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Architecture, Homes & Gardens Ecology & Environment, Natural World Non Fiction

The Future of Gardens by Mark Lane

Review by Annabel Melville House’s ‘Futures’ series are short pocket-sized paperbacks that explore their subjects in essay format. I’ve previously reviewed two others for Shiny – The Future of Trust…

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Shiny New Books May 15, 2025
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen by Rory Muir

Reviewed by Harriet A few months after Pride and Prejudice was published,  Jane Austen visited her brother Henry in London. The opening words of Rory Muir’s book might lead the…

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Shiny New Books May 13, 2025
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Fiction

Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

Review by Max Dunbar Mystery Night I never worked out the appeal of murder mystery nights. Sure, you get to raid the dressing-up box but the practicalities must be a…

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Shiny New Books May 6, 2025
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Art & Design, Craft & Photography Biography & Memoir, Diaries Non Fiction

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gaugin by Sue Prideaux

Reviewed by Harriet Before I started this very interesting and comprehensive book, I probably knew as much about Gauguin as most people. I’d seen countless reproductions of his powerful, imaginative…

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Shiny New Books May 1, 2025
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

Becoming a Good Relative: Calling White Settlers Toward Truth, Healing, and Repair, by Hilary Giovale

Review by Liz Dexter I was immersed in a white settler myth that had always allowed me to perceive them [her ancestors] as innocent bystanders rather than oppressors. I’ve been…

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Shiny New Books April 29, 2025
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Fiction

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

Review by Annabel Virginia Feito’s debut novel, Mrs March, was an absolute blast. An exercise in paranoia on the part of an Upper East Side housewife, who thinks people are…

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Shiny New Books April 24, 2025
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries Lit Crit Non Fiction

Emile Zola: Writing Modern Life by Rachel Bowlby

Reviewed by Karen Langley The My Reading series from Oxford University Press takes as its premise that the best book recommendations come from someone who cares for the work in…

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Shiny New Books April 22, 2025
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Fiction Translated

The Brittle Age, by Donatella Di Pietrantonio

Translated by Ann Goldstein Review by Rob Spence In the mountainous rural region of Abruzzo, a local community is blighted by an event of brutal savagery. Thirty years later, its…

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Shiny New Books April 17, 2025
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Fiction Reprint

When William Came, by Saki

Review by Helen Parry Suppose Germany and Britain went to war and Britain lost and was absorbed into the German empire? What would British people do? What would you do?…

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Shiny New Books April 15, 2025
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Fiction

This Is The Border by Eoin McNamee

Review by Max Dunbar There’s lots of historical fiction around but generally it doesn’t work for me. I feel like the author is bludgeoning you with their research, having worked…

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Shiny New Books April 10, 2025
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

The Golden Road by William Dalrymple

Reviewed by Harriet India has always had a great attraction for me. I didn’t manage to go there until I was in my thirties, but I’ve visited countless times since…

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Shiny New Books April 8, 2025
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Fiction Translated

City of Fiction by Yu Hua

Translated from the Chinese by Todd Foley Review by Frances Spurrier Lin Xiangfu was on edge that evening. Moonlight streamed down through the hole in the roof like a sparkling column…

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Shiny New Books April 3, 2025
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Fiction Translated

Nothing Grows by Moonlight by Torborg Nedreaas

Translated by Bibbi Lee Review by Karen Langley Recent years have seen a spate of newly translated fictions being made available by Penguin Classics in their ‘Demy’ series; these works…

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Shiny New Books April 1, 2025
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

EL CID: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Mercenary, by Nora Berend

Review by Michael Eaude Exposing Fake History – FRANCO’S MURDEROUS FANTASIES El Cid is a legendary hero, a fearsome warrior who decisively defeated the Moors in the fight for a…

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Shiny New Books March 27, 2025
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Fiction Reprint

The Dancer from the Dance by Janet Burroway

Reviewed by Harriet I had never heard of Janet Burroway until Mike Walmer recently republished her 1965 novel, The Dancer from the Dance. It was the second of her eight…

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Shiny New Books March 26, 2025
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

Tracker by Alexis Wright

Review by Liz Dexter, 25 March 2025 In his life, he had made space for himself in the world of those who enjoyed the highest influence in Australia, as he…

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Shiny New Books March 25, 2025
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Fiction Translated

Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida

Translated by Hayden Trowell Review by Rob Spence Quirky Japanese literature seems to be all the rage these days. Every British bookshop seems well-stocked with Tokyo-based stories about cats or…

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Shiny New Books March 20, 2025
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Fiction

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Reviewed by Harriet ‘You know I’m not a huge cat fan. I’ve always thought they were cold-hearted’.  ‘Cats are not cold-hearted’, I said. ‘They’re only protecting their dignity in case…

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Shiny New Books March 18, 2025
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Fiction

Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

Review by Annabel Alaskan author Eowyn Ivey isn’t the most prolific; in thirteen years, she’s just published her third novel, but for me it was worth the wait. Being a…

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Shiny New Books March 11, 2025
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction Translated

A Man of Few Words by Carlo Greppi

Translated by Howard Curtis Review by Karen Langley, 6 Mar 2025 Italian author and chemist Primo Levi is possibly one of the best-known commentators on the Holocaust; he began writing…

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Shiny New Books March 6, 2025
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Fiction

Confessions by Catherine Airey

Review by Max Dunbar The Whole Wild World The problem with talking about books you enjoy is that you don’t want to go too far into a story for fear…

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Shiny New Books March 4, 2025
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Fiction Reprint Translated

The Last of the Aldinis by George Sand

Translated by George Burnham Ives Review by Rob Spence Opposite the title page of this new edition of George Sand’s novel is a list of her works of fiction. It…

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Shiny New Books February 27, 2025
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Architecture, Homes & Gardens Books About Books, Publishing Non Fiction

Lonely Planet: Hidden Libraries by‎ D.C. Helmuth

Review by Liz Dexter This attractive and heavily illustrated book covers fifty unusual libraries from around the world. Informative and rich, it celebrates libraries of all kinds, from mobile ones…

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Shiny New Books February 25, 2025
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Uncategorized

The Last Days of Kira Mullan by Nicci French

Reviewed by Harriet, 20 Feb 2025 The more she said that she shouldn’t be in here, the more convinced they became that she should, she must. Every time she argued…

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Shiny New Books February 20, 2025
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