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1 like = 1 (made-up) much-buzzed about book
1. Egg Life: a novel.
Stream-of-consciousness, from the perspective of a Tamagotchi (which can't be named for trademark reasons). Slowly starts to become aware of the world outside their device. Cartoon poo on the cover. Contains lots of sex.
Stream-of-consciousness, from the perspective of a Tamagotchi (which can't be named for trademark reasons). Slowly starts to become aware of the world outside their device. Cartoon poo on the cover. Contains lots of sex.
2. Cliff Face
Memoir/nature writing, "muscular" prose, about climbing up cliffs without the necessary equipment. Publisher considers putting a clause in the contract asking author to not do this again until after all of his signing and speaking engagements are over.
Memoir/nature writing, "muscular" prose, about climbing up cliffs without the necessary equipment. Publisher considers putting a clause in the contract asking author to not do this again until after all of his signing and speaking engagements are over.
3. Hannibal Lecter Earns His Second Michelin Star
Not written by Thomas Harris. Translated from French, and is so generally mean about everyone and everything that the publisher concludes it must count as satire and therefore legally they're in the clear. Lots of very boring sex.
Not written by Thomas Harris. Translated from French, and is so generally mean about everyone and everything that the publisher concludes it must count as satire and therefore legally they're in the clear. Lots of very boring sex.
4. Wold Wide Web
Popular science about various types of moss, lichen and fungi found in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Talks about how natural systems are interconnected, uses a silly Internet metaphor to explain it, finishes on an extremely depressing chapter about climate change.
Popular science about various types of moss, lichen and fungi found in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Talks about how natural systems are interconnected, uses a silly Internet metaphor to explain it, finishes on an extremely depressing chapter about climate change.
5. Chasm: a novel
In the first half a philosophy professor daydreams about every man she meets across the course of one single day.
In the second half she runs away to build a new life in a remote cave with an unnamed younger man in the aftermath of an earthquake. "Spare" prose.
In the first half a philosophy professor daydreams about every man she meets across the course of one single day.
In the second half she runs away to build a new life in a remote cave with an unnamed younger man in the aftermath of an earthquake. "Spare" prose.
6. Device Discovery
Epistolary YA SF novel set on a far-flung planet that uses formats very similar to discord and whatsapp. One teenager is an apprentice asteroid miner. Another one is about to start pilot college. Due to a typo, they start emailing each other and fall in love.
Epistolary YA SF novel set on a far-flung planet that uses formats very similar to discord and whatsapp. One teenager is an apprentice asteroid miner. Another one is about to start pilot college. Due to a typo, they start emailing each other and fall in love.
7. Grave Goods
Non-fiction/fiction hybrid, imagining the lives of people buried with different objects in medieval English burial grounds. Covers about 500 years.
When graves of people who were gender non-conforming are included the author takes great pains to explain them away.
Non-fiction/fiction hybrid, imagining the lives of people buried with different objects in medieval English burial grounds. Covers about 500 years.
When graves of people who were gender non-conforming are included the author takes great pains to explain them away.
8. Love, Mars and Venus
Autofiction about illness and dating, written against a fabulist backdrop in which astronomers have warned that Mars and Venus are going to collide in a week's time. Split into long diary entries over this week-long period. Narrator seems very unconcerned.
Autofiction about illness and dating, written against a fabulist backdrop in which astronomers have warned that Mars and Venus are going to collide in a week's time. Split into long diary entries over this week-long period. Narrator seems very unconcerned.
9. My First ASCII Workbook
Cutesy craft book about learning how to hand-draw ASCII art. Paper looks nice but is not particularly suitable to the task. Each page is perforated in case you want to stick it on your wall.
Cutesy craft book about learning how to hand-draw ASCII art. Paper looks nice but is not particularly suitable to the task. Each page is perforated in case you want to stick it on your wall.
10. Raven-Haunted
Literary biography of the raven from the ancient world to now. Spends a lot more time on the now.
Picture of Dickens and his raven on the front cover.
Author photo is the author with their own pet raven, mimicking the pose of the Dickens portrait.
Literary biography of the raven from the ancient world to now. Spends a lot more time on the now.
Picture of Dickens and his raven on the front cover.
Author photo is the author with their own pet raven, mimicking the pose of the Dickens portrait.
