By the Book Reviews

Book Review: Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin (The Early Years, 1926-1966) I suppose it's a rather good thing that George Martin had lousy taste in neckties. Had he worn something a little more fashionable than a black tie with a red horse motif on June 6,

Book Review: Hannibal For those of you who have come to this review expecting to read about the newest novel featuring The Silence of the Lambs' Dr Lecter, oh dear. So sorry to inform you but the book

The Title: The Story of the First Division book reviews and author interviews

Book review: The Girl Behind the Lens As much as I truly enjoy reading a good mystery novel – within the broad term of genre fiction mysteries are by far my favourite – they do present a positively infernal problem in writing

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Book Review: Why? What Makes Us Curious Being curious about curiosity truly does sound like something out of Alice in Wonderland, whose lead character was observed saying 'curiouser and curiouser' about Mad Hatters, talking playing cards and the like. Although you know,

Book Review: Harvesting by Lisa Harding (novel) Let us speak then of victimless crimes, the pretense that somehow by expunging certain acts from the criminal justice system we are in fact advancing civilization, casting aside the repressions, the myths, the lies our churches told us for centuries upon centuries that those acts were evil when of c

Book Review: Room Little Darker, June Caldwell Eventually we learn at least three things over the course of a long and frequently lively life – our wit and charm is not enhanced by copious drinking no matter what we think at the time, the pain of a loss lasts longer than the thrill of a win, and don't get your hopes up. There are more of course

Sara Pascoe and Belfast Book Festival Wrap-Up If I might go out on a limb, there is a bit of wisdom learned through observation that I think the comedian and author Sara Pascoe and I hold in common as both truth and strategy. It is, if you want an audience to take you seriously make them laugh first. A decent framework of comedy is not to be co

Book Review: Joyride to Jupiter by Nuala O'Connor There is a reason I love short stories as much as I do. Show me a city, I'll write you a novel; read me a short story and you sing the whole planet. Yes I know that seems counter-instinctual. After all, how can three hundred or three thousand words possibly be more revealing of more of life than thr

The Theoretical Foot by M.F.K. Fisher book reviews and author interviews

The Walworth Beauty by Michelle Roberts book reviews and author interviews

Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me book reviews and author interviews