The Politicians by Don Walther
Coruscating look at the world of politics. If you’ve ever looked at the politicians in your country and wondered why they’re all so bad, this novel goes a long way to explaining it. The book is set in a Caribbean…
A different take on holiday reading
With the newspapers and blogs full of recommendations for books to take with you on your summer holidays, I decided to do something a little different. My suggestion is not to take any books at all – bring some back…
The Pleasures of Exile by George Lamming
I loved George Lamming’s novel In the Castle of my Skin, but wasn’t so impressed by this collection of essays. There were some wonderful ideas in here, but the book as a whole felt disjointed. First of all, for those…
On Scandinavian literature
The darkness looming over the Scandinavian Countries has crossed the sea and reached Great Britain and the US. With shows such as The Killing and The Bridge reaching international success and Borgen winning a BAFTA award, New Danish Drama has…
Why reading is social rather than solitary
Although reading is termed solitary, some of my best times on holiday have been when we've been sitting beside each other, each immersed in our own book. And in fact here reading becomes very social, because a laugh will make…
The reflection of read things
The enthralling The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997) is what I’ll be musing about. I read the novel earlier this year and was completely taken by both the beauty of it and Roy’s writing. Its narrative is…
The Murder of Halland by Pia Juul
The book begins with a murder. Soon detectives are on the scene, and the victim’s life is being unravelled piece by piece, revealing a double life and several people with possible motives. But this is not your average detective novel.…
The Body is a Temple by Luke Bitmead
First of all, I should declare an interest. As regular readers will know, I won the Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary in 2008, an award set up in Luke’s memory, and winning that award launched my career as a writer. So…
How reading can improve your love life
Have you ever tried reading aloud with someone else? Have you noticed differences in the reading process?