Books & Chat: Short Book Reviews & Literary Discussions

Nineteen-year-old William’s decision to volunteer at the tragic scene of the 1966 Aberfan landslide transforms his life forever in this moving story about sacrifice and compassion.

A moving and intensely felt examination of the lengths to which we will go to seek protection and security in others. Returning to haunted Cornish landscapes familiar from other Gale novels, it is the story of individuals in search of a family.

A spooky short story taken from a wonderful collection of gothic fairy tales and poetry, where nothing and no one is as they seem…..

A short story for Halloween from Spooky Ambiguous - a collection of ghost stories and poetry, fangs and fairy tales published by Crumps Barn Studio in the Cotswolds and read by Christina Young

Ten years ago, Sophie Shaw vanished. Kat, a technician who works in a DNA testing lab, is still haunted by the unsolved disappearance, and when she notices a suspicious tweet about the case online, she calls in a tip. A few weeks later she learns that a man is being questioned, and drunkenly sends out a tweet of her own, boasting about her role in this breakthrough by the police. But the man is re...

A spooky story for Halloween set in the English countryside taken from a collection of short stories and poetry with a witchy feel ‘Spooky Ambiguous’. Published by Crumps Barn Studios. Read by Christina Young

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * This sweeping novel from the author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century. "An immersive saga about a passion-filled life."--People Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family with five boist...

Award-winning novelist Jon McGregor returns with a stunning novel that tenderly unpicks the notion of heroism and explores the indomitable human impulse to tell our stories - even when words fail us.  The line between sacrifice and selfishness, this is a story of the undervalued, unrecognised courage it can take just to get through the day.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER* 'HELL YES. This is one of those books that has the potential to change things - a monumental piece of research' Caitlin Moran Imagine a world where... · Your phone is too big for your hand · Your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body · In a car accident you are 47% more likely to be injured. If any of that sounds familiar, chances are you're a...

Abandoned as a girl, Kya raised herself in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the marsh girl haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men from town, she opens herself to a new and startling world.

'Riveting, twisty, page-turning stuff' Guardian A 'best books of 2020' pick for BBC Radio 4 Open Book, the Guardian, the Telegraph and Good Housekeeping 'The page turner you've been looking for. Sly, witty and gripping . . . I devoured it' Naomi Alderman 'An utter joy . . . wonderfully skilled' Sarah Perry 'Beguiling, brilliantly creepy, and an utterly compelling read' Claire Fuller 'Tender, creep...

Longlisted for Booker Prize 2021. Waterstones Says The acclaimed Canadian author of Crow Lake intertwines the lives of three characters brought together by loss in a quietly moving novel – touched with flashes of humour – about the tenderness and tragedy of everyday lives in a small backwater town.

From the author of When God was a Rabbit and Tin Man, Still Life is a big-hearted story of people brought together by love, war, art and the ghost of E.M. Forster. 1944, in the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa, as bombs fall around them, two strangers meet and share an extraordinary evening. Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner is a sexagenarian art historian and possible...

Waterstones Says Another acutely observed evocation of Middle America, Redhead by the Side of the Road is both a deliciously offbeat love story and an affectionate character study of a lovable eccentric, stuck in his ways.

The Promise is a family saga spanning four decades, each of which features a death in the family. It concerns the Afrikaner Swart family and their farm located outside Pretoria. The family consists of Manie, his wife Rachel, and their children Anton, Astrid, and Amor.

'A deeply emotional love story that follows one day in the life of Elle Bishop as she navigates the unravelling of secrets, lies and a very complex love triangle' REESE WITHERSPOON Reviews A beautifully constructed, wonderfully intelligent and beguiling novel, rich with a multitude of pleasures William Boyd It's glorious and gorgeous. I was absolutely immersed and gripped and I'm devastated to hav...

Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest release and made it onto Barack Obama’s 2021 Reading List! A speculative story about a robot called Klara and her relationship with her human owner, with big implications about what it means to be human. Read with our book club in 2021

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets? A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the interna...

In this episode I chat with Anita about her new book to be published next year.

Cyril Avery is not a real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he? The Heart's Invisible Furies is a deeply engaging and accomplished work. Screamingly funny one minute and heartbreaking the next.' - The Daily Express 'A special read' - BBC Radio 4 Front Row

An Extra Pair of Hands is beautiful, heartbreaking, honest and ultimately uplifting story of carers, and by carers I mean women. I read it in one sitting, and will be pressing into the hands of everyone I know. A celebration of ageing, womanhood and what love really means.' - Christie Watson

Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long deferred. But she can’t stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London, or their brother, Parvaiz, who’s disappeared in pursuit of his own dream, to prove himself to the dark...

Normal People is the story of deceptive simplicity, a very accessible narrative of two seemingly mismatched young people who share a profound, inescapable understanding. Beyond that, a study of how one person can forever shape and impact another. In their different ways, Marianne and Connell emerge almost shockingly real and deeply vulnerable.  

In this episode we share our thoughts about this fantastic novel by Celeste Ng.

In this episode we discuss the themes in The Beekeeper of Aleppo