11. #NoFilter
Horror, told entirely through screenshots of instagram stories. Printed at twice the size of a regular mobile phone screen. Not much text. Lots happening in the background. Publisher couldn't work out how to easily distinguish private messages from public ones.
Horror, told entirely through screenshots of instagram stories. Printed at twice the size of a regular mobile phone screen. Not much text. Lots happening in the background. Publisher couldn't work out how to easily distinguish private messages from public ones.
12. Aviary
Fantasy doorstopper about a woman who is supposed to be taking up her place as a lady-in-waiting at the royal court. She is secretly a Feathervane, which means she can cast wind-magic, and is bound to a bird familiar.
She runs away - but the princess follows her.
Fantasy doorstopper about a woman who is supposed to be taking up her place as a lady-in-waiting at the royal court. She is secretly a Feathervane, which means she can cast wind-magic, and is bound to a bird familiar.
She runs away - but the princess follows her.
13. Tractatrix
Novel about three different women who work as hairdressers in Manchester, their dysfunctional relationships, and their career goals. Cover is made up of photos of lots of pairs of scissors cutting different types of hair. Book is mostly not set inside the salon.
Novel about three different women who work as hairdressers in Manchester, their dysfunctional relationships, and their career goals. Cover is made up of photos of lots of pairs of scissors cutting different types of hair. Book is mostly not set inside the salon.
14. Bakewell
Romance novel pitched for a crossover audience, about two bakers who meet on a gentle reality show that is obviously based heavily on GBBO. Cutesy cover features lots of aprons and tarts. Publicist sends baked goods and copies of the book to every women's magazine.
Romance novel pitched for a crossover audience, about two bakers who meet on a gentle reality show that is obviously based heavily on GBBO. Cutesy cover features lots of aprons and tarts. Publicist sends baked goods and copies of the book to every women's magazine.
15. My Narrow House
Fantasy. A witch wakes up in her own grave, and discovers that her best friend has brought her back to life through necromancy. They enlist a secret society of pissed-off corpses to overthrow the government. They have sex in a graveyard.
Fantasy. A witch wakes up in her own grave, and discovers that her best friend has brought her back to life through necromancy. They enlist a secret society of pissed-off corpses to overthrow the government. They have sex in a graveyard.
16. The Mole
Ian McEwan's take on Cymbeline for the Hogarth Shakespeare. Probably contains too many puns on "Posthumus". Both contains too much about Imogen's breasts and some surprisingly fun gender-fuckery.
Ian McEwan's take on Cymbeline for the Hogarth Shakespeare. Probably contains too many puns on "Posthumus". Both contains too much about Imogen's breasts and some surprisingly fun gender-fuckery.
17. Thérèse
Historical novel which reimagines the life of The Marquis de Sade as a woman. Almost 1,000 pages long. Troubling. Lyrical prose. Extremely well-researched. Impenetrable.
Historical novel which reimagines the life of The Marquis de Sade as a woman. Almost 1,000 pages long. Troubling. Lyrical prose. Extremely well-researched. Impenetrable.
18. Breakfast Buffet
A short micro-history of hotel breakfasts, full of cute illustrations, and clearly written by someone who was very hungry and longing to travel. Not enough personal experience. Sections on different cities around the world, of which too many are in Europe.
A short micro-history of hotel breakfasts, full of cute illustrations, and clearly written by someone who was very hungry and longing to travel. Not enough personal experience. Sections on different cities around the world, of which too many are in Europe.
19. 1/9/9/9
Historical novel about a dirtbag tech journalist at the turn of the millennium. Lots of inside jokes about Silicon Alley and Silicon Valley. Probably very autobiographical. Contains lots of fun multimedia stuff that pokes fun at webzines, BBSes, and hypertext.
Historical novel about a dirtbag tech journalist at the turn of the millennium. Lots of inside jokes about Silicon Alley and Silicon Valley. Probably very autobiographical. Contains lots of fun multimedia stuff that pokes fun at webzines, BBSes, and hypertext.
20. Forgotten Laws of Library Science
Esoteric thriller about a library. Big advance. Gothic author portrait. First print run is pulped before it hits the shelves because protagonist was named after the author's French teacher. Conspiracy theory that they're an art thief.
Esoteric thriller about a library. Big advance. Gothic author portrait. First print run is pulped before it hits the shelves because protagonist was named after the author's French teacher. Conspiracy theory that they're an art thief.
