Book news, reviews and recommendations
I read Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford’s Business as Usual back in the early days of Covid. Wonderfully diverting, it was just what was needed at such an anxious, difficult time. Drawing on Stafford’s experience as an ambulance driver in London’s blitz, Army Without Banners is very different, spanning fifteen months during which London was […]
I know less about Libya than I feel I should, but I do remember the dramatic events on April 17, 1984, when WPC Yvonne Fletcher was fatally shot at a demonstration outside the Libyan Embassy in London throwing a long, dark shadow over relations between our two countries. Hisham Matar’s My Friends follows three Libyan
My Friends by Hisham Matar: Libya and the pain of exile 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’ve read several novels by Penelope Lively plus her lovely memoir, Ammonites and Leaping Fish, all of which
Blasts from the Past: The Photograph by Penelope Lively (2003) Read More »
That’s an eye-catching cover, isn’t it? It’s what made me put up my hand for a proof when I spotted it on Twitter (can’t be doing with that X nonsense) and it fits the novel beautifully. I’d registered lots of love for Ainslie Hogarth’s Mothering but hadn’t got around to reading it which also made
Normal Women by Ainslie Hogarth: Losing the plot Read More »
Regular readers will know I have a predilection for novels with an art theme. I’ve already written two posts in this series about that and there’s at least one more in the works. Music, however, is a much rarer theme in my reading. Below are five novels I’ve enjoyed where music is central, all with
Five Novels I’ve Read with a Music Theme Read More »
I’m starting this second instalment of January paperbacks with one I’m particularly looking forward to, if only for a vicarious trip to Milan. Tim Parks’ Hotel Milano sees a middle-aged recluse flying to Italy for the funeral of an old friend. Frank is hoping he can enjoy the comfort of his hotel and return to
Paperbacks to Look Out For in January 2024: Part Two Read More »
There are some juicy January paperbacks to banish the winter blues beginning with Charmaine Craig’s My Nemesis which explores ideas about feminism and femininity through two women who apparently hold diametrically opposing views on the subject. Tessa is an academic who conceives a cerebral passion for Charlie, a colleague married to Wah. Tessa’s a feminist
Paperbacks to Look Out For in January 2024: Part One Read More »
The second part of January’s preview starts with a crime novel, an uncharacteristic choice for me. I enjoyed Louise Welsh’s The Second Cut so much last year that I put up my hand for To the Dogs which also has a foot in Glasgow’s murky underworld. Professor Jim Brennan is called away from a graduation
Books to Look Out For in January 2024: Part Two Read More »
I’m sure I’ll be casting another look over my shoulder at the reading delights of 2023 before the year’s out but for now I’m looking to the future and finding lots of books to look out for, several of which I’ve already read. I’ve been a Michael Cunningham fan since I read A Home at
Books to Look Out For in January 2024: Part One Read More »
Much of October was taken up with a rail jaunt around Central Europe, our first since covid struck. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Such an interesting part of the world; definitely worth exploring further. Despite less reading time than usual, two books stand out, the first of which is Jhumpa Lahiri’s exquisite short story collection Roman
Books of Year 2023: Part Four Read More »
We’d come back from Glasgow ready for summer which never quite materialised, or not the long warm days I’d been envisaging so, once again, reading was done on the sofa rather than in the garden, and more of it than I’d originally planned. The first of July’s two books was one of those novels you
Books of Year 2023: Part Three Read More »