And your starter for ten is: who wrote popular 2009 novel ‘One Day’? Did you know the answer? It was, of course, author and screenwriter David Nicholls, who is best-known for his third novel ‘One Day’, which I do own a copy of but haven’t yet got round to reading; ‘Starter for Ten’ is his […]
What would life be like if your brother communicated with you through the wind, the waves, the movement of a fox? What would life be like if he communicated with you despite being dead? Meet 19 year old Matthew Homes. He’ll tell you he doesn’t hear voices. But he does hear his brother. ‘I’ll tell […]
How would you react if you were arrested for murder? Would you be angry? Frightened? Horrified? Or would you reflect on the prevalence of earthquakes in your adopted city? If the latter sounds like you then you might get along very well with Lucy Fly, English-born, Tokyo-based and newly minted murder suspect. What’s it about? […]
Don’t judge this book by its seriously creepy cover. (Seriously. Creepy.) If you did, you might miss out on a treat. What’s it about? 13 year old Harriet is trying hard to grow up. Her reluctant entrance into adolescence is made worse by her parents’ reactions to her long-dead brother: her father has moved away, […]
Remember how awful Nick and Amy Dunne were in ‘Gone Girl’? They just got worse. ‘Gone Bitch’ – one of two parodies of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling ‘Gone Girl’ – is a cruder take on the original with even more unlikeable characters. N.B. If you’ve not yet read ‘Gone Girl’ but intend to do so then […]
If you enjoy ambiguity and unreliable narrators, you’ll love this. ‘The Girl on the Stairs’ is Louise Welsh’s fifth novel but the first I’ve read (thanks book group!). After this, I’ll definitely be checking out her back catalogue. What’s it about? Heavily pregnant Jane has just moved to Berlin with her Lebenspartner. While Petra works, […]
If you like to start your Christmas shopping early – very early – then take note: this is a great stocking filler. I should know: I found it in mine this year (thanks Santa!) and had devoured it by the end of the day, almost before the Brussels sprouts were cold and certainly before all […]
Being sentenced to die is tough. Waiting for the sentence to be carried out is even tougher. Hannah Kent’s intriguing debut novel ‘Burial Rites’ focuses on one woman’s experience of this difficult time. What’s it about? Our perceptions of people and the power of story-telling. Agnes Magnúsdóttir has been condemned to die for her part […]
When your job involves recommending books to young people, it’s a good idea to read at least a few of the more popular YA books, which is why I read Suzanne Collins’ ‘The Hunger Games’. What’s it about? Sometime in a dystopian future, North America has been divided into twelve districts and the Capitol. As […]
Blurbs can be tricky things: they often reveal too much, but sometimes they hint too little at key aspects of the tale within. Having recently read and mostly enjoyed Gillian Flynn’s thriller ‘Gone Girl’ I was keen to explore her back catalogue. ‘Sharp Objects’ is her debut novel – and it’s even darker than the […]