Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’d not come across Jamel Brinkley’s writing before I spotted Witness on NetGalley. It’s a collection of short stories all set in New York which, regular readers won’t be surprised to hear, was what attracted me to it. I’ve picked out my favourite pieces below, beginning with the opening coming-of-age story. In the image of …
Given I’m limiting my air travel, I suspect my single visit to New York City will be my first and last. Perhaps that’s the reason I’m drawn to travel there through fiction. Below are five novels that transport readers through time as well as distance, all with links to reviews on this blog. Jonathan Lee’s …
As regular readers may have noticed, a New York City setting is catnip for me which made Jonathan Lee’s The Great Mistake well nigh irresistible. I also have fond memories of reading his book, Joy, which featured in one of my earliest posts when I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted this blog to be. …
The Great Mistake by Jonathan Lee: ‘The Man Who Gets Things Done’ Read More »
A very happy 2019 to you! I’m starting my posting year with the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy into as many hands as I could. I fell in love with this book to …
Blasts from the Past: Brightness Falls by Jay McInerney (1992) Read More »
Sometimes I cringe when I see the comparisons in publishers’ press releases but in Anna Quindlen’s case Scribner are spot on with Elizabeth Strout and Ann Tyler. She also shares with Strout a far smaller following here in the UK than she deserves, although I can happily put that in the past tense for Strout …
Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen: If you like Elizabeth Strout or Ann Tyler… Read More »
What to read when you have a house full of carpenters and decorators? Even when they’re as polite, careful and quiet as they can be, they’re still disruptive. With the good old British rain pelting down outside there’s not much else to do but retreat to the one room whose windows are not being replaced, …
Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss: Adventures in the New York art world Read More »