Simone

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of Elisa Shua Dusapin’s new novel The Old Fire. It sits between a radio and a watering can in my kitchen. I have been thinking about it since I finished it: yet another book about family dysfunction and alienation toward which I seem to be gravitating these days. It’s a quiet book, not much of a plot, thoughtful, engaging, poignant.

French-Korean author Dusapin packs so much into this slim, deftly-translated novel: how to live with family you love but don’t like; coming to terms with childhood memories that might not be accurate; filling silences; going home again; finding your voice at the possible expense of others. 🖋️📚💙

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of Mark Haddon’s memoir, Leaving Home. The book is illustrated throughout with Haddon’s remarkable art, family photographs, and nostalgia-inducing diagrams and reproductions of magazine articles and other meaningful objects.

Mark Haddon’s memoir left me heartbroken-but-laughing, aghast with recognition but grateful that my childhood wasn’t THAT bad, & deeply envious of the author’s awesome multi-disciplinary talent. His artwork is as clever, compassionate, & sometimes as wryly funny as his writing.💡📚💙

I’m about halfway through Mark Haddon’s latest, Leaving Home. I just finished Sarah Perry’s beautiful Death of an Ordinary Man. The memoirs describe complicated & familiar parent-child relationships & elder care situations, both (so far) are achingly honest & compassionate.

A photograph of the British paperback edition of Sarah Perry’s memoir about her father-in-law David’s death, Death of an Ordinary Man. As a Canadian, it was interesting to see the resemblances between the NHS and our own health care system, how both seem to be suffocating under an increasingly unmanageable and bewildering bureaucracy. In spite of this, the people caring for David are highly competent, kind, and helpful. It’s a beautiful book, highly recommended, and a good reminder that it’s later than you think.

As the caregiver for my elderly parents, Sarah Perry’s memoir about her father-in-law’s rapid decline & death after an unexpected cancer diagnosis felt familiar & reassuring. With striking candour & compassion, she reveals the extraordinary that exists within the ordinary, for all of us.💡📚💙

I kept worrying that the story would veer into “schtick,” but it never did. I really enjoyed her writing, and had so much fun reading it. If you get a copy, do let me know how you liked it. 😊

A photograph of the North American edition of Madeline Cash‘s debut novel Lost Lambs. In the lower left-hand corner of the ivory-coloured cover, under the title and author name written in a child-like font as though with a crayon, is a drawing of the head and shoulders of a young girl wearing red, reacting to a gnat flying near her head.

Cash’s debut novel Lost Lambs is absolutely (absurdly) infested with hilarious family dysfunction, teenage angst, midlife crises, & characters who are not (or, sometimes, who really, really are) what they seem. And gnats. A funny, light read that felt like a good antidote for current events. 🖋️📚💙

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of science and environmental journalist Laura Poppick’s new book Strata: Stories From Deep Time. What I took from reading this very accessible and interesting book can best be summarised by Poppick herself: “It’s this visceral tangibility of deep time that grounds me most when I feel pummeled by the instability of the present. So much and so little has changed since the Mesozoic lake lapped in the wind of that hothouse world.” (p. 225).

Poppick’s very readable book about the history of the Earth, learned from studying strata formations, is a nice reprieve from the current timeline, although this branch of geology also serves to teach us about the importance of larger earth systems, & warn us that we disrupt them at our peril. 💡📚💙

A photograph of the 2014 Kiepenheuer & Witsch paperback German language edition of Erich Maria Remarque’s Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front). A brilliant work in its own right, it’s also a fitting follow-up to Roth’s change-of-empire novel, The Radetzky March, in which the horror of modern warfare is created out of the arrogance and folly of a morally decaying empire.

