A Shetlander’s Fair Isle Graph Book In Colour
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton This is the second book from the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers. The first one was A Legacy of Shetland Lace which is a tremendous…
Polska by Zuza Zak
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton It’s no secret that I have a weakness for cookbooks, I love them, love the way that they give me a window into other worlds of…
Library Cat by Alex Howard
Review by Peter Hobson This book recounts the puzzling behaviour and absurdities of the human world as narrated by the famous, and sadly now missing, Library Cat of Edinburgh University….
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life, by Ed Yong
Review by Terence Jagger This is a truly fascinating book, about the complex ecosystem of microbes that lives inside us, all other animals, and sometimes each other – doing good,…
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Reviewed by Victoria You might think that writing a chronicle of a modern family might be a step down in terms of drama for Ann Patchett from opera singers held…
Rasputin and Other Ironies by Teffi
Translated by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler, Anne Marie Jackson and Rose France Reviewed by Karen Langley One of my highlights from 2014 was the discovery of the writings of the…
The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami
Translated by Allison Markin Powell Review by Annabel There are some books you can judge by their covers. Portobello books have triumphed in this respect with the evocative ‘levitation’ portraits…
Bright Precious Days by Jay McInerny
Reviewed by Susan Osborne Fans of Jay McInerney’s series of novels which began with Brightness Falls way back in 1992, won’t need to be told who the Calloways are nor will they…
Beast by Paul Kingsnorth
Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Paul Kingsnorth made waves with his first novel, The Wake (2014), which was set around the Norman Conquest and written in a modified version of Old English. It…
Woolfalong
Written by Ali Hope My relationship with Virginia Woolf had a discouraging start when I first read To the Lighthouse in my very early twenties. It was a period when I was…
Questions for Kirstin Smith & Rowland Manthorpe about Confidence
Interview by Victoria Due to unusual circumstances, my husband read this novel out loud to me (we both loved it). So, from a reading couple to a writing couple, how…
Confidence by Rowland Manthorpe and Kirstin Smith
Reviewed by Victoria Confidence has to be one of the funniest novels that I’ve read this year. It’s a welcome return to the campus novel but so fresh and contemporary…
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
Reviewed by Harriet There surely won’t be many people reading this who haven’t seen the film or the TV series, even if they haven’t read the original book, which has…
Brensham Village by John Moore
Reviewed by Simon Brensham Village, the latest volume from the Slightly Foxed Editions series that I love so dearly, is a sort of sequel to Portrait of Elmbury, also published by…
The Revelations of Carey Ravine by Debra Daley
Reviewed by Helen Skinner There was always a good chance that I was going to love The Revelations of Carey Ravine. A book which has been compared with Sarah Waters, Amitav…
Dear Diary… Diaries in Fiction
Written by Charlotte Duff Since approximately the age of ten, I have tried to keep a diary. In fact, almost every Christmas I have asked for one. New Year’s Day…
The Voices Within by Charles Fernyhough
Reviewed by Anne Goodwin ‘Yeah, I put that in, surely!’ I laughed when I heard myself saying this the other morning as I stowed my bags in the boot of the…
The Girls by Emma Cline
Reviewed by Annabel I received a proof copy of The Girls about six months ago, and even back then it was being plugged as this summer’s biggest novel. The interest has built…
Two Gentlemen on the Beach by Michael Köhlmeier
Translated by Ruth Martin Reviewed by Victoria Who knew that Charlie Chaplin and Winston Churchill were great friends? I had no idea before reading this thoughtful and moving fictional account…
Blood Wedding by Pierre Lemaitre
Translated by Frank Wynne Reviewed by Annabel In the UK, Lemaitre has been best-known for his ‘Brigade Criminelle’ trilogy of novels featuring the detective Camille Verhoeven. Irène, Alex, Camille: read them…
Black Water by Louise Doughty
Reviewed by Victoria Louise Doughty is probably best known for her novel, Apple Tree Yard, which was a huge hit back in 2013. It told the story of a scientist brought…
Tide by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
Reviewed by Terence Jagger I live close to the tidal Thames, and often walk by the sea – and have never quite understood the tides. Yes, I was taught at…
The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood
Reviewed by Harriet This gorgeous book is subtitled ‘Life in the English Country House Between the Wars’, and certainly that is part of its subject. But it’s a book with…
But What If We’re Wrong? by Chuck Klosterman
Reviewed by Simon How many non-fiction books do you come across which combine literature, music, television, sports, science, and aliens? Not that many, I’m going to wager – but, then,…