The Literary Sofa
New York
Guest Author – Julie Owen Moylan on Women and Shame
A big thank you for the enthusiastic response to the first part of my Summer Reads selection last week. I’ve been doing this for over ten years and it’s fantastic to see people adding books I’ve raved about to their TBRs, especially ones they’d never heard of. That’s unlikely to be the case with the … Continue reading
Guest Author – Jami Attenberg on Playing with Form
Books come through my letterbox almost every day, an intriguing mix of the eagerly awaited, surprise discoveries and (occasionally) things so far off my radar that it’s quite funny. All keen readers have a few favourite ingredients which will send a book to the top of their TBR pile and for me that is the … Continue reading
Summer Reads 2014
*SEE END OF POST FOR COMPETITION WINNERS* I’m very excited to unveil the Literary Sofa SUMMER READS 2014. From a field of over 50 titles considered, the twelve books I selected reflect the breadth of my taste and hopefully also yours. You’ll find crime and mystery, a memoir, comic and tragic family sagas, intriguing tales … Continue reading
Book Review – Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
I was supposed to be working this morning but realised my time would better spent telling you about Jenny Offill’s second book Dept. of Speculation. I read it last night in a single sitting so these are just a few uncut thoughts – for once it makes sense not to overanalyse. You’ll see what I mean in a … Continue reading
Book Review – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
It’s daunting to attempt to do justice to Donna Tartt’s 784 page novel The Goldfinch in a mere thousand or so words. Last night I was part of a large audience who saw her in conversation with Kirsty Wark at St James’s, Piccadilly. If the weight of expectation surrounding the release of what is only … Continue reading
The City and the Road – August in America
It’s good to be back on the Literary Sofa again after spending almost all of August in the States. If you know my blog or my fiction you already know that I have a thing about America which dates all the way back to my very first taste of it as a 22-year-old. Somewhat bizarrely, … Continue reading
Guest Author – Mary Beth Keane on Fictionalising a Historical Figure
Most writers say they learn from every book they read and I’d agree with that. Whilst it’s very valuable to observe how others handle a similar theme, style or genre, for me there’s a particular fascination, often mixed with admiration, to reading something I wouldn’t attempt myself, and that includes the fictional portrayal of a historical … Continue reading
Guest Author – Karl Taro Greenfeld on his 10 Favourite Novels-in-Stories
Any novel set in New York City, whether historical or contemporary, stands a good chance of catching my eye but two things in particular attracted me to Karl Taro Greenfeld’s first novel Triburbia: the chance to discover Tribeca, a neighbourhood I know only very superficially, and an interest in novels which tell the same events … Continue reading
Fiction Hot Picks for 2013
2012 has been an incredible first full year for the Literary Sofa and after months of research, tip-offs and an intense reading marathon, it’s time to unveil my Fiction Hot Picks for 2013. It’s very rewarding when people tell me my blog is where they go to find out about the best new fiction, and compiling these listings is one … Continue reading
Week in New York – A Disaster
As you may know, I was in New York last week. I got home yesterday feeling very disoriented; it’s not just down to jetlag, it’s as if I’ve come to land in a strange place I barely recognise. That place is normality. My son S and I thought we were going for a relaxing time seeing … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 