The 2016 Round-Up

Another year coming to an end (and one many of us will be very happy to see the back of), which means its time for me to do a quick round-up and list my favourite books of the year. I’m late getting this out this year, so if you’re looking to buy any of these […]

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS by John Boyne

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS John Boyne (johnboyne.com) Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (www.oliverjeffers.com) Doubleday (www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk) £14.99 Bruno is nine years old when his father’s job forces the family to pack up their beautiful Berlin home and move to the desolate Polish countryside. This is Out-With, a cold and unpleasant place where neither Bruno nor […]

The 2015 Round-Up

As 2015 draws to a close, it’s time to take a step back and reflect on the year that has been. As is now “traditional”, I’ll be using this post to talk about my favourite books of the year, but first a quick blast through some of the non-bookish stuff that happened in the past […]

THE BOY AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN by John Boyne

THE BOY AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN John Boyne (johnboyne.com) Doubleday (www.randomhouse.co.uk) £12.99 Although Pierrot Fischer’s father didn’t die in the Great War, his mother Émilie always maintained it was the war that killed him. It is 1936 and seven-year-old Pierrot Fischer lives in Paris with his French mother, his German father having drunk […]

GOODHOUSE by Peyton Marshall

GOODHOUSE Peyton Marshall (www.peytonmarshall.com) Doubleday (www.randomhouse.co.uk) £14.99 In a near-future America, the genetic markers for violence and criminal behaviour have been identified, and the male relatives of anyone who has ever been charged with committing a crime are tested shortly after birth. Those found to possess the same genetic makeup as their criminal forebears are […]

The 2013 Round-Up

And so, once more, to the end of the year and the requisite retrospective of my reading habits over the past twelve months here at Reader Dad. Regular visitors and Twitter followers will know that 2013 has been a year full of ups and downs (more downs, unfortunately, than ups) for me, what with five […]

Hospital Reading Round-up, or: A Letter of Apology

Dear Reader, I hope you will forgive this break from the usual straightforward literary(?) criticism for this personal note to explain the relative quiet at Reader Dad of late, and to apologise to authors, publishers, publicists and potential readers for the lack of reviews written and published on the site since mid-February. Anyone who follows […]