Book news, reviews and recommendations
A new Alice McDermott is always a treat to be relished. She’s one of those quietly brilliant authors whose work has often seemed underrated to me, rather like Elizabeth Strout before Penguin got their hands on My Name is Lucy Barton and placed her firmly on the literary map. I did spot McDermott’s last novel, […]
The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott: Praise be Read More »
Lean pickings for November paperbacks, unsurprisingly as publishers are caught up in shiny new books for the Christmas market. There is one I’ve had my eye on for some time, though – Wioletta Greg’s Swallowing Mercury which I noticed popping up quite a lot on Twitter during #WITMonth back in August. It’s about Wiola who
Paperbacks to Look Out for in November 2017 Read More »
There seems to be something of a trend in fiction at the moment, although perhaps three novels are too few to be called that. First came Colson Whitehead’s Man Booker shortlisted The Underground Railroad followed by Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and now Jane Harris’ Sugar Money, all exploring the history of slavery. I’ve yet to read
Sugar Money by Jane Harris: Well worth the wait Read More »
There will be lots of fans standing ready for this one, I’m sure. It’s been seven years since the excellent A Visit from the Goon Squad which bagged both the Pulitzer and National Book Critics Circle Award. Manhattan Beach is very different, not least because it’s Egan’s first historical novel. Beginning in the Great Depression,
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan: Diving in Read More »
Edging ever closer to the end of the year with this preview which may well be the last set of new titles from me unless December has more to offer than novelty books and humour. Let’s hope it does. November kicks off with a novel I’m in two minds about, Richard Flanagan’s First Person –
Books to Look Out for in November 2017 Read More »
I’ve been wanting to go to Budapest for some time. I remember it popping up on the departure board at Munich station when H and I caught the train down to the Dolomites for a walking holiday a few years back. Then we hopped on and off the Hamburg to Budapest train last year but
Five Days in Budapest and a Bit of a Book Read More »
I’m a little late to the party this month but so hooked have I become on this meme that I made sure to write a post before we went to Budapest. More on that later in the week for those of you who’re interested. Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over
Żanna Słoniowska’s novel is set in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, known as Lwów when it was part of Poland after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, then Lvov when it was in Soviet hands from the end of the Second World War until 1991. The House with the Stained-Glass Window tells the story of this fractured,
This is an idea I spotted it over at Kim’s Reading Matters blog and thought I’d pinch it having enjoyed digging out books I’ve loved for my Blasts from the Past series so much. The plan is to periodically post five short thematically linked reviews, kicking off with short story collections. There was a time
Five Short Story Collections I’ve Read Read More »
I have to admit it was nostalgia that drew me to Roland Buti’s Swiss novella set in 1976. Anyone who was alive and conscious in that year will remember the long hot summer which those of us not yet working luxuriated in throughout Europe. Rather more recently, H and I were walking in the Swiss
Year of the Drought by Roland Buti (transl. Charlotte Mandell): Coming of age in 1976 Read More »
I was attracted to David Bergen’s Stranger for two reasons: firstly, its premise and secondly by the author’s previous winning of the Scotiabank Giller Prize which I’ve found to be a very reliable indicator, much more so than the Man Booker. Bergen’s novel explores themes of entitlement and deprivation through a young Guatemalan woman left
Stranger by David Bergen: Crossing the North/South divide Read More »