Book news, reviews and recommendations
In contrast to 2024’s damp squib, this year’s summer seemed to stretch from April to October. A great one for reading as well as sun, too, beginning with three very different favourites in quick succession in July. Benjamin Wood’s Seascraper spans a single day which sees Thomas Flett lifted out of his hardscrabble life for […]
Books of the Year 2025: Part Three 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 – Ghost Cities to The Hound of the Baskervilles Read More »
This is the fourth novel by Robbie Arnott I’ve reviewed here. Having been a wee bit reluctant to read Flames, his debut, it ended up on my Booker wishlist as did Limberlost in 2023, and now Dusk which sees the Renshaw twins, desperate for money, on the trail of the eponymous black puma who’s already
Dusk by Robbie Arnott: Beauty and the beast Read More »
Not my favourite prize but, for some reason, I can’t resist putting together a wish list for the Booker. To be eligible for this year’s prize all books must be published in the UK or Ireland between 1st October 2024 and 30th September 2025 and have been written in English. The judges usually stick to
My 2025 Booker Wish List Read More »
The second part of August’s preview kicks off with a new novel from Robbie Arnott, an author who’s become a favourite of mine. Dusk sees outcasts Iris and Floyd head to the highlands after hearing about a puma killing sheep and now humans. Travelling through a starkly beautiful landscape, they find a tavern, oddly enclosed
Books to Look Out For in August 2025: Part Two Read More »
I’m much more of an optimist than a pessimist, sometimes a silly one particularly regarding the weather although an excellent German app is helping me over that. Perhaps that’s why dystopian fiction is far from my favourite genre. That said, I’m surprised by how many novels I’ve read which might be described in that way.
Five Dystopian Novels I’ve Read Read More »
Not my favourite prize but I seem unable to resist putting together a wish list for the Booker, quite possibly because I know very few will be fulfilled but I’m keen to give some more neglected titles an airing even though they’re unlikely to have been nominated let alone make the judges’ grade. To be
My 2023 Booker Wish List Read More »
I’ve read all but one of August’s slim paperback pickings, beginning with a novel which made it on to my books of 2022 list. A coming-of-age story set in 1940s Tasmania with the Second World War a distant hum, Limberlost follows fifteen-year-old Ned who spends his summer hunting rabbits, saving his earnings in the hopes
Paperbacks to Look Out For in August 2023 Read More »
We’re on the last lap, you’ll be pleased to hear, with a surprising number of gems in November, an indication of the way the publishing year has shifted since so many sales migrated online. I remember when October was the big publishing month. That month’s only stand out title for me was Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy
Books of the Year 2022: Part Four Read More »
I was delighted when Robbie Arnott’s new novel popped up in my Twitter feed. I’d been a huge fan of his debut, Flames, at first reluctant given it’s magic realism thread but won over by his beautiful writing, then again by The Rain Heron. A coming-of-age story set in 1940s Tasmania with the Second World
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott: ‘The things you don’t know’ Read More »
Enough juicy novels due in November to more than make up for a thin October beginning with Jonathan Coe’s new one which sees him back on home ground giving me hope for a return to form after the major disappointment of the Costa-winning Middle England, at least for me. Bournville follows a family living in
Books to Look Out For in November 2022: Part One Read More »