Things in my book I don’t want others to know, by Katarina Bivald
“Don’t write about what you know, write about what you don’t want others to know.” I don’t know who originally said it, but it is one of the best bits…
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
Reviewed by Simon There are plenty of books about World War Two. There are even plenty of diaries, and some – like Nella Last’s or Mathilde Wolff-Mönckeberg’s – are exceptionally good. But these sorts…
The Moor by William Atkins
Reviewed by Christine Harding The moors of his childhood gave William Atkins a lifelong passion for moorlands, and in this book he travels through some of England’s most inhospitable and…
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Paperback review by Harriet Marie-Laure sits on her bed with the window open and travels her hands over her father’s model of the city. Her fingers pass the ship-builders’ sheds…
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
Translated by Alice Menzies Reviewed by Danielle Katarina Bivald’s The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is a ‘long cool sip of lemonade while lying in a hammock on a sunny day’ sort…
The Honours by Tim Clare
Reviewed by Eleanor Franzén It’s rare for any book, let alone a book marketed as literary fiction for adults, to open with a thirteen-year-old girl lying flat on her stomach…
10:04 by Ben Lerner
Paperback review by Susan Osborne Ben Lerner’s first novel, Leaving the Atocha Station, was much talked about on publication – 10:04 is his second and it’s narrated by a writer whose first novel was…
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Translated by Philip Gabriel Reviewed by Tony Malone Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the story of thirty-six-year-old train station designer Tsukuru Tazaki, a native of Nagoya…
The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle (YA)
Reviewed by Bookgazing Every October, Cara’s family is beset by accidents big and small. The family all refer to this month as ‘the accident season’ and try to take extra…
Alfred Hitchcock by Peter Ackroyd
Reviewed by Victoria Rear Window is my all-time favourite film and I must have watched it a dozen times or more. I never seem to tire of the spiky relationship between…
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (YA)
Reviewed by Ana Grilo “Have you read Frances Hardinge?” I’ve made several false starts with this review because I don’t know what to write. How do I describe The Lie Tree?…
The Infidel Stain by M J Carter
Reviewed by Gill Davies The Infidel Stain is the second novel by M J Carter featuring the unusual detective duo of Jeremiah Blake and Captain William Avery. In the first novel, The…
The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera
Reviewed by Simon Kundera’s latest – and, so it seems in discussion of the novel, potentially last – novel was published last year in French, and has now been translated…
Truly Criminal: A Crime Writers’ Association Anthology of True Crime, ed. Martin Edwards
Reviewed by Lyn Baines True crime is a genre that fascinates many readers. Whether it’s a famous unsolved case such as Jack the Ripper or a case where there’s a…
Threads: The Delicate Life of John Craske by Julia Blackburn
Reviewed by Victoria It was from a friend that Julia Blackburn first heard about John Craske, a Norfolk fisherman who became a painter and an embroiderer when ill health made…
The IFFP Ceremony: A Report from the Shadow Jury
Text by David Hebblethwaite The Florence Hall at the London headquarters of RIBA (the Royal Institute of British Architects) is a suitably grand space for awarding a literary prize, and…
Glimpses of Long-Past Summers: Four Vintage Canadian Authors to Explore
By Barb Scharf High summer in Canada brings long days of blue skies and sunshine, with blazing hot afternoons and late warm evenings and all around the vibrant growth of…
The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys
Reviewed by Danielle Helen Humphreys writes some of the most lyrical prose I have come across. I’m slowly reading my way through her work, some of it read in pre-blogging…
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua
Reviewed by Peter Hobson Punchycards! [1] If that word brings a smile of recognition to your lips then almost certainly you will not need to read my review any further…
Seacrow Island, and Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren
Reviewed by Lory Widmer Hess If you’ve been lucky enough to spend summers as a child in a special place, you know that they carry a most particular magic. The…
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Reviewed by Rebecca Foster Believe the hype from America, where Hanya Yanagihara’s second novel was released in March: this is sure to be one of the books of the year,…
The Dying Season by Martin Walker
Reviewed by Linda Boa Ahh! Just look at that cover of a beautiful French country town in the sunset; small enough so everyone knows everyone else who matters. That’s where…
Jellyfish by Janice Galloway
Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Janice Galloway’s new short story collection takes as its starting point an observation by David Lodge: “Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about…
The Crooked House by Christobel Kent
Reviewed by Victoria Hands up who remembers Jeremy Bamber, the White House Farm murderer? This was back in 1985, when I was 16 and the case made a notable impact…