Books

One of the reasons many of us read is to be taken to places and realities far beyond our own and to get to know people who otherwise might never be a part of our lives. It is enormous privilege to be given the chance to dive into a world Continue Reading

Diving headlong into a sequel novel without first reading the book that preceded it can be fraught with all kinds of difficulties. This is especially the case, when like this reviewer, you are unaware that the novel you have next on your TBR pile follows on from a well-received predecessor Continue Reading

There is something about the pursuit of something you love, whether its gaming, reading, paragliding or cake making, which feels inestimably pure and lovely. You are swept into this perfect place where great happiness and fulfillment resides, and where you step away from the rigours and demands of everyday life Continue Reading

It is a rare thing indeed to come across a book which is simultaneously page-turningly riveting, emotionally resonant and immeasurably clever without being insufferable. Bruny by the incomparable Heather Rose (The Museum of Modern Love) is just such a book, one which explores the murky political and personal aftermath of Continue Reading

In a world connected by jet planes, the internet and worldwide production chains, we take it as a given that getting things done fast and staying connected as we do so will always be a fact of life. But prolific writer M. R. Carey (The Girl With All the Gifts, Continue Reading

When you or someone you love is diagnosed with cancer, there are a million different things (or it feels like that, anyway) that you have to deal with, usually in a very short amount of time. What’s my prognosis? Are my options plentiful or not? Should I undergo chemotherapy or Continue Reading

If you take a look at the vast majority of sci-fi tales, humanity is everywhere … and in multitudinous profusion. Oft times we are the leading light of the universe, other times reviled but we are always there, somewhere, Terrans in the mix who make the galaxy go round. But Continue Reading

Finding your way through the many challenges that growing up demands is difficult at the best of times but even more, when the world in which all this growing up is taking place is almost inimical to this most universal of human transitions. Sonny, the protagonist of Vivian Pham’s evocatively Continue Reading

We all know that for all its occasional beauty and moments of fleeting inspiration, that we live in a broken, bestial and horrific world. That’s not being downbeat, simply realistic. The horrors of inequality, cruelty, abuse and murderous intent are all laid grimly bare in Deepa Anaparra‘s luminously revelatory book Continue Reading