By the time the next edition of Life Elsewhere airs, the World Cup will be over. The fate of the English team will have been decided. Could masses of English people be celebrating and dancing in the streets? Coincidently, another momentous event will also have come and gone. But, we can safely
Read moreAbout a week or so ago, late night talk show host, Jimmy Fallon introduced The Tonight Show’s first ever book club and included The Immortalists, the brilliant new novel by Chloe Benjamin. Perhaps, because Fallon has come under critical scrutiny after his gentle-cozy interview with Trump, the least cerebral of late-night comedians is not usually associated with anything other
Read moreThirty years ago when I first caught sight of the cover I knew this was going to be a record I would like. Little did I know then it would be a release that I would instantly adore and over the years I would herald it as groundbreaking. At any given opportunity I would reference
Read moreThe demure young woman sitting opposite me gives no clue that she is the author of the most beautifully complex and engrossing book I’ve read in ages. Her darkly comedic interconnected stories follow Elena Rubik, her best friend Jules Valentine, and wannabe investigative reporter April Kuan, as a viral marketing scheme’s motivations become a cause for concern. There are the
Read moreWhen Katie Met Cassidy and Blown are two new, clever-funny novels. Both are very much set in the present, each book reels off timely iconic observations and pop-culture references without a hint of self-consciousness. Their fast-pasted comedic well-constructed narratives with believable characters draw the reader in, while almost
Read more