~ Emily Alone, by Stewart O’Nan ~ 80 years old, and widowed, Emily had “never wanted to be eighty. Practically, she’d never wanted to outlive Henry”. Living in affluence in a large house in Pittsburgh, Emily has Arlene, her (even...
~ The Margot Affair, by Sanaë Lemoine ~ It is said that the French have more relaxed sexual attitudes than the uptight Brits and Americans. Indeed, French presidents Mitterand, Chirac, Sarkozy and Hollande have all had multiple affairs with various...
~ The Knife, by Jo Nesbo ~ I waited quite a long time to read this book, delayed somewhat by the lockdown, but it was well worth the wait. Having already read the previous eleven Harry Hole books by Nesbo...
~ Troubled Blood, by Robert Galbraith ~ The latest Robert Galbraith is quite the tome, clocking in at an impressive 927 pages. Goody, I thought. Many evenings and weekends of reading a capable author showing off her craft, her undeniable...
~ Fortune Rocks, by Anita Shreve ~ This is one of Shreve’s older novels and I confess I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It is also about double the length of most of her...
~ Baking cakes in Kigali, by Gaile Parkin ~ Set squarely in Mma Ramotswe territory is Gaile Parkin’s Baking Cakes in Kigali, featuring a plump entrepreneurial African woman who solves human problems along with the cakes she sells. There are...
~ The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country. By Helen Russell ~ This is one of those rather unsatisfying books where your interest in the topic or content keeps you reading, but where the...
Coming-of-age millenial stories must be thick on the ground these days. I haven’t been seeking them out, but several have come my way in the last few months — two by Sally Rooney, one by Naoise Dolan, and now, Elif...
The novel opens with the protagonist, Andrew (Andy) Nocera) being tried in court for being caught “giving a blow job off Interstate 85 one hot summer night”.The sentence is one year’s probation, during which there must be no more arrests,...
Lifelong Florida resident Carl Hiassen has carved himself a unique niche in the 45-odd years he’s been writing novels. Set firmly in his home state, his novels typically feature a wild cast of environmental activists, law personnel, corrupt politicians and...
If you ever wanted to get inside a marriage of two mismatched personalities, this is an excellent novel for that experience, in so far as one can ever get ‘inside’ someone else’ marriage. Tyler does an excellent job of somehow...
Naoise Dolan’s debut novel, Exciting Times, will inevitably be compared to Sally Rooney’s Normal People and Conversations with Friends. Dolan and Rooney are both young female Irish authors, and both write about young female protagonists who are very self-aware, intelligent,...
~ Snow on Falling Cedars. By David Guterson ~ It is surprising just how difficult it can be to review a book that one has liked immensely. The plot of this novel revolves around a trial in 1954 of Kabuo...
~ Dear Edward, by Ann Napolitano ~ This well-intentioned novel deals with the aftermath of a tragedy — a plane crash in which only one person survives, an 11-year-old boy called Edward. Edward Adler (known as Eddie), his older brother...
~ Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland. By Sarah Moss ~ I have so enjoyed all of Moss’ fiction that I bought her non-fiction book without hesitation. And I have not been disappointed. Her careful, thoughtful, skilful writing in...
Sharp Super-Sleuth
Undignified distortion of a classic character
Host Women
Family Values
“Champor-champor” culture
A beguiling 19th-century botanist
California Romance
Skin colour, politics and poverty
Mycelium: “a way of life that challenges our animal imaginations”
If Intelligence and Advanced IQ are Taboo
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