Well, it’s only February but I already think that I’ve read one of the most extraordinary books of my year: The Glass Pearls by Emeric Pressburger (1966).  Most pleasingly, it was a twofer for…

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. (2009) French title: Révélations brutales. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (2021) French title: Le jeudi suivant. Guilt by Keigo Higashino (2021) French title: Le cygne et la chauve-souris. Translated by Sophie Refle Dangerous Road by Kris Nelscott (2000) French title: La route de tous les dangers. Translated by Luc Béranger.

This week I look at books read and reviewed, discover some of the best writing about literature on the blogosphere, announce both Reading Wales Month 26 and Reading Ireland Month 2026, keep up with…

Somehow I missed the announcement that Stu at Winstonsdad is hosting Hungarian Lit Month in February. We're already the 7th of the month, there's not much time to read and write about Hungarian lit before the end of the month, at least for me, considering how little time I have for this blog. I'm in though, I'm currently reading…

One indie press I’m always happy to spend time with is British Library Publishing; as is fairly obvious, I’m a huge fan of their Crime Classics and Women Writers imprints, and so #ReadI…

Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.

Alongside my ongoing aim of reading Anita Brookner’s novels in publication order, roughly one every six months, I’m trying to do the same with Margaret Drabble, albeit more slowly. Drabble’s first …

One of the things I love about independent presses is the wide variety of books they publish. Some will focus on new works which wouldn’t necessarily get a chance of exposure with a mainstrea…

Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.

My latest addition to the Moomin shelf in the Tove Trove library is the second book in the original series, published in 1946. This years its 80th anniversary is being celebrated by Moominites arou…

Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.

I first heard about Brandy Sour by Constantia Soteriou (2022, transl. Lina Protopara 2024) on Winston’s Dad’s blog – I thought quite recently but I can see it was August 2024! I get there eve…

Last night at the theatre, we saw a stage version of Svetlana Alexievich’s book, The Unwomanly Face of War (1983). Here’s the blurb of the book: This book is a confession, a document and a record of people's memory. More than 200 women speak in it, describing how young girls, who dreamed of becoming brides, became soldiers in 1941. More than 500,000 Soviet women participated on a par with men in the Second World War, the most terrible war of the 20th century.

This week I look at books read and reviewed, discover some of the best writing about literature on the blogosphere, keep up with a variety of literary anniversaries (including Robinson Crusoe Day, …

A couple of years ago, I read and thoroughly enjoyed A Silence Shared, a beautiful, enigmatic novel by the Italian writer, translator and artist Lalla Romano. First published in Italy in 1957, Tett…

I bought Turn Again Home (1951) by Ruby Ferguson when I was in Inverness a couple of years ago – largely on the strength of having enjoyed Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary about 20 years ago, but&#8…

January has felt, in many ways, like a very long month and yet at one point it seemed as if I’d read absolutely nothing at all, and that books were taking ages to finish. However, as you can …

Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.

Happy Colette’s birthday! I love her writing, and so I somewhat erratically try and post on her birthday. This year I decided it was a perfect impetus to finally get to her memoir The Evening Star …

For once, I’m delighted that I can recall exactly what prompted me to buy a book!! At the start of last year, I treated myself to a few of the new Penguin Archive 90 volumes, one of which was…

Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.

Whenever I take part in reading events and challenges, I normally try to pick books which I already have in the stacks; goodness knows the TBR is already gigantic enough without adding to it! Howev…

Home Truths by David Lodge (1999) French title : Les quatre vérités. Translated by Suzanne V. Mayoux. Bad Attitude by Agnes Owens (2003) Not available in French. I have read several David Lodge who was very popular in France. The Campus Trilogy, The British Museum Is Falling Down, How Far Can You Go? and Deaf Sentence…

Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.