Books in the Media newsletters

Here are the latest Books in the Media newsletters for my followers to peruse:

Including Francesca Segal's Mother Ship, Jo Baker's The Body Lies, Susannah Stapleton's The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective and many, many more book reviews Home | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Children's | Genres | Publications | Prizes The Week in Review: 21st June 2019 Segal's Mother Ship drops anchor in the critics' hearts Good morning Karen, Francesca Segal's Mother Ship (Chatto & Windus) has sailed smoothly into a near-perfect star rating. Hannah Beckerman in the Observer praised the memoir, about the 56 days Segal's prematurely-born baby daughters spent in intensive care, as "an exquisitely written paean to motherhood" and "filled with love, anguish, despair and hope in the face of adversity", while Amanda Craig in the Spectator described it as "as gripping as a thriller and as moving as a love story", crediting Segal's "exquisite writing and deep humanity". Lara Feigel in the Guardian, who said she "cried many times while reading it", added that the author "has found a way to record love without sentimentality: love that enables the exhausted, underpaid nurses and the shattered, frightened mothers to survive." Jo Baker's The Body Lies (Doubleday) also won acclaim, with The Bookseller previewer Alice O'Keeffe describing it as "a superior psychological thriller" and "page-turning", while praising its examination of "how women's bodies are treated, in life and in fiction". Other critics also noted Baker's merging of genres, with John Dugdale in the Sunday Times noting how the author "adroitly mashes up psychological thriller and satirical campus novel", and The Times' Siobhan Murphy commenting on the book's "knowing" use of woman-in-peril tropes, adding, "But there’s something cleverer going on in The Body Lies; its clout is in the sexual politics behind its deft contrast between the fictional depiction of violence against women [...] and the stark, isolating reality." Susannah Stapleton's The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective (Picador) charmed the critics, with The Bookseller's non-fiction previewer Caroline Sanderson describing the true story of the Edwardian detective as "scintillating and sleuthily researched". James Walton in the Spectator praised it as "rollicking" and "erudite but hugely entertaining", and Ysenda Maxtone-Graham in the Times found it to be "frank and funny", commending Stapleton as "skilful in mingling two strands of social history"—the life of a lady detective in the early 20th century and West's mysterious background, which she went to great lengths to keep hidden. By Kiera O'Brien, charts editor, The Bookseller Book of the Week Mother Ship Francesca Segal 4.57 out of 5 | 4 reviews "a moving story about motherhood" The Guardian "[a] moving account of being deprived of the customary markers of care" Financial Times "will have you in tears" The Spectator "raw yet exquisite" The Observer Read all reviews Latest Reviews Bitcoin Billionaires Ben Mezrich 3.17 out of 5 | 7 reviews "There are moments of hilarity... but they are unintentional" New Statesman City of Girls Elizabeth Gilbert 3.74 out of 5 | 7 reviews "City of Girls is an education in love, and an iridescent delight." The Spectator On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong 3.82 out of 5 | 6 reviews "a profound consideration of identity, as well as a work of sensuous, poetic detail" New Statesman The Ministry of Truth Dorian Lynskey 4.20 out of 5 | 4 reviews "idiosyncratic and acutely written" The Spectator Travellers Helon Habila TBC out of 5 | 2 reviews "(a) bravura exploration of the refugee crisis" The Guardian Diary of a Somebody Brian Bilston 3.50 out of 5 | 5 reviews "I’m afraid I mostly found this man irritating" Daily Mail Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself Florian Huber TBC out of 5 | 2 reviews "Huber tells the shocking stories of ordinary German suicides with literary power and skill" The Guardian She-merchants, Buccaneers & Gentlewomen Katie Hickman 3.71 out of 5 | 10 reviews "laced with the stories of individual women and