It has been a little while since my last post. I decided to take a little break from blogging. I was struggling to enjoy reading or to find the time to dedicate to book blogging that is required to make it worthwhile. However, while I’ve been away, I finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I … Continue reading The Vegetarian by Han Kang
One of the emerging genres of the last few years has been folk horror. Books such as Water Shall Refuse Them by Lucy McKnight Hardy, Andrew Michael Hurley’s excellent trio of books The Loney, Devil’s Day and Starve Acre and Pine by Francine Toon are just a few examples of the superb books to be … Continue reading The Balance by Kev Harrison
What’s it about? Hamnet tells a story about grief, love and the bond between families. First, Hamnet’s twin sister falls ill with the suspected plague before Hamnet grows ill himself. Though all this, Agnes desperately tries to get word to her husband who is working away in London and to care for her ailing children. … Continue reading Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
What’s it about? Giovanni’s Room, first published in the UK in 1957, tells the story of David, a young American, living in Paris. His fiancé has travelled to Spain to do some soul searching and while she is away, he meets and become infatuated with a beautiful and mysterious Italian barman named Giovanni. What proceeds … Continue reading Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Hopeful Monsters is Roger McKnight’s debut short story collection. It features 17 stories which often include characters experiencing hardship or difficulty while eventually finding some sort of solace. It is published by the wonderful Storgy Books who were generous enough to send me a copy to review. Regular readers of my blog will know I … Continue reading Hopeful Monsters by Roger McKnight
His Bloody Project tells the story of Roderick Macrae (Roddy for short), a young man living in the Scottish Highlands in 1869, who is arrested for a triple murder. The story is told through a memoir written by Roddy, a report from an expert on criminal insanity and the transcript of the trial. It is … Continue reading His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
What’s it about? The story centres around Billy Pilgrim. It tells us his life story with focus as his time as a prisoner of war in the Second World War. Billy is far from your typical war hero. He is in fact a chaplains assistant. He carries no weapon, has no boots and is not … Continue reading Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
It has been a little while since my last review. With the world around us crazier than ever, reading has become much more difficult for me than usual. The only book I have managed to finish in the last two weeks was too boring to consider reviewing (a review in and of itself). Then, however, … Continue reading This Ragged, Wastrel Thing by Tomas Marcantonio
What’s it about? Southernmost is about a preacher from a small Tennessee town named Asher Sharp. After a flood devastates his parish, Asher tries to help everybody he can. This includes a gay couple, who have recently moved into the area. The church, including Asher’s own wife, cannot accept a gay couple into their community … Continue reading Southernmost by Silas House
What’s it about? This book tells the story of Noboru, a thirteen-year-old boy, Fusako, his mother, and the new love interest on the scene, a sailor called Ryuji. At the beginning of the story, Ryuji is a sailor on leave who has a fling with Fusako, but this then progresses to a more serious relationship … Continue reading The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima
Fallen Figs Book Blog 