5 new books to read this week
This week’s bookcase includes reviews of The Long Knives by Irvine Welsh and Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
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Your support makes all the difference.Looking for a gritty crime thriller or an adorable children’s book? This week’s releases have you covered…
Fiction
1. The Long Knives by Irvine Welsh is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £18.99 (ebook £9.99). Available August 25
There has been “a homicide” and detective Ray Lennox is on the case again. In the second instalment of Irvine Welsh’s Crime trilogy – which is now a TV series starring Dougray Scott – an MP has been castrated and left to bleed out in a Leith warehouse. As Lennox lurches from Edinburgh to London and back, the various strands of his chaotic world are played out at a dizzying pace. Falling back on drink and drugs to deal with his own problems, he ponders the issue of gender identity in the case and closer to home. As the casualties start to stack up, the wider question is: who are the real victims here? The dialogue is a delight but not for the faint-hearted. It’s sharp, fearless, passionate, and brilliant.10/10(Review by Emily Pennink)
2. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid is published in hardback by Hutchinson Heinemann, priced £16.99 (ebook £9.99). Available August 30
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels have previously followed fictional rock stars and Hollywood royalty, but her latest offering turns away from showbiz to the surprisingly cut-throat world of tennis. Carrie Soto is a 37-year-old retired champion when she decides to return to the sport to claim her winning record back from British player Nicki Chan. Not every woman worries about winning a Grand Slam, but many can likely relate to Soto’s challenges with getting older, wanting it all, and trying to manage a fiercely competitive spirit when the world expects women to stay quiet and smile nicely. It’s for these reasons you find yourself rooting for the star, in spite of an attitude which isn’t about endearing herself to others. Jenkins Reid has written yet another page-turner which will have you hooked, from the first serve to match point.9/10(Review by Eleanor Barlow)
3. Haven by Emma Donoghue is published in hardback by Picador, priced £16.99 (ebook £8.99). Available now
Emma Donoghue’s literary repertoire seems to know no bounds. Her latest novel follows three monks in seventh-century Ireland as they set out to found a new monastery. After Prior Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind, he sets off down River Shannon with nothing more than a small boat and two companions. Believing isolation will bring them closer to God, the three monks struggle to build a new life on a great piece of rock in the Atlantic. As they wait for God to provide, faith and obedience begin to fight against survival. Donoghue’s disconcerting prose thickens the intensity in a slow burn novel that simmers with passion, devotion and self-preservation.7/10(Review by Rebecca Wilcock)
Non-fiction
4. How To Read Now by Elaine Castillo is published by Atlantic Books, priced £14.99 (ebook £7.99). Available now
This is a direct collection of essays setting out to highlight the inherited truths and assumptions made by writers, directors and philosophers when they set out to tell a story. How To Read Now bravely exposes what Costello identifies as elitist, colonialist and cisgendered privilege in a range of classical and popular literature and film, including writing from Henry James, Joan Didion and J.K. Rowling. Well written and passionately argued, you might find this book both thought-provoking and problematic, sitting somewhere between educated literary criticism and bitter rant. Costello’s writing is brash and occasionally arrogant, though does succeed at least to a degree in making you question your own reading choices and the motives behind publishing in general. If you can put up with the argumentative style, you will no doubt come away with a more critical eye and more honest understanding of your own inherited truths.6/10(Review by Scarlett Sangster)
Children’s book of the week
5. A Pair Of Pears And An Orange by Anna McGregor is published in hardback by Scribe, priced £12.99 (no ebook). Available now
Parents and children alike will be delighted by the adorable illustrations in A Pair Of Pears And An Orange. After all, who wouldn’t want to see fruit brought to life, riding on bicycles and playing ping-pong? It might be a story about fruit, but it’s an infinitely relatable one. Big Pear and Little Pear are always playing together, but their games change when a new friend, Orange, joins in and Big Pear starts to feel left out. It’s a story about making new friends, opening yourself up to new experiences and navigating jealousy. It certainly helps the illustrations are sweet, and there’s a message in there for every child.8/10(Review by Prudence Wade)
BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING AUGUST 20
HARDBACK (FICTION)1. The Black Dog by Kevin Bridges2. Genesis by Chris Carter3. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean4. Girlcrush by Florence Given5. The Twist Of A Knife by Anthony Horowitz6. Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus7. Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson8. The Night Ship by Jess Kidd9. Murder Before Evensong by Reverend Richard Coles10. Isaac And The Egg by Bobby Palmer(Compiled by Waterstones)
HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)1. Deliciously Ella How To Go Plant-Based by Ella Mills (Woodward)2. How To Live When You Could Be Dead by Deborah James3. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith4. Jane’s Patisserie Celebrate! by Jane Dunn5. Revenge by Tom Bower6. James Acaster’s Guide To Quitting Social Media by James Acaster7. Kitchen Sanctuary by Nicky Corbishley8. Femina by Janina Ramirez9. House Arrest by Alan Bennett10. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy(Compiled by Waterstones)
AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)1. James Acaster’s Guide To Quitting Social Media by James Acaster2. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens3. The Twist Of A Knife by Anthony Horowitz4. The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith5. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith6. A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe7. Atomic Habits by James Clear8. This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes9. Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus10. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman(Compiled by Audible)