This month’s list of forthcoming books that have caught my eye.
Kevin Barry, City of Bohane
This novel of a near-future Ireland has been on my list of books to investigate ever since I first heard about it. After reading a sample chapter when the book was selected for the Waterstone’s 11, I was left undecided as to whether I wanted to read the whole thing; but I will be keeping an eye on its reviews.
Kevin Brockmeier, The Illumination
An interesting concept — pain and illness begin to produce light.
Stuart Evers, Ten Stories About Smoking
I’m intrigued by this book for a number of reasons, from the mere fact that it’s a debut short story collection appearing from a mainstream publication, to its packaging (designed to resemble a box of cigarettes), and the fact that I’ve followed Evers on Twitter for some time and been curious to see what his work is like.
Tom Fletcher, The Thing on the Shore
Fletcher is, in my view, one of the most exciting new horror writers around. I’ve loved everything I have read by him so far; naturally, then, I’m keen to read his new novel.
Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife
This enigmatic-sounding novel would have caught my interest even had it not been selected for the Waterstone’s 11; that I liked the sample chapter so much has only increased my interest.
Karen Russell, Swamplandia!
Theme parks, alligator-wrestling, an affair with a ghost… sounds delightfully odd, and therefore right up my street.
Conrad Williams, Loss of Separation
Williams is another key horror writer, consistently excellent as far as I’ve read him; I’m very much looking forward to reading his new novel.
Sarah Winman, When God Was a Rabbit
Another of the Waterstone’s 11 that went straight on my to-read list, and one for which the quality of the sample chapter was the deciding factor.
1st March 2011 at 6:01 pm
I didn’t realise that Swamplandia was released over here this month – I’ll be keeping an eye out for it.