Alas, nothing particularly spooky. But here are five recommendations to read as we move into this next month. BIG KISS, BYE BYE, Claire-Louise Bennett Fitzcarraldo Editions, pp. 168 Claire-Louise Bennett is the author of critically acclaimed works of auto-fiction Pond (2015) and Checkout 19 (2021), which respectively detail the daily workings of a writer’s life;…
As we begin a new month, here are five suggestions from the books which have been published in September. GRACE PERIOD, Maria Judite de Carvalho Two Lines Press, pp. 168 Maria Judite de Carvalho was one of Portugal’s foremost authors, as well as one of the acutest observers of womens’ lives under the oppressively patriarchal…
Five books in translation describing far-away places and experiences to make back-to-school and back to work a little less daunting. LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR, Pirkko Saisio Penguin Books, pp. 288 Written in a distinctive staccato prose which toggles between persons as well as time periods, Lowest Common Denominator tells the story of the author, one of…
Whether you are lucky enough to be on the beach somewhere or just hanging out in the local park, summer is prime time for lying down and spending hours engrossed in a book. Here are five suggestions for all tastes this month. SALT WATER, Charles Simmons Pushkin Press, pp. 192 Set over the course of…
June is time for big decisions which will likely shape the rest of summer, not least when it comes to books. Here are five recommendations to pack alongside that holiday page-turner. THE MÖBIUS BOOK, Catherine Lacey Bloomsbury Circus, pp. 240 Catherine Lacey is the author of recent literary sensation Biography of X which followed the…
Born in Germany but writing in English, Katharina Volckmer is one of a handful of female contemporary writers (another being Missouri Williams) who still loves to antagonise the reader and shatter a few taboos along the way. Her first novella The Appointment—published by Fitzcarraldo in 2020 and recently brought to the stage by Call My…
Just in time before the end of the month and the official start of summer, here are five books—mostly UK debuts, a couple somewhat farther afield—that will keep you reading while waiting for good weather. GUNK, Saba Sams Bloomsbury Circus, pp. 240 Set mostly around a grimy student club in Brighton—Gunk, the debut novel by…
Born in 1947 in a small Piedmont village, Giuseppe Penone might be Italy’s most important contemporary artist working today. A key member of the Arte Povera movement, Penone started out with a group of young Italian artists spearheaded by curator and critic Germano Celant who in the late 1960s sought to critique consumerism and industrialism…