Clare Brierley
Fantastic Mr Dahl, by Michael Rosen
Reviewed on October 13, 2012
Michael Rosen is an incredibly well renowned children’s author in his own right, responsible for books such as We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and This is Our House. He was also appointed the fifth Children’s Laureate from 2007 – 2009. For these reasons this book at first glance sounds like a treat; an author [...]
Up in the Old Hotel, by Joseph Mitchell
Reviewed on October 1, 2012
This book collects together a vast array of character portraits and general features on New York from the 1930s through to the 1960s written by the journalist Joseph Mitchell. This collection is split into books; three parts making up a book called McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon and then two further books titled Old Mr Flood and [...]
A second look at The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore
Reviewed on September 21, 2012
Hammer, of Hammer Horror Films fame has now re-invented itself to include a publishing group operating through Random House. Their general idea is to publish ‘intelligent horror stories’ such as re-worked or re-issued classics, film tie-ins or commissions from well-known and respected authors. The Greatcoat is one of the first of these commissions and is [...]
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Reviewed on September 14, 2012
Since Chad Harbach’s debut novel, The Art of Fielding was listed as one of Waterstone’s eleven debut recommendations of the year, I have heard only great things about it. In fact I have heard it described as hardly less than ‘The Next Great American Novel’. This is a fitting compliment as the book is some what [...]
A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge
Reviewed on August 19, 2012
Ex-actress Kitty Aldridge’s third novel, A Trick I Learned from Dead Men is the story of coming to terms with a bereavement, told from the perspective of a protagonist whose every day life is surrounded by grieving people. Lee Hart is an apprentice in a funeral home learning the ropes on how to prep the [...]
Cain, by José Saramago
Reviewed on July 19, 2012
This is the last work that José Saramago completed before his death in 2010. Saramago spent much of his working life exploring and considering what it means to be human and in many ways our relationship to religion and God. This last novel is a satisfying conclusion to such a collection of work. Saramago takes [...]
Miami Blues, by Charles Willeford
Reviewed on July 7, 2012
Charles Willeford wrote Miami Blues in 1984, the first of a series of four books featuring Detective Sergeant Hoke Moseley. The book was made into a film in 1990 and is widely considered to be one of its era’s most influential works of the crime fiction genre, inspiring crime legends such as Quentin Tarantino, Elmore [...]
Dirt, by David Vann
Reviewed on June 6, 2012
I read David Vann’s first book, Legend of a Suicide fairly recently and some what enjoyed it. The writing was atmospheric and it had some fascinating twists. I did however get a little bored in places and due to heavy grey tones to some areas and on the advice of a friend I skipped his second [...]
Harriet, by Elizabeth Jenkins
Reviewed on May 14, 2012
Persephone Books have republished this story as one of their Spring/Summer offerings. Originally published in 1934, Elizabeth Jenkins won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse with Harriet over Antonia White and Evelyn Waugh but in more recent years the book seems to have fallen by the wayside having been out of print for some time. The [...]
A second look at The Forgotten Waltz, by Anne Enright
Reviewed on May 9, 2012
This most recent book by the Man Booker Prize winning author of The Gathering has now just been unsurprisingly shortlisted for this year’s Orange Prize. Of all the predictions I read for who would be carved into the shortlist from the fourteen originally nominated, The Forgotten Waltz was one that featured every time. The story [...]
Home by Toni Morrison
Reviewed on May 3, 2012
This is the first book I have read by Toni Morrison, having been meaning to get to Beloved for some time. Perhaps this is beneficial to my view of Home as I have nothing to compare it to. Many reviews, such as from The Guardian, have said the book is ‘Okay’ but not really a patch [...]
Signs of Life, by Anna Raverat
Reviewed on April 24, 2012
It is difficult to find much information about Anna Raverat on the internet and so from this I assume she must be quite a private author. She is descended from Gwendolen Raverat nee Darwin, granddaughter of Charles Darwin. Gwendolen was an artist and writer and married Jacques Raverat, a French painter. The couple settled in England and became [...]
The Beginner’s Goodbye by Anne Tyler
Reviewed on April 17, 2012
Anne Tyler’s literary career stretches from her first book published in 1964 through to this, her most recent book due to be published in April. Her work has included prize-winning and nominated novels such as Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and The Accidental Tourist, with Breathing Lessons, her eleventh novel, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. [...]
A second look at A Summer of Drowning by John Burnside
Reviewed on April 5, 2012
John Burnside is one of those rare writers that can do it all. He has covered short stories, prize-winning poetry – he is the most recent winner of the T.S. Eliot poetry prize awarded in January of this year, and an impressive eight novels as well. The most recent of these novels is A Summer [...]
Smut, by Alan Bennett
Reviewed on March 13, 2012
Alan Bennett’s latest offering appears in the form of two short stories, both with a similar theme befitting of the title. The stories show two different approaches to writing about people’s attitudes towards sex and take in a broad scope in age range. The first story, ‘The Greening of Mrs Donaldson’ is like an innocent, [...]
The Echo Chamber by Luke Williams
Reviewed on March 11, 2012
The Echo Chamber is Luke Williams’ homage to the art of storytelling through the written word. Illustrated with slightly reworked passages from such renowned writers as Günter Grass, Bruno Schulz and Isaac Babel amongst others, we follow the story of Evie Steppman; of how her parents met, her conception and her childhood right through to the fifty-four year [...]
Half Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan
Reviewed on February 17, 2012
Half Blood Blues is a story of war-time Jazz music, relationships and jealousy. It follows a band of musicians on a musical and racial escape from Berlin to Paris on the outbreak of war and the Holocaust, juxtaposed with the journey of the band’s rhythm section; bassist Sid Griffiths and drummer Chip Jones, from Baltimore [...]
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Mark Oldfield
Mark Oldfield has worked in criminological research for over 20 years. He has a PhD in Criminology from the University of Kent and has carried out research in the areas of risk assessment and prediction and as well as evaluative research on policing, prisons and probation. He has also taught in various Universities on research, crime and criminal justice.
