6,713 book reviews and counting...

"Good history books appear to offer a refuge from the present; more meretricious ones claim to teach it unique lessons; but the best provide their readers with simultaneous relief and resonance..."

"A memoir that is racy, pacy and crammed with scurrilous anecdotes – what more could you ask from the rocket man?..."

"One of the strengths of Bryson’s delightful new book... is that it reveals the thousands of rarely acknowledged tasks our body takes care of as we go about our day..."

"Whether or not you agree with his views, he remains an astute commentator on the contemporary political fracas...."

"a bracing and brave formulation of a radical new approach to public funding..."

"Let’s give O’Brien credit for her energy and passion, for reminding us that at every moment girls are being abused and exploited with unconscionable cruelty and malice...."

"a deft account of a terrific double act..."

"Buchanan is particularly effective at describing the reinforcing loops of depressive thought. ..."

"She’s got the moves. And she’s clever and learned in a hip way...."

"Blatantly indebted to Stephen King..."

"What we get in Olive, Again is the human condition, a deluge of it. ..."

"her book is well worth reading..."

"The new Oxford poetry professor draws on The Odyssey in her skilful collection..."

"they remain as expert at suspense, plot and the psychology of stressed heroines...."

"a literary version of a one-off Christmas single: brash and annoying, poignant and meaningful, all at the same time..."

"Donoghue contrives a neat comedy of errors as Noah tries to make sense of Michael’s world...."

"exploits are proficiently recounted and a topical theme is unfurled..."

"Few writers are so well able to convey strength and self-belief, with the result that the reader is forced to accept everything he says, sometimes against one’s better judgement...."

"This memoir of consorting with Princess Margaret and the royal family is remarkable...."

"It takes real talent to produce a book like this...."

"this book is valuable and revelatory..."

"a wise, gripping and skilfully told story..."

"A timeless story fit for the approaching season, and for these times...."

"The New Yorker writer’s depiction of online extremists and techno-utopians is compelling, alarming … and flawed..."

"the disruptive and imaginative force of archaeology revealed..."

"This book is without a scrap of sentimentality but provokes a deep emotional response: not from poignancy but in awe at the precision with which Riley records her grief...."

"a delightfully engaging read and a good introduction to Spain’s turbulent history..."

"A fascination with archaeology runs through the Scottish poet’s collection of essays..."

"A remarkable story of war, communism and espionage related with nuanced sympathy, but lacking reflection..."

"a collection of witty essays by a great critic about a great poet..."

"Indian political horrors alternate with domestic London life in an innovative tale that fuses reality and fiction..."

"a bracing and brave formulation of a radical new approach to public funding..."

"Colfer’s playfulness is in full swing, as puns fly and physics bends to the machinations of the twins, who are just as bad (or should that be good?) as Artemis. It is, inevitably, the start of a new series..."

"With hints of Brideshead Revisited and Emma Jane Unsworth's Animals, Royals is the coolest book you'll read this year..."

"Try as he might to redeem O’Brian, Tolstoy tends only to make matters worse..."

"exploits are proficiently recounted and a topical theme is unfurled..."

"If you liked A Woman in Black, you'll love this utterly gripping and atmospheric book..."

"Few writers are so well able to convey strength and self-belief, with the result that the reader is forced to accept everything he says, sometimes against one’s better judgement...."

"This memoir of consorting with Princess Margaret and the royal family is remarkable...."

"The vividly written and well-researched The Fortress is a masterpiece ..."

"Kelly shines an insightful light on female insecurity and, through Freya's journey, shows the healing power of self-belief and family support..."

"[Gardner's] assured plot swings audaciously between alternate realities, as another pair of twins, Maria and Celeste, are forced to play a confounding, dangerous dream-game..."

"This is an exquisite, deeply affecting book, one in which an experience of dislocation and loss is conveyed in prose that flows so clearly and gracefully it finds continuities and connections all the time...."

"a literary version of a one-off Christmas single: brash and annoying, poignant and meaningful, all at the same time..."

"A remarkable story of war, communism and espionage related with nuanced sympathy, but lacking reflection..."

"[A] delightful little book..."

"Horrendously read-able, deliciously sickening and elegantly twisted, Joe Hill’s new collection of stories range from elegiac pulp to full-on horror...."

"There isn’t a lot of explanation of who people are. You either know their names and a bit of their biographies already or you don’t. The result is one of those dip-in, dip-out kind of books...."

"a short, sharp shocker..."

"For those interested in understanding them, this book is essential reading...."

"He proves it true that comedy and tragedy run side by side, and that some of the most unlikely people turn out to be saints and martyrs..."

"You can’t doubt Tyson’s commitment to the cause. He takes the time to reply to a huge range of correspondents, no matter how unhinged..."

"Dry’s call to use her scientific history of the climate to “prepare us to see differently, to use the difference of the past to help us conceive of the future with more options in mind” is laudable, but seems unduly optimistic..."

"this book is valuable and revelatory..."

"The New Yorker writer’s depiction of online extremists and techno-utopians is compelling, alarming … and flawed..."

"You might not have thought that the words “PUB-lic STAT-ic voidmain string BRACK-et BRACK-et ARGS” could bring a computer layperson to tears, but they did, as this uncommon book reached its crescendo...."

"This is a highly idiosyncratic experiment and much less Anglocentric than one might have expected..."

"Henry’s instability, his search for a voice of his own, extends to his prose. He can be chatty and colloquial, all banter and bonhomie, recalling teenage high jinks with dizzied abandon..."