Book news, reviews and recommendations
Late last year the author Matt Haig tweeted that book bloggers were being too positive: not every book published was wonderful, he said; he could do with a bit more criticism, a little negativity now and then. Of course he’s right – lots of books should never have been published in the first place and […]
Blogging: Too much positivity? Read More »
Such are the many temptations in March’s publishing schedules that this is going to be a long post, I’m afraid. I’ll begin with A. D. Miller’s The Faithful Couple as it’s the one I’m looking forward to most. That name may ring a few bells for some readers – he’s the author of Snowdrops a
Books to Look Out for In March 2015 Read More »
Around this time last year I mentioned the Reading Agency’s Reading Well initiative in a post on Vintage’s Shelf Help promotion. They’d just launched their second list of books aimed at people suffering from depression. Since then I’ve been keeping an eye open hoping for the chance to vote for titles on a third list,
Books on Prescription for Dementia: A very fine initiative Read More »
One of my books of 2014 is out in paperback in February – cue fanfare of trumpets – that gorgeous American small town gem, Shotgun Lovesongs. I’ve raved about this book so often on this blog that you could be forgiven for thinking that Mr Butler is my long lost brother but it’s sublime, and
Paperbacks to Look Out for in February 2015 Read More »
On January 2nd Mark Zuckerberg announced to the world – or at least to all Facebook members which is much the same thing these days – that he was starting a book club. In his invitation he said ‘Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most
Books: The coming thing Read More »
February is my least favourite month: dank, drizzly weather here in the UK; little or no colour in the garden; countryside bedraggled and grubby looking – ugh, I hate it. It’s not always a sparkling month in the publishing schedules, either, although given all the above there’s plenty of encouragement to stay indoors reading. This
Books to Look Out For in February 2015 Read More »
Given my ‘bah humbug’ attitude to Christmas it may seem a bit odd to fly off to the country which pretty well invented many of the UK’s most beloved festive bits and bobs: markets, fairy-lit trees and mulled wine come to mind. Hamburg might seem an even stranger choice – hardly top of most tourists’
Five Days in Hamburg and a few books Read More »
Surprisingly, all but one of the paperbacks that catch my eye this January have already been reviewed here which gives my credit card a welcome break, if nothing else. I’ll start with one of my books of 2014: Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist, much-hyped before, during and after its publication but deservedly so. Set in seventeenth-century
Paperbacks to Look Out for in January 2015 Read More »
Back at the beginning of the year I wrote a post about #readwomen2014 which had caught my eye on Twitter. It was set up in an attempt to redress the lamentable imbalance between the coverage of books written by women as opposed to books written by men. As both an ex-reviews editor and a woman
#ReadWomen2014: Redux Read More »
I know you’ve all get your minds on Christmas but I thought it might be time for a little taster of what 2015 has to offer before we get overdosed on carols and all that malarkey. It’s a good month, too. No huge names leap out for me but there are several interesting looking treats
Books to Look Out for in January 2015 Read More »
The last of my ‘books of the year’ posts begins with one of my two September favourites, Steven Galloway’s The Confabulist which tells the story of the man who killed Houdini not once, but twice. Far from a straightforward reimagining of the Houdini story Galloway’s novel is a very clever bit of business which didn’t
Books of the Year 2014: Part 3 Read More »