The Literary Sofa
Book Group
Guest Author – Louise Walters on the Role of Books in Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase
It’s always a real pleasure to welcome a writer who’s also a loyal follower of the Literary Sofa to talk about their debut novel. Today’s guest Louise Walters has been reading this blog for as long as I’ve been writing it and we’ve also got to know each other in real life. Watching her on the … Continue reading
Fiction Hot Picks 2014
No matter what happens, I never stop reading so despite an exceptionally busy few months I am very excited to unveil my Fiction Hot Picks 2014. As always, I considered dozens of titles, reading far more than the final twelve in full, to come up with a selection of well written new novels to appeal to … Continue reading
Keeping Up with the Literary Joneses (or The Tyranny of the TBR)
Before I joined Twitter and started blogging (both less than two years ago) I had never even come across the term TBR (To Be Read). Once I’d finished reading the novel for my monthly book group, I’d take a casual look on my shelves (always well stocked because the book stall at the school jumble … Continue reading
My Poolside TBR List 2012
I’ve been amazed at the interest in my Top 10 Summer Reads 2012 – 3,000 hits and counting! The thing is, I’ve already read them, so for my long-anticipated two weeks in the south of France, I needed to cast the net wider. Some of the titles below will be familiar, some new, and you … 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
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
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
Book Review: What I Did by Christopher Wakling
Chris Wakling must be sick of comparisons. His fifth novel, What I Did, is constantly being compared to Room (Emma Donoghue), The Slap (Christos Tsiolkas) and The Curious Incident.. (you know the one, by Mark Haddon). On the other hand, these are all huge bestsellers, which bodes well for his new book. I’ve read all the above, … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 