Book news, reviews and recommendations
Elizabeth Hay’s Late Nights on Air ranks alongside Siri Hustvedt’s What I Loved as one of the finest contemporary novels I’ve read. Notable for its beautiful descriptions of the natural world, Hay’s novel shows a similar perception in its portrayal of relationships as Hustvedt’s. It’s one of those novels I pressed into the hands of […]
His Whole Life by Elizabeth Hay: One big happy family Read More »
Kim over at Reading Matters has decided to devote her reading life to OzLit this year and I’m looking forward to discovering some Aussie writers hitherto unknown to me. We in the UK tend only to read the headline acts such as Peter Carey and Tim Winton, I suspect. The same could be said of
Under the Visible Life by Kim Echlin: Friends forever Read More »
It’s been quite some time since I’ve read a new Margaret Atwood – a little too much dystopia in her later novels for me – but the synopsis of The Heart Goes Last appealed: homeless couple in the nearish future signs on for a project where they alternate a month in prison with a month
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood: Fun with dystopia Read More »
I first heard about Sean Michaels’ novel from Tanya at 52 Books or Bust earlier this year. She’d read the Canadian edition and was raving about it, hoping to convert North Americans south of the border. Picking up the link for her review I checked my own comment which begins ’Sold!’ I hope that some
Us, Conductors by Sean Michaels: The life and times of Leon Theremin Read More »
I’m not easily swayed by those author quotes you see adorning book jackets – some writers seem to be a little too free and easy with their praise for me – but, as regular readers will know, so enamoured am I of Nickolas Butler’s Shotgun Lovesongs that a fulsome quote from him makes me sit
The Mountain Can Wait by Sarah Leipciger: The real deal Read More »
Quite some years ago now I read Michael Crummey’s The River Thieves while on holiday. Having thoroughly enjoyed it, I eagerly snapped up Galore when it was published but, sadly, was a little underwhelmed – it wasn’t a bad book but lacked the impact of his previous novel, at least for me. The 2011 IMPAC
Sweetland by Michael Crummey: No man is an island Read More »
You may remember Ann-Marie MacDonald’s name from her second novel, The Way the Crow Flies. It was about a Canadian murder case – a miscarriage of justice – and I seem to remember that it had quite a lot of favourable attention when it was published in the UK ten years ago. Adult Onset is
Adult Onset by Ann-Marie MacDonald: Things get better Read More »
You may remember Steven Galloway’s name from a few years back when The Cellist of Sarajevo was published. Beautifully written, it’s a poignant novel which offered readers a glimpse of the life under siege that we’d seen playing out surreally on our TV screens only a few years before. It became a massive bestseller, and
The Confabulist by Steven Galloway: A very clever bit of business Read More »
I’m not sure how I managed to miss Heather O’Neill’s first novel – probably a case of so many books so little time – but The Girl who was Saturday Night snagged my attention when flipping through publishers’ catalogues choosing books for my Books to Look Out For in May post, or rather posts as
The Girl who was Saturday Night by Heather O’Neill: Celebrity fallout, Québécois style Read More »