are nor will you need to have explained to you why I was thrilled at the prospect of a new one despite my disappointment with The Good
Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney: Revisiting the Calloways Read More »