Girl on the Train reads how it is: a popular book by a skilled journalist. It operates exactly as it intends and became a lucrative film as a result. The narrative, developed in headed chapters by three distinct female narrators, heightens the psychological tension...

Brick Lane is a seminal text of modern London and the multicultural experience. It positions itself in the surprisingly rich perception of an uneducated woman who works hard and just wants the best for her children, and ultimately her chosen husband. Ali presents us...

Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black is a well-constructed example of the Gothic genre. Its style pays homage to high Victorian fiction yet operates at a manageable length, especially for burgeoning readers, making it a good introduction to the genre. The heart of horror...

George Martin’s second book is typical of the practised screenwriter: a tremendously well-plotted story with deceptively complex character development. Very many threads build towards the suitably chaotic final battle while kings and low-born alike traverse the rich...

I have arrived at Updike remarkably late in my reading career; Terrorist is a strange start for me. It reads well, like an essayist expanding a short story into a novel. Yet it also feels unduly terse, without the literary polish or intensity I was expecting. As a...

On Chesil Beach is another smart McEwan novel about typically British repression and how love needs action. It asks questions such as: how reasonable should we be in love? And what expectations should we have of our spouses? That we experience in the book a couple...

Ready Player One is an interesting and fun book. It raises some interesting questions and is plotted well enough. Some issues in its style and content make this a difficult book to fully recommend, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. The power of this story comes in a...