Read of the month

I watched a TV interview with the actor Steve Coogan ,who had been asked if he would play the role of Tom Michell in a film of the book. His initial response was, not surprisingly, that he did not want to be in a cuddly, cute movie about a penguin – it was not his thing... But is this book about a cute and cuddly penguin? I don’t think so – in my opinion there is so much more to this book than that. I love Tom Michell’s style of writing – it is very engaging, in particular I love…

One of the most magical books I’ve ever read. Chloe Dalton is a writer, political advisor and foreign policy specialist based in London but when lockdown hit, she returned to the countryside of her childhood to be close to her family. Finding a baby hare (leveret) on a road near her home on her daily walk she felt compelled to give it a chance at survival. The book chronicles their journey together and the challenges of caring for a leveret and preparing it to be able to survive in nature. The relationship that builds between Chloe and the leveret is…

Whilst this book features a dog, Gary, as a key character, it is most definitely not about dogs. It is a lesson in the differences in how human character effect our life choices. Benjamin is a young man who, as an educational practitioner, I would describe as being on the autistic spectrum. He struggles with his social skills and emotional intelligence and as he thinks to himself has an extensive knowledge of phobias. He lives with his nan and when she is taken in hospital, he is faced with the world on his own for the first time. His one…

There’s nothing wrong with being in love! To be recommended from time to time actually… And it’s quite normal if the initial sensation of ‘being in love’ blinds you to pretty much everything else in the world. Problems arise though if this blindness gets in the way with the fact that the country you’re Prime Minister of is sliding rapidly and inexorably into a state of war with Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire! And expect those problems to get worse if you treat your sweetheart to every state secret going, chuck secret dossiers nonchalantly out of your limousine window,…

The 2024 Booker Prize Winner and you quickly see why. The writing, the use of language is pinpoint in its crystalline observations. Harvey is brilliant at nailing description, particularly, in this case, of planet Earth from the ISS. A wordie like me shivers with appreciation (and jealousy) as she comes up with painterly poetry of various parts of the globe, like this one of Africa: ‘The rich purplish green of the vast Nile Delta. Brown becomes peach becomes plum; Africa beneath them in its abstract batik. The Nile is a spillage of royal-blue ink.’ Each page is studded with linguistic…

The Moomins? Aren’t they just for children? If you’re about to skip over this review because you’re far too grown-up for children’s books, please read on. As W.H. Auden said, ‘There are good books which are only for adults. There are no good books which are only for children.’ Moominvalley in November, the ninth and final book in Jansson’s Moomin series, was first published in Swedish in 1970 and in English in 1971. It was noted by the Times Literary Supplement as being ‘probably the cleverest’ of the series. While the earlier Moomin books focus on the joyous exploits of…

If there was ever a book that should not be judged by its cover, this is it. I wouldn't have picked it up had it not been for my daughter's insistence that it was a brilliant read and having devoured the book in one sitting, I have to agree and hence my choice for book of the month. My Husband is hard to describe and like nothing I have read before. A psychologically complex thriller and darkly funny, the story is set over the course of a week leading up to the day the narrator believes her husband is going…

In Kala, lyrical prose meets compulsive crime thriller: I devoured this book! Kala follows three old friends from the West Irish coast who find themselves together for the first time in years in the town where, fifteen years earlier, their wild and intoxicating ringleader, Kala Lanan disappeared. Though they are now adults, worlds apart, Helen, Joe and Mush are all still reckoning with the traumatic events of that summer, and, when history begins to repeat itself, the dark secrets, past and present, of their pleasant tourist hometown begin to unfold at an insatiable pace. I was sceptical at first that…

Where to even begin with the genre and style of this book. The closest description I’ve come across would be “auto-fiction,” which is already obscure enough as it is, but combine that with romance, a poetic style, and a realistic depiction of life for some. There you have the debut novel of Fatima Daas. I don’t find it surprising that it was an instant best-seller from a debut author. This style of writing was really new to me, and I have heard some say that it’s just too contemporary and out there to get into, but I loved how original…