21. extraction
SF about an "ethical" company that teaches people to make their own devices from electronic waste. Protagonist attends a detox camp where they're not allowed online until they've built a phone from "scratch". Starts to feel sick. Hears strange things at night.
SF about an "ethical" company that teaches people to make their own devices from electronic waste. Protagonist attends a detox camp where they're not allowed online until they've built a phone from "scratch". Starts to feel sick. Hears strange things at night.
22. Governess
Novel about a young British woman who takes a job as a live-in tutor for a wealthy family in NYC. She knows nobody in NY, and spends her spare time sexting her boyfriend in London.
One day she is sent on an errand, and comes back to find the family has vanished.
Novel about a young British woman who takes a job as a live-in tutor for a wealthy family in NYC. She knows nobody in NY, and spends her spare time sexting her boyfriend in London.
One day she is sent on an errand, and comes back to find the family has vanished.
23. creepycuteadorable
collection of lyrical essays and poems about the idea of "cuteness". doesn't have images in but does feature a bibliography made up almost exclusively of web links that won't work in five years. written by someone who probably doesn't like cute things.
collection of lyrical essays and poems about the idea of "cuteness". doesn't have images in but does feature a bibliography made up almost exclusively of web links that won't work in five years. written by someone who probably doesn't like cute things.
24. Thunder Heard Remote
An unhappy man who makes a podcast about field recordings. His pet cat is trying to move in with his ex-wife who lives two doors down. His neighbourhood is plagued by mysterious blackouts.
And he's started receiving anonymous instructions by postcard...
An unhappy man who makes a podcast about field recordings. His pet cat is trying to move in with his ex-wife who lives two doors down. His neighbourhood is plagued by mysterious blackouts.
And he's started receiving anonymous instructions by postcard...
25. curses, like chickens
Collection of poems themed around traditional superstitions and methods of divination. Also contains a number of poems about keeping hens. Has a tarot card on the front, and an egg on the back.
Collection of poems themed around traditional superstitions and methods of divination. Also contains a number of poems about keeping hens. Has a tarot card on the front, and an egg on the back.
26. chainsmoker
Novel about a bicycle courier who smokes a lot. Written in a very disaffected style. Very short but the book has big margins and a slightly larger font than usual. Has two epigraphs.
Novel about a bicycle courier who smokes a lot. Written in a very disaffected style. Very short but the book has big margins and a slightly larger font than usual. Has two epigraphs.
27. Mucky Pup
Hedonistic “satire” of London arty nightlife written by someone who went to a very posh school. Reads a little bit like the author is bragging despite the narrator’s occasional self-deprecation.
Hedonistic “satire” of London arty nightlife written by someone who went to a very posh school. Reads a little bit like the author is bragging despite the narrator’s occasional self-deprecation.
28. The Blessing
Literary allegorical fantasy about a world where it’s discovered that taking the pill gives women magical powers. Society changes shape overnight. Men are subjugated. Everyone in it is young and there’s nothing about trans people or older people on HRT.
Literary allegorical fantasy about a world where it’s discovered that taking the pill gives women magical powers. Society changes shape overnight. Men are subjugated. Everyone in it is young and there’s nothing about trans people or older people on HRT.
29. I See You
Literary debut novel by a doctor who writes a weekly newspaper column. Story about a surgeon named Orpheus, who finds that he has one night to save his wife from the clutches of the underworld.
Literary debut novel by a doctor who writes a weekly newspaper column. Story about a surgeon named Orpheus, who finds that he has one night to save his wife from the clutches of the underworld.
30. Water Baby
Novel about an eccentric woman who is compiling an encyclopaedia about the sea. She lives alone in an old, now automated lighthouse. As the book goes on, readers start to realise she might be the only person left alive after an apocalyptic event.
Novel about an eccentric woman who is compiling an encyclopaedia about the sea. She lives alone in an old, now automated lighthouse. As the book goes on, readers start to realise she might be the only person left alive after an apocalyptic event.
31. Nine Weddings for Nanette Flamingo
Timeloop mystery set on a remote island during WWII. Nanette is marrying a mysterious soldier who is on leave from the army. Mannered prose, stylish cover. Blurb quotes call it “darkly romantic”.
