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books


KEEPING THE HOUSE Tice Cin (And Other Stories; £11.99/£6.99 eBook)


In her debut novel, Tice Cin weaves an extraordinary plot from the everyday lives in a community of Turkish Cypriots. Dialogue is presented in script form, and the first person and immediate point of view narrative really works with the bluntness of this approach. Cin is determined to present her characters as believable, genuine human beings who could be found on her native North London streets, and she pulls it off.


THE BOOK OF FORM & EMPTINESS Ruth Ozeki (Canongate; £18.99)


BAD APPLES Will Dean


(Point Blank; £14.99/£6.99 eBook)


The fourth book in the Tuva Moodyson series is for those who want their crime fiction to be at its darkest. Deaf journalist Tuva returns to take a job as deputy editor for the local paper, when in the nearby town of Visberg a decapitated body is found. It’s October – Halloween; elk hunting season, too, with its constant gunfire – and while Tuva and the police are searching for answers, other weird things are going on.


Battering through the foggy forests, following the ghostly sounds of a screaming woman, Tuva wants to find out the killer’s identity but finds it hard to get the villagers to open up to her. In this closed community, where everyone knows (or is related to) everyone, strict divisions exit between the wealthy Edlands and the rest of the locals. Still, Tuva endeavours to get to know the people, hoping to be privy to secrets and gossip; shadowy, below-the-radar adult celebrations, with an air of ancient, cult-like darkness. She acquires a mask to infiltrate Visberg’s pagan celebrations, where people are let off the leash for one night, uninhibited and glorying in becoming savages.


If you enjoyed Midsommar, Bad Apples is a tale you’ll be intrigued by.


BILLIE INGRAM SOFOKLEOUS


The latest novel from acclaimed, Booker- shortlisted author Ruth Ozeki is an inspired tale which delves deep into an imagined world. Teenager Benny is dealing with the death of his father when he begins to hear voices of the physical objects around him. As his mother Annabelle attempts to deal with her grief, she develops a hoarding habit which exacerbates her son’s condition, leading him to seek solace at the library where he is introduced to a cast of interesting characters that provide a different outlook on life. Providing a creative twist, the story is narrated in turn by the protagonist Benny and the book itself, which proves to be an interesting insight into the imagined thoughts and feelings of the book.


Despite covering a wealth of different themes and topics, The Book Of Form & Emptiness inventive style enables you to get lost in the pages and the formidable characters provide a sense of hope. The unique narration style provided a fresh addition and enabled me to explore different ways of thinking. A magnificent, moving tale, raising many questions about our relationships with people and objects and questioning the way we think about the world around us.


RHIANON HOLLEY


The dramatis personae at the beginning introduces the drug-running, protection- providing gangsters, hustlers and dealers as though they are about to star in a Guy Ritchie film. But aside from these nods to film scripts and stage plays, the people who populate the main artery of Tottenham High Road and its various branches are shown to be as vulnerable, real and misguided as any of us.


The small life at the centre of all this is Damla, a young girl and then teenager whose commentary leads us through. If occasionally the action feels more like a list than an experience, Cin has the power to bring you into a world you may never inhabit, or even encounter, and make you feel that you are on first name terms with its whole population.


JOHN-PAUL DAVIES


SIDESPLITTER Phil Wang (Hodder Studio; £20)


Comedian Phil Wang contrasts his Malaysian and British roots on Sidesplitter, touching on subjects such as family, upbringing and the source of his funny bones. These comic studies of English and Malaysian humour – taking in linguistic differences, accents, and the challenge of speaking more than one language – make for an entertaining read. Yet Wang’s insight goes that bit deeper. He ponders the question, “where am I really from?” and draws on his own roots and life experiences – of never feeling he fully fitted into either Malaysian or British society – with sensitivity. Venturing into standup, he says, gave him new-found confidence and belief he could transcend a stereotype.


SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE TYPING


Calvin Kasulke (Doubleday; £12.99)


A debut novel written entirely in the form of instant messages might sound like a hard sell, but adventurous readers will be well-rewarded by Several People Are Typing, a sharp, surreal satire of modern corporate culture. The book consists of Slack messages exchanged between employees at an unnamed PR company.


What makes the messages of this particular organisation worth reading is that one of their employees, Gerald, finds that his consciousness has been uploaded onto Slack, stranding him on the platform while his body remains abandoned in his apartment.


Understandably, it takes Gerald a while to convince his colleagues that he hasn’t gone insane. Like another excellent


The historical angle taken on many subjects adds a


quality: drawing on the past to better understand the present. The role of the East Asian man in film makes for notable content in Sidesplitter, and Wang is strong on assumptions about height and attractiveness.


three-dimensional


debut novel released this year, Rebecca Watson’s Little Scratch, the unusual formatting can take some getting used to, but it never feels like a gimmick, always servicing the story, and it’s a testament to Calvin Kasulke’s talent for creating fully realised cast of characters, along with his knack for funny, naturalistic dialogue, that he manages to pull off this frankly bonkers premise with aplomb.


To call it a plausible novel would be a stretch, but it achieves the more satisfying goal of creating a fictional world that adheres to its own strange rules.


JOSHUA REES


A relatable read in many ways, even if your heritage is unlike Phil Wang’s – who, as this book’s title references, has essentially learned to be from two worlds at once.


EMILY EDWARDS


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