6 Apr 2016
DOWN STATION: Simon Morden’s Dark Fantasy Proves Part Of A New Series – Book Review
Morden’s fantasy begins well and scarily but soon becomes irritating, with reams of familiar detail, lots of yakking, a certain overstatement and, most…
Books – Page 12
6 Apr 2016
FAR FROM TRUE: Linwood Barclay’s Next In The ‘Promise Falls’ Series – Book Review
Following on from Barclay’s similarly-doorstop-like A Tap On The Window (which you might do well being intimately acquainted with before you tackle this one)…
6 Apr 2016
PAIN KILLER: Comedy writer N.J. Fountain’s Powerful Psychological Thriller – Book Review
The first novel from Fountain (best-known until now as a comedy writer) is a vividly realised thriller that benefits greatly from its unusual plot, although…
6 Apr 2016
THE NARROW BED: Sophie Hannah’s Latest Psychodramatic Thriller – Book Review
The prolific Hannah’s latest is a taut psychological thriller that can be enjoyed without detailed knowledge of the ‘Culver Valley’ series, which is rather…
6 Apr 2016
THE SICK BAG SONG: Nick Cave’s Memoir Of Life On Tour Is Wonderfully Nick Cave-ish – Book Review
Not a work of fiction like his And The Ass Saw The Angel and The Death Of Bunny Munro , this one-of-a-kind description of life on the road as only Nick Cave…
5 Apr 2016
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF KAIJU: 27 TALES OF MONSTER MAYHEM – Book Review
The latest in the rather mammoth ‘Mammoth’ series (which features offerings upon topics as diverse as Sudoku, Westerns, the Vietnam War, Dracula, Shark Attacks…
4 Apr 2016
Yuki Chan in Brontë Country: An Eccentric And Slow Moving Story About Secrets And Ghosts – Book Review
Yuki Chan is a Japanese student who travels to the UK to unravel tragic family secrets. Ten years earlier her mother toured Brönte country and left behind a…
30 Mar 2016
HOW TO WATCH A MOVIE: A How-To Guide From UK Author David Thompson – Book Review
Thomson’s latest in a seemingly annual series of film-related tomes sounds like it might be a how-to guide for the bases of cinema studies, and yet this…
30 Mar 2016
THE MOVIE DOCTORS: Amusing Lists From The Minds Of Simon Mayo + Mark Kermode – Book Review
Mayo and Kermode (of the UK’s Kermode And Mayo’s Film Review radio show and podcast) here adopt the notion that they’re ‘Movie Doctors’, and therefore diagnose…
24 Mar 2016
HOW TO SOUND CULTURED: MASTER THE 250 NAMES THAT INTELLECTUALS LOVE TO DROP INTO CONVERSATION – Book Review
Thomas W. Hodgkinson and Hubert van der Bergh (Icon) 2015, 382pp, RRP $24.99
23 Mar 2016
BRAVE ENOUGH: A MINI INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR THE SOUL by Cheryl Strayed – Book Review
Strayed, who wrote the memoir Wild: A Journey From Lost To Found (which was, of course, filmed as just Wild with Reese Witherspoon), here offers a book even…
20 Feb 2016
The Last Wilkie’s: Jon Steiner’s Story Collection Combines Sharp Observation With Fearless Creativity – Book Review
The stories in this collection range from the extremely brief ( Gail in which Gail attempts to print some work and fails) to the lengthy (the eponymous The Last…