Published by Picador and Michael Joseph (also published as The Eight Detectives), 2020, 291 pages. An editor goes to a remote Mediterranean island to meet a reclusive writer, whose book her publisher wants to reprint. In 1937, Grant McAllister drew up a set of mathematical rules for a murder mystery, and wrote seven stories to …
Author: suroor alikhan
I have always been an avid reader. I read across genres and try and find books by writers from countries around the world. One of the things I love is talking to fellow readers about books!
Exploring Remote Regions: An Interview with Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent is a British travel writer, broadcaster and public speaker. Photo: Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent Her books include Land of the Dawn-lit Mountain: A Journey Across India’s Forgotten Frontier, which was a runner-up in the 2018 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards; A Short Ride in the Jungle: The Ho Chi Minh Trail by Motorcycle; and Tuk Tuk to the …
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Older Brother: Daniel Mella
Translated from Spanish by Megan McDowellPublished by Charco Press, 2018, 148 pages. Original version published in 2017. In the summer of 2014, during one of the biggest storms to hit the coast of Uruguay, Alejandro is killed in a lightning strike. Ale, as he was known, was aware that there was an electrical storm brewing. …
Lagos Noir: Chris Abani (ed.)
Published by Akashic Books and Cassava Republic Press, 2018, 217 pages. “Lagos never sleeps. Ever. It stays awake long after New York has faded in a long drawn-out yawn, matched only by the vigil of Cairo. ... “By the way a man sits smoking on the hood of his burned-out Mercedes-Benz, it is clear he …
Without Ever Reaching the Summit: Paolo Cognetti
Translated from Italian by Stash LuczkiwPublished by Harvill Secker and HarperOne, 2020, 137 pages. Original version published in 2018. The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen’s book about his trip to the Dolpo region in the Himalayas, was published in 1978. It is a blend of travelogue, philosophy and nature writing. Almost four decades later, in 2017, …
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At Night We Walk in Circles: Daniel Alarcón
Published by Fourth Estate, 2013, 374 pages. Things are not going well for Nelson. His girlfriend Ixta has left him, and his acting career is floundering. His older brother has moved to the United States, promising to help Nelson move there, but has made no attempt to start the process. So when Nelson’s hero, the …
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The Liar Tells the Truth: Irshad Panjatan
2021, 287 pages. “In pure mime, the artist has to depend entirely on his body on an empty stage to create an atmosphere around him, plus the characters he depicts, to tell the story without any dialogues, music, or songs, and without any external aids like props and decorations. He has to fill the stage …
The Devil’s Company: David Liss
Published by Ballantine Books, 2009, 369 pages. This is a gripping story set in 18th century London. Thief-taker[1] Benjamin Weaver is asked by a mysterious man called Cobb to carry out a dangerous assignment. When Weaver declines, Cobb resorts to other means. He threatens three people close to Weaver with destitution unless Weaver agrees to …
Raising Issues of Domestic Violence: An Interview with Cherie Jones
Photo: BrooksLaTouche Photography, Barbados. Cherie Jones is a Barbadian author and attorney. Her novel, How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, was shortlisted for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She has also written a book of short stories, The Burning Bush Women & Other Stories. Cherie is currently working on her second novel. Talking …
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The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: Michael Chabon
Published by HarperCollins, 2007, 432 pages. “Nine months Landsman’s been flopping at the Hotel Zamenhof without any of his fellow residents managing to get themselves murdered. Now somebody has put a bullet in the brain of the occupant of 208...” The year is 1998. When, after World War II, plans to create a homeland for …
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Talking About Books 