May’s first batch of paperbacks features lots of Irish writers beginning with last year’s Booker winner, followed by a close contender. I’d been so impressed by Paul Lynch’s Beyond the Sea I was delighted when Prophet Song popped through my letterbox. Set in a near future Ireland in the grips of an increasingly authoritarian regime […] The post Paperbacks to Look Out For in May 2024: Part One appeared first on A life in books ..read more

I jumped at the chance to read James, Percival Everett’s reimagining of Mark Twain’s American classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I read as a child, oblivious to the fact that Twain meant it as a satire. Everett’s novel turns the narrative around, unfolding the story from the point of view of Jim, the slave […] The post James by Percival Everett: ‘I am a sign. I am your future. I am James.’   appeared first on A life in books ..read more

Scarlett Thomas is an idiosyncratic writer several of whose novels I’ve enjoyed, not least the slightly bonkers The Seed Collectors. I was a little disappointed in her last novel but was keen to read The Sleepwalkers when I spotted it on NetGalley. It follows a newly married couple who’ve been booked into a hotel on […] The post The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas: Cliffhanging to the end appeared first on A life in books ..read more

All but one of the books in this second instalment of May’s new fiction are by Irish writers, beginning with one from one of my favourites. Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is the sequel to his much-loved Brooklyn, taking up the story of Eilis Lacey in the 1970s, twenty years after we left her. Eilis is living […] The post Books to Look Out For Out for in May 2024: Part Two appeared first on A life in books ..read more

This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy in as many hands as I could. I still remember the delight at hearing the news that the quietly brilliant Larry’s Party had won what […] The post Blasts from the Past: Larry’s Party by Carol Shields (1997) appeared first on A life in books ..read more

I’m beginning May’s first batch of new fiction with a novel I dived into as soon as I spotted it on NetGalley having loved the author’s previous two books. Sarah Leipciger returns to her native Canada for Moon Road, the story of a missing girl and her parents who receive news decades after she disappeared. […] The post Books to Look Out For Out for in May 2024: Part One appeared first on A life in books ..read more

I took a chance on Paul Yoon’s collection The Hive and the Honey, not having come across this Korean American author before. Comprising seven stories, it ranges far and wide across time and continents exploring Korean experiences of displacement and identity. As ever, I’ll pick out my favourites although almost all deserve a mention. I […] The post The Hive and the Honey by Paul Yoon: A quietly striking collection appeared first on A life in books ..read more

I didn’t read Lisa Ko’s debut, The Leavers, but I do remember it being very well received. It was that and its structure that made me plump for her new novel, Memory Piece, which follows three Asian American women who first meet in 1983, aged twelve, and maintain a connection into their seventies when the […] The post Memory Piece by Lisa Ko: ‘Even if we went months or years without speaking, we were still connected’ appeared first on A life in books ..read more

That subtitle is Help Wanted’s touching dedication which had me predisposed to like Adelle Waldman’s novel from the outset. My only experience of retail is bookselling which has left me with a fellow feeling for all who work in this low wage sector which has become increasingly insecure. Help Wanted is about the logistics section […] The post Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman: ‘To all retail workers’ appeared first on A life in books ..read more

I was surprised and delighted when a proof of Mary Costello’s new short story collection popped through my letter box. I’d had no inkling that there was a new one on the horizon from her. Academy Street, her 2014 novella, is one of my favourite books, epitomising the spare, quietly understated style I so admire. […] The post Barcelona by Mary Costello: A curate’s egg appeared first on A life in books ..read more