The House in Smyrna by Tatiana Salem Levy
Translated by Alison Entrekin Reviewed by Tony Malone Tatiana Salem Levy was one of the writers featured in Granta’s Best Young Brazilian Novelists list a couple of years back, and her debut…
The Ecliptic by Benjamin Wood
Reviewed by Rebecca Foster Portmantle is a mysterious artists’ retreat centre on the Turkish island of Heybeliada. Its rules are strict: acceptance is at the recommendation of a sponsor, and…
Great Sexpectations by Non Pratt
Non is the author of two YA novels, the latest of which, Remix, is reviewed in our fiction section here. She recently took part in a panel discussion at the Young Adult Literature…
The Looking Glass House by Vanessa Tait
Reviewed by Esther Brazil “Some children have a most disagreeable way of getting grown-up: I hope you won’t do anything of that sort before we meet again.” So wrote Lewis…
The Chimes by Anna Smaill
Reviewed by Eric Karl Anderson I’ve read a couple of fascinating dystopian novels recently: Station Eleven and Not Forgetting the Whale. Both use a dark forecast of the future to say something meaningful…
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
Reviewed by Annabel Hats off to Bloomsbury on the lovely design of this wonderful novel. You can’t see here, but there is a cut-out of the watch dial, and all around…
The Seed Collectors by Scarlett Thomas
Reviewed by David Harris This book is very different from Thomas’s last, Our Tragic Universe. We see events from several viewpoints, mostly members of the rambling Gardener family: Fleur, her lover…
Tender by Belinda McKeon
Reviewed by Alice Farrant Tender by Belinda McKeon is a literary tour-de-force. A frighteningly addictive tumble down the rabbit hole of obsessive love and friendship in late-90s Ireland. Catherine is 18,…
Colouring In by Angela Huth
Reviewed by Adèle Geras First, full disclosure. Susan Hill, whose Long Barn Books has published this novel, sent me a copy as a gift. She had no idea that I was…
The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock
Review by Annabel Anyone who has ever been enthralled by reading or seeing the film of The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe’s seminal story of the USA’s quest to break the…
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (YA)
Reviewed by Bookgazing For a while now, there’s been some online discussion about whether “the coming out novel” has had its day, and whether modern readers need stories where characters…
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Reviewed by Harriet Rarely can the publication of a novel have been surrounded by such an uproar and so many misconceptions. Let’s put one of them straight right away —…
The Notting Hill Editions Essay Prize
Raymond Tallis Talks to Ingrid Wassenaar Those lovely people at Notting Hill Editions, home of the best in non-fiction essay writing, are in the midst of their search for the winner…
Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen
Reviewed by Victoria When I first heard that an author had produced a rewrite of Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Enchanted April, I was extremely eager to read it. I love von…
Think Like an Artist by Will Gompertz
Reviewed by Annabel Many of you will recognise Gompertz in his current role as the BBC’s Arts Editor, a role he fulfills with as much quirky charm as his subjects….
Jeremy Hutchinson’s Case Histories by Thomas Grant
Reviewed by Harriet No one becomes a criminal barrister to make large sums of money. A criminal practice has always been the least well paid and of the lowest status…
60 Degrees North by Malachy Tallack
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton When I first read about 60 Degrees North in Polygon’s book list back in the spring I was intrigued. I recognised Malachy Tallack’s name from various sources but…
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Paperback review by Susan Osborne When I think of Baltimore two things come to mind: Anne Tyler and The Wire, polar opposites in terms of subject matter but both supreme exemplars…
Rupert Wallis – My First Year as a Published Author
As his second YA novel All Sorts of Possible is published (reviewed here), author Rupert Wallis stops off at Shiny New Books on his blog tour to tell us about his experience including…
All Sorts of Possible by Rupert Wallis (YA)
Reviewed by Annabel I saw a repeat of a Horizon TV programme all about sinkholes the other month. Geology professor Ian Stewart was in Florida, which is the sinkhole capital of the…
Game by Tim Maddams
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton I love the River Cottage handbooks, really truly deeply love them. Individually they are all excellent stand alone cookbooks and field guides put together they open…
Mermaids by Sophia Kingshill
Reviewed by Harriet once I sat upon a promontoryAnd heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s backUttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,That the rude sea grew civil at her song;And certain…