Book news, reviews and recommendations
Five short thematically linked reviews
Despite preferring novellas to chunksters, I’ve a fair few of the latter under my reading belt. A good doorstopper which swerves baggy over-indulgence can be a source of great pleasure. I’ve already written about five that fit that bill then posted five more. Below is another batch, all but one with a link to a […]
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The Second World War and its aftermath shaped much of the second half of the twentieth century, economically, politically and socially. I’ve not read much fiction set during the war but the five below – all written long after the event – share that backdrop in one way or another, all with a link to
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This is my second post on the theme of long relationships, offering a rather more negative view than the first apart from the last novel which takes an unusual approach along the lines of roads not travelled. All have links to longer reviews on my blog. We know from the start of Philip Teir’s novel
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Old women aren’t a common subject for contemporary fiction, not one that captures agents’ or publishers’ commercial attention, I suspect. Even that description is uncomfortable for many, but old lady somehow feels more so to me, genteel and patronising. Below are five novels whose authors have created strikingly memorable old woman, three with links to
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Just as I enjoy a good road movie, I love a well turned out road novel. Lots of time for reflection, meeting new characters and maybe a bit of vivid landscape description. Beginning with one that’s named after a road, and a very famous one too, below are five novels that take their readers along
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When I first discovered Elizabeth Strout’s writing, the UK editions of her books came with off-putting, wish-washy covers. Fortunately, they were reissued by another publisher with much more appropriate jackets and Strout became a household literary name. Four of the following five are also by American writers, several likely much better known in the US
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The eighteenth century was a fascinating time in European history, a period which saw the development of the Enlightenment ideas that formed the modern Western world. Close to its end, the bloody convulsion of the French Revolution, sent shockwaves through the continent and beyond. Several of the five novels below are set around the time
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I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to do a second Five Books I’ve Read post on Irish novels given how many excellent ones I’ve read since I started this feature. The five below are a mix of Irish and Northen Irish all with links to reviews on this blog, beginning with a writer who’s
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I’ve read umpteen books by Americans, quite a few, although not as many as I’d like, by Canadian and Australian writers but not many by New Zealanders. Given the quality of those that I have read, I’m sure there are many more I’d like to, if only I could get my hands on them. Here
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Perhaps the most famous recent fictionalisation of a life is Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell but I’ve chosen some less well known examples for this post. Below are five novels based on real lives, all with links to reviews on this blog, beginning with one by a writer who excels at this form of fiction. I’ve
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This is my second post on small town American novels, a setting I find almost as irresistible as New York, and not one I’m likely to tire of anytime soon. Below are five more favourites, all with links to reviews on this blog. Sue Miller’s The Arsonist is set in the New Hampshire town of
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