Book news, reviews and recommendations
It has been a sad and rather unsettling experience reading The Quarry. Anyone with even the most fleeting interest in the book world knows that Iain Banks died from cancer in early June, a mere few months after being diagnosed, and those who have read the reviews of his final novel know that one of […]
The Quarry by Iain Banks: Unsettlingly true to life Read More »
I’ve given up a lot of books recently. It used to feel like a moral failing leaving a book unfinished but I’ve finally realised that it’s a complete waste of time hoping that something which hasn’t gripped you by page 50 will eventually blossom. I’ve already confessed to giving up Flight Behaviour in Monday’s post
What in God’s Name by Simon Rich: Short, sweet and very funny Read More »
Sorting out books after my hols I came across a copy of Letters to Klaus from the children’s publisher Anderson Press, published as part of the Independent Booksellers Week promotion which began last Friday. It’s brilliant and entirely original. Klaus Flugge launched Anderson Press in 1976, naming it after Hans Christian Anderson, and went on
Letters to Klaus by Klaus Flugge: A twofa or maybe a threefa Read More »
Back from my Sussex hols the highlights of which were undoubtedly two gorgeous gardens – Great Dixter and Charleston Farmhouse – both the kind that look as if they’ve been causally thrown together although anyone who knows anything about gardening, and I know very little, understands that this kind of planting is the product of
Holiday reading ups and downs Read More »
I’m a sucker for biographical notes and always disappointed when they merely list previous books with a tight little sentence about where the author lives if you’re lucky. Partly nosiness on my part I’ll admit but often a little knowledge of an author’s life illuminates their writing. Reading one of Roma Tearne’s novels without knowing
The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne: Last night I dreamt… Read More »
Not to beat about the bush – there’s a lot of sex in Carrie Tiffany’s novel and most of it not ornithological. I only mention it as the reviewer I commissioned to write about it when it came out in hardback emailed me to say that it was all too much for her. I was
A gloomy weather weekend, a suddenly free Sunday and no Scandi-crime distractions on TV resulted in more reading this weekend than I’d expected. We did manage to meet a friend for lunch at the Pythouse but the lovely gardens were a bit too soggy for any prolonged wandering. A slice of their Ginger Beer and
A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnston: An unexpected treat Read More »
Maureen Lindley’s A Girl Like You tackles a little talked about episode in American history – the internment of US citizens of Japanese descent during the Second World War. Opening in 1939, this engrossing story is told from the point of view of Satomi Baker, the strong minded, beautiful daughter of a Japanese-American mother and
A Girl Like You by Maureen Lindley: Not America’s finest hour Read More »
I have to admit I was a little sceptical about The President’s Hat. I thought it might be a tad whimsical for me but it turns out to be an absolute delight from start to finish. It begins with an accountant, a little out of sorts with his job, treating himself to a solitary meal
Saturday was absolutely gorgeous in my part of the world. Two weeks ago we had planned to spend it wandering around eleven open gardens in a village not too far from us fully expecting that it would come to nothing as we couldn’t quite believe the weather would hold. The village is Mells and it’s
A quintessential English summer’s day and The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit Read More »
Yesterday the ICA hosted a conference for the Independent Alliance of publishers, a get together to devise a creative strategy for the tricky future which faces the book trade. I’m sure that they will have come up with some imaginative ideas. Rather like Foyles who reached out to all manner of people including other booksellers,
Hurrah for independent publishers! Read More »