There’s nothing new to say about an anti-war classic like All Quiet on the Western Front. Banned & burned by the Nazis in 1933, it remains vital, enraging, tragic, &, sadly, relevant; a generation of hopeful & promising youth lost to the hubris & ignorance of old men. 🖋️📚💙📚🇩🇪

A photograph of the British paperback edition of Danielle Giles’ novel Mere. The cover art is striking: a red tree with its roots on a royal blue background. The leaves of the trees are white, and two nuns drawn in black and white huddle in the middle of the trunk of the tree, amongst the roots. The novel is spooky and clever, the setting well-described, the ending surprising and satisfying.

Naughty nuns, medieval peasants, ancient (evil?) gods, exiled healers: what’s not to love? Mere is folk horror set in a convent in the midst of the liminal fenlands of 990 AD Norfolk. It is beautifully written, feels authentically terrifying, & brings compelling, flawed characters to vivid life.⏳📚💙

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of Camille Bordas’ brilliant new collection of short stories, One Sun Only. Centred around death and family dysfunction, the stories are witty and thoughtful, and the characters deeply flawed but presented with so much compassion and humour, you can’t help but wish the best for them. Their dialogue, inner and outer, feels authentic and perfect. Highly recommended.

Short stories aren’t my jam, I prefer a big novel, but Bordas’ newest collection kept me enthralled. Her characters are people you know or have been; their lives & conflicts are relatable but unique; & their reactions are sometimes hilarious, often poignant & raw, sometimes all at the same time. 🖋️📚💙

A photograph of the British hardcover edition of Andrew Graham-Dixon’s Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found. The book is splayed open, pages down (sorry) on my lap which is under a pile of blankets while I recover from a nasty cold. A painting by the artist is featured on both the front and back of the book: “The Little Street” on the front, and “Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window” on the back (all the artist’s extant paintings are gorgeously reproduced in the book’s colour plates). All told, this was a fascinating dive into the turmoil of 17th century Holland (now, of course, the Netherlands).

Given how little can be known about the life of Vermeer, Graham-Dixon’s new work is something of a speculative biography. However, the research & history surrounding the painter is so beautifully told, the paintings so beautifully described, it’s thought-provoking & well worth reading. 💡📚💙

A photograph of the Canadian hardcover edition of British-Nigerian author Oyinkan Braithwaite’s new novel, Cursed Daughters. I loved her first novel, My Sister, The Serial Killer, and this one is just as readable and funny, if not quite so dark. Highly recommended.

Funny, endearing, & fierce, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s new novel tells the story of a family of women in Lagos, Nigeria struggling through superstition, generational trauma, tradition, tribalism, & some strong personalities to live their lives under a multi-generational curse. 🖋️📚💙

A photograph of the cover of the North American edition of Frances Wilson’s clever new biography of Scottish writer Muriel Spark, Electric Spark: The Enigma of Dame Muriel. The cover features a black and white photograph of the author that nicely depicts the contradictions of her personality: the small crucifix on the wall speaks to her conversion and devotion to Catholicism, while the little black cocktail dress she is wearing as she lounges across a bed and the cigarette dangling out of her mouth speak to her belief in women’s rights and freedoms (including control over their own reproductive lives), a tacit rejection of much Catholic belief at the time.

Muriel Spark was an eccentric & greatly admired writer of fiction & biography. She was also ornery, self-absorbed, & paranoid. Wilson’s new biography does a thrilling job of winkling out the personal information Spark went to great lengths to alter & obscure during her lifetime.💡📚💙

A photograph of the advance reader’s edition of Susan Orlean’s new memoir, Joyride, sitting in my lap as I ponder hoisting myself out of bed to face whatever new horrors await on the radio news. Although I didn’t manage to read this one in advance of its publication, I am always grateful to have access to an ARC, particularly for an author I love reading: somehow it feels like I’m contributing to the finished product. This is nonsense, but the feeling is nice.

Susan Orlean is always worth reading. Her curiosity, exuberance, & sense of humour make whatever subject she chooses relatable & fascinating. Her recently published memoir is both delightful & instructive: prospective writers will find lots of excellent advice & encouragement. 💡📚💙

A photograph of the advance reading edition of British author Francis Spufford’s forthcoming novel, Nonesuch, sitting on the blue, green, and red rag rug we bought in New England many years ago. It’s a bit of a thriller, a bit of a fantasy novel, and a bit of a romance.

