Paul Engles
Living Souls by Dimitry Bykov
Reviewed on July 22, 2010
Living Souls is set in a projected mid-twenty-first-century Russia, a country that has seen the value of its vast oil reserves plummet due to the discovery of Phlogiston, a substance that mysteriously (and cleanly) powers the rest of the world, but is unobtainable on Russian soil. Indeed, oil is so abundant and so worthless that [...]
Secret Son, by Laila Lalami
Reviewed on March 25, 2010
Secret Son, which has just been longlisted for the Orange Prize, is the first novel by Moroccan-born Laila Lalami, who has previously published a collection of short stories. Youssef El-Mekki, nineteen, with dreams of becoming a film star, lives with his mother in a one-room shack cobbled together from corrugated metal and plastic sheeting in [...]
The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
Reviewed on March 23, 2010
Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s sixth novel translated into English centres around a curious conceit: throughout the story, Kemal, the narrator, periodically draws the reader’s attention to certain objects – a clock, a letter, a teacup, or even a cigarette butt – and explains why he is choosing to display or exhibit them. Each one evokes [...]
The Missing by Jane Casey
Reviewed on February 16, 2010
The Missing is Jane Casey’s first novel, a thriller set in a Surrey commuter town, narrated by an English teacher at a girl’s private school. Sarah Finch is a thwarted soul hiding a tragic secret. Her brother disappeared from their front garden when she was eight years old and never returned, no body was found. [...]
Orphans of Eldorado, by Milton Hatoum
Reviewed on February 12, 2010
A tiny Roman numeral at the top of the spine announces (in a whisper) that Orphans of Eldorado is the thirteenth instalment of Canongate’s critically acclaimed Myths series. However, it seems that Canongate have relaxed their branding, as Hatoum’s slim novel is issued as a trade paperback, and a colourful one at that. The decision [...]
None of This Ever Really Happened, by Peter Ferry
Reviewed on January 21, 2010
None of This Ever Really Happened was publisposhed in hardback under the title Travel Writing. The new title is fitting for a novel that places the author at the centre of a story that blends fact and personal history with fiction and is also populated by personal friends and famous writers. It must also be [...]
Your Face Tomorrow, by Javier Marias
Reviewed on January 14, 2010
Your Face Tomorrow is a truly remarkable novel, in every way. Granted, some perseverance is needed initially, as the way in which Marias’ narrator allows his story to unfold is unique and startling, but perseverance is swiftly displaced by compulsion, and you are compelled to turn each page not so much by a racy plot [...]
Broken, by Karin Fossum
Reviewed on December 3, 2009
This intriguing, daring novel is marketed as crime fiction (by which I mean it looks and feels as if it belongs in that genre) and is written by one of Norway’s leading crime novelists, but though a pivotal crime is committed, it radically subverts all generic expectations. Broken sets its post-modern stall out early: the [...]
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Kat Falls
Kat Falls grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and now teaches at NU, where she is continually inspired by her students’ creativity. She started writing Dark Life as a writing exercise. Knowing that her 12-year-old son loved reading about the ocean, Wild West pioneers and, of course, the X-Men, she combined his interests and created the premise for a story that kept her up nights plotting and world-building.
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The Book That...
Robert Lloyd Parry: The Book I Would Like To Be Buried With…
This special twentieth Bury Me… features grand panjandrum and actor Robert Lloyd Parry, the man behind the Nunkie Theatre Company, responsible for many an uneasy evening with the master of English supernatural stories…
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The Bookgeeks Competition
The Richard T. Kelly Column
Richard T. Kelly
Richard T. Kelly’s exclusive monthly column, in which he addresses various matters literary, writers and their books, the publishing business and his own experiences as a writer. Richard is a novelist, screenwriter, biographer and journalist, and you can read his column exclusively on our sister site, Bookhugger.co.uk.Connect with Bookgeeks
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