Brandon Sanderson: Elantris
Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris (2005) is an epic fantasy but also, unlike much in this vein, a standalone. I’d be lying if it weren’t the major appeal in choosing this over…
Andrea Mayo: The Carnivorous Plant
It only takes two mirrors to build a labyrinth, said Borges, and in The Carnivorous Plant (2021, tr: Laura McGloughlin, 2022) metaphorical mirrors are hung “in front, behind, above and…
Annie Ernaux: A Man’s Place
Attention (for those of us who hadn’t been looking that way) turns to Annie Ernaux after her Nobel Prize win and to the body of work that got her there.…
Nona Fernández: Space Invaders
The Pinochet years continue to inspire Chilean writers and Space Invaders (2013, tr: Natasha Wimmer, 2019) by Nona Fernández is one further addition to that canon. Here it’s a short…
Robert MacFarlane: The Lost Words
The story behind The Lost Words (2017) by Robert MacFarlane, and illustrated by Jackie Morris, is a sad one for lovers of language whose childhood was steeped in nature. In…
Stephen King: Fairy Tale
The opening dedication of Stephen King’s latest novel suggests where his mind was at: “Thinking of REH, ERB, and, of course, HPL.”, the initials calling to mind authors of early…
Elizabeth Strout: Oh William!
In Oh William! (2021), the third book of Elizabeth Strout’s ongoing Amgash series, she returns to Lucy Barton as memoirist. While the first novel, My Name Is Lucy Barton (2016),…
Elizabeth Strout: Anything is Possible
Anything is Possible (2017) is a welcome return to the world of Lucy Barton, narrator of Elizabeth Strout’s My Name Is Lucy Barton. More of a companion piece, this is…
Elizabeth Strout: My Name is Lucy Barton
Were it not for the addition of Elizabeth Strout’s Oh William! to the 2022 Booker Prize longlist I would likely have never considered a read of My Name Is Lucy…
Danielle Mémoire: Public Reading Followed by Discussion
When reading a book you can reasonably expect a clear delineation of author, reader, and character. Not so in Danielle Mémoire’s 1994 literary exercise, Public Reading Followed by Discussion (tr.…