Tag Archives: Fiction
December 29, 2014 · 4:59 pm
I do this survey every year so here it is again….
1. Best book you read in 2014? (You can break it down by genre if you want) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was a great start to the year and The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber was another highlight. For non-fiction, H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald really stood out for its original blend of memoir, biography and nature writing.
2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t? As with The Rehearsal, the overly complex structure of The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton prevented me from enjoying it as much as I had hoped.
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2014? It’s a very intense read but The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud was a pleasant surprise as I didn’t really get on with The Last Life at all last year. Continue reading →
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Tagged as 2014, Blog, Blogging, Blogs, Book, Book Blogs, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Literature, Man Booker Prize, News, Non fiction, Reading, Reviews
December 21, 2014 · 5:06 pm
I review the majority of the books I read. However, mostly due to lack of time, I don’t blog about all of them. Here are my thoughts about nine other books I read in 2014 but didn’t review earlier in the year.
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Tagged as 2014, Blogging, Book, Book Blogs, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Literature, Novels, Reading, Reviews
December 15, 2014 · 4:37 pm
‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel is a post-apocalyptic novel which opens with the sudden death of Arthur Leander, a Hollywood actor starring in a theatre production of ‘King Lear’. He collapses on stage and succumbs to the Georgia Flu, a pandemic which virtually wipes out the human race in a matter of days. The survivors form the Travelling Symphony, a troupe of actors and musicians moving across territories performing classical theatre and concerts, including Kirsten, a child actress who was with Arthur when he died. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Dystopia, Emily St. John Mandel, Fiction, Literature, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Science Fiction, Station Eleven
December 7, 2014 · 6:33 pm
Earlier this week, it was announced that ‘Girl Online’ by Zoe Sugg also known as YouTube vlogger Zoella, was the fastest selling debut novel of all time having shifted 78,109 copies in its first week of sales in the UK. However, in an article published in The Telegraph today, Penguin Random House confirmed to The Sunday Times that “to be factually accurate you would need to say Zoe Sugg did not write the book Girl Online on her own”.
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Tagged as Blogging, Book, Fiction, Ghostwriters, Ghostwriting, Girl Online, News, Novels, Publishing, Reading, Vlogging, Writing, Zoe Sugg, Zoella
December 5, 2014 · 9:00 pm
Bloomsbury Book Club Grantchester Christmas Special
On Wednesday night, I attended the Bloomsbury Institute Book Club Grantchester Christmas Special event at Bedford Square in central London with author James Runcie and scriptwriter Daisy Coulam discussing how the first book in the Grantchester Mysteries series, ‘Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death’ was dramatised for television by ITV. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Bloomsbury, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Drama, Events, Fiction, Grantchester, ITV, James Runcie, Publishers, Reading, Scriptwriting, Television
November 30, 2014 · 8:17 pm
Set in small town Ohio in 1977, ‘Everything I Never Told You’ by Celeste Ng tells the story of sixteen year old Lydia Lee who is found dead at the bottom of a nearby lake in a suspected suicide. Her Chinese-American father James and her Caucasian mother Marilyn are completely distraught as are her older brother Nathan and her younger sister Hannah. However, one of them may know more than they are letting on about what really happened to Lydia before she died. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Amazon, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Celeste Ng, China, Everything I Never Told You, Fiction, Novels, Ohio, Race, Reading, Reviews
November 29, 2014 · 7:46 pm
This week, analysis of 40,000 active Goodreads users (20,000 men and 20,000 women) revealed that readers prefer books by authors of the same gender. The results found that women rate books written by female authors more highly than those written by men and 90% of the 50 most read books by men were written by men.
