David Hebblethwaite
davidheb.bsky.social
David Hebblethwaite
@davidheb.bsky.social
Adventures in reading, small publishers and fiction in translation especially. Yorkshireman down south.

www.davidsbookworld.com
We on the shadow panel have chosen our winner of the #InternationalBooker2025, in advance of tomorrow's official announcement. We chose On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle (tr. Barbara J. Haveland). More info here: shadowingtheibp.substack.com/p/we-have-a-...
We Have a Decision!
Our Shadow Panel picks their 2025 International Booker winner...
shadowingtheibp.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM
From the #InternationalBooker2025 longlist: Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (tr. Helen Stevenson). I found this a powerful experience.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/04/07/i...
#InternationalBooker2025: Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (tr. Helen Stevenson)
Small Boat is the first novel by French philosopher Vincent Delecroix to be translated into English. It’s inspired by real events from 2021, when a dinghy taking migrants from France to the U…
www.davidsbookworld.com
April 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (tr. Sophie Hughes): short novel about a young ex-pat couple searching for the perfect life. I particularly like the way it embodies its own theme, skating over the surface of what it depicts. Book 2/13 read from #InternationalBooker2025.
March 10, 2025 at 6:51 PM
My first stop on the #InternationalBooker2025 longlist: A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre (tr. Mark Hutchinson), a poignant novel of friendship.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/03/04/i...
#InternationalBooker2025: A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre (tr. Mark Hutchinson)
The Narrator of this novel remembers his late friend Fanny. She struggled with her mental health, and could often appear distant, holding herself still within her own body. But there was a lighter …
www.davidsbookworld.com
March 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Recent reading: The Bridge Between Worlds by Gavin Francis. A fascinating tour of bridges and what they mean, combining history, geography, memoir, culture, and more besides.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/01/30/t...
@drgavinfrancis.bsky.social
@canongate.co.uk
The Bridge Between Worlds: A Brief History of Connection by Gavin Francis
In his preface to this book, Gavin Francis writes that his interest in bridges began in childhood, from the Forth Rail Bridge just a few miles from his house, to a Ladybird book about bridges (whic…
www.davidsbookworld.com
February 3, 2025 at 1:43 PM
For #JanuaryInJapan, thoughts on Touring the Land of the Dead by Maki Kashimada (tr. Haydn Trowell), a pair of novellas about contrasting family relationships.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/01/03/t...
Touring the Land of the Dead by Maki Kashimada (tr. Haydn Trowell)
2025 has begun, and we are starting the year in Japan. This is the first book by Maki Kashimada to appear in English translation, and it collects together two novellas. I would say the main theme c…
www.davidsbookworld.com
January 3, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by David Hebblethwaite
My first review for this year's #JanuaryInJapan looks at Rin Usami's 'Idol, Burning' (translated by Asa Yoneda), more J-Pop than J-Lit ;)
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/01/03/i...
‘Idol, Burning’ by Rin Usami (Review)
A Happy New Year to one and all, and a very big welcome to #JanuaryInJapan!  As is usually the case, the first month of the year round these parts is set aside for J-Lit, and I’ve got lots of…
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com
January 3, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
January 1, 2025 at 10:38 AM
My favourite books read in 2024: featuring Jeffrey Lewis, Hiroko Oyamada, Helene Hanff, and Noémi Kiss-Deáki.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/12/30/a...
A selection of 2024 favourites
2024 was another year when, for whatever reason, I just didn’t click with reading in general as much as I would have liked. There’s no point dwelling on it, I just hope this will turn a…
www.davidsbookworld.com
December 30, 2024 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by David Hebblethwaite
The week is done at @strangehorizons.bsky.social, and ICYMI we had quite a brace of reviews:

Catherine Baker on @jedediahberry.com's "spontaneity";
@davidheb.bsky.social on Ali Smith's "abstraction"; and
@redfernjon.bsky.social on @amendlocke.bsky.social's "engrossing ... worldbuilding."
9 December 2024
Visit the post for more.
strangehorizons.com
December 13, 2024 at 7:45 PM
Ali Smith's new book, Gliff (the first of two linked volumes) is set in a future of banal oppression. It's particularly concerned with the abstract dimensions of oppression and resistance. I've reviewed it for @strangehorizons.bsky.social...
strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/...
Gliff by Ali Smith
Gliff is only half of Smith's project.
strangehorizons.com
December 12, 2024 at 6:52 PM
Hello there! I have been neglecting this account, and intend to post more often from now on...
December 12, 2024 at 6:09 PM
To mark Han Kang's Nobel Prize win, I've looked back over my thoughts on her work. www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/10/11/a...
A Han Kang retrospective
I was really pleased to learn that Han Kang had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature yesterday. She has become one of my favourite writers that I’ve discovered during the lifetime of th…
www.davidsbookworld.com
October 11, 2024 at 5:50 PM
Han Kang won the Nobel Prize? Excellent!
October 10, 2024 at 12:35 PM
My latest subscriber copy from @galleybeggars.bsky.social. This book is a real gem.
July 24, 2024 at 5:28 PM
This novel invigorated me: a protagonist living in the shadow of his famous namesake, with the possibility of other paths through life hovering just out of reach.
May 29, 2024 at 6:09 PM
I've just watched Memento for the first time in over twenty years, and discovered that I'd completely misremembered the ending...
May 27, 2024 at 12:25 PM
Some thoughts on After Nora by Penelope Curtis, a novel of family history and characters seeking understanding through art... www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/04/26/l...
Les Fugitives: After Nora by Penelope Curtis
In her first novel, art historian Penelope Curtis imagines two episodes from her family’s history. The first part concerns Nora (Penelope’s grandmother, whom she never knew), a painter …
www.davidsbookworld.com
April 26, 2024 at 11:58 AM
I enjoyed An Untouched House by Willem Frederik Hermans (tr. David Colmer): a microcosm of wartime horror beneath its own mask of civility. It also had the balance of specific and abstract that I found missing from Prophet Song.
February 25, 2024 at 9:07 AM
Today I'm part of a blog tour for the new 'Futures' series of book-length essays, published by Melville House. I'm looking at The Future of Songwriting by Kristin Hersh. www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/02/23/m...
Melville House ‘Futures’ blog tour: The Future of Songwriting by Kristin Hersh
Today I’m taking part in a blog tour for the new ‘Futures’ series from Melville House – short books in which authors reflect and speculate on the possible future of their subject. The first f…
www.davidsbookworld.com
February 23, 2024 at 8:24 AM
I've read Prophet Song. I quite liked the abstract nature of its dystopia to begin with, but ultimately I felt it really needed something more tangible, more specific.
February 22, 2024 at 7:20 PM