Daily Express :: Books Feed

Exclusive short story: Going anywhere nice? by Alison McQueen

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

GOING anywhere nice for your holidays?" asked the girl with the scissors.

Review: This Isn't The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

PURE JOY just about sums up Jon McGregor's collection of short stories. Ranging from just two lines, Song (Grimsby), to 30 pages, I'll Buy You A Shovel (Marshchapel), and using the towns of the Norfolk Fenlands as settings, McGregor goes for the underview of life.

Review: The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

As a TEENAGER I lost countless nights' sleep to Pan's collections of ghostly short stories, partly because I could never stop turning the pages, partly because they were haunting, the kind of tales which kept you awake, literally hearing bumps in the night.

Review: Rin Tin Tin: The Life And Legend Of The World's Most Famous Dog

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

HE was the movie icon who at his peak earned eight times more than his co-stars. He was the big screen hero who was given the keys to the city of New York, was loved by Greta Garbo and only one small problem denied him an Oscar: he was a dog.

Review: Charles Dickens And The Great Theatre Of The World by Simon Callow

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Yet another book on Charles Dickens? Surely we are already sated with Albion's sparkler, as Dickens once called himself, thanks to biographies, television and radio adaptations in this 200th anniversary year of his birth?

John Barrowman: My six best books

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

JOHN BARROWMAN, 44, is the singer, actor and presenter famous for theatre roles in Anything Goes and La Cage Aux Folles, as well as TV hits such as Torchwood. His children's novel Hollow Earth (Buster Books, £6.99), written with sister Carole, is out now

Our Man In Rome: Henry VIII & His Italian Ambassador

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

IN the past few years Catherine-of-Aragonitis seems to have gripped British historians. Numerous books and articles have been published, viewing her from every angle including, especially appropriate given the nature of the controversy, that from below.

Review: Queen: On Camera, Off Guard by Mark Hayward

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

FROM a grainy black-and-white 1969 photograph capturing the then unknown Freddie Bulsara playing with a band named Ibex to the glory days of glamrockers Queen, this collection of mostly candid images offers an unparalleled insight into Freddie mercury and the band.

Review: Between A Mother And Her Child by Elizabeth Noble

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

ELIZABETH NOBLE has made a name for herself writing tear-jerking blockbusters and her fans won't be disappointed by her latest offering.

Review: Operation Suicide by Robert Lyman

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

THE Royal Marines who volunteered for a new commando unit under the leadership of Major "Blondie" Hassler were "without exception ordinary young men, from ordinary streets, in ordinary towns across industrial Britain, given the most extraordinary task of their short lives", explains Robert Lyman.

Review: The Flight by MR Hall

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A MAJOR plane crash in England is a rare event so when Flight 189 is forced down into the Severn Estuary it opens a highly unusual case for coroner Jenny Cooper.

Short story: Squeak squeak by Shelley Harris

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

IT'S late, and pitch dark outside.

Review: American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

THE undoubted brilliance of American Dervish is not so much its charming coming-of-age narrative as its setting.

Review: Religion of Atheists by Alain de Botton

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I AM not quite sure who reads Alain de botton's books. I suspect it is people who are too ashamed to be seen in the Self-help aisle of a bookshop, picking up a copy of Chicken Soup For the Soul or some pastel-covered new-agery, and yet still want to read something vaguely comforting, something that makes them feel part of a greater human whole.

American Dervish puts presumptions in a spin

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

THE undoubted brilliance of American Dervish is not so much its charming coming-of-age narrative as its setting.

Alain's philosophy goes pop

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Review: Pure by Andrew Miller

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

AN ambitious young engineer has no idea what's in store when he is summoned to the Palace of Versailles.

Review: Little Bones by Janette Jenkins

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

IN the London of 1899 it is clear actresses and showgirls are no better than they ought to be.

Review: The Lewis Man by Peter May

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

ON THE Isle of Lewis villagers are cutting up peat for winter fuel when they make the macabre discovery of a corpse.

Review - Queen Anne: The politics of passion by Anne Somerset

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

ONE of the English monarchs most neglected by historians, Queen Anne receives judicious treatment in this sympathetic and engaging biography by Anne Somerset.

Phil Davis: My six best books

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

PHIL DAVIS, 58, is the actor best known for film and Tv roles in Quadrophenia, vera Drake, Bleak House and The Curse Of Steptoe. He returns as Ds Ray Miles in the third series of crime thriller Whitechapel on Monday at 9pm, ITV1

My six best books

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Winter tales to thrill and chill

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

KATI NICHOLL celebrates the dark nights of January with her pick of the month's best audiobooks.

Winning tale from the worst of times

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

PURE 5/5 by Andrew Miller

Dark acts and a Dickensian heroine

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

LITTLE BONES 4/5 by Janette Jenkins IN the London of 1899 it is clear actresses and showgirls are no better than they ought to be.