their times... heart-wrenching" The Daily Telegraph She Would Be King Wayetu Moore 3.80 out of 5 | 3 reviews "a tour de force that crescendoes to its conclusion, reimagining the birth of Liberia in a way that is tender, humane and suffused with lyricism" The Guardian Best Reviewed Big Sky Kate Atkinson 4.41 out of 5 | 7 reviews "an exuberant, entertaining read" The Independent Stalingrad Vasily Grossman 4.31 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A Soviet writer unpopular in Russia, popular in the West" Times Literary Supplement The Heartland Nathan Filer 4.23 out of 5 | 6 reviews "A compelling attempt to shed light on the mystery of schizophrenia" Evening Standard Court Number One Thomas Grant 4.22 out of 5 | 4 reviews "an affecting study of how the law gets it right – and wrong" The Guardian Salt Slow Julia Armfield 4.17 out of 5 | 4 reviews "a savage, blackly thrilling debut" The Daily Telegraph The Way to the Sea Caroline Crampton 4.17 out of 5 | 4 reviews "Crampton writes beautifully of the area’s charms" The Sunday Times The Making of Poetry Adam Nicolson 4.09 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A new kind of literary biography relives the ‘year of poetic marvels’ that Wordsworth and Coleridge spent in Somerset" Financial Times Family Business Peter J. Conradi 4.00 out of 5 | 3 reviews "I recommend this book, because he writes thoughtfully and well" The Spectator Homing Jon Day 4.00 out of 5 | 4 reviews "Day’s book melds nature writing with urban grit to examine our urge to take root" Financial Times Most Reviewed Siege Michael Wolff 3.35 out of 5 | 12 reviews "The author’s follow-up book on Trump’s second year is hilarious, scary and filled with a sense of impending doom" Financial Times Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor 3.93 out of 5 | 8 reviews "hugely entertaining" The Guardian Big Sky Kate Atkinson 4.41 out of 5 | 7 reviews "an exuberant, entertaining read" The Independent Stalingrad Vasily Grossman 4.31 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A Soviet writer unpopular in Russia, popular in the West" Times Literary Supplement The Making of Poetry Adam Nicolson 4.09 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A new kind of literary biography relives the ‘year of poetic marvels’ that Wordsworth and Coleridge spent in Somerset" Financial Times This Storm James Ellroy 3.92 out of 5 | 7 reviews "rewards the attentive" The Observer © 2019 Bookseller Media Ltd.

Including Francesca Segal's Mother Ship, Jo Baker's The Body Lies, Susannah Stapleton's The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective and many, many more book reviews Home | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Children's | Genres | Publications | Prizes The Week in Review: 21st June 2019 Segal's Mother Ship drops anchor in the critics' hearts Good morning  Francesca Segal's Mother Ship (Chatto & Windus) has sailed smoothly into a near-perfect star rating. Hannah Beckerman in the Observer praised the memoir, about the 56 days Segal's prematurely-born baby daughters spent in intensive care, as "an exquisitely written paean to motherhood" and "filled with love, anguish, despair and hope in the face of adversity", while Amanda Craig in the Spectator described it as "as gripping as a thriller and as moving as a love story", crediting Segal's "exquisite writing and deep humanity". Lara Feigel in the Guardian, who said she "cried many times while reading it", added that the author "has found a way to record love without sentimentality: love that enables the exhausted, underpaid nurses and the shattered, frightened mothers to survive." Jo Baker's The Body Lies (Doubleday) also won acclaim, with The Bookseller previewer Alice O'Keeffe describing it as "a superior psychological thriller" and "page-turning", while praising its examination of "how women's bodies are treated, in life and in fiction". Other critics also noted Baker's merging of genres, with John Dugdale in the Sunday Times noting how the author "adroitly mashes up psychological thriller and satirical campus novel", and The Times' Siobhan Murphy commenting on the book's "knowing" use of woman-in-peril tropes, adding, "But