As Strangers Here by Janet McNeill
Reviewed by Simon As Strangers Here (published in 1960) is set against the backdrop of 1950s Belfast and the terror of the warring factions of those who called themselves Protestants or…
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
Reviewed by Bookgazing Scott Westerfeld is undeniably an imaginative author, even in the context of the SFF world where authors produce fun and wild new concepts every other day. His Uglies series…
More by Max Beerbohm
Reviewed by Simon Max Beerbohm’s name is known today, if at all, as the author of Zuleika Dobson – a curious sort of modernised Greek myth, where a preternaturally beautiful woman bewitches…
Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne
Reviewed by Harriet First published in America in 2014, Andrew Mayne’s debut novel is just out in the UK. If I described this novel as ‘detective uses magic to solve…
A Lion Was Learning to Ski by Ranjit Bolt
Reviewed by Annabel Ranjit Bolt is well known as a translator and playwright. He came to prominence when two of his translations of French comedies by Pierre Corneille, The Liar and The Illusion,…
The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, second edition, edited by Jack Zipes
Reviewed by Helen Parry I’ve always loved the Oxford Companions, ever since I first encountered the Companion to English Literature about twenty-five years ago. They’re very easy to use and the alphabetically…
Us by David Nicholls
Paperback review by Laura Marriott Us is David Nicholls’ fourth novel and the follow up to 2009’s surprise hit One Day. Nicholls is an award winning author and screenwriter whose earlier books…
The Crossing by Andrew Miller
Reviewed by Judith Wilson I’d been introduced to Andrew Miller’s writing via his richly evocative Costa Award-winning novel, Pure (2011), set in and around a cemetery in eighteenth century Paris. So I…
Mythology – An illustrated journey into our imagined worlds by Christopher Dell
Reviewed by Annabel. As picture books for grown ups go, Mythology is the business. Now available in soft covers, this nine inches square book yields glorious pictorial spreads from the very moment you…
The Dark Inside by Rod Reynolds
Reviewed by Gill Davies This is the first novel by Rod Reynolds, a British author who is working comfortably within the conventions and settings of American crime fiction. I was…
The Oxford Companion to Wine 4th Edition by Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton It was reading Jancis Robinson’s Confessions of a Wine Lover which initially pushed me to learn more about wine, and the second edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine that…
My Katherine Mansfield Project by Kirsty Gunn
Reviewed by Simon The premise for My Katherine Mansfield Project is admittedly rather niche. If one is not already a fan of Kirsty Gunn, then one had better be a fan of…
The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagerkrantz
Reviewed by Harriet Reading continuations of series by celebrated dead authors is always going to be a bit of a gamble. I’ve had some less than great experiences, notably with…
Bloody Scotland Crime-writing Festival, Stirling, 11-13 September 2015
Report by Linda Boa After arriving somewhat later than planned in Stirling, all I wanted to do was find the lovely guesthouse I was staying in and catch some sleep….
Latest Readings by Clive James
Reviewed by Simon I have to confess that when I picked up Latest Readings, I knew very little about Clive James’ life and work. And, indeed, when I put it down…
Rembrandt’s Mirror by Kim Devereux
Reviewed by Victoria The first thing – inescapable – that you notice about this book is what a beautiful object it is. With gilt-tipped pages, and a midnight blue cover…
Friendship by Emily Gould
Reviewed by Victoria This book broke a late-summer reading slump I was wallowing in, and I am as grateful to it as a reader can be, who has despaired over…
Q&A with Laila Lalami
Questions by Helen Skinner 1. The Moor’s Account is narrated by the Moroccan slave, Mustafa al-Zamori, also known as Estebanico. What made you decide to write the novel from Estebanico’s point of…
Shiny Book Club – Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Introduced by Harriet It’s time for the third round of The Shiny Book Club – we’re posting the questions now, and the discussion will start in our Extra Shiny issue…
Five Fascinating Facts about… Richmal Crompton
Written by Simon The author of the much loved William books, about a well-meaning but disastrous young boy, also wrote over thirty books for adults, some of which have now…
The Jump by Doug Johnstone
Reviewed by Harriet Doug Johnstone is an amazing writer. This is the third of his novels I’ve read, each of which is brilliant and each entirely different. I loved The Dead…
Reading Israel
Written by Danielle Simpson When was the last time you read a book by an Israeli author? Yes, I thought so. If you had asked me that question just over…
Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance by Robert Gildea
Reviewed by Falaise Back in the ancient mists of time – or, at least, 1986 – a youthful version of me (think a bad David Bowie hairstyle perched on top…
The Prank: The Best of Young Chekhov, by Anton Chekhov
Translated by Maria Bloshteyn Reviewed by Karen Langley The art of the short story is a difficult one, and many authors never attain the dizzy heights of a tale told…