Earth by John Boyne
‘Earth’ is the story of a young professional footballer who is on trial in a sexual assault case, in another concise and engaging story from master storyteller John Boyne.
Saltblood by Francesca De Tores
‘Saltblood’ is a rip roaring nautical epic based on the real life historical figure of Mary Read. Lyrical and wise, it explores freedom and and identity, all the while remaining a page turner.
Book Review - Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
‘Birnam Wood’ by Eleanor Catton is a page turning literary thriller driven by complex characters for whom the balance of power is constantly shifting.
Book Review - The Queen of Dirt Island - Donal Ryan
Donal Ryan delivers again with this wonderfully written story about four generations of women living under one roof. It’s about love and loss, joy and grief, and all the stuff in between, but is mostly about family.
Bad Relations - Cressida Connolly
Wonderfully written and well paced multi generational story that moves from the Crimean battlefields to an English summer in the seventies. An evocative, well paced story with interesting characters in a book I devoured in a couple of days.
Book Review - The Island - Adrian McKinty
Rip roaring and fun thriller about a family on a trip to Australia who just want to see some Koalas. What could go wrong?
Book Review - Grand Hotel Europa - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
A book which uses the faded glory of the Grand Hotel Europa to tell a story of how the continent trades on it’s past but at the expense of what? Also looks at populism and tourism, it’s a long book but informative and readable.
Book Review - The Saints of Swallow Hill - Donna Everhart
Strong work of historical fiction, following Rae Lynn and Del Reese in the turpentine camps of North Carolina, during the Great Depression. With both strong characters and a sense of place and time, could this be this years ‘Crawdads’?
Book Review - To Paradise - Hanya Yanagihara
Hanya Yanagihara’s latest spans two hundred years and 720 pages. It’s large in scope and at times unwieldy and this is my attempt to review it. Is it any good? As long as it is, best not to read if you are entering isolation……….
