I chose this book after hearing some podcasters go on and on about it, mostly in anticipation of her next/latest book (Intermezzo). Normal People is the one that established Rooney as an "it" writer, so it seemed the best place to start. (SPOILERS ALERT) The story was interesting but not especially novel. Connell and Marianne are schoolmates... Continue Reading →
A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor. Pub ~1955
This almost falls into the category of 'books I should read', but it's not really that level of classic. I recall reading somewhere that this collection was one of those quintessential set of stories about America, and that's what drew me to it. Unfortunately, I found the entire collection to be just okay. As with... Continue Reading →
Babel, by RF Kuang. Pub 2022
I picked this book based on the effusive praise from a customer in the local bookshop (there will be a few more in the next few months based on her recommendations). I didn't recognize the author's name, but upon starting this book realized I had read her before - her debut novel, Yellowface, which was so... Continue Reading →
The Director, by Daniel Kehlmann. Pub 2023. Translation by Ross Benjamin, pub 2025.
I was a bit hesitant to start this one after my disappointment with The Witch, another 2026 Booker nominee, and after it didn't win said prize. But I was intrigued by the subject, and I'm now very glad I didn't avoid it. It was excellent. The said director is GW Pabst, Austrian expressionist filmmaker from... Continue Reading →
The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans. Pub 2025
My second from the short list of Women's Prize books, this was another excellent novel. A bit more commonplace than the other, but still an excellent page-turner. The titular correspondent is Sybil, a septuagenarian woman living on her own in New England, who busies herself with the habits of reading and writing letters. We learn... Continue Reading →
The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher. Pub 1988
The Shell Seekers is considered a classic (e.g., on this BBC list) and has not been out of print in the nearly 40 years of its existence. This family saga centres on Penelope Keeling, 64yo (same age as the author) and living in a tidy little house on an acreage in Gloucestershire, and her three children. Through... Continue Reading →
Submission, by Michel Houellebecq. Pub 2015. Translation by Lorin Stein, pub 2015
I have no idea why this book ended up on my shelves. I must have read something about it, or perhaps I confused it with a different French novel. Regardless, I must have had some reason to get. Now that I've read it, I'm truly at a loss. Ugh. Just ugh. This is a satire,... Continue Reading →
Pandora’s Jar, by Natalie Haynes. Pub 2020
I took this book on a recent bus trip under the mistaken impression it was a novel. While I was initially disappointed to have no fiction in my travel book selection (the other being a non-fiction maths book), I stuck with it and found it enjoyable and enlightening. I've read two novels by Haynes (both... Continue Reading →
The Witch, by Marie Ndiaye. Pub 1996. Translation by Jordan Stump. Pub 2026
I took a chance on this one, as my previous short-book-I-wouldn't-normally-choose selection was so good. Also, because this is on the Booker International 2026 shortlist. Unfortunately, my streak of unusually good books ended with the previous one. This book was not good. With the promised plot involving witches, I was expecting a bit more...witchcraft, or... Continue Reading →
A False and Fatal Claim, by Iona Whishaw. Pub 2026
Another winner in the Lane Winslow saga, culminating in (at last) a wedding. Fans of the series (like me) are not disappointed in this latest instance of mystery and developments in time Kings Cove. The story here is a bit convoluted, with gangsters from the East making deadly mischief in the Nelson area, right around... Continue Reading →
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