Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’m an assiduous viewer of Channel 4 News – I’d probably be a happier person if I wasn’t – and have often wondered how it feels to report on the dreadful mess of human misery that is war. I’ve thought the same when looking at those stark images you see in newspapers, some becoming emblematic […]
The Repercussions by Catherine Hall: War, what is it good for… Read More »
Melissa Harrison’s first novel was one of those titles surrounded by an insistent flurry of pre-publicity buzz which can be counter-productive, putting me right off the book. Consequently, it took me quite some time to get around to reading the copy I was sent but it has to be said that sometimes the buzz is
At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison: An everyday story of country folk Read More »
I wasn’t at all sure about James Hannah’s debut when it arrived. The press release claimed it was for David Nicholls fans of which I have been one since the immensely enjoyable One Day but I’ve been suckered by that kind of comparison before. Having decided to give it a try, I was distracted by
The A-Z of You and Me by James Hannah: A lexicon of love Read More »
Claire Fuller’s flash fiction is one of my regular treats. Most weeks, usually on Wednesdays or Thursdays, she posts a hundred words inspired by a photograph. Sometimes funny, sometimes thought-provoking, they’re always inventive. She has a knack of making you look at the world in a slightly different way. Given all that, it’s no surprise
Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller: The incredible made credible Read More »
I noticed murmurs of anticipation for Lucy Wood’s first novel as far back as last year in my neck of the Twitter woods. People whose opinions I respect seemed to be getting themselves in quite a lather about it. Her short stories certainly met with a great deal of acclaim with comparisons to Angela Carter,
Weathering by Lucy Wood: An unalloyed treat Read More »
It’s been a little while since I read a novel with a First World War setting. Several popped up here earlier in the year but I think I’ve managed to avoid most of the deluge of books published on it recently. It was the Charles Rennie Mackintosh thread running through Mr Mac and Me rather
Mr Mac and Me by Esther Freud: That’s Charles Rennie Mackintosh to you Read More »
When Helen Oyeyemi was supposed to be studying for her A-levels she was actually busy writing her first novel, published in 2005. I was the reviews editor for Waterstone’s Books Quarterly at the time and a quick skim of The Icarus Girl was enough for me to make it a lead review. I commissioned Lesley
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi: A fabulous tale of race and identity Read More »
It’s just an organ – vital, of course – but it simply pumps blood around our circulatory systems in order that we can continue to live. If it weakens, we eventually die. Yet it’s become very much more than that in our lexicon of symbols – we speak from the heart, it’s recognised as the
The Tell-tale Heart by Jill Dawson: What happens when your heart is not your own Read More »