MUST READS By Jane Shilling for the Daily Mail Published: 22:07 BST, 30 July 2020 | Updated: 22:07 BST, 30 July 2020 A THOUSAND SHIPS by Natalie Haynes (Picador £8.99, 368 pp) A THOUSAND SHIPS by Natalie Haynes (Picador £8.99, 368 pp) In her Radio 4 series, Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics, she … Read more
In truth, the young Shuggie Bain occupies less space in this doorstopper debut than his Ma, the magnificently rendered Agnes.
NATURE PLANTING FOR BUTTERFLIES by Jane Moore (Hardie Grant £12, 144 pp) Butterflies have poor eyesight, they can taste only with their feet and they have a lifespan of just a few weeks. Yet, during their brief existence, they provide one of the most joyful sights of summer as they feed, flutter and flirt for … Read more
WHAT BOOK would author Stanley Johnson take to a desert island? Stanley Johnson has recently finished reading Unfair Game by Lord Ashcroft He revealed that he would take Homer’s Odyssey to a desert island Author explained why James Joyce’s Ulysses left him cold By Daily Mail Reporter Published: 22:02 BST, 23 July 2020 | Updated: 22:02 BST, 23 July … Read more
SCI-FI By Jamie Buxton For The Daily Mail Published: 22:02 BST, 23 July 2020 | Updated: 22:02 BST, 23 July 2020 MALORIE by Josh Malerman n (Orion £16.99, 320 pp) MALORIE by Josh Malerman n(Orion £16.99, 320 pp) In this brilliant, insanely compelling sequel to Bird Box, the world is still infested with monsters so … Read more
THRILLERS By Geoffrey Wansell for the Daily Mail Published: 22:01 BST, 23 July 2020 | Updated: 22:01 BST, 23 July 2020 SLOW BURN by Stephen Leather (Hodder £16.99, 400 pp) SLOW BURN by Stephen Leather (Hodder £16.99, 400 pp) In the wake of the decision to allow 20-year-old Jihadi bride Shamima Begum back into this … Read more
POPULAR By Wendy Holden for the Daily Mail Published: 22:01 BST, 23 July 2020 | Updated: 22:01 BST, 23 July 2020 ALL ADULTS HERE by Emma Straub (Michael Joseph £14.99, 352 pp) ALL ADULTS HERE by Emma Straub (Michael Joseph £14.99, 352 pp) Inner lives, family dynamics and sexuality in suburban modern America. Buttoned-up granny … Read more
CONTEMPORARY By Sara Lawrence for the Daily Mail Published: 22:55 BST, 16 July 2020 | Updated: 23:41 BST, 16 July 2020 ONE YEAR OF UGLY by Caroline Mackenzie (Borough Press £12.99, 378 pp) ONE YEAR OF UGLY by Caroline Mackenzie (Borough Press £12.99, 378 pp) Fizzing with life, this is hilarious, poignant and so sharp and … Read more
It’s 1888 and Daniel Bones, the unhappy, 14-year-old habitué of a fenland village, is co-opted as an apprentice to the maverick Captain Clarke B.
Society STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES by Richard Holloway (Canongate £16.99, 272pp) How does a child begin to understand the stars, the menace of thunder — or the death of a grandparent? How can any of us explain human cruelty and can anything help us come to terms with suffering? Who can teach us how to … Read more