Timeloop mystery set on a remote island during WWII. Nanette is marrying a mysterious soldier who is on leave from the army. Mannered prose, stylish cover. Blurb quotes call it “darkly romantic”.
32. Beneath Bones
Novel about a woman who is clearing out her grandparents’ house one summer after their deaths. She finds a case full of very old diaries, written in code, stuck inside the back of an antique wardrobe, and starts to uncover a tale of 18th century piracy.
Novel about a woman who is clearing out her grandparents’ house one summer after their deaths. She finds a case full of very old diaries, written in code, stuck inside the back of an antique wardrobe, and starts to uncover a tale of 18th century piracy.
33. Habitat
Short, deadpan comic novel about a man who is building a house using only his bare hands. Unclear what the house looks like, who he’s building it for, or how long this will take. Interviewers are never sure how serious the author’s answers to questions are.
Short, deadpan comic novel about a man who is building a house using only his bare hands. Unclear what the house looks like, who he’s building it for, or how long this will take. Interviewers are never sure how serious the author’s answers to questions are.
34. Dangerous Fools
Fabulist historical novel about a medieval court jester and court magician who fall in love and start a bizarre, anarchic social revolution. Lots of weird sex, esoteric rituals, and murder.
Fabulist historical novel about a medieval court jester and court magician who fall in love and start a bizarre, anarchic social revolution. Lots of weird sex, esoteric rituals, and murder.
35. Casual Work
Novel about disaffected millennials post-university except they’re all anthropomorphised animals. Prose so unaffected as to be affected. Rough sex between animals that don’t make sense together. Author appears to have never had a service industry job.
Novel about disaffected millennials post-university except they’re all anthropomorphised animals. Prose so unaffected as to be affected. Rough sex between animals that don’t make sense together. Author appears to have never had a service industry job.
36. Nicked
Memoir by a met police officer. Praised for its “unsparing honesty” and “brutal prose”. Author writes opinion pieces for the Guardian criticising the Tories for cutting police funding. Does a lot of literary festivals. Publishing ignores criticism from abolitionists.
Memoir by a met police officer. Praised for its “unsparing honesty” and “brutal prose”. Author writes opinion pieces for the Guardian criticising the Tories for cutting police funding. Does a lot of literary festivals. Publishing ignores criticism from abolitionists.
37. Q
Debut novel. 800 pages long. Author’s attempt at writing a “Pynchon-esque” satire on Qanon. Ends up being mostly bought and read by conspiracy theorists who quickly subsume it into their conspiracy theorising.
Debut novel. 800 pages long. Author’s attempt at writing a “Pynchon-esque” satire on Qanon. Ends up being mostly bought and read by conspiracy theorists who quickly subsume it into their conspiracy theorising.
38. Daphne
Novel about a woman who decides she wants to become a tree. Short, bizarre chapters in which she: paints herself green, tries different hallucinogens, and recounts the ways in which plants reproduce, etc. Blurb uses the word “anthropocene” but the novel doesn’t.
Novel about a woman who decides she wants to become a tree. Short, bizarre chapters in which she: paints herself green, tries different hallucinogens, and recounts the ways in which plants reproduce, etc. Blurb uses the word “anthropocene” but the novel doesn’t.
39. Helpers
Broad-strokes alternate universe “political” novel about a world in which people in England are fleeing from an unspecified crisis to Scotland and France. Author was a big People’s Vote advocate who never criticises the way the EU polices its borders.
Broad-strokes alternate universe “political” novel about a world in which people in England are fleeing from an unspecified crisis to Scotland and France. Author was a big People’s Vote advocate who never criticises the way the EU polices its borders.
40. Kill the Microphones
Memoir written by both members of a mostly forgotten cult early-00s boy/girl indie duo who played TOTP once. They take alternate chapters. The man hates everyone to an unhealthy degree. The woman tells horrifying stories in a very calm way.
Memoir written by both members of a mostly forgotten cult early-00s boy/girl indie duo who played TOTP once. They take alternate chapters. The man hates everyone to an unhealthy degree. The woman tells horrifying stories in a very calm way.
41. Guide for Modern Anchoresses
Light-hearted translation of the medieval manual Ancrene Wisse into contemporary English, interspersed with commentary and essays about how it can help modern women live more fulfilling, meaningful and artistic lives.
