Latest stuff
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
GBR
Other stuff
Occasionally, GBR branches out to other stuff. Non-book-reviewy stuff. This is where the other stuff is kept.
It's not complicated.
A few things got to me this week. Writing about them seemed like something to do.
Proper authors have been bugging me lately with all their talk of writing sessions. So I thought I'd rant about it (very gently and with a bunch of caveats).
It's time for GBRYIR. This is the third such self-obsessed annual reflection session, which makes us all feel really very old. I assumed book blogging would have bought my first Ferrari by now. And here I am, still taking the tube like a chump.
I bagged an interview with podcast legend and first time author Tom Reynolds. You know, Tom, from the Complete Guide to Everything. Well, he's gone and written a book. But, more importantly, he's gone and spoken to me about it.
Alan's books!
I put my head in the lion's mouth and interviewed my father-in-law about his writing. He's written six of them, so it was probably about time. We're still friends.
I nabbed myself an interview with author of Room and short story ninja, Emma Donoghue.
In the second of the GBR Interview series, I spent a highly enjoyable half hour on the phone with Alison Moore, author of the Man Booker Prize shortlisted The Lighthouse.
The first proper, one on one, totally for GBR, not related to another event interview. And one of my favourite authors to boot. I wasn't star struck at all. At all.
A few thoughts on why stories are as fake as Santa, and why we need them anyway. A rant entirely to be blamed on Will Self.
A bit of a rant about why this whole debate is a bit dumb. A lot dumb, in fact.
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