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Tagged as 2014, Book, Chick Lit, Feminism, Fiction, Gender, Goodreads, Joanna Walsh, Literature, Novels, Reading, Robert Galbraith, Women
November 23, 2014 · 2:53 pm
There is a wide range of Japanese fiction available in English thanks to the popularity of authors such as Haruki Murakami, Shuichi Yoshida, Hiromi Kawakami and many more. However, contemporary Chinese fiction translated into English is somewhat less prominent, so I was pretty surprised to come across a brand new copy of ‘Decoded’ by Mai Jia in a National Trust secondhand bookshop recently. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, China, Chinese, Decoded, Fiction, Literature, Mai Jia, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Spies, Translated Fiction, Translation
November 16, 2014 · 6:58 pm
As I read and enjoyed ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘The Blind Assassin’ and ‘Cat’s Eye’ before I started writing this blog, I thought it was high time I read more of Margaret Atwood’s work. ‘Oryx and Crake’ is the first book in Atwood’s critically acclaimed dystopian MaddAddam trilogy of novels and tells the story of Snowman – also known as Jimmy – who is believed to be the only human survivor left in a post-apocalyptic world along with genetically modified creatures called Crakers. As Snowman makes a journey back to the place where the destruction occurred which wiped out the human population, we learn through flashbacks how the world came to be almost destroyed and what happened to his friend Crake and the mysterious Oryx. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Booker Prize, Dystopia, Fiction, Literature, Margaret Atwood, Novels, Oryx and Crake, Reading, Reviews
November 1, 2014 · 9:13 pm
Following the Man Booker Prize-winning ‘Wolf Hall‘ and ‘Bring Up the Bodies‘, the final part of Mantel’s acclaimed trilogy about the life of Thomas Cromwell, ‘The Mirror and the Light’ isn’t due to be published until the end of next year at the very earliest. Presumably brought out to keep Mantel’s fans satisfied in the meantime, ‘The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher’ is a collection of ten short stories, her second collection after ‘Learning to Talk’ was published in 2003. Having read three of Mantel’s novels and her memoir, I was keen to see how her shorter works of fiction compared.
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Bring Up The Bodies, Fiction, Hilary Mantel, Man Booker Prize, Reading, Reviews, Short Stories, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Wolf Hall
October 26, 2014 · 4:38 pm
When I read ‘Carrie‘ and ‘11.22.63‘ a couple of years ago, I said I would like to read more of Stephen King’s other fiction in between his first novel and what was his most recent novel at the time. Originally published in 1987, ‘Misery’ tells the story of Paul Sheldon, a writer who is attempting to move away from his popular series of historical romances featuring Misery Chastain towards serious literary fiction. After being badly injured in a car accident, Paul is “rescued” by Annie Wilkes, a nurse who also happens to be his “Number One Fan”. However, Annie is devastated to learn that Paul will be killing off her favourite character and forces him to write a new novel where Misery is brought back to life. Or else. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Horror, Misery, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Stephen King, Thriller
October 19, 2014 · 8:04 pm
‘Us’ by David Nicholls tells the story of Douglas Petersen, a middle-aged biochemist whose wife, Connie, suddenly announces that she thinks their marriage of twenty years has “run its course” and that she wants to leave him. Despite their problems, the couple set off on their long-planned family holiday touring western Europe with their teenage son, Albie, before he leaves home to study at university. However, Douglas hopes the trip will help him win Connie back and convince her to save their marriage. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Booker Prize, David Nicholls, Europe, Fiction, Literature, Man Booker Prize, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Us
October 15, 2014 · 9:45 pm
Last year, I went to the Man Booker Prize shortlist readings event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre. This year, I was lucky enough to win tickets to the same event which was held at the Royal Festival Hall on Monday and hosted by Kirsty Wark.