Light-hearted translation of the medieval manual Ancrene Wisse into contemporary English, interspersed with commentary and essays about how it can help modern women live more fulfilling, meaningful and artistic lives.
42. Shadow Mask
“Folk Horror” novel about a lonely man who obsessively uses a video camcorder to shoot footage of the woods and fields near his house. Stumbles across what may be evidence of the cult of an obscure medieval saint - or maybe something lives inside his television...
“Folk Horror” novel about a lonely man who obsessively uses a video camcorder to shoot footage of the woods and fields near his house. Stumbles across what may be evidence of the cult of an obscure medieval saint - or maybe something lives inside his television...
43. Squatting in Babylon
Psychogeographical memoir. Author takes readers on a tour of all the different London squats he lived in or visited in the 1980s. He now owns a flat in the Barbican and a second house in Norfolk. Introduction by Iain Sinclair.
Psychogeographical memoir. Author takes readers on a tour of all the different London squats he lived in or visited in the 1980s. He now owns a flat in the Barbican and a second house in Norfolk. Introduction by Iain Sinclair.
44. Sub-Sub Librarian
Book of queer, post-human poetry. Twist is that the entire thing is only written with words found in Moby Dick. Some erasure poems. Lots of language play. Three full pages of acknowledgments.
Book of queer, post-human poetry. Twist is that the entire thing is only written with words found in Moby Dick. Some erasure poems. Lots of language play. Three full pages of acknowledgments.
45. Enfants
Author previously shortlisted for the Booker publishes something heavily inspired by 80s X-Men with Faber. Ill-suited cover. Ties in with a previous novel by the same author in an implausible way. Full of references to Ulster punk.
Marketed as a historical novel.
Author previously shortlisted for the Booker publishes something heavily inspired by 80s X-Men with Faber. Ill-suited cover. Ties in with a previous novel by the same author in an implausible way. Full of references to Ulster punk.
Marketed as a historical novel.
46. Kingmaker
Biography of Henry VII’s marriage bed, which is where Henry VIII was supposedly conceived and which later on was used as a prop in a Carry On film. Author tries really hard to find ongoing thematic links, discusses the nature of English history, etc.
Biography of Henry VII’s marriage bed, which is where Henry VIII was supposedly conceived and which later on was used as a prop in a Carry On film. Author tries really hard to find ongoing thematic links, discusses the nature of English history, etc.
47. Transactions in Public
Big book in the US, imaginative “non-fiction novel” that mixes reporting and what is basically fiction, all about people the author follows on Venmo. Does not get a release in the UK.
Big book in the US, imaginative “non-fiction novel” that mixes reporting and what is basically fiction, all about people the author follows on Venmo. Does not get a release in the UK.
48. Channel Drift
Two robot private detectives team up and take on human cases for the first time in a neo-noir, near-future setting. Robot romance, conspiracies uncovered. One of the robots is like Sherlock Holmes; the other one plays online trivia quizzes instead of working.
Two robot private detectives team up and take on human cases for the first time in a neo-noir, near-future setting. Robot romance, conspiracies uncovered. One of the robots is like Sherlock Holmes; the other one plays online trivia quizzes instead of working.
49. Ambergris
Non-fiction by a woman who spent a year travelling the world in search of a lump of ambergris in the wild. Has a lot about the history of perfume, and the history of luxury. She talks about luxury as a cure for modern anxieties. Author is independently wealthy.
Non-fiction by a woman who spent a year travelling the world in search of a lump of ambergris in the wild. Has a lot about the history of perfume, and the history of luxury. She talks about luxury as a cure for modern anxieties. Author is independently wealthy.
50. The Return
In a post-climate change future, ancient gods start to reappear across the world. Their followers hope they’re going to solve everybody’s problems, but instead they start up petty wars and love affairs. Referred to in the blurb text as a “dystopian comedy”.
In a post-climate change future, ancient gods start to reappear across the world. Their followers hope they’re going to solve everybody’s problems, but instead they start up petty wars and love affairs. Referred to in the blurb text as a “dystopian comedy”.
51. Up There, The Lights
Novel told from the collective perspective of the stray cats of Los Angeles. Slim 200 pages, but supposedly covers 15 years of city life. Lyrical prose.
Everybody on Goodreads is upset because it goes into more detail about animal neglect than expected.
