Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’d picked out Kim Zupan’s debut in my August paperback preview as a novel somewhat outside my usual literary territory but whose blurb made it sound worth investigating. It arrived jacketed a little like a Kent Haruf novel but what really sealed the deal was a puff from Mark Spragg whose An Unfinished Life and […]
The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan: A strange kind of friendship Read More »
Oh joy! William Boyd’s back on form with his new novel which has its feet firmly planted in Any Human Heart territory. Boyd set off on a thriller trajectory with the excellent Restless, picked up by Richard and Judy back in 2007, which I followed loyally despite an increasing disappointment: Waiting for Sunrise ended up
Sweet Caress by William Boyd: A welcome return to Any Human Heart territory Read More »
I spotted this on Twitter courtesy of David at David’s Book World whose title I’ve also pinched. He, in turn, had come across it at Annabel’s House of Books. I’m not one for memes but I’d enjoyed Reading Bingo so much last year I thought I’d give this one a whirl too. The idea is
A reading acrostic Read More »
I’ve had a somewhat chequered relationship with Andrew Miller’s writing: his debut, Ingenious Pain, left me eager for his second novel but that left me cold. The next few were enjoyable enough but not nearly as strikingly original as the first. The only one of his novels that’s come close to matching the brilliance of
The Crossing by Andrew Miller: Something of an enigma Read More »
This was the first book I read for review after coming back from my hols. I was looking for something uncomplicated, nothing very taxing, and Stephanie Bishop’s novel with its gold-type adorned jacket looked like it might fit the bill but it took me by surprise. The Other Side of the World turns out to
The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop: An Unexpected Treat Read More »
Much to my surprise it seems to have turned into short story week here. Unusually for me, I came to Amy Bloom’s writing through her short fiction. It was back in the ’90s and I was a bookseller at the time. When I was shown her first volume a great deal was made of her
Rowing to Eden by Amy Bloom: Short stories for novel readers Read More »
I think this may be the first short story collection I’ve reviewed here. There’ve been a few linked sets – Judy Chicurel’s If I’d known You were Going to Be This Beautiful… springs to mind as does Sara Taylor’s The Shore – but Nickolas Butler’s is the only one I can think of filled with
Beneath the Bonfire by Nickolas Butler: A rare short stories review Read More »
I’d not heard of Maylis de Kerangal before I came across Birth of a Bridge which says more about my ignorance than her obscurity as the novel comes garlanded with praise from all and sundry. It also won the 2010 Prix Médicis, adding to several other literary prizes awarded to her. All this is should
Birth of a Bridge by Maylis de Kerangal (transl. Jessica Moore): All human life is here Read More »
Westerns aren’t exactly my style but I’ve been a fan of Glenn Taylor’s novels since his first, The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart. Set, like the previous two, in his home state of West Virginia, A Hanging at Cinder Bottom is a rip-roaring tale of small town life in the coal rush where powerful men make
A Hanging at Cinder Bottom by Glenn Taylor: A rollicking good yarn Read More »
Just before last year’s Man Booker prize winner announcement I wrote a rather disenchanted post about it so you might think that I’ve cast off my world weariness, given the title above. Not entirely, I’m afraid, but I did have to think about it when the lovely people over at Shiny New Books asked if
My 2015 Man Booker wish list Read More »
I first heard about Sean Michaels’ novel from Tanya at 52 Books or Bust earlier this year. She’d read the Canadian edition and was raving about it, hoping to convert North Americans south of the border. Picking up the link for her review I checked my own comment which begins ’Sold!’ I hope that some
Us, Conductors by Sean Michaels: The life and times of Leon Theremin Read More »