John Carey (http://www.johncarey.org/about.html), English professor at Oxford, controversial commentator, book critic and beekeeper, reflects on a life immersed in literature, from grammar school beginnings to the Oxford establishment. Best-known for his provocative take on cultural issues in The Intellectuals and the Masses and What Good Are the Arts?, John Carey describes in this warm and […]
The Unexpected Professor Read More »
The screen writer of hit television crime series Prime Suspect, Lynda La Plante (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3562219/Lynda-La-Plantes-life-story-will-be-vicious.html) is back with another thriller. The summary is as follows. ‘Please don’t let anything bad have happened to her, please don’t let anything have happened to my baby…’ Marcus and Lena Fulford are the envy of their friends. Wealthy, attractive and successful,
Proud Yorkshireman, gardening expert, TV presenter and charity promoter, Alan Titchmarsh (http://www.alantitchmarsh.com/) has found time between 2001 and 2011 to write eleven novels. He is regarded by many as a sort of minor national treasure, and was awarded an MBE in 2000. Does any of this make him a decent writer? Only you can judge by
Tom Winter is a British writer living in Berlin. His debut novel, Lost & Found, was published in five languages, with an English audio book to follow. Arms Wide Open (2014) is his second book. The Daily Mail said of him that he was “Witty, off-beat and moving … Tom Winter delights with a deadpan
Scottish crime thriller writer Stuart MacBride (http://www.stuartmacbride.com/) has treated us to a 9 course feast of Detective Logan McRae novels beginning with Cold Granite (2005), set in Aberdeen. His latest is a heart-stopping blood warmer from this author of three consecutive No. 1 bestsellers, including Birthdays for the Dead. The summary goes as follows. Eight years ago, the
A Song for the Dying Read More »
David Baldacci (http://davidbaldacci.com/) began writing stories as a child, when his mother gave him a notebook in which to record them. He wrote for more than two decades, penning short stories and later screenplays without much success. While practicing law, he turned to novel writing, taking three years to write Absolute Power. Published in 1996, it
Award winning Norwegian crime novelist Jo Nesbo (http://www.jonesbo.co.uk/) has achieved a high degree of popularity lately. Why not give him a go to see what the fuss is about? The summary of his latest thriller is as follows. Sonny is a model prisoner. He listens to the confessions of other inmates, and absolves them of their sins. He
Jeffrey Archer (http://www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk/site/) has had a colourful career including a spell in prison, 2001-2003, for being economical with the truth. Selling fiction has been his strong point. He is quoted in the Independent of 21 March 2014 (p.15) as saying ‘If you’re asking me if I’d rather sell 270 million books or have the Booker Prize,
Be Careful What You Wish For Read More »
Nora Roberts (http://www.noraroberts.com/) has been casting a spell over her readers with her mesmerising fiction since the publication of her first novel Irish Thoroughbred in 1981. At the last count her novels number 209. If that is not an endorsement of her success nothing is. The latest, Shadow Spell (Book Two of The Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy) has a
