No 525 Secrets and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty (Book 3 of #20booksofsummer)
Northern Exposure is my monthly series where I look at literature from Northern Ireland. I have three books by Northern Irish writers in my 20 Books of Summer stack and the first one up is Secrets and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty. Secrets and Other Stories is Bernard MacLaverty’s first short story collection, originally published…
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No 526 Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (Book 2 of #20booksofsummer)
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters debut novel is a rich and hugely entertaining picaresque romp through the lesbian world of Victorian London. Following the literal and metaphorical journey of Nan Astley from her sheltered family life in the seaside town of Whitstable to treading the boards in the music halls of London, Tipping the Velvet…
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N0 527 A Number by Caryl Churchill (book 1 of #20booksofsummer )
‘Anything Can Happen’ plus a Reading Round-Up!
No 537 Happiness by Mary Lavin #readingirelandmonth19
Mary Lavin is probably one of the best short story writers you have never heard of. A former staffer at The New Yorker in its heyday, Joyce Carol Oates has called her one of the ‘finest short story writers of the twentieth century’. Her stories are, in the main, concerned with the domestic sphere and…
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No 543 Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
I know that the RIP Challenge always takes place in October, but there is something about January – the short, dark days – that I think lends itself to a good creepy read. Ira Levin’s novel is a modern horror classic, probably so well-known because of the expertly executed film adaptation, but even if…
Looking back and looking forward: my favourite reads of 2018 and plans for 2019!
No 555 Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
‘The prospect of death is what gives life the whole of its piquancy. Life would be so much more pointless if there were no feeling that it must end.’ Muriel Spark Memento Mori is a novel about death which is also extremely funny. It is introduced as a mystery: an anonymous phone caller is contacting…
