The Literary Sofa
Isabel Costello
On Location: #3 Coney Island, Brooklyn
Time for another post in the On Location series of places which feature in my novel Nothing Happens for a Reason (though obviously I don’t tell you why!). Coney Island is synonymous with old-fashioned beach and amusement park culture and a cherished New York icon. It’s beyond this little piece to go into the fascinating history of Coney Island or the great controversy … Continue reading
Book Groups – What’s Your Story?
It’s amazing to think that something so important in my life came about because of a casual comment to someone I didn’t know very well, just four little words: ‘I want to write’. It was probably the first time I’d said it out loud and I felt like a pretentious idiot, but the lovely smiley lady … Continue reading
Book Review – The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
I love spreading the word about good fiction, especially by debut authors – you can take my reviews as recommendations because I don’t have time to spend on books I haven’t enjoyed. It’s fascinating taking a critical look at how and why a novel works but it can be surprisingly hard to pin down. Some … Continue reading
Being Selective – How do you choose which books to read?
Those who follow my blog won’t be surprised to hear that my favourite kind of conversation goes something like this: Friend: Read anything good lately, Isabel? Me: Oh, I’ve just read this amazing book set in……about…. What have you been reading? Repeat ad infinitum. I’ve read so many excellent novels in the last few months … Continue reading
Book Review – The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Rewind 20 years: Under a bright blue California sky, sun beating down, my (now) husband and I are hanging out with our friend Adam in San Diego. There is beer, popcorn, hotdogs and despite all of this I’m bored out of my mind. I’m at a baseball game. Fastforward to 2010, when my sons went … Continue reading
Book Review – Jubilee by Shelley Harris
My memories of childhood are surprisingly indistinct. When I say ‘childhood’, I mean up to the age of 11 or so (I recall the next 10 years with excruciating clarity). I guess I was happily growing up in the country, playing (OK, fighting) with my sister, having a generically uneventful time. Of course a few … Continue reading
Book Review – We Had It So Good by Linda Grant
Last week’s blogpost 2011 – My Year in Books was about the way certain novels become significant in our lives in a way which transcends the words on the page. A couple more of mine are The Line of Beauty (2004) by Alan Hollinghurst which awed me to the point of putting me off trying to write (ridiculous, … Continue reading
2011 – My Year in Books
2011 has been a brilliant year for me, not least in terms of what I’ve read. I only started keeping a record in 2010 and 38 full length novels seemed a respectable total, but this year it’s been 55! This came as a surprise as I’ve been working flat out on my own book as … Continue reading
Columbia Road Market in Words & Pictures
Yesterday was the day for one of our festive family traditions. By that, I mean my own little family, which is me, my husband and our two sons age 13 and 9, whose childhood experiences of Christmas are different to mine in every way. I took a few pictures, which gave me the idea for this … Continue reading
Fiction Hot Picks for 2012
Having now finished my own novel, I’m really looking forward to what 2012 may bring and I think readers of fiction are in for a great year with some very exciting new releases. I had a difficult but interesting time deciding what to include in my Hot Picks for 2012, but these are the ones which promised … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 