Book news, reviews and recommendations
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 – Tom Lake to Death Comes for the Archbishop Read More »
June’s first instalment of paperbacks begins with three novels about which I had my doubts although after reading the first, it ended up on my books of 2022 list. I should have had more faith in Miriam Toews’ ability to overcome the pitfalls of child narration, something I usually avoid like the plague. Fight Night
Paperbacks to Look Out For in June 2023: Part One Read More »
Every year I post two literary prize wishlists in the sure fire knowledge that few if any of those wishes will be fulfilled. That said, they’re fun to do and I always like to see what other readers would like the judges to plump for. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the one I care
My Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 Wishlist Read More »
At the beginning of April, H and I took ourselves off to Manchester, a city I’d not visited since the ‘80s. Unsurprisingly, it’s changed considerably since then. We had a great time exploring and meeting up with two dear friends with not much time for reading. Plenty of that when we got back, beginning with
Books of the Year 2022: Part Two 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 »
Given that it features a child narrator, I was a wee bit wary of Miriam Toews’ Fight Night despite having enjoyed her previous novels. It’s such a difficult trick to pull off, painfully clunky if mishandled. Toews’ new novel takes the form of a letter written by nine-year-old Swiv to her father who her grandmother
Fight Night by Miriam Toews: ‘That’s patriarchy, Swiv, make a note’ Read More »
Back from lovely Italy (more of which later in the week) with a disappointingly short June preview although I have read four of the eight that caught my eye so those come tried and tested beginning with the one that’s most likely to be on readers’ radars already. Miriam Toews’ Fight Night takes the form
Books to Look Out For in June 2022 Read More »