As I was reading it, the thought did occur to me that it would make a good book club book. It’s only 150 pages long, but there’s plenty to discuss and interpret.

She Who Remains By Rene Karabash Translated by Izidora Angel

Intriguing literary novel set in 21st century Albania.

Bekiya becomes a sworn virgin to avoid an arranged marriage; the Kanun rules a blood feud.

The non-linear structure gradually reveals events with sometimes dreamlike prose.

Shortlisted for the #InternationalBooker2026

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Next weekend 😊

This looks great!
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The Others By Sheena Kalayil

Set in 1989 East Germany, this engaging novel shows the experiences of living in this time & place from interesting new perspectives.

Lolita is a medical student from India; Armando, a factory worker from Mozambique; their love triangle is completed by local Theo.

#WomensPrize longlist
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Buy audiobooks & support local bookstores Libro.fm makes it possible for you to buy audiobooks directly through local bookstores.

I enjoyed this book, but if people want to buy the audiobook from a place that benefits independent book shops, here’s a link to it at Libro.fm

libro.fm/audiobooks/9...

You can nominate your favourite local independent book shop. It’s like bookshop.org but for audio

Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal

An epic “connection novel” linking seven story strands, the diaspora descendants of a forbidden-love couple some generations ago.

The legendary Saraswati river is the backdrop to romance, politics and environmental issues across many countries and times.

A great feast of storytelling

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Who Wants Normal? Life Lessons from Disabled Women By Frances Ryan. A paperback book with a new foreword. Blurbs from Jameela Jamil: “We all need this book”, and Rosie Jones: “I’ve never related to a book more”

I love the balance of facts & statistics with real life experiences from a wide range of interesting women with disabilities and long-term health conditions in this important book by journalist @francesryan.bsky.social

Eye-opening and relevant, with sound analysis, compassion and wit!

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Bloomsbury signs three book deal for ‘cosmic’ graphic novel series from Nicola Colton

Bloomsbury has acquired The Cosmic Club, a graphic novel adventure series by Nicola Colton, with the first book set to publish in July 2027.

Read more 👇

“Tibby and Mike must stay at home”

Is the line from this book which immediately popped into my head as soon as I saw the cover of ‘Shopping with Mother’.

Amazing what stays in your brain. I suppose I must have read this book a hundred times, half a century ago.

The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself By Hettie O’Brien

Essential reading: this new book investigates the nefarious workings of private equity and its harmful impact on our lives.

@hettieobrien.bsky.social explains tricky financial concepts and infuriating stories - from care homes to housing to water privatisation - in an engaging style.

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Longlisted for the #WomensPrize for Fiction

Wild Dark Shore By Charlotte McConaghy

Brilliant climate fiction literary thriller, set on a remote island near Antarctica.

Dom & his 3 children are the only inhabitants, tasked with packing up the seed bank left behind by research scientists. A woman washes up, near dead.

Themes of grief, loss & harm-personal & planetary.

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The Ending Writes Itself By Evelyn Clarke. A proof copy, splayed out to show both covers. The back cover has a picture of a typewriter and the quote “Secrets don’t stay secret for long in publishing “. The author name is a pseudonym for V.E. Schwab & Cat Clarke

Very enjoyable twisty murder mystery.

When a bestselling author dies with his last book unfinished, 6 mid-list writers are invited to his remote Scottish island mansion to compete to write the best ending -and win a book deal.
Inevitably, a death occurs…

Deftly done, great plot & pace

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Helen of Nowhere By Makenna Goodman A blue paperback Fitzcarraldo Edition

A short yet epic novel with a play-like structure, with 6 Acts and 4 characters.

Very clever contemplation of masculinity and what makes a good life. A disgraced professor is shown a house for sale in the countryside; he thinks about his life with resentment and bewilderment.

Great!

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Who Wants to Live Forever By Hanna Thomas Uose

When a miracle drug is invented that can extend the human (well, *rich* human) lifespan indefinitely, the happiness of couple Yuki & Sam is tested. She campaigns against it; he decides to take it himself.

Interesting speculative fiction/sort-of romance.
Would you choose to live forever?

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I just ordered one of these!
Hopefully it will inspire me to get outdoors more, and a little further afield from my immediate neighbourhood

Paradiso 17 By Hannah Lillith Assadi

An exquisite sadness permeates this novel.

Sufien is exiled from Palestine as a child in the Nakba of 1948. We meet him many years later on his death bed, then follow his lifelong search for home through Kuwait, Italy, New York and Arizona.

Lyrical and original

#books
#WomensPrize for Fiction
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Indignity: A Life Reimagined By Lea Ypi

Original history of twentieth century Albania.

The author combines a traditional historical investigation into her family, visiting archives and explaining the circumstances surrounding WW2 & beyond, with imagined ‘dramatisations’ of the conversations and life events of real people.

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Very much worth your time, I think. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, but it soon got me hooked.
I’m actually enjoying the wait between instalments, too. Already anticipating the fifth book in November.

On The Calculation of Volume IV By Solvej Balle Translated by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell A paperback proof copy

This is the book I’m most excited about being published in April (9th).

I’m utterly obsessed with Solvej Balle’s excellent series, and this latest instalment did not disappoint!

Tara is now joined by more people who are also trapped in November 18th. Can they create a new way to exist?

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Long listed for the #WomensPrize for Fiction 2026

Moderation By Elaine Castillo

I loved the dark, cynical tone of this novel set in the tech industry, which tries to do a lot!

Girlie is an online moderator, recruited to a new virtual reality platform. Will she find romance with the creative exec, while the corporation exploits labour and consumers alike?
Compelling.
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Shop of the Week: Radek's Chocolate, Church Road The business is proud to be Bristol’s first "bean-to-bar" chocolate maker

If you’re in East Bristol, this is a lovely little shop for a treat!

www.bristol247.com/lifestyle/sh...

Where the Axe is Buried By Ray Nayler

Fast-paced techno-thriller set in near future Europe and Russia.

Governments are run by AI. But the system parameters were set by humans, so it’s a highly efficient replication of oppression with ubiquitous surveillance.

Brilliant scientist Lilia flees…

Engaging; interesting ideas.

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Intelligence By Robert Newman

World War Two spy romp.

Ida and Merry are brilliant Oxford philosophers, but when they try to contribute to the war effort with intelligence work, they aren’t taken seriously - because they are women. But they were right all along!

A quick and fun read with philosophical interludes.

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I’ve read two of these so far - Arundhati Roy and Ece Temelkuran.

I’ve just ordered Lyse Doucet from my local independent bookshop - it’s been on my list for a while.

It’s a shame Sarah Perry didn’t make the shortlist.

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Dominion By Addie E. Citchens

Set in a Black Christian community in Mississippi and told from the perspectives of two women.

Priscilla is the long-suffering wife of the pastor and mother of 5 boys; Diamond is the teenage girlfriend of her son.

The writing is outstanding - vivid & beautiful.

#WomensPrize longlist

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Claims of censorship as artworks removed from exhibition Artists have taken a knife to their own work at an exhibition, with holes in pieces a clear sign of what they claim is censorship

Well this act of censorship might have the Streisand Effect.

I had not heard about this art exhibition before, but now I want to go to see it.

Does Bristol, home to arms and financial services companies, have a denial problem?

www.bristol247.com/culture/art/...

The Drowning Place By Sarah Hilary. a paperback proof copy

I enjoyed the haunting new crime thriller by @sarahhilary.bsky.social set in the Peak District.

The two main detectives are interesting, substantial characters, the sense of place works really well, and the story is thoroughly gripping.

Can’t wait for more in this series!

UK 16/4/26

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