Human Acts by Han Kang
Translated by Deborah Smith Paperback review by David Hebblethwaite When you shake off the hundred-plus books of a year’s reading and find that the one that clings the longest is…
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Shiny New Books
Terms and Conditions by Ysenda Maxtone Graham
Review by Simon Slightly Foxed are beloved for their reprints of memoirs from across the twentieth century, but they also have published a handful of new books – most of…
Real Tigers by Mick Herron
Review by Annabel Herron is one of my favourite author discoveries of recent years. Real Tigers is the third of Mick Herron’s ‘Jackson Lamb’ series of spy novels, following Slow Horses and Dead…
The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor by Elizabeth Norton
Reviewed by Laura Marriott The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor concerns itself with the potential marriage between the teenage Elizabeth Tudor and Thomas Seymour. The book focuses primarily on Seymour, his story…
The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carré
Reviewed by Rob Spence The very name seems mysterious: perhaps a whiff of the matinée idol about it, speaking of a glamorous and wealthy background. And although, like many a…
New Grub Street by George Gissing
Reviewed by Karen Langley I suppose I’m not alone amongst readers and book bloggers in having a rather romantic view of the author, picturing them sitting in a beautiful study,…
Fairy tales: A Reading List
Selected by Helen Parry Christmas is traditionally a time of magic. Even if you’re no longer quite certain that Father C pops down the chimney with a sackful of toys…
The History of a Town by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin
Translated by I.P. Foote Reviewed by Karen Langley Russian literature has long had a tradition of satire stretching all the way back to Gogol, one of its best exponents. However,…
Footprints in Spain by Simon Courtauld
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Written by someone who is obviously an expert on and traveller in Spain, this interesting book takes a look at the lives of British people –…
Learning from Baby P by Sharon Shoesmith
Reviewed by Anne Goodwin A civilised society must put structures in place to protect the vulnerable. When the vulnerable are children at risk from the actions or inactions of their…
Spotlight on Publishers: Europa Editions
Questions for Daniela at Europa Editions 1. Tell us about the genesis of Europa Editions. How did the publishing house come into being? Europa Editions was founded in New York…
33 Revolutions by Canek Sánchez Guevara
Translated by Howard Curtis Reviewed by Annabel Canek Sánchez Guevara was Che Guevara’s grandson. Was, because he died in early 2015 from complications after a heart operation – he was…
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Reviewed by Harriet It’s one thing to read about detectives, but quite another trying to be one. I’ve always loved whodunits – I’ve not just edited them, I’ve read them…
A Novel Calling – Books That Were Written Just For Me
By Alice Farrant Realistically, I know searching for signs in the everyday is silly. Stepping over three drains in a row doesn’t cause bad luck, and if something bad happens…
Ada’s Algorithm by James Essinger
Review by Peter Hobson One of the most accomplished women of the nineteenth century and little known until recently outside mathematical and computer science circles, Ada Lovelace is the subject…
Ghost Stories by E.F.Benson
Reviewed by Julie Barham An historical entertainment? When I was first asked to read E.F.Benson’s Ghost Stories, I was a little concerned as I have got a very vivid imagination, and…
The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler
Translated by Charlotte Collins Reviewed by Susan Osborne It’s a both a joy and a worry when a second novel appears on the horizon following one quite so spectacularly good…
The Wrong Case by James Crumley
Reviewed by Basil Ransome Davies First published in 1975 – the year the NLF took Saigon and expelled the US from Vietnam – The Wrong Case is deservedly, though posthumously, reissued. It…
Cookbooks for Christmas
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton Despite having run out of shelf space for more cookbooks some time ago, they remain one of my favourite things to give and receive at Christmas,…
The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church
Reviewed by Annabel In 1941 Meridian ‘Meri’ Wallace wins a place at university in Chicago to study ornithology. There she dates Jerry – and they have fun – but Meri…
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
Reviewed by Harriet Time was not something then we thought of as an item that possessed an ending, but something that would go on forever, all rested and stopped in…
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Reviewed by Annabel. Although this is the second book in a series, given that its two main characters were subsidiary supporting ones in its predecessor, you could read it as…
The Promised Land: An American Reading List
Compiled by Eleanor Franzén So, the presidential election of 2016. As with the elections of 2012 and 2008, I will be telling my children exactly where I was when I…
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
Reviewed by Harriet In the pantheon of detective fiction there is nothing quite like it. So writes Martin Edwards in his introduction to the British Library’s new edition of this…