The Literary Sofa
Books
Book Review – The English Monster by Lloyd Shepherd
I’ve never been drawn to historical fiction, probably because I hated history at school and gave it up at the earliest opportunity. But in fact, some of the novels I love definitely fall into this category: anything by Sarah Waters; John Harding’s Florence & Giles set in Victorian era New England which was one of … 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
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
Book Review: Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
For once, my book group didn’t take issue with the novel which won the Booker prize this year, but when we decided to read one from the shortlist, Pigeon English was the unamimous choice even though I don’t think any of us was actually looking forward to it. Debut author Stephen Kelman’s impetus to write … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 