I’ve been going on a journey recently with regards to Kealan Patrick Burke’s books, and boy what a journey it is turning out to be. Steve Stred who had read and advanced copy of my novella Juniper and kindly offered me a quote to use in the publicity of it mentioned that my writing reminded
Always North by Vicki Jarrett is a strange little beast, on the one hand I thought that the location and isolation that she brought to the book were astonishingly well written – you could feel the bleakness of it, the coldness of the arctic and at times when I was reading in bed, I’m sure
Wow. Folio Society have done it yet again – True Grit is another fabulous book which I feel has the whole package, beautifully put together, slipcase, illustrations (by Juan Estaban Rodriguez), a brilliant introduction by Donna Tartt – all these elements lend themselves seamlessly in bringing this classic to life – in gorgeous technicolor. .
‘Consider This: Moments In My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different‘ (which from this moment on will be referred to as Consider This) is not just a book it is an investment. Chuck Palahniuk has produced a fabulous book about writing craft, which as a fan of Palahniuk I’m thrilled with, but as a
Blanky by Kealan Patrick Burke is a slow brooding meditation on grief, one that pulls no punches – one that will have you wrapped with anticipation and dread, a story that drips with grief and sorrow and fear. This is a story and an author that I highly recommend you check out! As this is
Transforming the mundane into something intriguing, ‘Above the Fat’ is a wonderfully weird collection of short stories which slowly pulls readers in with obscure plots and layered characters. Chadwick has a skill for spotting the strange in something that could be so ordinary, presenting us with odd tales where the characters rarely have a traditionally
I picked up Grand Union in the hope that I would be blown away by the powerhouse that is Zadie Smith, and so I was very excited to learn that this was her first and much awaited short story collection. Zadie Smith is an astonishingly great writer, there is no shadow of doubt in that
It’s been a busy year again here at STORGY and I’ve been reading everything and everything yet again – from the big hitting publishers to the brave publishing of Independent Presses (which are putting out some astonishing works of late) to some self published works. Not to mention the hundreds of short stories I’ve read
STORGY reviewer Rachael Smart takes us on a journey of the best books that she read in 2019, and her recommendations are something that always throw up books that we then put straight to the top of our overflowing to be read piles! So, grab yourself a coffee and some biscuits and enjoy, then you
Exquisite Cadavers is fascinating. As Kandasamy reveals in the preface, it’s an experiment – ‘a story where each influence, each linchpin behind every freewheeling plot-turn, would be referenced and documented.’ She reveals she was inspired by surrealism, ‘the title relates to the game of consequences.’ In essence, the piece is two parts – there is
