The Bookseller of Hay by James Hanning is a biography of Richard Booth, the second-hand bookseller who helped establish Hay-on-Wye as the book town of Wales. To say that Booth, the self-proclaimed King of Hay, was a bit of a character is something of an understatement. His various eccentricities, ambiguities and contradictions make him an intriguing subject for a biography, with examples of extreme generosity and determination as well as callousness and selfishness. Although Booth wasn’t involved in the development of the Hay Festival, it seems unlikely that this major annual event would exist in Hay without his early support for the second-hand book trade in the town. I particularly enjoyed reading about Booth’s colourful life in the 1960s and 1970s among the many recognisable landmarks in Hay. Many thanks to Little Brown Book Group for sending me a review copy via NetGalley. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Colm Toibin
Books I Read in November 2025
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Five Books I’ve Read Recently
I normally write a post about books I have read but haven’t reviewed at the end of the year but I may start doing review round-ups a bit more frequently so I don’t fall too far behind. Here are my thoughts about five books I’ve read in the past three months or so:
Dubbed as a “Facebook thriller”, Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach tells the story of socially awkward Leila, who is approached by Adrian Dervish to impersonate Tess Williams online to create the illusion that Tess is still alive after she has committed suicide. It’s not uncommon for me to have mixed feelings about a book but I usually have some idea of whether I either liked it or disliked it overall. However, the reason I didn’t review ‘Kiss Me First’ around the time I read it back in March was because I genuinely had no idea how I felt about it. The concept was cleverly manipulated but I still felt the implausible elements of the story generally outweighed the plausible ones, particularly the pretence of keeping Tess “alive” online. Either way, it would certainly be an interesting novel to discuss in a book group. Continue reading
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The Man Booker Prize Shortlist Readings
Last night, I went to the Southbank Centre to listen to the shortlisted authors for this year’s Man Booker Prize give readings from their nominated novels. I really enjoyed a similar event for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in June so I bought a ticket for this one as soon as possible.
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The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
‘The Testament of Mary’ by Colm Tóibín will probably be the only book longlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize that I will definitely be able to read before the shortlist is announced in a few weeks time. The story is told from the point of view of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is still grieving for her son many years after his death and does not believe that he is the son of God. Her testament in her old age focuses mainly on her son’s last days before the crucifixion and what happened afterwards. Continue reading
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