Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’d already spotted Gemma Reeves’ Victoria Park in the publishing schedules before I was offered it for review. The first copy failed to materialise, caught up in the Covid/Christmas Royal Mail vortex that hit the headlines in December, but I’m pleased to say the second arrived before I had to resort to NetGalley, not my […]
Victoria Park by Gemma Reeves: Everybody needs good neighbours Read More »
This second part of February’s new fiction preview kicks off with two novels which explore something on which I spend far too much of my time. I’ve already read Patricia Lockwood’s No One is Talking About This which explores the seductive, addictive world of social media through a woman who finds herself a celebrated internet
Books to Look Out for in February 2021: Part Two Read More »
Bryan Washington’s first book, Lot, made quite an impression on me. Billed as a collection of linked short stories it read more like a fragmentary novella, remarkable for its sense of place and its beautifully crafted prose. It was a contender for my books of 2019 list, only omitted because there were so many other
Memorial by Bryan Washington: Saying the words out loud Read More »
This time four years ago I posted a review of Elizabeth Baines’ short story collection, Used to Be, which I thoroughly enjoyed making me keen to read her new book, Astral Travel. Framed as a novel within a novel, this immersive story follows an author as she attempts to understand her complicated father by writing
Astral Travel by Elizabeth Baines: ‘Your Daddy loves you really’ Read More »
February’s always been the gloomiest month in my seasonal calendar, not much colour around often coupled with grey skies and rain. A hard one to get through and this one is likely to be harder than usual. As ever, the prospect of potential bookish treats keeps me going beginning with one whose blurb comes with
Books to Look Out for in February 2021: 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 – From Hamnet to The Story of a Happy Marriage Read More »
You might be forgiven for thinking that’s a self-referential subtitle but the life it refers to is Michiko Kakutani’s, the New York Times’ book critic from 1983 to her retirement in 2017, renowned for her incisive criticism and knowledge. The beautifully presented Ex-Libris is a testament to her consuming passion for literature, listing over one
Ex-Libris by Michiko Kakutani (illustrated by Dana Tanamachi): A life in books Read More »
I’m taking one more look over my shoulder at the end of this strangest of years with a meme that lots of blogger friends posted around mid-December. Like Annabel over at Annabookbel, I’m sticking to books I’ve read in 2020, most with links to reviews on this blog and I’ve also nicked her Covid question.
My Life in Books (2020 Edition) 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. I don’t remember seeing much coverage of Christodora when it was published here in the UK. A shame.
Blasts from the Past: Christodora by Tim Murphy (2016) Read More »
All but the first of the six books in January’s second batch of paperbacks are new to me although most are by authors whose previous books I’ve enjoyed which can also be said of Timur Vermes whose sharp, very funny satire, Look Who’s Back nailed the internet’s potential for political manipulation with admirable, if unsettling,
Paperbacks to Look Out for in January 2021: Part Two Read More »
Whatever else 2021 brings us, and we can only hope it’s better than 2020, there are a fair number of paperbacks to keep us distracted, several of which I’ve read beginning with Sarah Leipiciger’s Coming Up for Air which neatly weaves together three apparently unconnected stories. A young woman jumps into the Seine on a
Paperbacks to Look Out for in January 2021: Part One Read More »