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Biography & Memoir, Diaries Books About Books, Publishing Non Fiction Translated

Conversations with Rilke by Maurice Betz

Translated by Will Stone Review by Karen Langley Aside from his verses, Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke is probably best known to the English-speaking world for his prose work, The…

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Shiny New Books June 19, 2025
1 161 2
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Ecology & Environment, Natural World Non Fiction

Bird School: A beginner in the wood by Adam Nicolson

Review by Peter Reason ‘The first time I met a bird close-up, it was dead. A raven.’ From this grab-your-attention first line and the evocative description of this encounter, I…

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Shiny New Books June 17, 2025
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Architecture, Homes & Gardens Non Fiction

The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century by Owen Hatherley

Review by Karen Langley The interwar period of the early 20th century saw a massive amount of emigration from Central Europe, as those vulnerable to the extremist governments of a…

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Shiny New Books June 12, 2025
2 540 10
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Fiction

The Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker

Reviewed by Harriet If like many people you saw this title and thought of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde you’d probably be thinking this will be a psychological thriller, and…

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Shiny New Books June 5, 2025
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Fiction

Murder at Gull’s Nest: Nora Breen Investigates by Jess Kidd

Review by Annabel Although Irish author Jess Kidd has written four previous well-received novels, and I even own copies of two of them, I’ve not managed to read her until…

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Shiny New Books June 3, 2025
2 257 1
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Fiction

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Reviewed by Harriet Back in 2016 I reviewed Anthony Horowitz’s hugely entertaining Magpie Murders [here], in which book-editor Susan Ryeland takes up detection when she discovers that Alan Conway, the…

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Shiny New Books May 29, 2025
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Ecology & Environment, Natural World Mind and Body, Medicine, Psychology Non Fiction

Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

Review by Peter Reason It is very unlikely that many readers of Shiny New Books have missed Robert Macfarlane’s new book. It has been reviewed in most of the major…

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Shiny New Books May 27, 2025
2 430 0
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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
3 1017 2
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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
3 326 0
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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
3 420 0
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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
3 650 1
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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…

Shiny New Books
Shiny New Books April 1, 2025
3 963 2
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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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  • Table for Two by Amor Towles
  • Poems by Katherine Mansfield
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Recent Posts
  • Conversations with Rilke by Maurice Betz
  • Bird School: A beginner in the wood by Adam Nicolson
  • The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century by Owen Hatherley
  • The Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker
  • Murder at Gull’s Nest: Nora Breen Investigates by Jess Kidd
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