Guardian book reviews 2023

Sunlight is not the best disinfectant, she points out; bleach is.

Set in revolutionary France, The Glutton Granta is inspired by contemporary reports of a peasant who would eat anything, from dead rats to forks; and explores poverty, desire and social chaos in thrilling prose. The Running Grave Little, Brown , the seventh Cormoran Strike novel by JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith, sets the continuing romantic tension between her detective duo against an investigation into a religious cult in Norfolk. And Anne Michaels, known for the multi-award-winning Fugitive Pieces, returns with Held Bloomsbury, Nov , which spans generations in the aftermath of the first world war. Uncovered Terry Pratchett A Stroke of the Pen Doubleday, Oct assembles early short stories by the late Discworld creator, written under a pseudonym for newspapers in the 70s and 80s and only discovered after superfans combed through the archives. Expect comic fantastical fragments riffing on everything from cave people to Father Christmas. The one to make you laugh In the funny and deeply relatable Weirdo Faber, Sept , standup Sara Pascoe brings her quirky observational comedy to the story of a young woman navigating the trials of life — love, money, purpose — while trying to seem normal. The queer history Drawing on documents and images from real-life pioneers, the hugely ambitious Blackouts by Justin Torres Granta, Nov is an intimate, playful account of an old and a young man talking; but it builds into a rich, poetic reclamation of cultural inheritance.

Guardian book reviews 2023

Published: AM. Book of the day. The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet review — social-climbing satire. This pitch-black debut, lurching from comedy of manners to grand guignol, will be catnip to fans of Saltburn. Published: PM. Free Therapy by Rebecca Ivory review — delicious reveals and rug pulls in stories of aimless women. The debut Irish writer circles around twentysomethings with crap jobs, crap men and even worse housing work in this nicely observed collection. In a witty, highly entertaining memoir, the drag queen turned TV star recounts his journey from homelessness to the dizzying heights of fame via the punk scene — and a snub from Madonna. Two Hours by Alba Arikha review — an impassioned tale of how life pummels and reshapes us. All Before Me by Esther Rutter review — the healing power of place and poetry. Thrillers of the month. Observer book of the week.

I loved it.

D uring the lockdown years, I kept reading articles by novelists saying how unproductive they were feeling, how virus narratives had colonised their subconscious minds, destroying the creative impulse. The Shards Swift, January is a riotous tale of privilege and psychosis at a swanky prep school. I loved it. To be honest, feels like a month-by-month parade of my favourite writers. The Bee Sting Hamish Hamilton, June is the tale of a dysfunctional family trying to hold things together. Her first novel since A Gate at the Stairs , this is an uncanny tale stretched between the 19th century and the present. Now, with A Spell of Good Things Canongate, February , she has delivered a poised and luminous love story set against the backdrop of a violent contemporary Nigeria.

Far be it from us to say you saw it here first. The class of includes a writer on an Emmy-winning Netflix show and a book publicist with a year career at the heart of the trade. From the turmoil of same-sex desire in Victorian England to the funny side of getting divorced in your 20s; from the trials of manhood in recession-hit Belfast to a genre-bending coming-of-age saga from Nigeria by way of Norwich: all are among the sundry riches to be found here. Anthony Cummins. We are going through a very difficult time in Nigerian history. Everything is crumbling. Stephen Buoro, 29, was born in Ososo, Nigeria, the fourth of six children. His father was a photographer, so their home was an artistic one, though the only books were religious texts.

Guardian book reviews 2023

Set in revolutionary France, The Glutton Granta is inspired by contemporary reports of a peasant who would eat anything, from dead rats to forks; and explores poverty, desire and social chaos in thrilling prose. The Running Grave Little, Brown , the seventh Cormoran Strike novel by JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith, sets the continuing romantic tension between her detective duo against an investigation into a religious cult in Norfolk. And Anne Michaels, known for the multi-award-winning Fugitive Pieces, returns with Held Bloomsbury, Nov , which spans generations in the aftermath of the first world war. Uncovered Terry Pratchett A Stroke of the Pen Doubleday, Oct assembles early short stories by the late Discworld creator, written under a pseudonym for newspapers in the 70s and 80s and only discovered after superfans combed through the archives. Expect comic fantastical fragments riffing on everything from cave people to Father Christmas.

Coffee cup warmer

Influential by Amara Sage, Faber YA debut about social media, internet fame and cancel culture, with a heroine whose parents have put her whole life online. Their relationship prompts the author to recall moments from her own youth and to reflect, acutely and without sentimentality, on memory and the passing of time. Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain, Chatto Set in the second half of the 20th century, a tale of thwarted love. Transitional by Munroe Bergdorf, Bloomsbury The model and trans activist tells the story of her own search for authenticity and argues that we all transition, one way or another. Delivery charges may apply. But her autobiography The Woman in Me Gallery, Oct promises a new level of candour as it covers not just her childhood and early years of fame but the controversial conservatorship that placed her father in control of her medical and financial affairs in , and which was terminated after a sensational court hearing two years ago. Read all politics. The Ghost Theatre Bloomsbury, May finds its way into the hidden corners of Elizabethan London, telling the story of a group of misfit actors. Sparrow Picador, May is a stunning work of historical imagination. In Tremor Faber, Oct , a west African professor working in the US considers the meaning of art and storytelling in the face of a brutal past and violent present. She tackles that guilt and awkwardness head on in this frank family history. Does being meek ever bring about justice?

In Birnam Wood Granta , idealistic guerrilla gardeners in New Zealand run up against a ruthless billionaire. Zadie Smith also took on a new genre with her first historical novel, The Fraud Hamish Hamilton , which sets a gently comic portrait of 19th-century literary London, and a real-life trial which stirred up passionate emotions around class and identity, against harrowing testimony from a slave plantation.

Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory by Janet Malcolm, Granta In her final book, posthumously published, the New Yorker writer weaves an affecting memoir around 12 family photographs. The Running Grave Little, Brown , the seventh Cormoran Strike novel by JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith, sets the continuing romantic tension between her detective duo against an investigation into a religious cult in Norfolk. As Kiper points out in her lucid explanations of what is known about memory and consciousness, and the brain biology of self-control, no one can be perfect in such a situation: the carers, too, are victims of the disease. The Earth Transformed by Peter Frankopan, Bloomsbury A sweeping examination of how climate has shaped history, and how humans in turn have shaped climate, from the author of The Silk Roads. Farming adventures; tales from the set of The Sound of Music; King Arthur reimagined; unrest in near-future London and more. Audiobook of the week. Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia by Hadley Freeman, 4th Estate The columnist and author of House of Glass reflects on her experience of anorexia and as an inpatient on an eating disorders ward. So, he knows whereof he speaks, and that makes his message all the more sobering. Explore all the featured books at guardianbookshop. But her autobiography The Woman in Me Gallery, Oct promises a new level of candour as it covers not just her childhood and early years of fame but the controversial conservatorship that placed her father in control of her medical and financial affairs in , and which was terminated after a sensational court hearing two years ago.