I am probably not going to have the chance to read Jhumpa Lahiri’s Man Booker Prize longlisted novel ‘The Lowland’ any time soon as it isn’t due to be published in the UK until the end of September so I thought I would try a collection of her short stories instead. ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ contains eight exquisitely written stories. The first half of the collection consists of five stand-alone stories while the second half is more of a novella in three parts featuring the same characters, Hema and Kaushik. Continue reading
Take Me to the Castle by F. C. Malby
Firstly, I must thank F. C. Malby for her patience as she sent me a copy of her first novel ‘Take Me to the Castle’ several months ago and I have only just got round to reviewing it. Set in the Czech Republic in the aftermath of the collapse of communism, ‘Take Me to the Castle’ tells the story of a young woman called Jana and how the tumultuous political changes in her home country are affecting her life following the recent death of her dissident father. Much of the story also focuses on a love triangle between Jana and her two potential suitors, Milos and Lukas. Continue reading
Filed under Books
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Winner of the 2012 Guardian First Book Award, ‘The Yellow Birds’ by Kevin Powers is about two young soldiers from Virginia fighting in the Iraq war in 2004 on their first tour of duty in Al Tafar. The story is told from the point of view of twenty-one year old Private John Bartle as he describes what happened to him and fellow soldier, Daniel Murphy, who we quickly learn will not make it home alive. The chapters alternate between the war in Iraq and the events after Bartle’s homecoming as details slowly emerge of exactly what happened to them.
Filed under Books
The Man Booker Prize Longlist 2013
The longlist for the Man Booker Prize 2013 was announced today. 151 books were submitted for consideration and the final 13 are:
Five Star Billionaire: Tash Aw We Need New Names: NoViolet Bulawayo The Luminaries: Eleanor Catton Harvest: Jim Crace The Marrying of Chani Kaufman: Eve Harris The Kills: Richard House The Lowland: Jhumpa Lahiri Unexploded: Alison MacLeod TransAtlantic: Colum McCann Almost English: Charlotte Mendelson A Tale for the Time Being: Ruth Ozeki The Spinning Heart: Donal Ryan The Testament of Mary: Colm Tóibín Continue readingFiled under Books
Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel
‘Giving Up the Ghost’ is Hilary Mantel’s memoir first published in 2003, six years before she won the Booker Prize in 2009 for ‘Wolf Hall‘. The ghosts in question are the ghost of her step-father, the ghost she saw in the garden at the age of seven and the ghost of the child she could never have. Continue reading
Filed under Books
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
‘Bad Science’ by Ben Goldacre exposes the manipulated statistics, flawed analysis and general misuse and/or bad practice of science by journalists, the pharmaceutical industry and other quacks. From medical trials which fail to include a control group to misleading cosmetic and health food marketing, the book examines the people and the data behind some of the weakest areas of scientific and health research. Continue reading
Filed under Books
J. K. Rowling Publishes Crime Novel Under Pseudonym
Today, I woke up to the news that J. K Rowling has published a crime novel called ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ under the name Robert Galbraith. Published about three months ago, the book has so far sold about 1,500 copies in hardback and tells the story of a war veteran turned private investigator. The publisher’s website confirmed that Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym but the true identity of the author has only just been revealed today. Continue reading
Filed under Books
The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a collection of short stories so when Lydia Davis won the Man International Booker Prize earlier this year, I decided to investigate her work. Over the last three weeks or so, I’ve been dipping in and out of this book which brings together four collections of her short stories: ‘Break It Down’ (1986), ‘Almost No Memory’ (1997), ‘Samuel Johnson is Indignant’ (2001) and ‘Varieties of Disturbance’ (2007).
Filed under Books
A Heart So White by Javier Marías
‘A Heart So White’ by Javier Marías tells the story of a newly-married interpreter called Juan, and his complex relationship with his father, Ranz. The opening chapter is a six-page paragraph which recounts the suicide of a young woman who we later learn was Ranz’s first wife, the sister of Juan’s mother. The mystery surrounding these circumstances is gradually revealed through a number of other events. Continue reading
Filed under Books
Five Reasons To Support Your Local Indie Bookshop
This week is Independent Booksellers Week. An interesting article in The Guardian yesterday outlined five reasons to support your local indie bookshop. In order from worst to best, they are:
5) To maintain property prices in your area: Maybe this is because I am neither a Daily Mail reader nor a property owner, but this seems like a very strange reason to support an indie bookshop. I suppose there is a tenuous link in that independent shops are generally found in nice places to live. However, it isn’t really at the top of my list of priorities…
Filed under Books
Back Story by David Mitchell
I love David Mitchell. Just to clarify, I am of course referring to the David Mitchell who stars in one of my favourite ever sitcoms, ‘Peep Show’, rather than the David Mitchell who wrote a really weird book called ‘Cloud Atlas‘ which I failed to finish earlier this year. ‘Back Story’ is David (‘Peep Show’) Mitchell’s memoir about his peaceful middle-class childhood, his experiences with Footlights at Cambridge University and his route to fame as a critically acclaimed actor and comedian. It definitely has nothing to do with ‘Cloud Atlas’ although Mitchell says he is frequently mistaken for the author of the bestselling book.
