Book news, reviews and recommendations
I rarely agree to look at a book in response to a direct request from the author. Given that this blog is about books I’d be happy to recommend to a friend, there’s too much of a risk I won’t enjoy it enough to review it which always feels like a personal rejection and I’m […]
Carrying Fire and Water by Deirdre Shanahan: Stories of loss and longing Read More »
I suspect I wouldn’t have read Charlie Gilmour’s memoir had it not been for the persuasive, clearly heartfelt enthusiasm of its editor coupled with a great quote in the letter which accompanied the proof. Gilmour’s name may be familiar to many through his stepfather, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, or his brief period of notoriety
Featherhood by Charlie Gilmour: Of birds and fathers Read More »
Not a huge selection of paperbacks for October but enough to merit two posts I’m pleased to say. I’ve read three of the first batch already including one which at first sight seemed to be a piece of opportunistic publishing. Originally published in the US back in 2011, Tayari Jones’ Silver Sparrow was released here
Paperbacks to Look Out for in October 2020: Part One Read More »
Earlier in the year I reviewed Business as Usual, published by Handheld Press based just a few miles from where I live. It was a little outside my usual reading territory – Handheld specialise in reissuing largely forgotten books by women – but I loved it: a welcome piece of escapism during the height of
Potterism by Rose Macaulay: Plus ça change… Read More »
I’ve long been a fan of Sue Miller’s intelligent, perceptive fiction and was delighted to see a new title from her in the publishing schedules. It seems ages since I reviewed The Arsonist, her last novel. Like all her books, Monogamy inhabits that territory sometimes dubbed ‘women’s fiction’ which seems a shame to me as
Monogamy by Sue Miller: Taking the long view Read More »
This October’s publishing schedules has fewer attention-grabbing novels than I’d hoped, given all the slipping and sliding earlier in the year but perhaps November’s Christmas sparklers will be brighter. I’ll begin with Bill Clegg’s The End of the Day. I read his first novel, Did You Ever Have a Family, back in 2015 when it
Books to Look Out for in October 2020 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 Rodham to Spider Read More »
This is the second novel in as many months I’ve read about a couple in the aftermath of infidelity. Slightly disconcertingly both husbands were called Jake but although Amanda Craig’s The Golden Rule and Megan Hunter’s The Harpy share some similar themes, stylistically they couldn’t be more different. Since the superb The End We Start
The Harpy by Megan Hunter: Righteous anger Read More »
I owe a debt of gratitude to Ali at Heavenali whose review of Lissa Evans’ Old Baggage persuaded me to read it after being put off by its blurb. I loved it so much it ended up on both my 2018 books of the year list and my 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction wishlist. You
V for Victory by Lissa Evans: Pure joy 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. Wise Children is my favourite Angela Carter novel. Stuffed full of Shakespearean references and written in language which
Blasts from the Past: Wise Children by Angela Carter (1991) Read More »
Miranda Emmerson’s Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars slipped under my radar when it was published a few years ago, probably because it was billed as crime fiction and I get enough of that through my almost nightly Walter Presents fix, but the title of this new one caught my eye. Set in 1967,
A Little London Scandal by Miranda Emmerson: Things do get better Read More »