Book news, reviews and recommendations
Given its importance in most of our lives, friendship doesn’t seem to figure in fiction as much as might be expected, often part of characters’ backstories rather than its central focus, or perhaps that’s just the kind of fiction I read. I’ve already posted once on it but it’s a theme I’m sufficiently keen on […]
Five More Novels I’ve Read About Friendship Read More »
Slim paperback pickings for July, as is often the case, with just one preview post which includes several books I’ve already read and enjoyed beginning with one with a particular appeal for political obsessives like me. Opening on the day of the 2008 American presidential election, A. M. Homes’ The Unfolding ends on Obama’s first
Paperbacks to Look Out For in July 2023 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 »
The blurb for Swedish writer Johanna Hedman’s The Trio put me in mind a little of Liza Klaussmann’s slightly disappointing This is Gonna End in Tears which I reviewed last week. Both feature a group of close friends revisited later in life, which is what attracted me, but that’s where the similarity ends. As you’ll
The Trio by Johanna Hedman (transl. Kira Josefsson): If you like Sally Rooney… Read More »
July see the summer reading season in full swing for publishers with lots of novels aimed at entertaining readers by the pool. Unusually for me, I’m beginning with one that fits that bill well. Liza Klaussmann’s This is Gonna End in Tears is set in the summer of 1984 when a few chickens come home
Books to Look Out For in July 2022: Part One Read More »