there’s something cleverer going on in The Body Lies; its clout is in the sexual politics behind its deft contrast between the fictional depiction of violence against women [...] and the stark, isolating reality." Susannah Stapleton's The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective (Picador) charmed the critics, with The Bookseller's non-fiction previewer Caroline Sanderson describing the true story of the Edwardian detective as "scintillating and sleuthily researched". James Walton in the Spectator praised it as "rollicking" and "erudite but hugely entertaining", and Ysenda Maxtone-Graham in the Times found it to be "frank and funny", commending Stapleton as "skilful in mingling two strands of social history"—the life of a lady detective in the early 20th century and West's mysterious background, which she went to great lengths to keep hidden. By Kiera O'Brien, charts editor, The Bookseller Book of the Week Mother Ship Francesca Segal 4.57 out of 5 | 4 reviews "a moving story about motherhood" The Guardian "[a] moving account of being deprived of the customary markers of care" Financial Times "will have you in tears" The Spectator "raw yet exquisite" The Observer Read all reviews Latest Reviews Bitcoin Billionaires Ben Mezrich 3.17 out of 5 | 7 reviews "There are moments of hilarity... but they are unintentional" New Statesman City of Girls Elizabeth Gilbert 3.74 out of 5 | 7 reviews "City of Girls is an education in love, and an iridescent delight." The Spectator On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong 3.82 out of 5 | 6 reviews "a profound consideration of identity, as well as a work of sensuous, poetic detail" New Statesman The Ministry of Truth Dorian Lynskey 4.20 out of 5 | 4 reviews "idiosyncratic and acutely written" The Spectator Travellers Helon Habila TBC out of 5 | 2 reviews "(a) bravura exploration of the refugee crisis" The Guardian Diary of a Somebody Brian Bilston 3.50 out of 5 | 5 reviews "I’m afraid I mostly found this man irritating" Daily Mail Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself Florian Huber TBC out of 5 | 2 reviews "Huber tells the shocking stories of ordinary German suicides with literary power and skill" The Guardian She-merchants, Buccaneers & Gentlewomen Katie Hickman 3.71 out of 5 | 10 reviews "laced with the stories of individual women and their times... heart-wrenching" The Daily Telegraph She Would Be King Wayetu Moore 3.80 out of 5 | 3 reviews "a tour de force that crescendoes to its conclusion, reimagining the birth of Liberia in a way that is tender, humane and suffused with lyricism" The Guardian Best Reviewed Big Sky Kate Atkinson 4.41 out of 5 | 7 reviews "an exuberant, entertaining read" The Independent Stalingrad Vasily Grossman 4.31 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A Soviet writer unpopular in Russia, popular in the West" Times Literary Supplement The Heartland Nathan Filer 4.23 out of 5 | 6 reviews "A compelling attempt to shed light on the mystery of schizophrenia" Evening Standard Court Number One Thomas Grant 4.22 out of 5 | 4 reviews "an affecting study of how the law gets it right – and wrong" The Guardian Salt Slow Julia Armfield 4.17 out of 5 | 4 reviews "a savage, blackly thrilling debut" The Daily Telegraph The Way to the Sea Caroline Crampton 4.17 out of 5 | 4 reviews "Crampton writes beautifully of the area’s charms" The Sunday Times The Making of Poetry Adam Nicolson 4.09 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A new kind of literary biography relives the ‘year of poetic marvels’ that Wordsworth and Coleridge spent in Somerset" Financial Times Family Business Peter J. Conradi 4.00 out of 5 | 3 reviews "I recommend this book, because he writes thoughtfully and well" The Spectator Homing Jon Day 4.00 out of 5 | 4 reviews "Day’s book melds nature writing with urban grit to examine our urge to take root" Financial Times Most Reviewed Siege Michael Wolff 3.35 out of 5 | 12 reviews "The author’s follow-up book on Trump’s second year is hilarious, scary and filled with a sense of impending doom" Financial Times Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor 3.93 out of 5 | 8 reviews "hugely entertaining" The Guardian Big Sky Kate Atkinson 4.41 out of 5 | 7 reviews "an exuberant, entertaining read" The Independent Stalingrad Vasily Grossman 4.31 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A Soviet writer unpopular in Russia, popular in the West" Times Literary Supplement The Making of Poetry Adam Nicolson 4.09 out of 5 | 7 reviews "A new kind of literary biography relives the ‘year of poetic marvels’ that Wordsworth and Coleridge spent in Somerset" Financial Times This Storm James Ellroy 3.92 out of 5 | 7 reviews "rewards the attentive" The Observer