I always enjoy reading Spufford’s novels, & his latest is no exception: the blitz is hammering London & two women are central to the future of civilisation. One wants a fascist state, the other wants rights & freedoms. Heavy on magical realism. Coming to an indie bookshop near you this spring. 🖋️📚💙📚🪐

A photograph of the Everyman Library edition of Joseph Roth’s 1932 novel The Radetzky March. The sepia-toned photograph on the cover depicts Roth in front of the Savoy Hotel in Vienna. Roth apparently loved Vienna, which makes his fierce and clear-eyed criticism of the Austro-Hungarian empire in this work even more powerful. It feels very relevant to current events, too.

The Radetzky March (1932) is a novel about an old, corrupt, increasingly ineffectual monarchy mired in discontent & revolt, losing touch with the present while clinging desperately to past glory. Its death throes culminate in the Great War, upending & destroying the lives of millions. 🖋️📚💙

It’s usually the other way around for me … UK book covers are always so beautifully designed, compared to our North American covers. This one is a rare exception. I hope you enjoy it!

A photograph of the British hardcover edition of The Witching Hour, standing upright under my Christmas tree. Every single story is wonderfully ghostly and sometimes a bit ghastly: perfect for reading on a cold winter night whilst sat in a comfortable chair with a big blanket, a hot chocolate, and a purring cat. Highly recommended.

This is a completely delightful collection of gothic Christmas ghost stories, all centred around the witching hour. It’s the 3rd in a series of creepy 🎄 anthologies published by Hachette UK, & includes a bunch of my favourite authors, including Natasha Pulley, Jess Kidd, & Andrew Michael Hurley. 🩸📚💙

I think so too. Customers kept asking about it recently at the bookshop where I work, and I thought it was high time to read it. Well worth a read.

I bet! I feel like it’s an excellent book club selection. Does your book club mostly read non-fiction?

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of Clint Smith’s book which examines the commemoration (or lack thereof) of slavery in the USA and Senegal. A vital and important work, his observations are the most moving when he writes about his own family’s recollections and experiences with slavery, and the residual violence and racism that came after the end of the Civil War (and continues to this day).

Clint Smith’s examination of the way slavery in the USA is (or is not) commemorated is thoughtful, poetic, profound, personal-yet-universal in scope, & thoroughly researched. That he is a compassionate person of integrity & conviction really comes through in his writing. Highly recommended. 💡📚💙

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of Charlotte McConaghy’s new novel Wild Dark Shore sitting on my table-for-one at my favourite local, The House on Parliament. I managed to finish it over a delicious dinner without crying, but it was a close run thing. Wine helps.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy is an environmental disaster thriller (is that a genre? I feel like that’s a genre). It’s well-plotted with lots of suspense, twists, & likeable, flawed characters. The setting is a fictional island between Tasmania & Antarctica, but it feels real. 🖋️📚💙

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of Lea Ypi’s thoughtful, profound investigation into her grandmother’s life in Salonica and Albania in the early 20th century. Upon seeing a photograph of her grandmother on a stranger’s social media page, and reading some alarmingly derogatory comments from other complete strangers, she considers that perhaps there were details about her grandmother’s life that she didn’t really know. Ypi goes to public archives and interviews family and friends in Greece and Albania in an effort to sort it all out. This book, a combination of biography, political history, fiction, and political philosophy, is the astonishing result. I found it particularly inspiring in that my own grandmother’s wartime stories are full of half-truths, exaggerations, and strategic omissions, and I have been struggling recently to understand the reasons for this from her perspective. The preservation of personal and familial dignity, and the difficulty of living a good life in times of war, might go a long way toward explaining some of her decisions. Of course, like Ypi’s grandmother, she is dead and the truth, if it ever really existed, died with her.

