Naomi and Nicola cause a stir

This weekend, I lost what was happening in the rest of my world because I was immersed in the first Historical Fictions Research Network conference, in Cambridge at Anglia Ruskin University. The CFP for the second one, in February 2017 at the National Maritime Museum in London, will be sent out in the next week or so. There are conferences … Continue reading Naomi and Nicola cause a stir →

Nicola Griffith’s dances with martial art: the Aud Torvingen novels

I’m writing about Nicola Griffith’s Hild for a conference, and realise that I haven’t read her three Aud Torvingen lesbian crime-fighter noir novels, which have only been published in the USA. (WHY, British publishers?) I happily begin reading the first one to arrive from Abebooks – Always (2007) - devouring its muscular prose as if … Continue reading Nicola Griffith’s dances with martial art: the Aud Torvingen novels →

T H White’s The Once and Future King

In this Really Like This Book podcast script catch-up from the King Arthur mini-series, I’m going to pause briefly to remind you that Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur is the main source for modern retellings of the stories about King Arthur. The best twentieth-century retelling, in my considered opinion, is the tetralogy by T H White called The Once … Continue reading T H White’s The Once and Future King →

Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s Tram 83

Just look at that cover art. I mean, just LOOK at it. There is no information in the English edition of Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s first novel, Tram 83, on who did the graphic design for the cover (I don’t count the bland branding agency who apparently sourced it), but by golly I hope they get … Continue reading Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s Tram 83 →

Mark Twain’s A Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

Launching into a new miniseries of podcast scripts from Why I Really Like This Book, the next few weeks will see a long and enjoyable wallow in stories about King Arthur. This will include early British history, fantasies about Merlin, and the utterly compelling theory that when the Romans pulled out of Britain, somehow the Saxon … Continue reading Mark Twain’s A Yankee in King Arthur’s Court →

No tentacles in Squid’s Grief, by D K Mok

Squid’s Grief is D K Mok’s third novel (The Other Tree is reviewed here, The Hunt for Valamon is reviewed here). Her defining characteristic so far is that she uses the same plot in different genres, and she has an affinity for fantasy fiction that speaks with a knowing wink. She’s a very good writer, … Continue reading No tentacles in Squid’s Grief, by D K Mok →

Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer

This time on the Really Like This Book's podcast scripts catch-up, I’m in very rural modern America, enjoying Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer, where women are coyotes caring for their young, and a widowed scientist finds a new way to keep the family farm running. This novel is so intensely involving that, the first time I … Continue reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer →

Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree

Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree was first published in May 2015, and last week it won the Costa Book of the Year award for 2016. I normally pay very little attention to book prizes, except to glance at the shortlist and note that yet again nothing I want to read ever seems to win a … Continue reading Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree →

Now posting on Vulpes Libris: Ernest Bramah’s Max Carrados stories

Over on Vulpes Libris I've posted a brief but heartfelt paean to the Max Carrados stories by Ernest Bramah. These are mildly addictive, in the 'just one more before I turn the light out' sense, and thoroughly ingenious detective stories, dating from 1913 right through to the 1930s. But I enjoy them most as a record … Continue reading Now posting on Vulpes Libris: Ernest Bramah’s Max Carrados stories →

Don’t fall off the roof: Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s The Home-Maker

This time in the Really Like This Book podcast scripts catch-up, I’m in 1920s small town America, in the midst of an unhappy family where the father hates working and wants to stay at home taking care of the children, and the mother hates being trapped in the house and longs to be out in … Continue reading Don’t fall off the roof: Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s The Home-Maker →