Title: The Mermaid of Black Conch Writer: Monique Roffey Publishing House: Peepal Tree Press Ltd Date of Publication: April 2nd 2020 Rating: 5 stars ‘’That morning David played her soft hymns he’d learnt as a boy, praising God. He sang holy songs for her, songs which brought tears to his eyes, and there they stayed,…
Month: September 2021
Strange Weather in Tokyo
Title: Strange Weather In Tokyo (original title: センセイの鞄) Writer: Hiromi Kawakami (translated by Allison Markin Powell) Publishing House: Granta Date of Publication: August 6th 2020 (first published 2001) Rating: 5 stars ‘’In the autumn there are dead leaves all over the place and in winter the bare branches are bleak and dreary.’’ A woman and…
The Inner Room
Τitle: The Inner Room Writer: Robert Aickman Publishing House: Faber & Faber Date of Publication: January 3rd 2019 (first published 1968) Rating: 5 stars ‘’I do not like this shop,’’ said my mother. ‘’It is a shop that has died.’’ Confession time: In my family, there has always been a strange conviction regarding dollhouses. I…
Mabon: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for the Autumn Equinox
Title: Mabon: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for the Autumn Equinox Writer: Diana Rajchel Publishing House: Llewellyn Publications Date of Publication: July 1st 2015 Rating: 4 stars ‘’Harvest festivals celebrated more than finished work for the season; they celebrated the capacity to survive the winter.’’ Mabon is arguably the most obscure tradition of the Old Ways…
Love and Other Thought Experiments
Title: Love and Other Thought Experiments Writer: Sophie Ward Publishing House: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Date of Publication: September 28th 2021 (first published February 6th 2020) Rating: 5 stars ‘’There is the physical knowledge of another person but can there be an understanding of what it is like to have their experience?’’ Eliza and Rachel…
Miss Brill
Title: Miss Brill Writer: Katherine Mansfield Publishing House: Penguin Classics Date of Publication: February 26th 2015 (first published 1920) Rating: 5 stars ‘’God forbid, my darling, that I should be a drag on your happiness.’’ Marriage a la Mode: The loving relationship of a young married couple changes when Isabel falls under the influence of…
Travelling Light
Title: Travelling Light (original title: Resa med lätt bagage) Writer: Tove Jansson (translated by Silvester Mazzarella) Publishing House: Sort of Books Date of Publication: 2010 (first published 1987) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Light is Jansson’s insistence that no man or woman is an island. No matter how much we may long to escape others, we can’t;…
There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories
Title: There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories Writer: Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (tr. by Anna Summers) Publishing House: Penguin Modern Classics Date of Publication: January 31st 2013 (first published January 1st 2011) Rating: 5 stars ‘’She’ll wait for his long-distance call in a phone booth at the post office. For…
Shoko’s Smile
Title: Shoko’s Smile (original title: 쇼코의 미소) Writer: Choi Eunyoung (translated by Sung Ryu) Publishing House: John Murray Press Date of Publication: August 19th 2021 (first published July 7th 2016) Rating: 5 stars “I dig my hands into the cold sand and gaze at the black, shimmering sea. It feels like the edge of the…
Hurricane Season
Title: Hurricane Season (original title: Tempradas De Huracanes) Writer: Fernanda Melchor (translated by Sophie Hughes) Publishing House: Fitzcarraldo Editions Date of Publication: February 19th 2020 (first published May 12th 2017) Rating: 3 stars ‘’They called her the Witch, the same as her mother; the Young Witch when she first started trading in curses and cures,…
Midsummer Mysteries: Secrets and Suspense from the Queen of Crime
Title: Midsummer Mysteries: Secrets and Suspense from the Queen of Crime Writer: Agatha Christie Publishing House: HarperCollins Publishers Date of Publication: July 22nd 2021 Rating: 5 stars ‘’Most details are insignificant; one or two are vital. It is the brain, the little grey cells’ – he tapped his forehead – ‘on which one must rely….
Earthlings
Title: Earthlings (original title: 地球星人) Writer: Sayaka Murata (translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori) Publishing House: Granta Date of Publication: September 29th 2020 (first published August 31st 2018) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Magical powers. I have to summon my magical powers. The power of darkness, the power of wind – any magical power will do, but I…
Human Terrain
Title:Human Terrain Writer: Emily Bullock Publishing House: Reflex Press Date of Publication: August 31st 2021 Rating: 5 stars “On the 18th of December 1989, when waves smashed Blackpool pier and leaves whipped against windows, she began to fight. In the upstairs bathroom, on a blue fish and smiling dolphin beach towel, the ambulance delayed under…
Lillian on Sunday
Title: Lillian On Sunday Writer: Lionel Walfish Publishing House: FriesenPress Date of Publication: July 30th 2021 Rating: 5 stars “October in Blenheim, Massachusetts brought with it, along with swirls of golden wind-blown leaves, a sense of eerie anticipation. A new academic year; teachers, new and old, freshman faces, and of course, the hazing. The town…
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