Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’ve been reading Anna Quindlen’s quietly perceptive novels for years, wondering if she might get the Elizabeth Strout style recognition she deserves here in the UK. It didn’t happen with either Still Life with Breadcrumbs or Alternate Side but perhaps it will with After Annie which spans the year after Annie Brown’s death, following her […]
After Annie by Anna Quindlen: ‘There’s no right or wrong way to grieve’ Read More »
I liked the premise of Orla Mackey’s Mouthing. It put me in mind of Robert Seethaler’s The Field in which the dead remember their village, filled with all the gossip, machinations and scandalmongering you might expect from such a small community. Mackey’s debut tells the story of Ballygowan, tucked away in rural Ireland, over several
Mouthing by Orla Mackey: ‘Night night now. Tomorrow will be lovely’ Read More »
This second instalment of July’s fiction is a very mixed bag beginning with the second novel from an author whose debut couldn’t be more different. As the title suggests Paddy Crewe’s True Love is a love story but far from what you might call a romance. Keely and Finn are two damaged young people who
Books to Look Out For in July 2024: Part Two Read More »
July’s publishing schedules are stuffed full of summer reading for those seeking beach reads and the like. There are several that might fit that category in this first batch, beginning with one I’m very keen to read. I loved Claire Lombardo’s wonderfully entertaining The Most Fun We Ever Had so am looking forward to Same
Books to Look Out For in July 2024: Part One Read More »
June’s turned out to be an excellent month for paperback goodies: two favourites from last year in the first instalment, followed by two in this one which only failed to make it on to my books of the year list for fear of trying readers’ patience at its length. Jenny Mustard’s Okay Days follows Sam
Paperbacks to Look Out For in June 2024: Part Two Read More »
Nanae Aoyama’s A Perfect Day to Be Alone is already a bestseller in several European countries, translated into German, French and Italian before Jesse Kirkwood’s English version. Spanning a year in which twenty-year-old Chizu lives with an elderly distant relative, it’s a quiet coming-of-age story. It turned out that when you put three people with
I snapped up Hari Kunzru’s Blue Ruin on NetGalley, attracted by its art theme. I’ve read and enjoyed several of his previous novels including White Tears which explored racism through the New York music scene. His new novel’s set in 2020, just months after the pandemic had much of the world in lockdown including an
Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru: Never mind the art, show us the money Read More »
The first instalment of June’s paperbacks includes three tried and tested titles, two of which made it on to my books of last year list, beginning with one by a favourite writer of mine. If you’re on the lookout for intelligent summer reading Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake is just the ticket. It’s set on a
Paperbacks to Look Out For in June 2024: Part One Read More »
I’ve been a fan of Sarah Leipciger’s writing since her debut, nine years ago. The Mountain Can Wait exemplified that carefully pared back prose from which gorgeous descriptions of the natural world shine out which I find particularly pleasing. Her second novel, Coming Up for Air, was also beautifully crafted, weaving three narrative strands across
Moon Road by Sarah Leipciger: Well worth the wait Read More »
Three things attracted me to Alan Murrin’s The Coast Road: it’s a debut, he’s Irish and that cover suggested something small town. Set the year before Ireland’s 1995 referendum on divorce, Murrin’s novel explores the state of three marriages – two under strain and one broken – through the women whose independence is thwarted by
The Coast Road by Alan Murrin: Opening the door to change Read More »
Summer reading is on the horizon for publishers and this second batch of June fiction includes at least one novel that might be described as such although it’s a category I tend to avoid. I’ve yet to get around to Catherine Newman’s We All Want Impossible Things, despite several readers whose opinions I trust urging
Books to Look Out For in June 2024: Part Two Read More »