White is for Witching

Hotel World, Ali Smith
A novel that felt written especially for me and yet also written for everybody (I've noticed that this paradox tends to be present in those really great novels that make you feel more human). Like all Smith's writing, Hotel World is a formal and linguistic thrill, tripping you up then picking you up and dusting you off. This was the first book of hers I read, and I tell you, what a start.

Kornel Esti,  Dezso Kosztolanyi
Solemn, sly, factually fantastic and emotionally acute tales from the life of an unrepentant rascal.

Love In The Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Fermina Daza and I are one. And then there's the vivid beauty with which Marquez unfolds time. But I knew that this to be a story I'll love forever when I came to the part where a parrot shouts 'every man for himself!' and somersaults into a soup tureen.

The Skin Chairs, Barbara Comyns
A story of free perception, of trying to perceive the world just as it is – scary because our constructs are what keep us (relatively) well-protected. The protagonist harbours a terror of a set of chairs covered in human skin, but she finds her way to the end of her fear. Comyns' candid, absorbing narrative voice is one of the most delightful things about this novel.

Little Women,  Louisa May Alcott
In her inscrutable authorial wisdom, L. M. Alcott allowed Beth March to die of scarlet fever, and she allowed Jo March to marry someone who wasn't Theodore Lawrence. These events grieved a young reader in deepest South London in a very particular way that led her to probe and consider the limitations and function of a story . . . what I'm saying is that the very first fiction I wrote was really a series of argumentative little plasters to try to cover those Little Women related wounds.

Matt Lyon, Graphic artist, London

Review of White is for Witching

The ancestral home of the Silver family remains omnipresent throughout the story. It resonates with timeless echoes that conjure both security and unease, feeding Miranda's psyche with warm possession. The writing evokes a gothic narrative rooted in contemporary England, punctuated with motifs that recall fables, the Otherworld and a sense of imbalance. It speaks in voices that create a haunting specter, clutching at the senses with its dark shadows, chalk dust and aroma of roses.

What was the last book you read and when did you read it?
Straw Dogs by John Gray… finished it a couple of weeks ago.

What's your favourite genre of book?
Mainly contemporary fiction and the odd 20th century classic. I’m drawn towards very character-based novels, with narratives or settings that somehow interest me. It’s difficult to describe, though often I end up drawn to stories of characters with dark sensibilities and even darker humour.

Who is/are your favourite author(s)?
Probably Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahnik, simply because their novels tick all the boxes in terms of their humour and skewed characters.