Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks
My review of Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks, a fast-paced piece of literary fiction set among the Caribbean diaspora in 1970s London.
Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos
When I moved to New York City as a 22-year-old, I immediately loved the chaotic, frenetic energy of the place. I’d grown up in London, another big city, but this was something else. Manhattan seemed like a place where it…
November 2022 Reading Roundup
It was an all-fiction month for me in November, involving a 17-year-old sex worker in the US, a novelist seeing her stolen manuscript come to life, a young woman fleeing from London to Jamaica to escape an abusive relationship, and…
Borges Marathon, Part 11: The Approach to Al-Mu’tasim
Only Borges could get away with writing a book review of a book that doesn't exist.
Reading Roundup for October 2022
This month, I read a dense Serbian novel, an analysis of capitalism as a snake eating its own tail, and a couple of Elizabeth Strout's latest novels.
Borges Marathon, Part 10: Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
What would a world with no objective reality look like? How about a language with no nouns? Jorge Luis Borges explores these ideas in a fascinating thought experiment.
Snow by John Banville: Review
I was surprised by Snow: it's very different from John Banville's usual style. There's some beautiful prose as usual, but in the end it's quite a formulaic detective novel.
Reading Roundup for September 2022
The month started with my favourite novel of the year and continued to produce excellent reads—read on for my recommendations.
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid: Book Review
What would happen if white people started turning brown, one by one? Mohsin Hamid explores the question in his latest novel.