Including Lucasta Miller's L.E.L., Thomas Taylor's Malamander, Denise Miller's Conviction and Jacob Rees-Mogg's The Victorians Home | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Children's | Genres | Publications | Prizes The Week in Review: 28th May 2019 L.E.L. yes, say critics to Miller's biography Good morning  Lucasta Miller's L.E.L. (Jonathan Cape), the biography of poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon and her mysterious death in 1838, has achieved a near-perfect star rating, as critics comment on its reflection of the Instagram era. In the Guardian, Kathryn Hughes hails Landon, known as the "female Byron", as "an interesting 'foremother' of today’s performative culture", adding that readers "will come away from Miller’s excellent biography understanding why she matters". Jane Ridley in the Daily Telegraph praised L.E.L. as "a compelling life of the victim of a misogynist celebrity culture, a rich mix of literary criticism and impeccable research, which reads like a novel", and in the Literary Review, Miranda Seymour described it as "a masterpiece of eloquent scholarship".  Thomas Taylor's Malamander (Walker) also slithered into reviewers' hearts, with The Bookseller's previewer Fiona Noble describing it as "a wonderfully imaginative and atmospheric adventure, rich in myth and legend, and with a delicious gothic edge," while the Sunday Times' Nicolette Jones wrote that it was "told with such neat storytelling and surprising phrases it would be a joy to read aloud". Denise Mina's Conviction (Harvill Secker) persuaded the critics. Alison Flood in the Guardian described Mina as "such a classy writer" and the book's narrator Anna as "a darkly brilliant creation", while The Bookseller's Alice O'Keeffe said, "I've long been a fan of Denise Mina's writing but this is a corker even by her standards [...] Compelling doesn't even begin to cover it." By Kiera O'Brien, Charts Editor, The Bookseller Book of the Week L.E.L. Lucasta Miller 4.38 out of 5 | 10 reviews "The poet’s success was blighted by dark secrets" The Times "a triumphant case for literary biography" Times Literary Supplement "How Letitia Elizabeth Landon sold her image and bought poetic fame." New Statesman "a gripping piece of detective work" The Sunday Times Read all reviews Latest Reviews Our Man Down in Havana Christopher Hull 3.71 out of 5 | 5 reviews "Anybody interested in either Greene or Cuba will find this a splendid read, with a trainspotterly level of detail." The Daily Telegraph Superior Angela Saini TBC out of 5 | 2 reviews "This is an urgent, important book." The Observer This is Shakespeare Emma Smith 3.80 out of 5 | 5 reviews "a reliably woke take on the Bard" The Sunday Times Outrages Naomi Wolf 3.63 out of 5 | 3 reviews "Had the book been better written, there would be more cause for Wolf to celebrate herself." The Sunday Times Malamander Thomas Taylor, George Ermos 4.40 out of 5 | 3 reviews "told with such neat storytelling and surprising phrases it would be a joy to read aloud." The Sunday Times The Victorians Jacob Rees-Mogg 1.14 out of 5 | 7 reviews "The only purpose of this dreadful pulp is to demonstrate why Britain’s past is no more safe in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s hands than its future." The Observer Trust Exercise Susan Choi 3.64 out of 5 | 5 reviews "A bold novel that might leave you feeling cheated" Irish Times The Professor and the Parson Adam Sisman 3.77 out of 5 | 7 reviews "an enjoyable and extraordinary tale" The Guardian Faber & Faber Toby Faber 3.83 out of 5 | 4 reviews "A fasctinating history of the independent publisher, told