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…
Five Fascinating Facts about … Margaret Atwood
By Shoshi Ish-Horowicz 1. She had an unconventional childhood with her family, spending every spring and summer in the northern Canadian wilderness; Atwood didn’t start full time school until the…
Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell
Reviewed by David Harris I’d been eagerly waiting for this book. Cornell has recently published two volumes in an urban fantasy series, The Shadow Police, set among the supernatural threats of…
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
Reviewed by Shoshi Ish-Horowicz To put this review into context, I’m a huge Margaret Atwood fan. I haven’t read everything she’s written (fifteen novels, eight collections of short stories, not…
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell This may have been the first novel I’ve read by Franco-Vietnamese SF&F author Aliette de Bodard, but it certainly won’t be the last. She has already…
The Killing Kind by Chris Holm
Reviewed by David Harris At first sight, this book was surprisingly different from the previous books of Holm’s that I had read: his Collector series was a noir-tinged fantasy trilogy featuring an operative who…
Reading Liverpool
Compiled by Beth Townsend Novels set in places I recognise are a special kind of thing. There is nothing I enjoy more than reading about a place and going, hang…