Wild for Austen by Devoney Looser
Reviewed by Harriet ‘A Rebellious, Subversive and Untamed Jane’ promises the subtitle of this new book by Austen scholar Looser. I wonder how many people still think of Austen as…
Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present, by Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook
Review by Helen Parry Are you looking for a comprehensive introduction to British folklore by any chance? Then I have just the book for you. Folklore: A Journey through the…
Biography & Memoir, Diaries
Ecology & Environment, Natural World
History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology
Non Fiction
Love, Anger & Betrayal: Just Stop Oil’s young climate campaigners, by Jonathan Porritt
Review by Peter Reason Sir Jonathon Espie Porritt, 2nd Baronet, CBE, Eton and Oxford; one might imagine him as a pillar of the British Establishment. Then you remember he was…
The Stories Old Towns Tell by Marek Kohn
Review by Rob Spence Decades ago, on holiday in the south of France, we came by chance across a beautiful baroque chateau in the countryside. We decided to get a…
Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark by Frances Wilson
Reviewed by Harriet It has always been my intention to practice the arts of pretence and counterfeit on the reader. So wrote Muriel Spark in an unpublished Author’s Note to…
Fair: The Life-Art of Translation by Jen Calleja
Review by Liz Dexter When we talk about women’s safety, it’s health and safety; when we talk about activist translation, we’re really talking about good translation. Jen Calleja is a…
Thirst: In search of freshwater – Wellcome Collection 2025, ed. Ellen Johl
Review by Peter Reason This slender collection of writing around the theme of freshwater is published by the Wellcome Collection to accompany its current exhibition of the same name, which…
The Place of Tides by James Rebanks
Review by Liz Dexter The last humans will, like many of the first, hold to the coast, scratching a living from the sea and the shore. I imagine the last…
Cloistered: My Years as a Nun by Catherine Coldstream
Reviewed by Harriet In my mind I am still running. Running towards the road. Running, running, running. The darkness is fresh around me, the air slicing across my face in…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Colette, My Literary Mother by Michèle Roberts
Reviewed by Victoria Best, 13 Feb 2025 Colette is, I think, a very special writer. She writes with such beguiling charm, such seductive cleverness that she gets under your skin….