Category: Book of the Week

I got into cycling back in 2021, and although my cheap bicycle has started to fail me over the past years, I still enjoy the activity. It keeps you fit, gets you outdoors, and is not a bad way of getting around, even in the countryside. Coincidentally, 2021 is also the same year DK Eyewitness…

Last week I covered a book set in the 1960s, so let us go even further back and look at a novel set in the 1920s for this edition of Book of the Week. Lucy Steeds The Artist focuses on three main characters: an enigmatic and reclusive artist, a young journalist who wants to write…

Psychological thrillers are not something I have a lot of experience with when it comes to reading, so I figured I should browse around and see what the genre has to offer. I was surprised when Yael van der Wouden’s The Safekeep crossed my path, because it is a book I saw some years ago…

Given that the island of Ireland can realistically be crossed in 6–10 hours, it simultaneously presents itself as a great little place to venture around, but also has the drawback of never really presenting the option of a truly daunting road trip. The countries of the Americas, with their vastness and varied landscapes, plus differing…

Rarely do I get the chance to discuss books with others in my life, but someone I know really enjoyed this book and said it helped them understand why I like reading Japanese books. So, take this week’s post as a recommendation or highlighting of a ‘really good’ book on their behalf. Strange Houses by…

For a novel with such a pretty cover, the subject matter of Elena Ferrante’s The Days of Abandonment is rather depressing. The story centres around a woman who has just been abruptly left by her husband, alongside having to care for two young children. It delves into her descent into emptiness and despair as she…

Sometimes a classic romance novel with a tragic edge to it is all you want to feel worse about your day, and that is where Ross Raisin’s A Hunger comes in. The story follows the increasingly stressful life of Anita, a talented sous-chef working in a high-end restaurant in London, trying to balance her promising…

I quite like a miserable book, with Murakami’s Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun coming to mind. So, being lured in by its stylish, sleazy-looking cover, I was surprised to learn that Rachel Connolly’s Lazy City would be quite depressing instead of erotic or purely about romance. After Erin’s best…

Coming of age stories are something I quite enjoy, as they hone in on a particularly delicate, messy, and influential part of every teenager and adult’s life. Lost on Me also has a similar cover philosphy to Kairos, which I discussed last week, and quite enjoy the contrast of a black and white image with…

This novel has been on my radar for some time, and not only because I enjoy its bold and eye-catching cover. Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos is set in mid-eighties Berlin, following the intense, secretive relationship of a female student and an older, married man she met on a bus. However, with time, the thrill and enjoyment…