Novel told from the collective perspective of the stray cats of Los Angeles. Slim 200 pages, but supposedly covers 15 years of city life. Lyrical prose.
Everybody on Goodreads is upset because it goes into more detail about animal neglect than expected.
52. The Luminous Bodies
Literary novel about vampires which never uses the word "vampire" in either the text or the blurb. Very glamorous cover. SFF/horror twitter is really pissy about it for a while, but the author has no idea as she is only on Instagram. It sells very well.
Literary novel about vampires which never uses the word "vampire" in either the text or the blurb. Very glamorous cover. SFF/horror twitter is really pissy about it for a while, but the author has no idea as she is only on Instagram. It sells very well.
53. Archie
Biographical novel about the early life of Cary Grant. Lots of dialogue written in the author’s phonetic approximation of an early 20th century working class Bristol accent. Ends when he makes his first hit film. Reviewers call it “surprisingly downbeat”.
Biographical novel about the early life of Cary Grant. Lots of dialogue written in the author’s phonetic approximation of an early 20th century working class Bristol accent. Ends when he makes his first hit film. Reviewers call it “surprisingly downbeat”.
54. Research Assistant
Postgrad cataloguing a large collection of letters relating to a 19th century linguist comes across some writing in an unknown language. Uncovers a secret society of “language witches”, and forbidden romance. Somehow she also solves the Voynich Manuscript.
Postgrad cataloguing a large collection of letters relating to a 19th century linguist comes across some writing in an unknown language. Uncovers a secret society of “language witches”, and forbidden romance. Somehow she also solves the Voynich Manuscript.
55. Leaving The 20th Century Behind
Clearly written based on a dream pitch for a Man From UNCLE sequel with the serial numbers filed off later. Very gay. Spy plot doesn’t really hang together but that’s quite true to the source material. People have opinions about the romance.
Clearly written based on a dream pitch for a Man From UNCLE sequel with the serial numbers filed off later. Very gay. Spy plot doesn’t really hang together but that’s quite true to the source material. People have opinions about the romance.
56. Eclogue for Einstein
Gardening/rewilding memoir by a man who lives a house that Einstein once visited. Contains some biographical chapters covering every time Einstein ever looked at a flower. Doesn’t talk about physics.
Gardening/rewilding memoir by a man who lives a house that Einstein once visited. Contains some biographical chapters covering every time Einstein ever looked at a flower. Doesn’t talk about physics.
57. The Internet Is My Girlfriend
Anthology of essays about famous women like Kristen Stewart, Lupita Nyong’o and Elizabeth Debicki who queer women on the internet are into. One of the featured actresses is pictured reading the book on holiday in Paris the summer it’s published.
Anthology of essays about famous women like Kristen Stewart, Lupita Nyong’o and Elizabeth Debicki who queer women on the internet are into. One of the featured actresses is pictured reading the book on holiday in Paris the summer it’s published.
58. Letters to Gideon
Autofiction in the form of unanswered letters written to narrator’s high school crush 20 years after graduation. Mean, droll, sexy. Author says in interviews addressee is based on a real person also called Gideon. Guardian review calls it “truly radical”.
Autofiction in the form of unanswered letters written to narrator’s high school crush 20 years after graduation. Mean, droll, sexy. Author says in interviews addressee is based on a real person also called Gideon. Guardian review calls it “truly radical”.
59. Celluloid Burns
Horror story about a cleaner who finds a pristine vault of silent film prints in a cellar. The films down there are all thought lost.
“When I watch them,” their owner says, “I hear things.” He gives them to her.
Goodreads thinks the ending is too ambiguous.
Horror story about a cleaner who finds a pristine vault of silent film prints in a cellar. The films down there are all thought lost.
“When I watch them,” their owner says, “I hear things.” He gives them to her.
Goodreads thinks the ending is too ambiguous.
60. Mutable Cities
Nonfiction “provocation” which uses the Situationists to propose a form of ever-moving green eco-city that author thinks should replace settled, polluting cities. Author lives in Berlin. One corner of left twitter has an impenetrable and furious beef about it.
Nonfiction “provocation” which uses the Situationists to propose a form of ever-moving green eco-city that author thinks should replace settled, polluting cities. Author lives in Berlin. One corner of left twitter has an impenetrable and furious beef about it.
