Book news, reviews and recommendations
I raced through Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot while on last year’s Central European rail jaunt. It’s a literary thriller about a blocked writer who uses the surefire plot a student recounts to him after he learns of the student’s death with dire consequences. I dithered about reading The Sequel, having learnt my lesson with […]
We’d had such a lovely time when we last visited Portugal, pre-pandemic, I suggested a Portuguese railway jaunt to H. Our plan was less ambitious than our Central European holidays with just three stops and a flight either end, the first one to Porto. We’d visited the city back in September 2001, a strange time
Fourteen Days in Portugal and Two Books Read More »
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 – Lonely Planet Guide to Budapest and Hungary to The Plot Read More »
This was our first big rail jaunt since 2018 when we’d taken the Eurostar to Amsterdam, flying home from Warsaw two weeks later. Our plan for the next one was to venture into Ukraine, sadly no longer an option. Instead, we decided to wend our way though Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Budapest,
Sixteen Days in Central Europe and Three Books Read More »
More new titles caught my eye than usual for this August, enough for a two-part preview beginning with one I put up my hand for as soon as I read the blurb. The premise for Hernan Diaz’s Trust is intriguing. Benjamin and Helen Rask are immensely wealthy. She’s the daughter of old money, he’s a
Books to Look Out For in August 2022: Part One Read More »
Given all that’s been happening in the US over the past few years, it’s a brave author who decides to write a piece of fiction about contemporary America but perhaps Hari Zunzru’s White Tears isn’t the state of the nation novel it first appears, more a comment on race relations. Two very different young New
Books to Look Out for April 2017: Part Two Read More »