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The Rich People Have Gone Away by Regina Porter
New York City, 2020. Darla Jacobson and her husband Theo Harper are about to leave their Brooklyn apartment building to spend the summer...
Mar 133 min read


Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood
Great Granny Webster is a great little novel by Caroline Blackwood. In 1977, it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and legend has it...
Mar 112 min read


Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
A young woman falls in love, marries, starts her career, becomes a mother, experiences the joys and challenges of parenthood with her...
Mar 42 min read


Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
I loved The Bee Sting , which I read when it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023, and when my manager at the bookshop in Dublin...
Feb 263 min read


Bad Behaviour by Mary Gaitskill
“Joey felt that his romance with Daisy might ruin his life, but that didn’t stop him.” This line from the story Daisy’s Valentine opens...
Jan 302 min read


Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Martyr! is the debut novel by Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar and was one of last year’s buzzier books. I’m always curious about...
Jan 283 min read


Baumgartner by Paul Auster
It has been a good while since I have found the time to sit down and write up my thoughts on a book. So the books I want to review keep...
Jun 6, 20243 min read


Possession by A.S. Byatt
Roland Mitchell‘s life can only be described as dull. He has dedicated his life to studying Victorian poet Randolph Ash, without making...
Jan 30, 20243 min read


Sula by Toni Morrison
Isn’t it wonderful to have these authors you just feel entirely safe with? I can open any Toni Morrison book and I know for sure that I...
Jan 11, 20243 min read


Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead, 1956. John Ames is dying. In his seventies, the preacher knows his time on earth is coming to an end. He should be ready to meet...
Jan 4, 20242 min read


The Visitor by Maeve Brennan
After weeks and weeks of reading through and reviewing the Booker longlist, I spent a couple of weeks away from new literary releases and...
Dec 20, 20232 min read


Booker Prize 2023: Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry
For nine months now, Tom Kettle has got to enjoy the quiet solitude of retirement after ending his career with the garda. From his rented...
Nov 23, 20232 min read


Booker Prize 2023: All the Little Bird-Hearts by Victoria Lloyd-Barlow
Sunday has quiet day and currently eats only white foods. She cannot drink anything that is not fizzy and feels best burying her hands in...
Nov 22, 20233 min read


Booker Prize 2023: The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Penang, 1921. Lesley and Robert Hamlyn are expecting an important visitor. “Willie” Somerset Maugham, who has been travelling through...
Nov 21, 20232 min read


Booker Prize 2023 - A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò
Nigeria – a country marked by extreme poverty and breath-taking wealth – is home to Eniola and Wúràolá, the two protagonists of Ayọ̀bámi...
Nov 19, 20232 min read


Booker 2023: Western Lane by Chetna Maroo
Now that Gopi’s mother has died, it is up to her and her sisters to try and keep their father from falling apart. The only thing he still...
Nov 16, 20232 min read


Booker Prize 2023: Pearl by Siân Hughes
For some reason I expected not to enjoy this novel. Based on some blurb or review, I’d saved it in a similar category to Study for...
Nov 14, 20232 min read


Booker Prize 2023: How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney
In the fictional town of Emory, Eoin takes a walk with his 13 year old son Jamie who can’t stop talking for a second, filled with...
Nov 13, 20233 min read


Booker Prize 2023 - Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein
A young woman moves to an unnamed Northern country to stay with her older brother as a housekeeper. Here she faces not only the strange...
Nov 7, 20232 min read


Booker Prize 2023 - Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
I finished Prophet Song by Paul Lynch a few weeks ago, but I could not sit down and write up my thoughts about this novel right away,...
Nov 6, 20234 min read
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