Book news, reviews and recommendations
I suspect many of you will have heard of Dan Rhodes’ new novel by now thanks to David Sexton’s review in the Sunday Times a few weeks ago. Set at a literary festival held in the village of Green Bottom, Sour Grapes takes a hefty swipe at the publishing world in ways which might sound […]
Sour Grapes by Dan Rhodes: Getting things off your chest Read More »
This is the third post in this series I’ve devoted to novellas. It seemed appropriate to run it today given that it’s Novella November, set up by Cathy at 746Books and now co-hosted by Bookish Beck. The five I’ve chosen are particularly notable for their use of language, sometimes lyrical, sometimes understated. Here then are
Yet Another Five Novellas I’ve Read Read More »
It was its Swedish setting that attracted me to Alex Schulman’s The Survivors which came my way at a time when I was remembering holidays past, including one taken on the Gothenburg archipelago many years ago. It’s about a family who holiday every year at the same isolated lakeside cottage until, one summer, a dramatic
My sense of time has been off during the pandemic: sometimes an event seems as if it was just the other day, others years ago, both assumptions often prove to be wrong. Perhaps that’s why I was surprised to spot a new Elizabeth Strout in the publishing schedules, convinced that Olive, Again was only published
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout: ‘We are all mysteries, is what I mean’ Read More »
Hospital dramas abound on TV – Holby City, Gray’s Anatomy, ER, House to name but a few. Not as ubiquitous as crime but oddly it’s rarely a theme in fiction. This post isn’t all about hospitals but it does explore something which affects every one of us, not least over the long pandemic. Here, then,
Five Books I’ve Read with a Medical Theme Read More »
Back in 2017 I reviewed Domenico Starnone’s Ties, remarking on its explosive opening letters from a furious wife to her unfaithful husband. It was Jhumpa Lahiri’s translation that attracted me to the novel but it was my enjoyment of it that made me put my hand up for Trust. As Lahiri notes in her afterword,
Trust by Domenico Starnone (transl. Jhumpa Lahiri): A life in three parts Read More »
As my birthday appeared on the horizon, I could feel myself giving into the lure of the New Forest again and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt about holidays it’s not to try to replicate them so I booked a few days in London in an aparthotel around the corner from Tate Modern. Once settled
Three Days in London and a Bit of a Book Read More »
Back from London (more of that later in the week) with the tiniest handful of paperbacks to look out for in November, the first of which I’ve read already. Arlene Heyman’s Artifact follows biologist Lottie from her ‘50s childhood through to the ‘80s, still faced with professional barriers thanks to her gender despite a career
Paperbacks to Look Out For in November 2021 Read More »
This second instalment of November goodies is a rather more cosmopolitan affair, beginning with a book by an author whose work I’ve been meaning to read for some time. Sofi Oksanen’s Dog Park switches between 2016 Helsinki, where Olenka is joined on her park bench by a woman whose life she’s ruined, and Ukraine just
Books to Look Out For in November 2021: Part Two Read More »
I swore I wouldn’t read a pandemic novel then ended up reading two before the summer was out. Hard to resist when one of them was Sarah Hall’s Burntcoat which neatly steers clear of our own pandemic, telling the story of Edith who survives the novavirus but knows that her time is limited. As all
Burntcoat by Sarah Hall: ‘Those who tell stories survive’ Read More »
I loved Amor Towles Rules of Civility but, for some reason that I can’t now remember, could not get on with A Gentleman in Moscow at all. That didn’t stop me from putting my hand up for a proof of The Lincoln Highway whose stylish jacket seemed to offer the prospect of a road novel,
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles: A 1950s American odyssey Read More »