Non-fiction
The God Desire
David Baddiel
TLS Books, £9.99 (ebook £4.99)
David Baddiel loves God. Or more specifically the idea of 'Him'. But no matter how much he wants to, the comedian and TV writer cannot bring himself to believe in a higher power. Raised by Jewish parents, he is nevertheless an avowed atheist and his latest book The God Desire explains how the strong pull he has always felt towards embracing religion has, in fact, had the effect of convincing him God cannot exist. He argues that God is a concept created by humans to offer comfort in times of distress, to explain the wonder of the universe and to define the joy felt in communion between people. This is a slight book, with Baddiel using anecdotes and his trademark dry humour to help illustrate one of the most complex debates there is. Theologians might expect more, but his easy digestible and lightly amusing essay is praiseworthy.
7/10
Fiction
Greek Lessons
Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won
Hamish Hamilton, £16.99 (ebook £9.99).
Han Kang is one of South Korea's most garlanded writers. However, despite The Vegetarian winning her the International Booker in 2016, few of her novels are available in English. This translation of Greek Lessons, first published in Korean in 2011, is therefore welcome. This enigmatic novella centres on one pupil and the teacher in a Greek class at a Korean college. The teacher is losing his sight, while the pupil has been rendered speechless by what seems like grief, depression or ennui. The chapters reveal their past and their interactions with a world that is increasingly foreign to them. For a novel in which the power and limits of language are such dominant themes, to work so well in translation is a testament to Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won's prose, which floats like the characters' thoughts and gradually breaks down into something closer to poetry or stage directions. A riddle of a book that moves and entrances.
8/10
Death Of A Bookseller
Alice Slater
Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99 (ebook £6.99)
Alice Slater spent six years working as a bookseller with Waterstones, but hopefully didn't have to work with anyone resembling some of the characters in her debut novel. Two women find themselves working together in a London bookshop, but they could not be more different. Laura is bright, popular, successful, loves chatting to customers - but her private life is a mess, not helped by having an affair with a married colleague. Roach reads serial killer books, listens to murder podcasts and keeps a pet snail. She becomes obsessed with making friends with Laura, and when she's rebuffed, both their lives take a dramatic turn. The story has many dark moments and a violent twist, with enough suspense to keep any lover of crime novels guessing the final outcome. The short chapters are easy to read, fuelling a desire to discover how far Roach would go to teach the lovely Laura a lesson. The author describes it as a "horrible little book", but it's only some of the characters who are horrible - the book is excellent.
8/10
Rosewater
Liv Little
Dialogue Books, £16.99 (ebook £9.99)
Rosewater is not your average love story. Alone and abrasive, sexual and sardonic, Elsie is searching for happiness in all the wrong places, and from the opening pages, it's clear that a struggle lies ahead - not simply in whether she can find love beyond a series of transient encounters, but whether she can learn to love herself. On paper, the plot is simple, interrogating traditional romantic tropes through a queer lens and blending dark humour with pathos. But the elevation comes from its characters - vivid, full of flavour that punches out from the page - and from the startling use of original poetry which adds notes of striking poignancy. Rosewater is novel that will resonate with anyone who has ever found themselves uprooted and searching for security. Coloured with regret, sadness and missed opportunities, yet never allowing us to lose hope in the triumph of love over adversity, Rosewater follows Elsie's quest to discover whether she is able to ever put down roots, and where her own roots really are.
8/10
Children's book of the week
How To Grow A Dragon
Rachel Morrisroe, illustrated by Steven Lenton
Puffin, £7.99 (ebook £5.99)
The most striking feature of writer and illustrator duo Rachel Morrisroe and Steven Lenton's How To Grow A Dragon is its mesmerising illustrations that burst with colour to match the story's imagination. Readers are transported into the vivid wonderfulness of Mr Pottifer's - a humanoid plant man - shop, which hosts all sorts of stupefying plants. Helping Mr Pottifer is Sarah - a young girl who plants and sows in the shop with her sparkly unicorn sidekick, Sprout. Upon receiving some magical seeds, Sarah and Sprout plant them to grow numerous dragons all with different abilities, but all with similar behavioural problems, which Sarah successfully tames. This charming story makes planting, growing and taming dragons an enchanting experience for the mind. Where Sarah uses hot vindaloo instead of plain soil and water, this is just one of many ways this story inspires readers and writers with the best thing of all - imagination.
7/10
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