61. Dormer Windows
Epic family saga about a family of intellectual women, covering 1880-1960 or so. Trilogy. Family owns a very big townhouse. Said to be “down-at-heel”, but are never really poor. Characters are painters, gamblers, dissidents. Blurbed by a Mitford biographer.
Epic family saga about a family of intellectual women, covering 1880-1960 or so. Trilogy. Family owns a very big townhouse. Said to be “down-at-heel”, but are never really poor. Characters are painters, gamblers, dissidents. Blurbed by a Mitford biographer.
62. Husk
Haunted house novel about a nanny who has an affair with the father of the house. The father starts to turn into a grasshopper. His children don't notice. The nanny sets him free in the garden then assumes his identity. Very unconcerned with suspension of disbelief.
Haunted house novel about a nanny who has an affair with the father of the house. The father starts to turn into a grasshopper. His children don't notice. The nanny sets him free in the garden then assumes his identity. Very unconcerned with suspension of disbelief.
63. Sheaf
Collection of newsletters originally sent at irregular intervals by an unknown writer using a pseudonym. Writing is about urban design, art history, music, and the author's solitary life in a city that is probably Amsterdam. Lots of canals. Luxurious paper. Expensive.
Collection of newsletters originally sent at irregular intervals by an unknown writer using a pseudonym. Writing is about urban design, art history, music, and the author's solitary life in a city that is probably Amsterdam. Lots of canals. Luxurious paper. Expensive.
64. Boys Are A Natural Resource
Novel written as a mock-guide to how to avoid paying rent or getting stuck in life, all by devoting yourself to intense flings with rich boys then exploiting them for all they’re worth. Leads to a hand-wringing article in the Spectator.
Novel written as a mock-guide to how to avoid paying rent or getting stuck in life, all by devoting yourself to intense flings with rich boys then exploiting them for all they’re worth. Leads to a hand-wringing article in the Spectator.
65. Rotary Pulse
Novel about a woman who buys a rotary dial phone in a junk shop and discovers that she can use it to have conversations with people living decades in the past. She falls in love with a stranger who vanished fifty years ago. Cutesy cover.
Optioned by Netflix
Novel about a woman who buys a rotary dial phone in a junk shop and discovers that she can use it to have conversations with people living decades in the past. She falls in love with a stranger who vanished fifty years ago. Cutesy cover.
Optioned by Netflix
66. Plasticity
Novel about a middle-aged male artist who is trialing a new anti-ageing drug made of yellow bile.
He is working on a strange sculpture made out of styrofoam. At the first showing, it starts to devour young women whole.
Praised for being "self-lacerating".
Novel about a middle-aged male artist who is trialing a new anti-ageing drug made of yellow bile.
He is working on a strange sculpture made out of styrofoam. At the first showing, it starts to devour young women whole.
Praised for being "self-lacerating".
67. downmarket
Novel about a man who runs a stall on a London market selling various different electronic things over a period of five years. Supposedly doing it to pay for a college course but not much on this or his inner life.
Lots about supply chains. Includes B&W photos.
Novel about a man who runs a stall on a London market selling various different electronic things over a period of five years. Supposedly doing it to pay for a college course but not much on this or his inner life.
Lots about supply chains. Includes B&W photos.
68. Set Loose the Bells
Personal history of bell-ringing by an ex-Tory MP. Talks about church towers a lot and goes on a potted tour of Cathedrals in England. Very jolly, chatty tone. No reference to legislation he voted for which devastated many of the towns he visits.
Personal history of bell-ringing by an ex-Tory MP. Talks about church towers a lot and goes on a potted tour of Cathedrals in England. Very jolly, chatty tone. No reference to legislation he voted for which devastated many of the towns he visits.
69. The Keys Crossed Paths
Murder mystery, solved by a hotel concierge in 1920s San Francisco. Slightly twee cover, but surprisingly brutal, in-depth descriptions of corpses and murder. Fold-out map in the back of the hardcover.
Paperback design wildly different in tone.
Murder mystery, solved by a hotel concierge in 1920s San Francisco. Slightly twee cover, but surprisingly brutal, in-depth descriptions of corpses and murder. Fold-out map in the back of the hardcover.
Paperback design wildly different in tone.
70. no one is coming to save you
Novel. American Trend forecaster on a roadtrip across eastern Europe and central Asia during a global recession. Describes the men she picks up for sex and the food she eats in a lot of detail, seeming both detached and slightly disgusted.
