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Chris Womersley’s BEREFT
In an attempt to get myself across the whole eBook/eReading thing I am trying to alternate my reading between a physical book and an eBook. One of the benefits of this is, more often than not, I end up...
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Karl Marlantes’ WHAT IT IS LIKE TO GO TO WAR
MATTERHORN was my favourite book of 2010 so I was very excited to see a new Karl Marlantes book scheduled for this year. I was even more intrigued when I discovered it was a non fiction book. My...
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Ben Fountain’s BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK
As a bookseller I am deeply cynical about most book comparisons used in marketing. If I never see another book compared to Silence of The Lambs or described as “the next Steig Larsson” it will be too...
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Kevin Powers’ THE YELLOW BIRDS
There is something about war that fascinates me and it is not the strategy or politics, although I do find those elements interesting. I am intrigued and captivated by what makes an individual endure...
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Anna Funder’s ALL THAT I AM
There are a lot of books that get a lot of hype and sell purely on the hype alone and there are other books that are truly marvellous that deserve all the hype and accolades that are being heaped upon...
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Antony Beevor’s THE SECOND WORLD WAR
There have been so many books written about the Second World War, as whole and it its parts. For a war that finished almost 70 years ago there is not a lot of new material to be found or analysis to...
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Pat Barker’s TOBY’S ROOM
I haven’t read Pat Barker since reading The Regeneration trilogy. In fact I’ve hardly read any First World War fiction since then because it was so good that everything else pales in comparison...
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BOOK BITES: The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
If you can’t see video you can also view it on YouTube You can also read my review of the book here Filed under: Book Bites (Video Blog)
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BOOK CHEWING: My Interview With Kevin Powers, author or THE YELLOW BIRDS
The Yellow Birds was one of my Top 5 reads for 2012 and a book I don’t think I’ll ever forget. It is gut-wrenchingly beautiful. Which sounds odd for a novel about war but Kevin Powers is able to...
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Anthony Marra’s A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA
“Life: a constellation of vital phenomena—organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.” – definition of life in a Russian medical dictionary If you ever doubted the power of...
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FIRE AND FORGET
I am not big on short stories. I like a book that I can sink my teeth into and a story that emotionally resonates which shorter forms of writing usually don’t have the time or space to do. However all...
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David Abrams’ FOBBIT
Fobbit \’fa-bat\, noun. Definition: A U.S. Army employee stationed at a Forward Operating Base, esp. during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2011). Pejorative. After reading Fire And Forget I made sure I...
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Willy Vlautin’s THE FREE
I have always meant to read Willy Vlautin. My old Allen & Unwin rep practically begged me for years to read him (I still have two books in my to read pile). One of my favourite authors, George...
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Phil Klay’s REDEPLOYMENT
What an amazing book! This is a firm candidate for my book of the year already and it is beyond doubt the best collection of short stories I have ever read. I literally could not put this book down but...
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Michael Pitre’s FIVES AND TWENTY-FIVES
A remarkable piece of fiction following proudly in the footsteps of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, The Yellow Birds and Redeployment. Wars never truly end for everyone involved and this is the...
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Sara Nović’s GIRL AT WAR
I generally read 2-3 months ahead. It’s the nature of the book industry. I buy books for the shop 2-3 months in advance and get reading copies of the books being sold in. However with this book my 2015...
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Michael Herr’s DISPATCHES
This is one of the best pieces of war writing I have ever read, fiction or nonfiction and is an outstanding and terrifying piece of journalism. Michael Herr captures, distills and transmits to the...
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Sebastian Faulks’ WHERE MY HEART USED TO BEAT
Sebastian Faulks’ new novel is quite simply superb. Tackling themes he has explored before Faulks delivers an original novel that is haunting, beautiful and profound that will resonate all the way...
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Matt Gallagher’s YOUNGBLOOD
I have had this book on my radar for a while despite the book not being published until February next year. Matt Gallagher was one of the editors and contributors to an impressive collection of war...
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