David Hebblethwaite

Hungarian Lit Month: I Don’t Care by Ágota Kristóf (tr. Chris Andrews) After an extended break, I’m making another attempt at getting back into blogging at least semi-regularly. Maybe it will only be for specific occasions, or a couple of times a month, or maybe…

For @stujallen.bsky.social's Hungarian Lit Month, I have read "I Don't Care", a story collection by Ágota Kristóf (tr. Chris Andrews). I found it as ostensibly spare, and as deeply felt, as her Notebook Trilogy. More thoughts here: www.davidsbookworld.com/2026/02/10/h...

Happy New Year!

Excellent! Let me know what you think of it.

A Granite Silence by Nina Allan In her latest novel, Allan steps in a different direction again.

For Strange Horizons, I've been working on a review of A Granite Silence, Nina Allan's fascinating examination of a historical crime as a network of jostling stories. The review went online yesterday: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

A Granite Silence by Nina Allan In her latest novel, Allan steps in a different direction again.

I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while: here’s @davidheb.bsky.social on the incomparable Nina Allan’s latest, A Granite Silence:

“In her latest novel, Allan turns her attention to a historical murder case: The many worlds that spiral out from one tragic event.”

I hope they do!

We Have a Decision! Our Shadow Panel picks their 2025 International Booker winner...

We on the shadow panel have chosen our winner of the #InternationalBooker2025, in advance of tomorrow's official announcement. We chose On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle (tr. Barbara J. Haveland). More info here: shadowingtheibp.substack.com/p/we-have-a-...

#InternationalBooker2025: Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (tr. Helen Stevenson) Small Boat is the first novel by French philosopher Vincent Delecroix to be translated into English. It’s inspired by real events from 2021, when a dinghy taking migrants from France to the U…

From the #InternationalBooker2025 longlist: Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (tr. Helen Stevenson). I found this a powerful experience.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/04/07/i...

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (tr. Sophie Hughes): short novel about a young ex-pat couple searching for the perfect life. I particularly like the way it embodies its own theme, skating over the surface of what it depicts. Book 2/13 read from #InternationalBooker2025.

#InternationalBooker2025: A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre (tr. Mark Hutchinson) The Narrator of this novel remembers his late friend Fanny. She struggled with her mental health, and could often appear distant, holding herself still within her own body. But there was a lighter …

My first stop on the #InternationalBooker2025 longlist: A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre (tr. Mark Hutchinson), a poignant novel of friendship.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/03/04/i...

Some predictions... On the eve of the longlist

Some group predictions from our shadow group. IBP longlist tomorrow! @stujallen.bsky.social @fulcherkim.bsky.social @davidheb.bsky.social @marinasofia.bsky.social @jeremykoenig.bsky.social shadowingtheibp.substack.com/p/some-predi...

Introducing the 2025 International Booker Prize Shadow Panel! The International Booker Prize 2025 longlist of 12 or 13 books will be announced on Tuesday, 25 February 2025 at 2pm (GMT), and the shortlist of six books on Tuesday, 8 April.

Our shadow panel created our first post about our IBP adventure. Want to meet the readers? @stujallen.bsky.social @fulcherkim.bsky.social @jeremykoenig.bsky.social @marinasofia.bsky.social @davidheb.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/shadowin...

Shadowing the IBP Substack | Frances Evangelista | Substack Reading friends shadowing the 2025 International Booker Prize. Click to read Shadowing the IBP Substack, by Frances Evangelista, a Substack publication. Launched an hour ago.

Our IBP shadow panel is gathering our process and thoughts in a Substack this year. Join us? @stujallen.bsky.social @davidheb.bsky.social @fulcherkim.bsky.social @jeremykoenig.bsky.social @marinasofia.bsky.social shadowingtheibp.substack.com?r=atko7&utm_...

