Book news, reviews and recommendations
February’s often the gloomiest month in the UK weather year but at least there are lots of bookish goodies on offer, certainly enough for a two-part preview. I’m kicking off both with long awaited novels. For some reason I’ve never got around to Hannah Kent’s The Good People having very much enjoyed Burial Rites but
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The second batch of January paperbacks starts with two novels that take swipes at social media, both of which I’ve read. Set in 2016 with Trump freshly elected, Lauren Oyler’s Fake Accounts follows an unnamed narrator, shocked to find her apparently liberal boyfriend is running a popular conspiracy theory website, taking herself off to Berlin
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Two lengthy paperback previews for January, packed with a plethora of goodies to spend those Christmas book tokens on, many of which I’ve already read including Olivia Sudjic’s Asylum Road which follows Anya who finds herself engaged to Luke during their Provencal holiday rather than dumped as she’d anticipated. Anya feels like the perpetual outsider
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I began the first part of January’s preview with a much-trailed novel I’d already read. This one kicks off with a similarly hyped book I’ve yet to peruse. Nikki May’s Wahala sees three thirtysomething friends of Nigerian-British heritage living in London, each on very different paths. When a mutual friend arrives in town all hell
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Here we go again – new year, well almost, and shiny new books too salivate over, beginning with one I’ve already read. Susan Stokes-Chapman’s much-trailed debut, Pandora, is set in Georgian London in the final year of the 18th century. This tale of orphans, evil uncles, stolen antiquities and ancient curses sees Dora trying to
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There are few new titles to get excited about in December with publishers’ Christmas wares long put out on display. Just enough to make a single preview post worthwhile, beginning with Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s The Newcomer set on a Pacific island where Paulina has disappeared. Given her daughter’s past, her mother is prepared for the
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Back from London (more of that later in the week) with the tiniest handful of paperbacks to look out for in November, the first of which I’ve read already. Arlene Heyman’s Artifact follows biologist Lottie from her ‘50s childhood through to the ‘80s, still faced with professional barriers thanks to her gender despite a career
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This second instalment of November goodies is a rather more cosmopolitan affair, beginning with a book by an author whose work I’ve been meaning to read for some time. Sofi Oksanen’s Dog Park switches between 2016 Helsinki, where Olenka is joined on her park bench by a woman whose life she’s ruined, and Ukraine just
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A pleasing two-parter preview for November’s new fiction, the first of which begins with one I’ve already read. I had no intention of reading a pandemic novel, having had enough of it in real life, but then Sarah Moss’ The Fell turned up so that idea went out of the window. Just as her previous
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Slim pickings for October’s paperback preview, sadly. I’m beginning with the only one I’ve yet to read – Tish Delaney’s Before My Actual Heart Breaks which is about Mary who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Five children and a quarter of a century later, she’s finally glimpsed a chance of the happiness
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This second instalment of October’s new titles starts with a treat for Elizabeth Strout fans. Just as Olive, Again revisited a much-loved character so Oh William! renews our acquaintance with the narrator of My Name is Lucy Barton, now widowed, who has unexpectedly bumped into her first husband. William has a few troubles to share
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