Book news, reviews and recommendations
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. Regular readers may have gathered that I’m fan of Colm Tóibín’s writing. His name appears on my About
Blasts from the Past: The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín (1999) Read More »
Back in 2022, I read Niamh Mulvey’s short story collection, Hearts and Bones, one of many strikingly good books I read by Irish women that year, so I was delighted when her first novel popped up on NetGalley. The Amendments follows three generations of women, from the 1970s to 2018 when Nell and her partner
The Amendments by Niamh Mulvey: ‘We are not pro-abortion, we are pro-woman.’ Read More »
I’ve been careful with that heading, not wanting to mislead readers. The qualifier’s there more to indicate what these thrillers aren’t – action packed, techie, blood-soaked, although one does have a gruesome murder – rather than what they are, and I couldn’t think of another word. It’s a genre I tend to watch rather than
Five Literary Thrillers I’ve Read Read More »
The Start of Something is Holly Williams’ second novel although some might call it a very closely linked set of short stories or, perhaps, episodes. Somehow, I missed her debut but will be adding it to be my TBR list. This new book follows ten characters over the course of a summer, stringing their stories
The Start of Something by Holly Williams: One thing leads to another Read More »
Back from my Northern jaunt (more of that later in the week) with a second batch of May paperback goodies which begins with one of my 2023 favourites, Jenny Erpenbeck’s International Booker Prize shortlisted Kairos. Erpenbeck explores identity through a love affair beginning in 1985 between Hans, a successful writer born in 1933, and Katharina,
Paperbacks to Look Out For in May 2024: Part Two Read More »
May’s first batch of paperbacks features lots of Irish writers beginning with last year’s Booker winner, followed by a close contender. I’d been so impressed by Paul Lynch’s Beyond the Sea I was delighted when Prophet Song popped through my letterbox. Set in a near future Ireland in the grips of an increasingly authoritarian regime
Paperbacks to Look Out For in May 2024: Part One Read More »
I jumped at the chance to read James, Percival Everett’s reimagining of Mark Twain’s American classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I read as a child, oblivious to the fact that Twain meant it as a satire. Everett’s novel turns the narrative around, unfolding the story from the point of view of Jim, the slave
James by Percival Everett: ‘I am a sign. I am your future. I am James.’ Read More »
Scarlett Thomas is an idiosyncratic writer several of whose novels I’ve enjoyed, not least the slightly bonkers The Seed Collectors. I was a little disappointed in her last novel but was keen to read The Sleepwalkers when I spotted it on NetGalley. It follows a newly married couple who’ve been booked into a hotel on
The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas: Cliffhanging to the end Read More »
All but one of the books in this second instalment of May’s new fiction are by Irish writers, beginning with one from one of my favourites. Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is the sequel to his much-loved Brooklyn, taking up the story of Eilis Lacey in the 1970s, twenty years after we left her. Eilis is living
Books to Look Out For in May 2024: Part Two 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. I still remember the delight at hearing the news that the quietly brilliant Larry’s Party had won what
Blasts from the Past: Larry’s Party by Carol Shields (1997) Read More »
I so enjoyed both Naomi Wood’s Bauhaus themed thriller The Hiding Game and Mrs Hemingway, a wry take on what it might have been like to be married to Ernest, that I jumped at the chance to read her short story collection. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things comprises nine lengthy stories, all
This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things by Naomi Wood: A debut short story collection Read More »