Albanian LSE philosophy prof Lea Ypi investigates her beloved grandmother’s story in this remarkable genre-bending biography. She uses the disconnect between her memories, the memories of others, & the gaps in the official records to consider the meaning of dignity: personal, public, & political.💡📚💙

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of Anna North’s new novel Bog Queen. It made me want to go back to university and take some more anthropology courses, now that we’re living in a more enlightened (mostly) age. The book rests on a bright red wool blanket, and features the black and white features of a woman, on which colourful mosses and mushrooms seem to be growing.

A novel with a fabulous premise in which a young, smart, neurodivergent present-day anthropologist investigates the circumstances surrounding the death of a young, smart, neurodivergent iron-age druid; their stories are told side-by-side, with some environmental fight thrown in for good measure. ⏳📚💙

A photograph of the British hardcover edition of Andrew Michael Hurley’s 2024 folk horror novel Barrowbeck. It sits on a cozy beige and white cotton and fleece blanket — a nice combo for a cold winter evening.

A collection of folk horror short stories set over a number of centuries in the grim, cursed ancient village Barrowbeck. Less chilling than some of Hurley’s earlier novels, Barrowbeck is nevertheless full of sinister foreboding, unfriendly environments, & neighbours who are just a bit … off.🩸📚💙

A photograph of the Canadian paperback edition of Maggie Helwig’s book Encampment, about her time as priest of a downtown Toronto Anglican church and her efforts, stymied by the authorities at every turn, to help people struggling with problems of homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and plain old bad luck. Radically compassionate, Helwig practices a Christianity Jesus would have recognised — one that seems sorely missing from the Christianity with which I’m familiar. Required reading, if only to restore your faith in a small sampling of humanity.

Encampment describes the crisis of homelessness across North America & Europe. Helwig practices a Christianity of radical love & compassion at her parish in Toronto; the byzantine bylaws & rules to which our most vulnerable citizens are subject are as enraging as her activism & care are admirable💡📚💙

A photograph of the North American edition or French author Herve Le Tellier’s genre-bending novel The Name on the Wall, translated by Adriana Hunter. The book is interesting experiment in autofiction.

A name scratched on the wall of an historic house in France leads Le Tellier to research the life of a young man killed in a WWII skirmish, filling in details where necessary from imagination & history. It is also a clarion call from the past, a reminder of the sacrifices made to defeat fascism. 🖋️📚💙

A photograph of a North American paperback edition of Irish author John McGahern’s 1990 Booker prize winning novel Amongst Women. The main character, Michael Moran, is a war-damaged and profoundly devout man whose performance of his religious belief acts as a kind of tyrannical control; real grace comes from the love and forgiveness given him by his wife and daughters.

Amongst Women is the story of a former IRA soldier who feels betrayed by his countrymen. He takes his loss of authority & control out on his family, driving away his sons & tyrannising his wife & daughters who, in spite of it all, continue to love & care for him in his impotent old age. 🖋️📚💙

A photograph of the North American hardcover edition of American photographer Sally Mann’s latest memoir, which muses on the nitty-gritty of her career, her commitment to her craft, and her enduring passion for the work she does. Self-deprecating and wry, she is very candid about her own short-comings and the vital importance of making mistakes, in art and in life.

Photographer Sally Mann’s latest work is an open, frank, & often funny guide to creating art, as well as a bit of a history of photography & of her own career. Well aware of her own difficult, demanding nature, it’s also part cautionary tale, yet also thoroughly supportive & encouraging. 💡📚💙

A photograph of the 2017 Penguin Classics paperback edition of Turkish author Sabahattin Ali’s 1943 novel Madonna in a Fur Coat, translated by Maureen Freely and Alexander Dawe.

First published in 1943, Ali’s classic novel follows a doomed romance between Raif, a romantic, melancholy Turkish student & the frank, beguiling artist, Maria. The author beautifully sketches Weimar Berlin, its attitudes & moralities brought to life in Maria’s clear-eyed fatalism. 🖋️📚💙