Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’ve long found an apartment building setting appealing in fiction. Fertile ground for storytelling, exploring characters’ backstories while reflecting the society they inhabit. Here are five favourites that share that setting, two with links to my reviews the other three read pre-blog. I’m beginning with Georges Perec’s Life a User’s Manual, the first novel that […]
Five Books I’ve Read Set in Apartment Buildings Read More »
It was that cover that caught my eye on Twitter. Something about the title’s sharp angles. Then I saw it was billed as a campus satire so put up my hand. I’m the partner of an academic so find this niche genre very enjoyable. So often they’re written by authors getting something off their chest.
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou: A case of mistaken identity Read More »
I still haven’t got around to reading Jessica Andrews’ debut, Saltwater, leapfrogging over the copy on my TBR to read her new novel. Milk Teeth follows an unnamed young woman, restless and unable to define quite what she wants from life, who falls in love with a man who seems to want her as much
Milk Teeth by Jessica Andrews: ‘I want everything’ Read More »
I’m starting the second part of August’s paperback preview with one that didn’t seem to get quite the coverage it deserved when it was first published, or maybe I missed it. Heather Marshall’s Looking for Jane begins with the chance discovery of a misdelivered letter which sets the woman who stumbled upon it on a
Paperbacks to Look Out For in August 2022: Part Two Read More »
Almost exactly two years ago I reviewed Susannah Dickey’s debut, Tennis Lessons, which championed the value of friendship through two young women, one painfully awkward saved by the other. I enjoyed it very much so was eager to read Common Decency which picks up some of her first novel’s themes through the story of Lily,
Common Decency by Susannah Dickey: A tale of two women Read More »
Not my favourite prize – sadly one of those bit the dust earlier this year when Costa withdrew their sponsorship – but I can’t resist posting some wishes for the Booker longlist, keen to give some more neglected titles an airing even though they’re unlikely to make the judges’ grade. To be eligible for the
My 2022 Booker Wish List Read More »
There’s a nicely varied bunch of paperbacks to look forward to in August kicking off with Beatrice Hitchman’s All of You Every Single One. Set in Vienna, it spans over three decades from 1910 to 1946, telling the story of two same sex couples who become each other’s family against a background of tumultuous change
Paperbacks to Look Out For in August 2022: Part One Read More »
The blurb for Swedish writer Johanna Hedman’s The Trio put me in mind a little of Liza Klaussmann’s slightly disappointing This is Gonna End in Tears which I reviewed last week. Both feature a group of close friends revisited later in life, which is what attracted me, but that’s where the similarity ends. As you’ll
The Trio by Johanna Hedman (transl. Kira Josefsson): If you like Sally Rooney… Read More »
Obviously, I couldn’t resist Bea Setton’s Berlin despite reading both Frieidrichstrasse 19 and Marzhan, Mon Amour in quick succession earlier in the year, also set in one of my favourite European cities. Setton’s debut is very different from the others which tell the story of two neighbourhoods through the people who live in them. This
Berlin by Bea Setton: The art of self-sabotage Read More »
The second part of August’s preview begins with a sure fire winner for me: Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island which I read as soon as I could get my hands on a copy. Unfolding in short, snapshot chapters, it follows four generations of women in one unconventional household, all devoted to each other
Books to Look Out For in August 2022: Part Two Read More »
I tend not to be lured by the onslaught of summer reading that hits bookshops around June or so but there’s usually one novel aimed squarely at that market I hope will hit the spot. Last year’s was The Paper Palace which turned out to be much darker than I expected. This year’s is Liza