Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’ve long since given up trying to work a thematic link into these previews but May’s first batch of paperbacks is the exception that proves the rule – they’re all by Irish writers beginning with oncologist Austin Duffy’s The Night Interns which takes us back to his workplace, the setting for his debut, This Living
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The second instalment of May’s new fiction includes books by two novelists previously shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer award, which I shadow judged back in 2018, beginning with Naoise Dolan’s The Happy Couple. Luke and Celine are to marry in a year’s time. Luke’s best man seems to be in love with him,
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I’m pleased to report May’s bursting at the seams with goodies, a few tried and tested although not the one I’m kicking off with. I was a huge fan of Jen Beagin’s idiosyncratic Pretend I’m Dead and enjoyed the follow up, Vacuum in the Dark. Her third novel, Big Swiss, sees Greta entranced with the
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The second instalment of April’s paperbacks begins with a favourite from 2022. Set in a small New England town, Sarah Manguso’s Very Cold People sees a woman explore her childhood, brought up by two people desperately ill equipped for the job. Affection is rare, and when it happens isn’t repeated no matter how much Ruth
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I’ve read all but one of the first instalment of April paperback goodies, several of which turned up on my books of 2022 list beginning with acclaimed short story writer Louise Kennedy’s first novel, Trespasses, which sees a Catholic teacher falling in love with an older man, a prominent barrister, married and a Protestant. Michael’s
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This first instalment of April goodies includes several I’ve already read, one of which had me remembering my old bookselling days. I’m starting with the new one from an author whose novels I would’ve been happily recommending to all and sundry had they been published back then. I’d enjoyed both Harmless Like You and Starling
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The second batch of March’s paperbacks kicks off with one that demands a bit of concentration. Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House explores the fallout from a technology that captures our very consciousness through a series of narratives connected by characters all linked to Bix Boulton, the software’s creator. No brief synopsis comes close to encapsulating
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March means spring’s on the horizon in my part of the world with the worst over for another year. Lots to look forward to in the book world, too, beginning with Rebecca Wait’s debut I’m Sorry You Feel That Way which has kept its cover sporting last year’s favourite image of a woman face down
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I started the first batch of March titles by mentioning two big books to look out for. The first was Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood about which I have my doubts, the second is Sebastian Barry’s Old God’s Time which blew my socks off. Set in mid-90s Ireland, it follows a recently retired, widowed police officer
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Two big names leapt out of the March schedules for me although I’m not at all sure about the first. The second I’ve already read but I’m saving that for the next instalment. You’ll probably already know about Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood which has been all over social media. It follows the eponymous guerrilla gardening
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I’ve read just one from February’s second batch of paperbacks, attracted by its Berlin setting and its structure. Telling a city’s story through a single building and its inhabitants is such an appealing device. Żanna Słoniowska did it memorably with Lviv in The House with the Stained-glass Window. Emma Harding’s The Berliners – originally published under
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