Book news, reviews and recommendations
This second batch of November titles begins with one I’m particularly keen to read. John Tottenham’s Service sees John working as a bookseller in Los Angeles having failed at journalism and writing fiction. Now in his late forties, he’s dismayed at working in something he considers beneath him, irritated by his privileged customers’ demands, out […]
Books to Look Out For in November 2025: Part Two Read More »
As he mentions in his acknowledgements, Damian Barr’s The Two Roberts grew out of a fascination with Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun after he spotted a social media post during lockdown. The two Roberts, as they came to be known, were working class Scottish artists who met on their first day at the Glasgow School
The Two Roberts by Damian Barr: ‘The Golden Boys of Bond Street’ Read More »
H and I had planned a German rail jaunt which would take us back to Budapest but reports of Deutsche-Bahn’s service were so discouraging we decided to give it a miss using Salzburg as our starting point instead. Best skip to the end if you’re only here for books: this will be a long one.
Eight Days in Austria, Two Days in Switzerland, Five Days in France and Three Books Read More »
I’ve read three titles from the first part of November’s preview, beginning with Olivia Laing’s The Silver Book. Set during Italy’s Years of Lead, marked by atrocities and violent clashes between the extreme left and right, it follows Nicholas who’s fled London for Venice. After a chance encounter with renowned costume and set designer, Danilo
Books to Look Out For in November 2025: 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 – I Want Everything to The Tempest Read More »
This is my second post on the theme of long relationships, offering a rather more negative view than the first apart from the last novel which takes an unusual approach along the lines of roads not travelled. All have links to longer reviews on my blog. We know from the start of Philip Teir’s novel
Five More Novels About Long Relationships I’ve Read Read More »
I was delighted to spot what I thought was a new novel from Miriam Toews on NetGalley which turned out to be a brief memoir but I decided to put up my hand for it anyway. A Truce That is Not Peace is dedicated to Toews’s sister Marjorie who took her own life in 2010.
A Truce That is Not Peace by Miriam Toews: ‘Why do I write? Because she asked me to’ Read More »
It was Ann Patchett’s glowing puff that swung it for me with acclaimed short story writer Patrick Ryan’s, Buckeye. I liked the sound of its premise but thought I might find the spiritualism mentioned in the blurb a bit too much to swallow. Ryan’s first novel follows two families, linked by a devastating secret, over
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan: If you like Ann Patchett… Read More »
Only a few paperbacks caught my eye for October, probably because it’s prime time horror season which I rarely read. There are a few gems appearing on the horizon, though, including two favourites from last year. I was so impressed by singer-songwriter Malachy Tallack’s That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, I included it on my Booker wish
Paperbacks to Look Out For in October 2025 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 – Ghost Cities to The Hound of the Baskervilles 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’ve had a patchy reading history with Richard Russo but Straight Man is a standout for me, perhaps
Blasts from the Past: Straight Man by Richard Russo (1997) Read More »