Contender for Best Title Ever?

I often read by word-of-mouth, taking recommendations from trusted friends and persuasive book reviews. Otherwise, I’m a pedestrian buyer of books. By which I mean, I walk into places – book shops, school fetes, charity fairs – and see what takes my fancy. I judge a book by its cover. By the name of the …

Even Without a Plot

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Gao Xingjian, warned in a postscript to his short story collection: There is no plot, as is found in most fiction. I read a lot of short stories, in anthologies and in collections. I enjoy the form and I usually find some enjoyment in the individual examples. Rarely …

A further instalment in writers writing about writers writing

Seriously, when I’m deciding on the next book to read, I don’t go searching for novels about writers writing. And yet, so often in the last couple of years these stories just keep turning up. The latest novel to fall in with the theme literally arrived on my doorstep in a box with a bunch …

This Is Why

This is why I read. Every now and then, and often enough to keep me addicted, I come across a treasure that I want to hold to my breast and weep over. The type of book I can’t put down but at the same time, want to read in small bites so it can last …

Small Coastal Towns

Remember those compare and contrast essay questions we used to struggle with all through high school? They were a favourite of teachers and I suspect still are. I’ve been forced to think about this form of essay question because by coincidence I just read two short story collections back to back and feel compelled to …

Novel Narrators

Ian McEwan’s ‘Nutshell’ (2016) is narrated by an unborn child. As a writer, any choice we make about point of view limits what can be told, unless we go full omniscient. So you’d think the womb would be quite a limiting factor. This foetus manages to be both totally aware and very chatty. We can …

Release the Kraken

I spent Invasion Day 2017 going back to reread John Wyndham’s ‘The Kraken Wakes’ (1953). The invasion is from space in this instance. The aliens take up residence in The Deeps of the oceans and attempt to depopulate the planet. I recently saw ‘The Kraken Wakes’ on a list of Climate Change novels. This new …

Fine China

I feel like a guest coming late to the feast. Eleven previous publications are listed in the front flyleaf of China Miéville’s latest publication, a slim novella bursting with hefty ideas. I know I have gaps in my reading, and sometimes get on little hobbyhorses to get into new pastures. Saul Bellow – tick finally, Thomas …