May 28, 2020 The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix Review by Annabel If you enjoy a contemporary horror novel laced with style and humour, you need look no further than the work of…
May 14, 2020 How It Was by Janet Ellis Paperback review by Annabel I had been reading and loving the late Clive James’ last book, an anthology of his writing on Philip Larkin…
May 5, 2020 The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley Review by Annabel Natasha Pulley’s 2015 debut novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which I reviewed for Shiny here, is still one of the…
April 16, 2020 A Long Way Off by Pascal Garnier Translated by Emily Boyce Reviewed by Annabel For the past eight years, Gallic Books have been translating and publishing the gloriously black-humored noir novellas…
March 19, 2020 The Ruins by Mat Osman Reviewed by Annabel I am an absolute sucker for any novel with a bit of rock’n’roll in it, and two of my favourite reads…
February 25, 2020 Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton Review by Annabel Anyone who works in a school these days will be familiar with ‘lockdown’ procedures, with code reds being the ones you…
December 12, 2019 Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson Review by Annabel This short novel told in letters took me pleasantly by surprise. Within pages I was hooked, and I read it in…
November 12, 2019 Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver Review by Annabel I read and really enjoyed Paver’s first two adult novels, both ghost stories. The first, Dark Matter was located in the Arctic, which was…
October 29, 2019 Home Work by Julie Andrews with Emma Walton Hamilton Review by Annabel Julie Andrews’s first volume of memoir, Home, told us of her childhood, growing up during the war, and…
October 15, 2019 Gloucester Crescent by William Miller Review by Annabel Nestled between Primrose Hill and Camden Town in NW1, it’s hard to believe that Gloucester Crescent (and Regents Park Terrace which…
September 24, 2019 The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy Review by Annabel Levy came to the forefront of our attention when her 2011 novel Swimming Home was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize,…
September 3, 2019 To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers Review by Annabel Those who’ve visited Shiny New Books before may know of my passion for the novels of Becky Chambers, one of the…
August 22, 2019 The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun by Sébastien Japrisot Translated by Helen Weaver Review by Annabel I had never heard of Sébastien Japrisot before reading this book, and afterwards, I wasn’t surprised to…
August 8, 2019 The Perfect Wife by J P Delaney Review by Annabel I recently read J P Delaney’s first psychological thriller, The Girl Before, (which Harriet reviewed here) in advance of a crime panel event…
June 18, 2019 Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller Reviewed by Annabel I’ve followed Fuller’s writing career since her marvellous debut, Our Endless Numbered Days, through her second totally different novel Swimming Lessons (reviewed here and here). Her third…
May 14, 2019 Five Fascinating Facts About… Daphne du Maurier Compiled by Annabel Ali at her blog, Heavenali, is hosting Daphne du Maurier reading week from May 13-19, so we’re joining in. One: Jamaica Inn, the…
April 18, 2019 Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid Reviewed by Annabel There was a lot of pre-publishing buzz about Daisy Jones and The Six – it was instantly signed up by Amazon for a…
April 16, 2019 Adèle by Leïla Slimani Translated by Sam Taylor Review by Annabel Slimani’s first novel to be translated into English, Lullaby, took the English-speaking publishing world by storm. It…
April 11, 2019 Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li Reviewed by Annabel For some, this debut novel was a surprise inclusion on the longlist for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction this year…
February 28, 2019 Graceland by Bethan Roberts Reviewed by Annabel When I saw that Bethan Roberts’s new book had Elvis on the cover, I was instantly intrigued. Having followed Bethan’s career…
February 19, 2019 With the End in Mind by Kathryn Mannix Reviewed by Annabel Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize in 2018 this book, which is full of wisdom and compassion, was one of the…
February 12, 2019 Slow Motion Ghosts by Jeff Noon Reviewed by Annabel I first discovered Jeff Noon’s weird take on our world when his debut novel Vurt was picked up by a major publisher after…
February 7, 2019 The Lost Man by Jane Harper Reviewed by Annabel I’ll say it up front, Jane Harper’s third novel, The Lost Man, was totally unputdownable! Not having read her first two,…
January 15, 2019 Where Shall We Run To? by Alan Garner Reviewed by Annabel I’ve been a fan of Alan Garner’s novels ever since my childhood when I first encountered The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and its sequel The…
November 15, 2018 Eye of the Shoal by Helen Scales Reviewed by Annabel In her third book, Helen Scales tuns her attention to another branch of the marine tree of life with each book….
