Advent – Jane Fraser

There's a special sort of joy in reading a novel set in a landscape you love and know well. Better yet if the novel is beautifully written by an exciting new voice in literature. And Jane Fraser's debut novel, published by Honno Press, is just that. Even if you don't know the Gower before you …

Grief is the Thing with Feathers – Max Porter

This has been on my radar since I found and fell in love with Lanny, Porter's second book. And man, this one has undone me. It's unlike anything else I've read, a verse narrative exploring the aftermath of loss, and the route grief takes when your bereavement counsellor is a large, rude, trickster crow. It …

Circles of Deceit – Paul CW Beatty #Blogtour

Circles of Deceit is the second in the Josiah Ainscough Casebook series and, like the first novel, Children of Fire, is a brilliantly imagined visit to Nineteenth century Northern England, a period rich in drama and social change. This time, the backdrop is the General Strike of 1842 and the struggles of the Chartist movement. …

Books I want to Read in 2021

Whatever 2021 has in store, there's certainly lots of good books coming out this year. Here's five on my list to read: Light Perpetual - Francis Spufford. Golden Hill was one of those standout reads that leaves you laughing at the sheer audacity of the tone and that ending. In this new story, Spufford is …