I reviewed Yasunari Kawabata's sublime 'lost' novel The Rainbow (translated into English for the first time by Haydn Trowell) for Review 31's Books of the Year 2023. Read the round-up here

I wrote about Maror and Adama, Lavie Tidhar's first two novels in his epic trilogy of Israel's criminal underworld, in the TLS

Really excited about my event with James Cook at the Margate Literary Festival on Sat 21st Oct at 2pm. We'll be playing songs from James' memoir In Her Room as well as readings from the book. Expect music from the Beach Boys, Beatles, REM & Flamingoes. FREE tickets here

Twinkind by William Viney (himself an identical twin) is a refreshingly partisan, sumptuously illustrated book about the cultural and social significance of twins. Here's my review in the Spectator

DJ Taylor's entertaining if flawed music-biz saga Rock 'n' Roll is Life reaches its second instalment with Flame Music. Here's my piece in the Literary Review

I reviewed Jo Ann Beard's taut, poignant novella, Cheri, in the Literary Review

I reviewed The Black Eden, Richard T. Kelly's epic novel of North Sea oil exploitation, in the Guardian

I will be talking with Amanda Craig about her immersive, Tuscany-set new novel The Three Graces at the Owl Bookshop Kentish Town, on Tues 11th July 6.30pm. Do come along. Tickets here

Here's my review of Éric Vuillard's An Honourable Exit, a cool and compact 'factual novel' about French colonial exploitation in Indochina. TLS

I wrote about Michael Arditti's rich and engrossing novel of art, faith and morality, The Choice, in the The Spectator

I reviewed Xiaolu Guo's memoir Radical, an intellectually rich and stimulating exploration of language and female emancipation, in the Guardian

Lydia Sandgren's Collected Works is a satisfying Franzenian doorstopper of a novel. Sometimes the traditional pleasures of character and narrative trump experiments with form. Here's my review in the Spectator

Kimberley C. Patton's Gemini and the Sacred is a capacious and erudite anthology of essays on twins and twinship in religion and mythology. Here's my review in the TLS

 I reviewed Catherine Lacey's ambitious and super-inventive new novel, Biography of X, in the TLS

Sebastian Barry's superb new novel is a deep exploration of the 'sad stations of memory' set on Ireland's Dalkey coastline. Here's my piece in the Literary Review

Here's my review of Hotel Milano, the new novel from veteran novelist, essayist & translator Tim Parks in the Guardian

Toby Litt's A Writer's Diary is a remarkable daily record of life's minutiae, with much wisdom on the creative process and the how to keep going as a writer. Here's my review in the Spectator