Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’ve been careful with that heading, not wanting to mislead readers. The qualifier’s there more to indicate what these thrillers aren’t – action packed, techie, blood-soaked, although one does have a gruesome murder – rather than what they are, and I couldn’t think of another word. It’s a genre I tend to watch rather than […]
Five Literary Thrillers I’ve Read Read More »
I was a little wary of reading Delphine de Vigan’s latest novel having had mixed experiences with her writing – I loved Based on a True Story, was disappointed by Loyalties and enjoyed Gratitude – but the premise of Kids Run the Show was such an interesting one I put up my hand when I
Kids Run the Show by Delphine de Vigan (transl. Alison Anderson): No, they don’t Read More »
Christmas is well and truly in publishers’ sights come November with lots of big hitting titles taking centre stage. Fewer appealed to me than usual, just enough for one lengthy post rather than the two I was expecting, starting with one from an author who was once a favourite of mine. There was a time
Books to Look Out For in November 2023 Read More »
January seems to be Delphine de Vigan month for me. This time two years ago I reviewed the gripping Based on a True Story with which I was very impressed; last year’s Loyalties not so much. This year it’s Gratitude and I’m back to being a de Vigan fan. This brief of novellas explores ageing
Time to turn my sights away from 2020, at least my anticipatory reading ones, and explore what’s on offer in 2021. If the January publishing schedules are anything to go by, it will at least offer some distractions if we need them beginning with Raven Leilani’s Luster which has been popping up in my Twitter
Books to Look Out For in January 2021: Part One Read More »
There’s a satisfying array of January paperback goodies on offer for those lucky enough to get a bookish gift card or two for Christmas, all but one of which I’ve read already. I’m kicking off with one of my books of 2019, Kate Atkinson’s latest addition to her Jackson Brodie series, Big Sky, which is
Paperbacks to Look Out For in January 2020: Part One Read More »
Since I’ve been blogging my reading habits have changed a little. I’m still reaching for the bright shiny new thing, a habit picked up in bookselling, but it’s now more likely to be short stories or something in translation than it once was. Not that I’m claiming to read as widely as I should but
Five Books Translated from French I’ve Read Read More »
I read Delphine de Vigan’s Based on a True Story around this time last year and knew it would be one of my books of the year. I was delighted, then, when I spotted Loyalties on the publishing horizon. It tells the story of a young boy, caught up in the fallout from a bitter
Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan (transl. George Miller): Silence is not always golden Read More »
Looking back at 2017’s books of the year posts, I see I started with the state of the world and the need for distraction from it. If anything, things seem to have got worse out there but, as ever, books have provided both escape and enlightenment. H and I are still steering clear of politics
Books of the Year 2018: Part One Read More »
I’m not a thriller fan, although I have been known to read one or two. Metafiction on the other hand fascinates me which is what attracted me to Delphine de Vigan’s Based on a True Story whose narrator, Delphine, finds her life entirely taken over by a woman she meets at a party. Hard to
This first batch of January paperbacks kicks of with my book of 2017: Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 which traces the effects of a young girl’s disappearance from a village in the north of England over the course of thirteen years, one for each of her life. The rhythms of the natural world hum through its
Paperbacks to Look Out for in January 2018: Part One Read More »