Book news, reviews and recommendations
This is 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. If you’re a regular visitor to this blog you’ve probably twigged that I’m a fan of Irish writing, …
Blasts from the Past: The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor (2002) Read More »
This is 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. Barry Unsworth’s Morality Play is set in the late fourteenth century, a time of calamitous upheaval. The country …
Blasts from the Past: Morality Play by Barry Unsworth (1995) Read More »
This is 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. Friends are the new family has become something of a contemporary cliché. Perhaps its origins lie in the …
Blasts from the Past: A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham (1990) Read More »
This is 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 in as many hands as I could. Crossing to Safety is one of those novels I came across in my early blogging days when I …
Blasts from the Past: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (1987) Read More »
Rachel Malik’s debut has been sitting on my shelves waiting to be reviewed for quite some time. I was sent a copy a few months after its hardback publication when Malik approached me and I warily agreed to look at it. I’ve learned my lesson in this respect but an old friend had reviewed the …
Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves by Rachel Malik: ’We were rich…’ Read More »
I was delighted when I spotted Maile Meloy’s name in the publishing schedules. I’d enjoyed her previous novels, even going so far as to read her short stories – this was long before my conversion. Her writing is quite subtle, nuanced explorations of relationships and their dynamics. On closer inspection, it turned out her new …
Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy: A literary thriller with a social conscience Read More »
This is 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 in as many hands as I could. If you’re a regular visitor to this blog you may have noticed that I’m a huge fan of …
Blasts from the Past: Talking to the Dead by Helen Dunmore (1996) Read More »
Aren’t We Sisters? put me in a bit of a quandary. The author contacted me asking if I would review her novel, not an unusual experience as I’m sure fellow book bloggers know only too well. Usually, I politely decline but she’d heard of me through a mutual acquaintance whose opinion I trust and I’d …
Aren’t We Sisters? by Patricia Ferguson: A lesson in not judging a book by its cover Read More »
I’ve been reading Susan Cain’s Quiet, and feeling much better about myself. In it Cain posits the idea that the modern world is designed to be lived in and run by extroverts. We’re all made to feel we should be out there bouncing around the world, meeting as many people as we can and having …
It’s been a while since a new Jonathan Coe novel has lived up to my, admittedly, high expectations – they’ve been too far into ‘state of the nation’ territory, lacking the humour that made What a Carve Up! and The Rotters’ Club so appealing – but Expo 58 is a return to form. Set in …
Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe: A romp that reads like an Ealing Comedy Read More »