Book news, reviews and recommendations
I was delighted to see a new Donal Ryan in the publishing schedules, jumping at the chance to read it as soon as it appeared on NetGalley. Heart, Be at Peace returns to the setting of Ryan’s debut, A Spinning Heart, a decade after many in the town were devastated when the son of the […]
Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan: Revisiting the past Read More »
This second batch of August’s new fiction begins and ends with slight disappointments from two of my favourite authors. Heart, Be at Peace returns to the setting of Donal Ryan’s A Spinning Heart as the town struggles with the fallout from Augie Penrose’s lucrative drug business. Bobby becomes determined to do something about this menace,
Books to Look Out For in August 2024: Part Two Read More »
June’s second batch of paperbacks begins with two novels by Irish writers, one of which I’ve read the other, the other I’m keen to read. Opening with a beginning and an end Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island follows four generations of women in one unconventional household. Left to bring up her daughter alone,
Paperbacks to Look Out For in June 2023: Part Two Read More »
July was spent alternately taking refuge from our builders, lovely as they are, and the heat which seemed to go on forever. Having the sort of skin that needs dousing in factor 50, I spent less time outdoors than I’d planned. You might expect lots of July favourites, then, but just one stood out for
Books of the Year 2022: Part Three Read More »
Donal Ryan is one of those authors whose name makes my heart sing when I see it in the publishing schedules. The Queen of Dirt Island popped up quite some time before it was due to be published and I snapped it up on NetGalley. Opening with a beginning and an end, it follows four
The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan: ‘Time will wind its own sweet way’ Read More »
Not my favourite prize – sadly one of those bit the dust earlier this year when Costa withdrew their sponsorship – but I can’t resist posting some wishes for the Booker longlist, keen to give some more neglected titles an airing even though they’re unlikely to make the judges’ grade. To be eligible for the
My 2022 Booker Wish List Read More »
The second part of August’s preview begins with a sure fire winner for me: Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island which I read as soon as I could get my hands on a copy. Unfolding in short, snapshot chapters, it follows four generations of women in one unconventional household, all devoted to each other
Books to Look Out For in August 2022: Part Two Read More »
I’ve a feeling if I continue reading as many fine novellas as I have over the past few years, I may have to include an entry on this blog’s menu devoted to them. I’m a great fan of economy of style, leaving much unsaid for readers to infer, which makes the form tailor made for
Five More Novellas I’ve Read Read More »
Summer saw a return to more serious reading after spring’s escapism, perhaps because we were experiencing a little respite from the pandemic in the UK. Coincidentally, both June choices overlapped in terms of their unusual theme, exploring the repercussions of nuclear fission. The first was Stuart Evers’ The Blind Light, a little daunting in its
Books of the Year 2020: Part Three Read More »
After a slightly sticky start with Donal Ryan’s The Thing About December I’ve become an ardent fan of his fiction, my admiration increasing first with All We Shall Know then From A Low and Quiet Sea, both of which shared themes of love and redemption in their different ways as does Strange Flowers. Beginning in
Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan: True love Read More »
Another year, another Booker Prize longlist in the offing although this year has been far from normal both in the book world and beyond with titles bouncing around the publishing schedules like tennis balls thanks to the pandemic. I’d half expected a postponement of the longlist announcement but the Booker brigade seem to be sticking
My 2020 Booker Wish List Read More »