May 2021
40. Boy Parts, Eliza Clark. Crash feat. Laura Mulvey. Top stuff.
39. Line, Niall Bourke. 1984 meets The Scheme for Full Employment meets the City of London.
38. War & Peace, Leo Tolstoy. Been reading this for four months - complete!
37. Lunch Poems, Frank O'Hara. Can't beat a classic.
36. *The Hard Crowd, Rachel Kushner. Essays, memoir, lit criticism - the works.
35. *Trauma: Essays on Art and Mental, Health, ed. Thom Cuell & Sam Mills. Excellent and diverse.
34. Second Place, Rachel Cusk. Thought-provoking as ever.
33. The Art of Falling, Danielle McLaughlin. Novel about art, gender and trust.
32. Set Me on Fire: A Poem For Every Feeling. ed. Ella Risbridger. Beautiful and eclectic anthology.
31. Lean Fall Stand, Jon McGregor. Just as outstanding as the last one.
30. At The Time of Partition, Moniza Alvi. Fantastic and deeply sad poetry collection.
30. At The Time of Partition, Moniza Alvi. Fantastic and deeply sad poetry collection.
April 2021
29. *The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls, Mona Eltahawy. Superb essays.
28. His Favourites, Kate Walbert. Didn't get into this as much as I thought I might.
27. The Topeka School,. Ben Lerner. A re-read for work. Even more impressive the second time round.
26. Sunday at the Skin Laundrette, Kathryn Simmonds. Poetry. Great stuff.
25. Reservoir 13, Jon McGregor. Outstanding.
24. *Corpsing, Sophie White. Excellent nonfiction.
23. The Dispossessed, Ursula K Le Guin. Outstanding political novel.
22. Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin. Hilarious.
21. Permafrost, Eva Baltasar. Sharp, short, bleak and funny.
20. Don't Let Me Be Lonely, Claudia Rankine. Formally fascinating as usual. This collection looks at death, at loneliness, at poetry as communication.
March 2021
19. *The Brain-Dead Megaphone, George Saunders. Great essays - some feel a little dated now but still excellent reads.
18. Exciting Times, Naoise Dolan. Really, really funny.
17. *The Disconnect, Roisin Kiberd. Review to follow.
16. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark. Reread for work; always a pleasure.
15. My Absolute Darling, Gabriel Tallent. Intriguing portrait of abuse.
14. My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell. Compelling, though a bit too on the nose.
14. My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell. Compelling, though a bit too on the nose.
February 2021
13. Kitchenly 434, Alan Warner. Review here.
12. Bright, Burning Things, Lisa Harding. Review here.
11. Under the Blue, Oana Aristide. Review here.
10. Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi. Review here.
9. Mouthpieces, Eimear McBride. Review here.
8. The Rules of Revelation, Lisa McInerney. Review to follow.
7. Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri. Beautiful stories.
7. Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri. Beautiful stories.
January 2021
6. The Abstainer, Ian McGuire. A dark and violent follow-up to The North Water.
5. Having and Being Had, Eula Biss. Review here.
4. *A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders. Review here (absolutely loved this).
3. Luckenbooth, Jenni Fagan, Review here.
2. The Death of Francis Bacon, Max Porter. Review here.
1. A River Called Time, Courttia Newland. Review here.
1. A River Called Time, Courttia Newland. Review here.
