Book news, reviews and recommendations
I jumped at the chance to read Sarah Manguso’s new novel when it was pitched to me. Very Cold People was one of my books of 2022. Written in spare, crisp prose, it’s a bleak novella about an abusive childhood, extraordinarily powerful. Liars is the equally bleak story of a dysfunctional marriage told from the […]
Liars by Sarah Manguso: ‘I was in charge of everything and in control of nothing.’ Read More »
I was delighted when I spotted a new Evie Wyld on NetGalley but less so when I read the blurb which mentioned a ghost watching his girlfriend grieving his death, the kind of device which sets off alarm bells for me. Set across several timelines and two continents, The Echoes unfolds Hannah’s story, revealing what
The Echoes by Evie Wyld: ‘Distance. The great reliever and creator of pain.’ Read More »
Another disappointingly thin paperback month although it kicks off with a gem, recently longlisted for the Booker Prize, one of two wishes fulfilled for me. Fugitive Pieces author Anne Michaels’ Held is her third novel making three in almost three decades, an indication of the care and thought with which she approaches her craft. It
Paperbacks to Look Out For in September 2024 Read More »
I was delighted to see a new Donal Ryan in the publishing schedules, jumping at the chance to read it as soon as it appeared on NetGalley. Heart, Be at Peace returns to the setting of Ryan’s debut, A Spinning Heart, a decade after many in the town were devastated when the son of the
Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan: Revisiting the past Read More »
Lauren Aliza Green’s debut is one of those novels whose blurb seduced me with a list of comparisons with authors whose names tick my literary boxes. I ought to know better by now although in this case it paid off pretty well. The World After Alice sees the wedding of her best friend to her
The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green: ‘How does someone survive this?’ Read More »
This second batch of September’s new fiction kicks off with one of the year’s big titles just as the first did. As Elizabeth Strout fans will know, many of her characters recur throughout her loosely connected series of novels, rather as they do in Kent Haruf’s Holt books. In Tell Me Everything, it’s Bob Burgess
Books to Look Out For in September 2024: Part Two Read More »
I thoroughly enjoyed Charlotte Mendelson’s sharply funny novel, The Exhibitionist, so was delighted when Wife popped through my letterbox. Mendelson does a fine line in dysfunctional families turning her hand to the theme once again with Zoe and her wife Penny whose two daughters have a complicated set of co-parents, all intent on an equal
Wife by Charlotte Mendelson: Marrying a monster Read More »
When I spotted Rare Singles on NetGalley I’d read just one novel by Benjamin Myers – The Offing – although I have The Perfect Golden Circle on my TBR shelves and Cuddy on my ‘to buy’ list. Spanning three days, it’s about an American singer in his seventies with the slimmest of back catalogues who’s
Rare Singles by Benjamin Myers: ‘Grief is the price of love’ Read More »
September sees the publication of several novels many readers are probably already well aware of from social media, beginning with a one I’m sure will be piled up on Christmas tables. Sally Rooney’s one of those authors who provokes strong reactions in readers but whether you love her writing or find it infuriating, it will
Books to Look Out For in September 2024: 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 – The Museum of Love to Did You Ever Have 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 in as many hands as I could. When I considered The Prince of West End Avenue for a Blast from the Past post, I half
Blasts from the Past: The Prince of West End Avenue by Alan Isler (1994) Read More »