Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’ve not had much success with Jonathan Coe’s recent novels. Despite winning the Costa Novel Award, Middle England hit a low point for me but I liked the sound of Bournville which tells the story of Britain from V. E. Day in 1945 to its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2020 through one extended family who begin […]
Bournville by Jonathan Coe: ‘Everything changes, and everything remains the same’ Read More »
I’m not sure who tweeted their happiness about receiving a proof of Lynn Steger Strong’s Flight having enjoyed her fiction before but I’m grateful to them. That lovely, understated cover also added to its allure. Set in snowy New York state, Strong’s novel follows three siblings and their families facing their first Christmas without their
Flight by Lynn Steger Strong: In the bleak mid-winter Read More »
H and I were so taken with Chichester, our pitstop our way to East Sussex last year, that we decided to take a short break there before winter closes in on us, booking our first Airbnb which turned out to be very comfortable. Were it not for its cathedral, you might call Chichester a small
Two Days in Chichester and a Bit of a Book Read More »
I’d not come across Meg Howrey before a blurb promising an ‘80s New York setting together with a resounding recommendation from Ann Patchett caught my eye. They’re Going to Love You, Howrey’s fourth novel, explores themes of love, betrayal and dedication against a background of the dance world as Carlisle is faced with visiting her
They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey: ‘A question of morals’ Read More »
Given I’m limiting my air travel, I suspect my single visit to New York City will be my first and last. Perhaps that’s the reason I’m drawn to travel there through fiction. Below are five novels that transport readers through time as well as distance, all with links to reviews on this blog. Jonathan Lee’s
Five More Novels I’ve Read Set in New York Read More »
I’ve long felt uneasy about the relationship between celebrities and the public, not least the way the media refers to them by their first name as if we know them intimately. It’s particularly painful when the celebrity in question was a child star. Rin Usami’s Idol, Burning examines that relationship through a young girl who
I was delighted when Robbie Arnott’s new novel popped up in my Twitter feed. I’d been a huge fan of his debut, Flames, at first reluctant given it’s magic realism thread but won over by his beautiful writing, then again by The Rain Heron. A coming-of-age story set in 1940s Tasmania with the Second World
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott: ‘The things you don’t know’ Read More »
As ever, there’s little to tempt me in December’s publishing schedules although there are a couple of potential out-of-the-way gems beginning with Jean Bapiste Andrea’s Devils and Saints. A pianist, schooled at a religious institution in the Pyrenees, wows travellers at airports and stations with his virtuoso piano performances, turning down many offers of work
Books to Look Out For in December 2022 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 – The Naked Chef to Mailman Read More »
This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy in as many hands as I could. After the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, it seemed that everyone, particularly American novelists, felt they had
Blasts from the Past: The Submission by Amy Waldman (2011) Read More »
I’d not read any Japanese fiction for quite some time when I spotted Hiroko Oyamada’s eye-catchingly titled Weasels in the Attic on NetGalley and liked the sound of it. Billed as a novel, it reads more like closely linked short stories in which a middle-aged man recounts three separate meals shared with his best friend,
Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada (transl. David Boyd): A tale of three dinners Read More »