This year’s shortlisted novels are:
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
J by Howard Jacobson
The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee
How to be Both by Ali Smith
Continue reading →
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Tagged as Ali Smith, Book, Book Awards, Booker Prize, Events, Fiction, Howard Jacobson, Literature, London, Man Booker Prize, Neel Mukherjee, Novels, Reading, Richard Flanagan
October 11, 2014 · 5:05 pm
‘The Children Act’ by Ian McEwan tells the story of Fiona Maye, a High Court judge in the Family Division who presides over cases involving the welfare of children. One particular case involves Adam Henry, a seventeen year old Jehovah’s Witness whose devoutly religious parents reject a lifesaving blood transfusion to treat his leukaemia. Meanwhile, Fiona is also facing a crisis in her personal life as her husband, Jack, announces that he is leaving her for another woman. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Ian McEwan, Law, Literature, London, Medicine, Novels, Reading, Religion, Reviews, The Children Act
October 4, 2014 · 6:47 pm
‘Irène’ and ‘Alex’ are the first two books in Pierre Lemaitre’s series of crime novels set in Paris and featuring Commandant Camille Verhoeven. ‘Irène’ was the first novel in the series originally published in France in 2006 but was the second to be translated into English following the success of its sequel ‘Alex’ which won the CWA International Dagger for best translated crime novel of the year in 2013. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Alex, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Crime, Fiction, France, French Literature, Irène, Novels, Paris, Pierre Lemaitre, Reading, Reviews
October 2, 2014 · 8:35 pm
I was lucky enough to receive an advance review copy of Michel Faber’s new novel ‘The Book of Strange New Things’ which is due to be published in the UK this month. It tells the story of Peter Leigh, a Christian minister who is chosen by a mysterious corporation called USIC to embark on an out-of-this-world mission to a planet called Oasis in a far-away galaxy. Expecting a hostile reception from the native population, Peter is surprised to find the Oasans are keen to learn from the Bible which they refer to as The Book of Strange New Things and discovers that he isn’t the first pastor to visit them. However, Peter’s pregnant wife, Bea, is struggling to survive as various apocalyptic events unfold back on Earth which is putting a strain on their extremely long-distance relationship. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Christianity, Fiction, Literature, Michel Faber, Novels, Reading, Religion, Reviews, Science Fiction, The Book of Strange New Things, Under the Skin
September 28, 2014 · 5:18 pm
I feel very spoilt having two of my favourite authors publish new books this summer. First, ‘Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage‘ by Haruki Murakami and now ‘The Paying Guests’ by Sarah Waters. Set in London shortly after the First World War, unmarried Frances Wray and her widowed mother have fallen on hard times and are forced to rent out rooms at their home in Camberwell. Frances becomes increasingly close to their young and modern “paying guests”, Leonard and Lilian Barbour. However, her relationship with Lilian soon triggers an unexpected and violent chain of events. Continue reading →
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Tagged as 1920s, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Historical, Literature, London, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests, Women
September 27, 2014 · 10:27 pm
Last weekend, I went to a book launch in Cambridge for Cliff James’ debut novel ‘Of Bodies Changed’. The novel tells the story of Jackie, who travels to the South Downs in search of her childhood home. As she tries to find out what happened to her estranged brother, Chris, she uncovers a number of dark family secrets. Based on what Cliff describes as a “close encounter” with the Church as a teenager, the story follows Jackie as she is introduced to a world of heathens, priests and paganism. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Cambridge, Events, Fiction, Novels, Of Bodies Changed, Publishing, Reading, Reviews
September 21, 2014 · 1:00 pm
Due to be published in the UK next week, ‘The Rosie Effect’ is the sequel to Graeme Simsion’s bestselling ‘The Rosie Project‘. Now married and living with Rosie in New York City, socially awkward genetics professor Don Tillman has successfully completed the Wife Project. However, just as Don is about to announce that Gene is coming to stay, Rosie announces that she is expecting a baby – the biggest possible disruption to Don’s ordered life. His careful research into pregnancy and fatherhood inevitably lands him into trouble very quickly. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Comedy, Fiction, Graeme Simsion, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Romance, The Rosie Effect, The Rosie Project
September 12, 2014 · 5:13 pm
‘The Post-Birthday World’ by Lionel Shriver tells the story (or stories) of Irina McGovern, a children’s book illustrator in her early forties living in London with her partner of nearly ten years, Lawrence Trainer, a fellow American expatriate. When Irina finds herself alone with Ramsey Acton, a famous snooker player, her life takes diverging paths in alternate chapters where in one life, she starts a new relationship with Ramsey and in another life, she stays loyal to Lawrence. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Lionel Shriver, Literature, London, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Romance, The Post-Birthday World
I do this survey every year so here it is again….
A Little Blog of Books 
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