by an insider" Irish Times Best Reviewed Our Man George Packer 4.50 out of 5 | 8 reviews "masterful...both gripping and surprisingly pacey" New Statesman Lowborn Kerry Hudson 4.31 out of 5 | 7 reviews "The novelist who fled from dire poverty — and what she found when she went back" The Sunday Times The Ministry of Truth Dorian Lynskey 4.22 out of 5 | 3 reviews "Thoroughly researched and wearing its scholarship lightly, The Ministry of Truth is at its best in some of its pop cultural gleanings" The Guardian The Porpoise Mark Haddon 4.08 out of 5 | 8 reviews "a strange but marvellous riff on Shakespeare’s Pericles" The Daily Telegraph Toffee Sarah Crossan 4.00 out of 5 | 3 reviews " a compelling and beautifully wrought book " The Sunday Times Then It Fell Apart Moby 4.00 out of 5 | 3 reviews "squawk-out-loud funny and unexpectedly lyrical in places" The Guardian What Red Was Rosie Price 4.00 out of 5 | 6 reviews "A brilliantly told tale of class, abuse and familial dysfunction marks the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction" The Observer Once More We Saw Stars Jayson Greene 4.00 out of 5 | 4 reviews "After death of his infant daughter, Jason Greene’s memoir on grief is brutally honest" Irish Times Conviction Denise Mina 4.00 out of 5 | 4 reviews "absorbing" The Times Most Reviewed Cari Mora Thomas Harris 2.89 out of 5 | 11 reviews "a book that, if it really is a black comedy, puts the joke on the reader" Irish Times L.E.L. Lucasta Miller 4.38 out of 5 | 10 reviews "(readers) will come away from Miller’s excellent biography understanding why she matters" The Guardian Our Man George Packer 4.50 out of 5 | 8 reviews "masterful...both gripping and surprisingly pacey" New Statesman Frankissstein Jeanette Winterson 3.42 out of 5 | 8 reviews " It’s fun to be in her company. And I wasn’t expecting fun." The Guardian Lowborn Kerry Hudson 4.31 out of 5 | 7 reviews "The novelist who fled from dire poverty — and what she found when she went back" The Sunday Times The Victorians Jacob Rees-Mogg 1.14 out of 5 | 7 reviews "The only purpose of this dreadful pulp is to demonstrate why Britain’s past is no more safe in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s hands than its future." The Observer © 2019 Bookseller Media Ltd.

Including the latest thriller from Hannibal Lecter creator Thomas Harris, Jacob Rees Mogg's The Victorians, Mark Haddon's The Porpoise and many, many more Home | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Children's | Genres | Publications | Prizes The Week in Review 17th May 2019 Fit for Porpoise: Haddon’s return delights Good morning Karen, One of the biggest launches and most-anticipated books of the last week was Mark Haddon’s first novel in seven years. Most famous for his 2003 Whitbread Award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Haddon’s latest is The Porpoise (Chatto) which Tim Smith-Laing called “a defiantly odd novel” in a five-star Daily Telegraph rave. Smith-Laing is not wrong as even a synopsis is difficult: the story moves from present day to ancient times, starting on a plane headed for disaster, switching to the open sea and ending with a dramatic chase. In the Evening Standard, Claire Allfree was captivated by Haddon’s prose and thought the book was an “elegant homage to stories’ capacity for endless renewal”.  Some, like Johanna Thomas-Corr in the Times, were slightly put off by the “weird tale”, but concluded that “The Porpoise is beautifully written that you can put these qualms aside”. There were across-the-board thumbs up for George Packer’s Our Man (Cape), a biography of the US diplomat Richard Holbrooke through which Packer examines the rise and (he argues) decline of America’s global influence. Steve Bloomfield in the Guardian said the book was “one of the most fascinating dissections of US power—its strengths and serious weaknesses—I’ve read”. The Spectator’s Jonathan Powell said Our Man was “fascinating and compulsive” adding: “the author was told he should write a novel about Holbrooke rather than a biography and it often feels as though he has”. Joanne Ramos’ The Farm (Bloomsbury), a near-future semi-dystopian novel on surrogacy, has been one of the most