Book news, reviews and recommendations
The pitch for Dawn Raffel’s Boundless as the Sky was such an intriguing one, I couldn’t resist although I wasn’t at all sure it would work for me. I’m more circumspect about accepting books for review published by small presses such as Sagging Meniscus Press, the book’s wonderfully named publishers. The first part is billed […]
Boundless as the Sky by Dawn Raffel: Fables and Tales Some of Them True Read More »
I’ve not had much success with Nell Zink’s writing, not quite getting what all the fuss was about with both Nicotine and The Wallcreeper, but I liked the sound of Avalon’s premise so thought I’d give it a go. A young woman with a less than favourable upbringing, tries to find her place in the
Avalon by Nell Zink: A curate’s egg of a novel Read More »
I’ve read two from February’s first instalment of new fiction, both of which deal with families hit by tragedy in very different ways. Laurent Petitmangin’s What You Need from the Night sees an unnamed father, left to bring up his two sons alone after their mother’s death, finding a chasm opening between him and his
Books to Look Out For in February 2023: 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 – Beach Read to A History of the World in 10½ Chapters 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. Coupling sensual prose with perceptive, sometimes chilling, characterisation, Joanna Briscoe’s Sleep with Me grips from the first page
Blasts from the Past: Sleep with Me by Joanna Briscoe (2005) Read More »
I’d expected Guy Ware’s The Peckham Experiment to be about the eponymous community health initiative set up in the ‘20s which is what originally piqued my interest. That, and the premise of a brother spending the night before his identical twin’s funeral remembering the part they played in each other’s lives. In the event it
The Peckham Experiment by Guy Ware: Building the New Jerusalem, or not Read More »
I’m not sure where the idea that school days are the best days of your life came from but it’s one that’s commonly bandied around. My school days were just about OK, quite enjoyable in the sixth form, but if I’d thought they were to be my happiest times I’d have been downcast to put
Five Novels I’ve Read Set in School Read More »
I’ve ended several years with this meme prompted by a post from at least one blogger. This year it was Annabel’s version that first popped into my Reader followed swiftly by Cathy’s, Karen’s and Cathy’s. Here’s mine… In high school I was In Love People might be surprised by Weasels in the Attic I will
My Life in Books (2022 Edition) Read More »
There was talk of ‘clean, precise prose’ in the press release for The House Next to the Factory, a description that always snags my attention particularly when it comes from Carys Davies whose own style could be described that way. Sonal Kohli’s debut is a set of nine closely interlinked short stories that portray the
The House Next to the Factory by Sonal Kohli: Painting India on a small canvas Read More »
Having enjoyed Jean-Baptiste Andrea’s A Hundred Million Years and a Day, I was keen to read Devils and Saints, hoping for more striking, cinematic writing. Andrea’s latest novel reminded me a little of Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, partly because it explores similar themes, partly because it seemed to me to fit the Christmas
Unusually for me, I’ve read just two of the second batch of January paperbacks. I put up my hand for Neel Patel’s Tell Me How to Be in response to the heartfelt, very personal enthusiasm of its editor. There’s such a difference between that and the hype that so often puts me off. Patel’s debut
Paperbacks to Look Out For in January 2023: Part Two Read More »