Book news, reviews and recommendations
Given its importance in most of our lives, friendship doesn’t seem to figure in fiction as much as might be expected, often part of characters’ backstories rather than its central focus, or perhaps that’s just the kind of fiction I read. I’ve already posted once on it but it’s a theme I’m sufficiently keen on […]
Five More Novels I’ve Read About Friendship Read More »
Over the past decade or so I’ve read several modern takes on westerns, the most enjoyable of which was Patrick deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers although Glenn Taylor’s The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggert and A Hanging at Cinder Bottom were also thoroughly entertaining. A couple of years ago the more sober How Much of These Hills
Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens: ‘Rather whore than chore’ Read More »
Not my favourite prize but I seem unable to resist putting together a wish list for the Booker, quite possibly because I know very few will be fulfilled but I’m keen to give some more neglected titles an airing even though they’re unlikely to have been nominated let alone make the judges’ grade. To be
My 2023 Booker Wish List Read More »
I’ve read all but one of August’s slim paperback pickings, beginning with a novel which made it on to my books of 2022 list. A coming-of-age story set in 1940s Tasmania with the Second World War a distant hum, Limberlost follows fifteen-year-old Ned who spends his summer hunting rabbits, saving his earnings in the hopes
Paperbacks to Look Out For in August 2023 Read More »
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 »