Book news, reviews and recommendations
It feels like a very long time since Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire dropped through my letter box and indeed it is five years but given all that’s happened in the world, it seems much longer. I’ve read all her novels and, despite enjoying each of them, Burnt Shadows remained my favourite but with its exploration […]
Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie: The personal and the political Read More »
Enough juicy novels due in November to more than make up for a thin October beginning with Jonathan Coe’s new one which sees him back on home ground giving me hope for a return to form after the major disappointment of the Costa-winning Middle England, at least for me. Bournville follows a family living in
Books to Look Out For in November 2022: Part One 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 – Notes on a Scandal to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 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. The Orchard on Fire was the first novel I read by Shena Mackay and I loved it. Childhood
Blasts from the Past: The Orchard on Fire by Shena Mackay (1995) Read More »
I’m always delighted to see a new Kate Atkinson in the publishing schedules, a treat to look forward to. Loosely based on the life of Kate Meyrick, Shrines of Gaiety takes us back to Soho in 1926, long before gentrification, when it was home to nightclubs offering a whole host of delights, not all of
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson: ‘Decadence piled upon decadence’ Read More »
Both eye-catching new fiction and paperbacks are a bit thin on the ground for me this October although there are some gems to be found not least Sarah Moss’ The Fell which takes place over a single night during 2020’s November lockdown. Desperate to escape her constant money worries and the rehearsals of her many
Paperbacks to Look Out For in October 2022 Read More »
I have no idea how I’ve managed not to come across Yiyun Li’s writing before. She has quite a substantial backlist which somehow passed me by. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was that arresting cover that caught my eye on Twitter but it was the blurb that made me want to read it. Li’s novel is the
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li: ‘I was a whetstone to Fabienne’s blade’ Read More »
H and I were worn out after a summer of house renovations plus a couple of minor but debilitating health problems. We had two Eurostar tickets booked back in early 2020 before Covid smacked the world round the face and we decided to use them to explore the Netherlands having visited Amsterdam many times but
Nine Days in the Netherlands and Just One Book Read More »
It’s been a decade since A. M. Homes’ May We Be Forgiven was published so I was more than keen to read The Unfolding, particularly as the blurb suggested a state of the nation novel, although in this case it’s a look back at that state when the seeds of what was to come eight
The Unfolding by A. M. Homes: ‘What Comes Next?’ Read More »
I couldn’t resist Louise Willder’s Blurb Your Enthusiasm when it popped up on NetGalley many months ahead of publication. That wordplay, of course, only added to the attraction. Willder’s book is all about those 100 or so words, so important in persuading us whether to read a book or not. She should know, she’s been
Blurb Your Enthusiasm: The A-Z of Literary Persuasion by Louise Willder: ‘Words matter’ Read More »
October’s a little light on eye-catching titles for me although for the second year running we’re being treated to a new Elizabeth Strout featuring Lucy Barton which came as a surprise. Lucy by the Sea sees her leaving New York City for lockdown life in Maine with the ex-husband she was reunited with in last
Books to Look Out For in October 2022 Read More »