The Director – Daniel Kehlmann (tr. Ross Benjamin) A blog post on The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, an excellent novel that explores the shadowy nature of complicity and the high cost of moral failure.

"Times are always strange. Art is always out of place. Always unnecessary when it's made. And later, when you look back, it's the only thing that mattered."

On Earth As It Is Beneath Ana Paula Maia can already count herself a prize-winner having won the Republic of Consciousness Prize in 2024 for Of Cattle and Men, translated by Zoe Perry. While that novel, her first from Charc…

My latest #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review is Ana Paula Maia's On Earth As It Is Beneath, translated by Padma Viswanathan and published by @charcopress.com
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/12/o...

Galley Beggar Ghost Stories – The Signalman by Charles Dickens and The Old Nurse’s Story by Elizabeth Gaskell Back in winter 2024, the independent publisher Gallery Beggar Press issued a small bundle of ghost stories called Pocket Ghosts, comprising three beautifully produced slim volumes, each containing …

'That very day, as a train came out of the tunnel, I noticed, at a carriage window on my side, what looked like a confusion of hands and heads, and something waved. I saw it just in time to signal the driver, Stop!' #BookSky 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/03/12/g...

I think it was originally written first so you're reading in the right order!

Ah, I didn't realise as I haven't read that (although I didn't want to mention the end in too much detail).

On Earth As It Is Beneath Ana Paula Maia can already count herself a prize-winner having won the Republic of Consciousness Prize in 2024 for Of Cattle and Men, translated by Zoe Perry. While that novel, her first from Charc…

My latest #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review is Ana Paula Maia's On Earth As It Is Beneath, translated by Padma Viswanathan and published by @charcopress.com
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/12/o...

And she ruled: Queen by Birgitta Trotzig Through the darkness swept the beam. Capturing – releasing: capturing  – releasing. So deep the darkness when the light released its grip, like falling down through a well, darkness, no end; sleepe…

And she ruled: Queen by Birgitta Trotzig, translated by Saskia Vogel @archipelagobooks.bsky.social
roughghosts.com/2026/03/11/a...

Surprise package of the Booker International long list so far is Matteo Melchiorre's The Duke (though I'm only 120 pages in) from @foundryeditions.bsky.social

Excited to see this is coming out though it sounds a bit mental (I see you've also been reading older Kracht as well).

Looking forward to this!

Always a delight to discover a new Andrés Barba is on its way (translated by Lisa Dillman).

The Stepdaughter by Caroline Blackwood Born into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family, Lady Caroline Blackwood was, for many years, largely known as a socialite and muse. Her marriages to the artist Lucian Freud, the pianist Israel Citkow…

'She had the pathos of those hopelessly flawed objects which one often sees being put up for sale in junk shops. She gave the immediate impression of having something vitally important missing. She reminded me of some tea-pot with a missing spout...' 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/t...

The Deserters Mathias Enard’s The Deserters, beautifully translated as usual by Charlotte Mandell, is two novels for the price of one. The first takes place in a war-torn landscape where a deserter returns to hi…

My latest #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review is Mathias Enard's The Deserters, translated by @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social -
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/t...

A new blog post today on some of my favourite Virago Modern Classics
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/s...

It probably doesn't help that some of the UK's artiest publishers don't do cover design!

Yes, it looks like this is the UK version. A similar thing happened with Queen - Archipelago in the US, Faber in the UK.

Yes, I don't really see the point of it.

The interesting ones (for me) are the ones which may include new work as there are newly translated stories for Jacqueline Harpman and Eileen Chang (as far as I can tell).

No, it also include short bits of longer books!

Some of the covers for Vintage Classics Brief Encounter series (coming in July). Little information on the titles where they are not clearly already published however.

The Deserters Mathias Enard’s The Deserters, beautifully translated as usual by Charlotte Mandell, is two novels for the price of one. The first takes place in a war-torn landscape where a deserter returns to hi…

My latest #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review is Mathias Enard's The Deserters, translated by @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social -
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/t...

The cover for the Penguin Classics edition of Ágota Kristóf's Notebook Trilogy coming later this year.

30 years ago, in March 1996, I was reading Kate Atkinson's debut, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. She has written 12 further novels since then.

She Who Remains Though the International Booker Prize longlist contains a number of well-known names, it also features writers appearing in English for the first time. She Who Remains (translated by Izidora Angel)…

Another #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review, Rene Karabash's She Who Remains, translated by Izidora Angel and published by Peirene Press:
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/s...

Thanks - it's always a difficult balance!

That's very similar to my view - no complaint about it being on the long list but I don't think I see it going any further.

She Who Remains Though the International Booker Prize longlist contains a number of well-known names, it also features writers appearing in English for the first time. She Who Remains (translated by Izidora Angel)…

Another #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review, Rene Karabash's She Who Remains, translated by Izidora Angel and published by Peirene Press:
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/s...

The Barracks by John McGahern First published in 1963, The Barracks was John McGahern’s debut novel, written when he was in his late twenties. Now considered one of Ireland’s greatest authors, McGahern wrote about a world he kn…

New on the blog today, I've written about THE BARRACKS by John McGahern.

A sad, quietly devastating novel that delves deep into character, raising the question of whether the protagonist - a housewife in her early forties - has lived a meaningful life. 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/03/03/t...

The Wax Child is so well written - I love the scene with the king!