Costa Book Awards get ‘shorted’. A cause for celebration?
So, the headline news at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in London last night may have been the (deserved)… [more]
Reading the short story: my most valuable tip
I used to adhere to a strict rule when reading short fiction - never read more than one or two stories… [more]
Rob Reports: The Story Hour event at West Port Book Festival 2011
Book events with authors normally follow the same old routine - the author's introduced, the author reads,… [more]
Rob Reports: Robert Shearman at West Port Book Festival 2011
The Edinburgh Book Festival may be the biggest literary event of the year in Scotland's capital, but… [more]
Cover Love: Penguin Ink collection
If people can have literary tattoos then why can't literature have people tattoos? My 'Cover Love'… [more]
EdBookFest 2011 Diary: Day #16 – Of Swiss literary legends and final diary entries
Note: remember to scroll down to the bottom for picture highlights from the day. Well this is it folks,… [more]
Latest Previews (Forethoughts)
Forethoughts: Accabadora by Michela Murgia
Not only has this novel won six literary awards in its native Italy, it looks like it may feature old women, who go around the island of Sardinia clubbing people on their deathbeds.
Forethoughts: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Vol. 4
There’s few short story anthologies more hotly anticipated at RobAround Manor than the yearly Bristol Short Story Prize anthology. It’s arrived and it’s time to head off into what I hope will be short story heaven.
Forethoughts: All the Lights by Clemens Meyer
Ever since I saw him read at this year’s EdBookFest, I’ve never quite been able to get Clemens Meyer and his debut short story collection out of my head. Now I have an opportunity to journey through that collection. I can hardly hardly wait.
Rob’s Reading Journal
Latest reviews (Afterthoughts)
Afterthoughts: Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky
Well written and beautifully presented, Atlas of Remote Islands is a perfect companion for anyone wishing to escape their dreary surroundings to indulge in a spot of remote island-hopping, where myth, oddity and disaster rule supreme.
Afterthoughts: There Are Little Kingdoms by Kevin Barry
If you’re looking for a sharp, witty and entertaining look at the more marginal side of life on the Emerald Isle, then you won’t go far wrong in picking up this collection. Barry is an exceptional storyteller, and this collection shows why.
Afterthoughts: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Vol. 3
Coming with content that always feels fresh, original and consistently well written, this third offering from the BSSP is about as close to the perfect short story anthology as it likely to get.
Rob Reports
Book News
Costa Book Awards get ‘shorted’. A cause for celebration?
So, the headline news at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in London last night may have been the (deserved) victory of Andrew Miller who took the title … [Read More...]
Waterstones 11 for 2012 unveiled
The selection for year's Waterstones 11 was announced earlier this week (Thursday 19th), at a reception at Waterstones’ flagship store in … [Read More...]
Peirene announce winners of ‘PeiShoStoMo’ 900-word story competition
The winner of Peirene Press' inaugural Peirene Short Story Month (PeiShoStoMo) 900-word story competition has been announced as Paris-based Rosa … [Read More...]
Bloomsbury embrace ‘year of the short story’
Bloomsbury UK are buying in massively to the fact that 2012 is 'the year of the short story' by publishing a series of five major story collections … [Read More...]
Introducing 31 Shots of Shock 2011
Mid-September is when I usually start looking ahead to October on RobAroundBooks, and my yearly 31 Shots of Shock reading project. That time is almost … [Read More...]
2011 BBC National Short Story Award shortlist unveiled
The shortlist for the 2011 BBC National Short Story Award was announced earlier this evening, on Radio 4’s Front Row programme. Standing as one of … [Read More...]
Featured Articles
On The Radar: Improving the craft, writer’s notebooks, New York, and European fiction
“On the Radar” provides small incidental rundowns on books which I’ve discovered, but haven’t yet purchased. These are titles which I’ve … [Read More...]
Bookshelf of the Week: Bratislavan Bibliophile
There's not a lot of detail about the subject for this week's Bookshelf of the Week - other than it was taken in Bratislava, by fiction writer Michal … [Read More...]
Cover Love: Knut Hamsun series from Souvenir Press
It's been a wee while since I've done a Cover Love post (my last one was the four-volume Ox-Tales collection from Profile Books), so what better way … [Read More...]
Rob’s 5 Reading Rules (inspired by Michael Bhaskar)
Inspired by Michael Bhaskar’s excellent post on the Picador blog, in which he introduces his five new rules for reading which will hopefully help … [Read More...]
Behind the Pen: Libby Cone, author of War on the Margins
This week sees the exciting release of War on the Margins by Libby Cone. Well written and engaging, War on the Margins is an important novel, because … [Read More...]
Recent Comments