Firstly, an update on my 20 Books of Summer – I’ve read 9, all from my TBR and owned before 2023. But I am falling behind my 20 goal, so I have decided to be an even bigger cheat than normal. Due to the number of wonderful new books recently published that I’m desperate to Read More
Deadly Autumn Harvest by Tony Mott – blogtour
Translated by Marina Sofia I should state at the outset that Marina (who blogs here) and I have been blog-friends for many years now, but despite living not so far from each other have never quite managed to meet up – yet! She and her colleagues are the brains behind Corylus Books, crime translation specialists Read More
The Housekeepers by Alex Hay – blogtour
I don’t normally read much historical fiction, and when the publisher sent me a proof copy of this debut novel a good while ago, I wasn’t sure about it, but added it to my pile as publication was still months away. Later, when Anne from Random Tours invited people to join the blogtour, I realised Read More
Watchlist: May into mid July
It’s ages – two and a half months – since I did one of these, and I’ve had a busy time watching things, including three theatre trips which I’ve reviewed at length separately: THEATRE TV FILM What have you been watching lately that you could recommend?
Summer Fishing in Lapland by Juhani Karila
Translated by Lola Rogers In my ever-growing experience of Nordic reads, I think that the Finns win in terms of quirk factor! And, Summer Fishing in Lapland is perhaps the quirkiest of the lot so far – described as Finnish weird in terms of genre. It is a delightful, madcap adventure and debut novel by Read More
Dirty Geese by Lou Gilmond
It’s nice to be able to support a local publisher. Fairlight Books is based in Oxford, and Dirty Geese is being published under their Armillary Books imprint. Dirty Geese is a political thriller, set in the very near future. The Tories are in power, but the Whigs are now the main opposition and beginning to Read More
The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson – blogtour
Translated from the French by David Warriner The Bleeding is an unusual crime novel with three timelines covering three different eras, combining a millennial police procedural strand set in Québec, with two historical threads, one set in post-WWII Québec in 1949, and the other older still in 1899, in Belle-Époque Paris. The focus of each Read More
Millar, Kay & Taylor: #20booksofsummer23 nos 5, 6, 7
Amazing that I’m on target with my 20 books. Famous last words probably as I have four blog tours lined up for July, and the rest of the review pile beckons not to be left behind. But, I only have one more mega-hectic week at school, followed by a busy few days, then I’m at Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: Time Shelter
First Saturday of the month, time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. This month Read More
Bellies by Nicola Dinan
If I were to reduce this novel to a single line, it would be: ‘Boy meets boy, but when boy becomes girl, can love survive?’ This is the essential plot of Bellies, but that would be doing this complex novel a real disservice, the relationships aren’t as straightforward as that suggests. We follow the lives Read More
Ira Levin and Jeff Vandermeer – #20booksofsummer23 nos 3 & 4
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin Decades ago, I first encountered Ira Levin when I read The Boys from Brazil, published in 1976, which was also the first time I’d ever heard of Nazi Josef Mengele – and what a chilling experience that was – and then to see Gregory Peck playing against type in Read More
Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
Back in 2011, I read Kevin Wilson’s debut novel, The Family Fang, about a family in which the parents were performance artists, involving their two kids in their art stunts, who naturally, having grown up being used in the name of art, become seriously mucked up adults. It was rather brilliant: idiosyncratic, very quirky, bittersweet Read More
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, Duke of York’s Theatre
My third West End theatre trip in a month, was to see the West End revival of this play by McDonagh – he of wonderful movies: In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin (which I loved, but forgot to review) and also partner of Phoebe Waller-Bridge – and I had Read More
Announcing another Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week
When Facebook reminded me that I had memories from June 2016, I was shocked to think it was that long ago that I last hosted a Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week! Beryl is one of my favourite authors, and I first hosted a BBRW in 2012, repeating in in 2016. Amazingly I still have a few Read More
‘Reading the Meow’ for #20booksofsummer23
Goodness knows, I’ve read enough books featuring prominent cats over the years, so when Mallika of Literary Potpourri announced ‘#ReadingtheMeow23‘ I went straight to my shelves. Whatever I read would have to also fit with Cathy’s 20 Books of Summer. However, I couldn’t initially find one there, and had to resort to some googling. I Read More
Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
