Book news, reviews and recommendations
I read Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes a couple of years ago finishing it with a vague feeling of disappointment. I’d expected the kind of undemanding read you can sink into and forget the world for a while but Keane’s novel fell just short of that mark. Something about The Half Moon made me […]
The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane: A tale of shattered dreams and renewal Read More »
I’m such a fan of Patrick deWitt’s witty, slightly off-the-wall fiction that I put in a request for a proof copy of The Librarianist, something I rarely do these days having taken to reading via NetGalley, much to my own surprise. French Exit, his last novel, was memorable for a particularly unusual cat which I
The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt: A life less ordinary Read More »
I spotted this meme on Margaret’s Pyrenees to Pennines blog which I follow for her striking photography. She in turn had picked it up from Jo at The Book Jotter, the meme’s originator. It’s a simple way of arranging some of the books you’ve read so far this year. Jo has lots of headings to
My Six in Six: 2023 Read More »
I was looking for something undemanding when I spotted Jenny Mustard’s debut, praised to the skies by Rowan Hisayo Buchannan whose fiction I’ve very much enjoyed. That lowkey but attractive cover also swayed me a little. Okay Days follows Sam and Lucas, both in their late twenties, over a year beginning at the party at
Okay Days by Jenny Mustard: ‘Would you like to dance?’ Read More »
I spent quite some time dithering about whether to put my hand up for Lauren Mackenzie’s The Couples. The premise seemed a wee bit tacky: three couples go away together, shedding their domestic responsibilities, get wasted and embark on a game of partner swapping. What swung it for me was Mackenzie’s screenwriting credentials and Stinging
The Couples by Lauren Mackenzie: A grown up Sally Rooney Read More »
We’re in summer reading territory for this preview with the holiday season in full swing but there are still some gems to be found in the schedules starting with a big shiny one. I knew there was a new Ann Patchett on the horizon but wasn’t entirely sure of its publication date so when a
Books to Look Out For in August 2023 Read More »
Colin Walsh’s Kala was the subject of the kind of prepublication brouhaha that usually puts me off plus it’s a thriller but Walsh is a Stinging Fly contributor and it’s published by one of my favourite publishers which was enough to make me want to read it. Set in an Irish seaside town, Walsh’s novel
Kala by Colin Walsh: Secrets and lies in small town Ireland Read More »
I very much enjoyed Nick Bradley’s The Cat and the City, its distinctive feline striding through the lives of a disparate set of Tokyoites, which made me keen to read Four Seasons in Japan. Similarly cleverly structured, Bradley’s second novel sees a young translator whose appetite for life is ebbing away, becoming captivated by an
Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley: ‘Keep going. You can do it.’ Read More »
I’m more of a novella than a doorstopper reader but now and again one comes along that sounds irresistible, a novel you can lose yourself in. Your definition and mine may differ but anything over 400 pages has me worrying about whether at least 100 of those could have been cut by a discerning editor.
Five Doorstopping Novels I’ve Read Read More »
Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list,
Six Degrees of Separation – Time Shelter to The Half Moon Read More »
Having had such a brilliant year reading Irish women writers in 2022, I’ve had my eye out for more this year which is what drew me to Chloe Michelle Howarth’s debut, Sunburn. Set in rural Ireland in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, it’s a queer coming-of-age story which follows Lucy, long since assumed to be on