The Bridge Between Worlds: A Brief History of Connection by Gavin Francis In his preface to this book, Gavin Francis writes that his interest in bridges began in childhood, from the Forth Rail Bridge just a few miles from his house, to a Ladybird book about bridges (whic…

Recent reading: The Bridge Between Worlds by Gavin Francis. A fascinating tour of bridges and what they mean, combining history, geography, memoir, culture, and more besides.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/01/30/t...
@drgavinfrancis.bsky.social
@canongate.co.uk

Touring the Land of the Dead by Maki Kashimada (tr. Haydn Trowell) 2025 has begun, and we are starting the year in Japan. This is the first book by Maki Kashimada to appear in English translation, and it collects together two novellas. I would say the main theme c…

For #JanuaryInJapan, thoughts on Touring the Land of the Dead by Maki Kashimada (tr. Haydn Trowell), a pair of novellas about contrasting family relationships.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2025/01/03/t...

‘Idol, Burning’ by Rin Usami (Review) A Happy New Year to one and all, and a very big welcome to #JanuaryInJapan!  As is usually the case, the first month of the year round these parts is set aside for J-Lit, and I’ve got lots of…

My first review for this year's #JanuaryInJapan looks at Rin Usami's 'Idol, Burning' (translated by Asa Yoneda), more J-Pop than J-Lit ;)
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/01/03/i...

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

A selection of 2024 favourites 2024 was another year when, for whatever reason, I just didn’t click with reading in general as much as I would have liked. There’s no point dwelling on it, I just hope this will turn a…

My favourite books read in 2024: featuring Jeffrey Lewis, Hiroko Oyamada, Helene Hanff, and Noémi Kiss-Deáki.
www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/12/30/a...

9 December 2024 Visit the post for more.

The week is done at @strangehorizons.bsky.social, and ICYMI we had quite a brace of reviews:

Catherine Baker on @jedediahberry.com's "spontaneity";
@davidheb.bsky.social on Ali Smith's "abstraction"; and
@redfernjon.bsky.social on @amendlocke.bsky.social's "engrossing ... worldbuilding."

Gliff by Ali Smith Gliff is only half of Smith's project.

Ali Smith's new book, Gliff (the first of two linked volumes) is set in a future of banal oppression. It's particularly concerned with the abstract dimensions of oppression and resistance. I've reviewed it for @strangehorizons.bsky.social...
strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/...

Hello there! I have been neglecting this account, and intend to post more often from now on...

A Han Kang retrospective I was really pleased to learn that Han Kang had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature yesterday. She has become one of my favourite writers that I’ve discovered during the lifetime of th…

To mark Han Kang's Nobel Prize win, I've looked back over my thoughts on her work. www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/10/11/a...

Han Kang won the Nobel Prize? Excellent!

A Challenge of Empathy: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (tr. Ginny Tapley Takemori) This review was first published at Splice in October 2018. *** Meet Keiko Furukura. She has always found it difficult to conform to what her family and wider society consider “normal”. She once sto…

Today, for #WITMonth, I am revisiting my 2018 review of Sayaka Murata's excellent Convenience Store Woman (tr. @ginnytkmr.bsky.social). #TranslationThurs
www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/08/29/a...

Mary and the Rabbit Dream by Noémi Kiss-Deáki

My latest subscriber copy from @galleybeggars.bsky.social. This book is a real gem.

Cover of Leonard Cohen: a Novel, by Jeffrey Lewis.

This novel invigorated me: a protagonist living in the shadow of his famous namesake, with the possibility of other paths through life hovering just out of reach.

I've just watched Memento for the first time in over twenty years, and discovered that I'd completely misremembered the ending...

Les Fugitives: After Nora by Penelope Curtis In her first novel, art historian Penelope Curtis imagines two episodes from her family’s history. The first part concerns Nora (Penelope’s grandmother, whom she never knew), a painter …

Some thoughts on After Nora by Penelope Curtis, a novel of family history and characters seeking understanding through art... www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/04/26/l...

I enjoyed An Untouched House by Willem Frederik Hermans (tr. David Colmer): a microcosm of wartime horror beneath its own mask of civility. It also had the balance of specific and abstract that I found missing from Prophet Song.

Melville House ‘Futures’ blog tour: The Future of Songwriting by Kristin Hersh Today I’m taking part in a blog tour for the new ‘Futures’ series from Melville House – short books in which authors reflect and speculate on the possible future of their subject. The first f…

Today I'm part of a blog tour for the new 'Futures' series of book-length essays, published by Melville House. I'm looking at The Future of Songwriting by Kristin Hersh. www.davidsbookworld.com/2024/02/23/m...