I must admit that Psyche and Eros are two characters from ancient Greek and Roman mythology, Eros also being known as Cupid to the Romans, that I know little about. I know nothing about Psyche other than her name; of course, I know a tiny bit more of Eros as the God of Love who Read More
The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M John Harrison (20B#1)
Below is my review of my first read from my TBR for #20booksofsummer23 hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. I look forward to this reading challenge every summer now, as it really does encourage me to get some books out of my TBR where they languish for far too long generally. I’m pretty sure when Read More
Black River by Nilanjana Roy
I’m delighted to be one of today’s stops on the Pushkin Vertigo blog tour for this gripping noir novel by Indian author Nilanjana Roy. Although billed as a murder mystery, and there is indeed a murder to be solved, it is also very much a ‘state of the nation’ novel bringing the religious politics of Read More
Patriots by Peter Morgan
My second theatre trip of half term week, on a train strike day, necessitating taking the Oxford Tube coach – getting the last seat to London, and having to wait for the third bus on the return leg – It was after 1am when I got home! However, it was totally worth it to see Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: Friendaholic
First Saturday of the month, time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. This month Read More
Zona: A book about a film about a journey to a room, by Geoff Dyer
Recently, I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky for Shiny New Books (see here), on the occasion of the Folio Society producing a beautifully illustrated reprint of the 2012 Gollancz restored translation. Not only a book I’ve long wanted to read, but to receive a review copy Read More
The Man in the Corduroy Suit by James Wolff
I’m delighted to be the penultimate stop on the blogtour for this book, the third standalone spy novel of ‘The Discipline Files’ series by James Wolff. A new author to me, and one I’ll definitely be returning to since reading this novel. The book begins with a top secret memo, outlining the admission of a Read More
The Motive and the Cue by Jack Thorne, directed by Sam Mendes
I’ve got several theatre trips coming up, so rather than cram them into my Watchlist posts, I’m giving my trip last night a separate review. Jack Thorne’s prolific career continues with this new play directed by Sam Mendes, starring Mark Gatiss, Johnny Flynn and Tuppence Middleton. The Motive and the Cue (the title will explained Read More
A Bond novella for the coronation!
On His Majesty’s Secret Service by Charlie Higson Although I’ve largely given up on reading the latest Ian-Fleming-estate-sanctioned James Bond novels, when I spotted that Charlie Higson had written a novella to celebrate the coronation of King Charles, I couldn’t resist, being a big fan not only of Higson’s own thrillers (the latest reviewed here), Read More
Kerching! It’s so 1980s – Money by Martin Amis
I originally reviewed this book back in 2015, but thought I’d republish a slightly tweaked review after hearing of Martin Amis’ death this weekend. It’s also spurred me to dig out my copy of London Fields to re-read as one of my 20 Books of Summer. Here’s my review: So, earlier in the summer we Read More
Another weirdly fabulous novel from Russell Hoban
Kleinzeit by Russell Hoban I’m gradually working my way through Hoban’s novels. I have quite a lot of them on my shelves, some in the old Bloomsbury editions, others in the more recent Penguin Modern Classic livery reprints. Last year I read his only full-on SF novel Fremder from the middle of his ouevre; this Read More
Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen
Translated by Megan E. Turney This debut novel is already a prize winner in Madsen’s home country of Denmark, and it’s easy to see why. At first we love to hate the protagonist, Hannah, an established writer of much praised and exquisitely crafted prose novellas, who has fallen into that mid-career slump; her backlist is Read More
A Game of Deceit by Tim Glister – Blog tour
Exotic locations are de rigueur for the period spy novel genre, but none are more suited for a bit of cold war paranoia and plenty of double-crossing than Hong Kong in the mid 1960s. That is the setting for half of Tim Glister’s third Richard Knox spy novel. I haven’t read the first two – Read More
The Cook, his Wife and the Waitress – Service by Sarah Gilmartin
I won’t be the first to write a tagline reminiscent of the ace 1989 Peter Greenaway film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, for this book. They have little in common other than a cook and a wife, but I couldn’t resist, sorry! A more apt comparison would be with Stephanie Danler’s Read More
Skin Deep by Antonia Lassa
Translated by Jacky Collins I’m delighted to be today’s stop on the blogtour for Corylus Books’ first publication translated from Spanish – and Skin Deep is an absolute winner! At just 114 pages, it may be brief, but as crime novels go it’s not a quick read, for it has real depth. There is so Read More