Novel. American Trend forecaster on a roadtrip across eastern Europe and central Asia during a global recession. Describes the men she picks up for sex and the food she eats in a lot of detail, seeming both detached and slightly disgusted.
71. The Gilded Edges
Fantasy about a printers shop in a world which bears a strong resemblance to pre-industrialised Europe. Protagonist is forbidden to read the books she is learning to bind but sneaks into the workshop at night to read by candlelight.
Twist: books are magic!!
Fantasy about a printers shop in a world which bears a strong resemblance to pre-industrialised Europe. Protagonist is forbidden to read the books she is learning to bind but sneaks into the workshop at night to read by candlelight.
Twist: books are magic!!
72. The Anti-Racist Bookclub
Novel about a group of white people reading twelve books that talk about race over the course of a single year. Trying to be “Sophie’s World” for racism. Author is white. Book very gentle.
Pointedly not in favour of direct action or militant protest.
Novel about a group of white people reading twelve books that talk about race over the course of a single year. Trying to be “Sophie’s World” for racism. Author is white. Book very gentle.
Pointedly not in favour of direct action or militant protest.
73. Cathy Hendricks Has Three Very Good Dogs
Novel about a young woman who inherits her great-aunt’s dogs and has to negotiate taking care of them and online dating. Half of the novel is third person, other half is written from the perspective of the dogs.
Ads on dog podcasts.
Novel about a young woman who inherits her great-aunt’s dogs and has to negotiate taking care of them and online dating. Half of the novel is third person, other half is written from the perspective of the dogs.
Ads on dog podcasts.
74. Considering Sally Rooney
A collection of essays on Sally Rooney, put together because she doesn’t have a new book out this year and publishing is running out of unrelated novelists they can compare her to. Packaged to look breezy and fun.
A collection of essays on Sally Rooney, put together because she doesn’t have a new book out this year and publishing is running out of unrelated novelists they can compare her to. Packaged to look breezy and fun.
75. Dirty Hands
Nonfiction book about slime. Talks about why children find it so compelling, discusses its history in entertainment and science fiction, and looks into its environmental impact and afterlife as waste.
Publisher considers special edition that comes in a box.
Nonfiction book about slime. Talks about why children find it so compelling, discusses its history in entertainment and science fiction, and looks into its environmental impact and afterlife as waste.
Publisher considers special edition that comes in a box.
76. Girl Eat Girl
Pulpy thriller about two women who are “intimately connected”. Both are “unlikeable”.
Sold on the promise of queerness but there’s not much on the page. One of them kills the other one’s boyfriend. Dialogue sometimes reads like Jezebel comments a decade ago.
Pulpy thriller about two women who are “intimately connected”. Both are “unlikeable”.
Sold on the promise of queerness but there’s not much on the page. One of them kills the other one’s boyfriend. Dialogue sometimes reads like Jezebel comments a decade ago.
77. In Every House
Novel. Doorways around the world turn into portals. Nobody knows where they lead - people who walk through them don't return. People start to climb through windows, knock down walls. New religions/sects reject indoor living. Reviews call it "an eerie allegory"
Novel. Doorways around the world turn into portals. Nobody knows where they lead - people who walk through them don't return. People start to climb through windows, knock down walls. New religions/sects reject indoor living. Reviews call it "an eerie allegory"
78. Old Pilgrims
Novel. About a woman in late middle age who leaves her job one day and doesn't stop walking. Nobody sees her rest. Stops talking. One day she vanishes into the sea. Mostly mundane 3rd person, hallucinatory sections from her POV.
Marketed as "women's fiction"
Novel. About a woman in late middle age who leaves her job one day and doesn't stop walking. Nobody sees her rest. Stops talking. One day she vanishes into the sea. Mostly mundane 3rd person, hallucinatory sections from her POV.
Marketed as "women's fiction"
79. All Weather
SF novel-in-stories about a postal service delivering letters across time and space. People write to dead loved ones, to isolated space explorers, to the far-future. Blurb calls it "life-giving".
Twitter-famous author routinely uses platform to harass people.
SF novel-in-stories about a postal service delivering letters across time and space. People write to dead loved ones, to isolated space explorers, to the far-future. Blurb calls it "life-giving".
Twitter-famous author routinely uses platform to harass people.