lauded 2019 débuts—in a year full of strong first-time outings. The Bookseller’s Alice O’Keeffe crowned it her book of the month for May, while the Times’ Melissa Katsoulis raved that it was a “real page-turner that combines all the hottest issues of the day: inequality, race and women’s battle to reclaim their bodies from commodification”. By Tom Tivnan, managing editor, The Bookseller Book of the Year The Porpoise Mark Haddon 3.90 out of 5 | 7 reviews "This story of King Antiochus and his daughter is given emotional and psychological plausibility in a modern setting" Financial Times "Haddon’s prose is beautiful" Evening Standard "ambitious and admirable as well as challenging" Literary Review "weird tale of time travel and incest" The Times Read all reviews Latest Reviews Cari Mora Thomas Harris 3.22 out of 5 | 6 reviews "what his fans look for is here— turned up to 11" The Spectator The Victorians Jacob Rees-Mogg TBC out of 5 | 2 reviews "The real purpose, then, of The Victorians is to reflect Rees-Mogg back to himself at twice his natural size" The Guardian Frankissstein Jeanette Winterson 3.00 out of 5 | 5 reviews "In a nutshell, first-rate beach fare." Daily Mail Saltwater Jessica Andrews 0.00 out of 5 | 2 reviews "a sharply observed and poignant first outing" Daily Mail She-merchants, Buccaneers & Gentlewomen Katie Hickman 3.67 out of 5 | 7 reviews "Hickman has a real talent for recounting the stories of individual people with sympathy, clarity and verve" The Guardian What Red Was Rosie Price 3.60 out of 5 | 4 reviews "...since this is so obviously Price’s story, might she not have been better off telling it as just that" Evening Standard Horizon Barry Lopez 4.53 out of 5 | 7 reviews "I don’t know whether Lopez is possessed of extrasensory perception, but he’s not short of wisdom" The Daily Telegraph L.E.L. Lucasta Miller 4.00 out of 5 | 6 reviews "sharp-eyed as an analysis of the myths that grow up around some writers and the motives behind them" The Spectator Then It Fell Apart Moby TBC out of 5 | 2 reviews "endearing and often alarming" Irish Times Best Reviews This is Shakespeare Emma Smith 4.57 out of 5 | 4 reviews "a brilliantly lighthearted guide to the Bard" The Daily Telegraph Lowborn Kerry Hudson 4.43 out of 5 | 3 reviews "a moving portrait of the survival and eventual flourishing of a remarkable spirit" The Guardian The Tunnels Below Nadine Wild-Palmer, Ellen Shi 4.00 out of 5 | 3 reviews "a zippy and captivating read" Book Trust The Farm Joanne Ramos 3.93 out of 5 | 6 reviews "Capitalism is the villain in this near-future tale set on a surrogacy facility for the super-rich" The Observer The Professor and the Parson Adam Sisman 3.89 out of 5 | 5 reviews "The bizarre tale of ‘the Romeo Rev’, a conman desperate for clerical and academic status" The Times The Doll Factory Elizabeth Macneal 3.88 out of 5 | 4 reviews "Macneal marries art, obsession and possession in a plot that gains momentum and leaves the reader breathless." Daily Mail A Stranger City Linda Grant 3.86 out of 5 | 4 reviews "The novel is busy with sights, sounds and people but, like the city, it occasionally proves exhausting and confusing" The Times Faber & Faber Toby Faber 3.80 out of 5 | 3 reviews "A diverting history of the poets’ favourite publisher" Evening Standard Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo 3.75 out of 5 | 3 reviews "a story for our times" New Statesman A Selection of Nibbies Winners 2019 Normal People Sally Rooney 4.50 out of 5 | 19 reviews "Sally Rooney’s Normal People excels at the thing novels do better than any other art form." Slate The Ice Monster David Walliams, Tony Ross 0.00 out of 5 | 1 reviews "a tale that has conviction and laughs" The Sunday Times Becoming Michelle Obama 4.33 out of 5 | 17 reviews "Becoming is refined and forthright, gracefully written and at times laugh-out-loud funny" The New York Times Our House Louise Candlish 0.00 out of 5 | 2 reviews "a gripping take on modern marriage" Daily Mail Bosh Henry Firth, Ian Theasby 0.00 out of 5 | reviews "" Lullaby Leila Slimani 4.49 out of 5 | 6 reviews "Slimani writes devastatingly perceptive character studies" The New York Times © 2019 Bookseller Media Ltd.