The parrot squawks, “Smell like crrrap, farrrt, farrrt, farrrt.” “You’re silly,” Aunt Elvira tells me. “He’s a sweet bird and would never say anything inappropriate.” Aunt Elvira is my favorite human but she forgets a lot, and her hearing is worse every day. Sometimes she calls me Vlado. That was her husband, who used to
The Letters Page, Vol 3. edited by Jon McGregor is a celebration of handwritten correspondence. This epistolary journal features letters from established and emerging writers on the theme of departure. Its smart design boasts a fold-out mailing package combined with all the nostalgic features of handwritten letters. There’s a red wax seal on the cover,
I first discovered Fortune Box when I saw it appear in Kendall Reviews best books of 2018 – these guys know their thing when it comes to horror fiction, so why don’t you pop on over and give them a follow…you might just end up unearthing some fabulous works in the process too! So, after seeing
Each new door opening was a fuck-off heroin hit of excitement. It never got old, but the first was the best. He’ll never beat the first time. Each lift of the key to the keyhole was a fresh needle to skin. The metal on metal slide into the door. A soft, dull click and an
If you didn’t know The Study Circle was a debut novel before you read it, I guarantee you never would’ve guessed. I certainly didn’t. Haroun Khan’s first novel is raw in subject matter and sophisticated in style. In an essay titled “My Political Novel”, Khan explains how the novel was a written over a two-year period.
Bindlestiff is one of those books that took forever to read, forever in a good way…I just didn’t want it to end. I set about each evening to devour more of this offering from Wayne Holloway only for my mind to shut down after a few pages – it wasn’t through boredom it was that
Fox 8 by George Saunders is a feat of great storytelling, it’s an enchanting and darkly comic fable centred around the life of Fox 8 who reveals through his unique voice the greed of man and the destruction of nature. If anyone doesn’t know who George Saunders is, where have you been living…under a rock,
I am not a huge fan of fantasy books and so this was a bit different for me and to be honest I was a little reluctant! Vic James is a well-known author, having written a number of best sellers and has a well-established fan base. This is the third book in a Trilogy about
Walter Turner – a dentist from Mississippi, has shot a lion. Not just any lion. He’s shot Cyril, a lion beloved by people such as Danny Gervais, Maria Farrow and Shane Osbourne [no points for guessing who they are in our supposed reality.] What follows is, predictably, a shitstorm. A shitstorm so big that Walter’s
When I was four, I drew a stick man. A long figure in black crayon, with spider-like hands and a featureless round head, he stood on jagged grass like the blade of a saw, while behind him a yellow ball shone bright lines into the sky. Mum was thrilled when I gave her the picture.