Filed under Books
The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell (and some musings on book covers)
Winner of the Costa Novel Award in 2010, ‘The Hand That First Held Mine’ by Maggie O’Farrell features two alternating narratives. The first one is set in the 1950s and tells the story of Lexie, a young woman who runs away to start a new life in the Soho area of London and falls in love with Innes Kent, a magazine editor. The second is set in the present day and tells the story of Elina, a young Finnish woman who has just had a baby with her partner, Ted. The two generations are linked, but how? Continue reading
Filed under Books
No Logo by Naomi Klein
If Don Draper from Mad Men was (a) a real person and (b) still alive in the 21st century having somehow avoided smoking or drinking himself to death, I am sure that he would have a lot to say about ‘No Logo’ by Naomi Klein. Described as “equal parts cultural analysis, political manifesto, mall-rat memoir, and journalistic exposé”, ‘No Logo’ has been one of the most controversial and widely talked-about books of the last decade, tackling the debates surrounding consumerism, branding and the anti-corporate movement. This tenth anniversary edition contains a new foreword which comments on some of the developments that have been made since ‘No Logo’ was first published in 1999. Continue reading
Filed under Books
Paris by Edward Rutherfurd
I won a copy of ‘Paris’ by Edward Rutherfurd through Waterstones who offer free copies of recently published books to cardholders through a prize draw in return for an honest review. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to copy my official review in full on my blog so you can read it here instead (not sure why my name hasn’t appeared next to it yet but it’s the 3 star review by the anonymous 23-year-old under the customer reviews tab). Continue reading
Filed under Books
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
‘The Crimson Petal and the White’ by Michel Faber tells the story of Sugar, a nineteen year old prostitute living in London in the 1870s in a brothel run by her mother. She is ‘bought’ by William Rackham, a perfumer, to be his exclusive mistress – a situation which takes her life in unexpected directions. The stories of William’s disturbed wife, Agnes, and his pious brother, Henry, are also woven in to this rich tapestry of a story teeming with detail on all aspects of Victorian life. Continue reading
Filed under Books
Books for Free
Yes, those three words always grab my attention too. Books for Free is an initiative set up by Healthy Planet which redistributes unwanted books which would otherwise have ended up in landfill. Centres have been popping up all over the UK since it was launched in 2010 and it has been a big success. It is primarily an environmental cause aimed at promoting recycling but also plays an important role in bringing communities together and encouraging more people to read and share books.
Filed under Books
A. M. Homes wins the Women's Prize for Fiction
I have just watched the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 live stream broadcast on the Huffington Post website. In the build-up towards the big announcement when Miranda Richardson said that the judges were looking for originality, accessibility and excellence, I thought: “It’s got to be ‘Flight Behaviour’! Or ‘Bring Up the Bodies’! Or ‘Life After Life’! One of those three will definitely win it!”
Filed under Books
The Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist Readings
Last night, I went to the Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist Readings event at the Southbank Centre in London and it was every bit as awesome as I hoped it would be.
Over the last couple of months, I have read five out of the six books on this year’s shortlist. In summary, ‘May We Be Forgiven’ by A.M. Homes was the most dysfunctional (i.e. my least favourite), ‘Flight Behaviour’ by Barbara Kingsolver was beautifully written, ‘Life After Life’ by Kate Atkinson had an intriguing concept which was handled very well, ‘NW’ by Zadie Smith had excellent dialogue and ‘Bring Up the Bodies’ by Hilary Mantel was an impressive interpretation of historical events. Sadly, I haven’t had a chance to read ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ by Maria Semple yet but I will try and seek out a copy in the future.
Anyway, this is my ticket for which I paid the princely sum of £6 (gotta love student discounts). I also took my copies of ‘NW’ and ‘Bring Up the Bodies’ with me.
Filed under Books
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
I read ‘Wolf Hall‘ nearly a year ago and to be honest, I can’t remember a great deal about the actual content of the story and had to force myself to finish it. Although the book was undoubtedly a quality piece of historical fiction, my main gripe about it was that there were too many characters and unless you have studied early sixteenth century British history in considerable depth then it is very hard to keep track of exactly who is who. However, although ‘Bring Up the Bodies’ also has a large cast of characters, this instalment of the trilogy is set over a much narrower time period (one year rather than three decades) and the story of Anne Boleyn’s downfall is likely to be much more familiar to readers than Thomas Cromwell’s early years (at least it was to me anyway). The fact that it’s over 200 pages shorter than ‘Wolf Hall’ also helps a lot. Continue reading
Filed under Books
NW by Zadie Smith
I gave a slightly mixed review of ‘White Teeth‘ by Zadie Smith last year. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would but it did have a few flaws. Over a decade after her first novel was published when she was just twenty-five years old, Smith now offers us ‘NW’, another ambitious and sprawling novel which focuses on four thirty-something characters – Leah, Felix, Natalie and Nathan – who all grew up on the Caldwell council estate in north-west London and find that their lives continue to overlap many years later. Continue reading
Filed under Books
A Little Blog of Books 
You must be logged in to post a comment.