Volumes Received

'Volumes Received' was how newspapers used to (perhaps still?) round up the books they hadn't had time to review, but had been sent for review. I'm afraid the pressures of my Masters have meant that I'm going to do the same thing - some of these books have been on my reviewing shelf for months, and I was feeling guilty. This might not be the last time you see them, because I hope still to read some or all of them, but if I tell you a little bit about the books, you can make your own mind up...


War on the Margins: a margin - Libby Cone
This one I definitely will read before too long, but thought I'd mention it whilst the excitement is still raring re:The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. Libby sent me her novel after reading my review of the Guernsey book, and it looks like it would make an excellent companion read - Occupation Guernsey through the eyes of those living there.

Castle in the Clouds - Monica Janssens
'It's midnight she's in a nuthouse, and one of the inmates has tried to top herself. Just when she's convinced the night can't get much weirder, in walks one of the world's most controversial supermodels' - five separate and diverse (fictional) viewpoints of a rehabilitation clinic.

The Pornographer of Vienna - Lewis Crofts
One of those which I thought was a spam email at first... but no! Egon Schiele, a passionate painter all his life, leaves home at sixteen determined to establish himself as an artist in Vienna. Along the way he meets Gustav Klimt. Looks a mix of fun and disturbing...

What if...? - Steve N. Lee
A suspense narrative about a man who claims to be able to end poverty and disease and bring prosperity and peace - is he telling the truth? Are the government right to fear him? 'If you knew you were right, would you let any one or any thing stand in your way?'. A twist on the good vs. evil narrative.


The Storms of Acias - Dominic Took
'A violent Storm hits the castle where Graciou lives with his father and his extended family. After becoming separated from his father because of The Storm, Graciou now finds himself in his eighteenth year, wanting to answer so many questions that have haunted him since that day.' He journeys home, and 'meets a seemingly mad old woman, who starts to reveal what happened all those years ago, but as she begins to tell her story, is all as it would seem?'

29 Ways to Drown - Niki Aguirre
Short story collection, spanning three continents but more often a virtual landscape - one review says 'Niki Aguirre breathes new energy into the short story with a dark orginality that makes hers compulsive reading while illuminating our kind and the crooked ways people live, fight and dream'