Features

June's book reviews

More great books to look out for, reviewed by Simon Evans

Love reading? Simon Evans can suggest some books for you. There's something for everyone in this month's round up. 

Orwell: The New Life (Constable, £30) is a greatly expanded and updated edition of DJ Taylor’s definitive biography of the great novelist and essayist George Orwell, drawing on recently discovered letters and interviews, and Orwell’s The Road To Wigan Pier is an important reference point for Stuart Maconie in his new book The Full English (HarperNorth, £20), that and JB Priestley’s English Journey, as the writer and broadcaster sets out on a journey across the country to discover what it means to be English in today’s world…

The second volume of former Scottish international footballer Pat Nevin’s memoirs, Football and How to Survive It (Monoray, £22), finds Pat playing some of the best football of his career at lowly Tranmere and Kilmarnock, and with The Ashes under way, esteemed cricket writer Gideon Haigh examines the enduring appeal of the historic rivalry between England and Australia in On The Ashes (Grove Press, £22)…

In No Pie, No Priest (Simon and Schuster, £16.99), Harry Pearson amusingly explores some of the more eccentric folk sports to be found around Britain, from stoolball and quoits to Aunt Sally and Irish road rolling, pastimes that have survived against all the odds, “defying commercial trends, societal change and the intervention of local council health and safety officers, the modern equivalent of the Puritans”, and in 24 Hours (Simon and Schuster, £20), Richard Williams celebrates the colourful 100-year history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the most revered occasions in the motorsport calendar…

The Price (HQ, £8.99) is the emotionally fraught new thriller from Darren O’Sullivan, every parent’s nightmare comes true in Andrea Mara’s engrossing No One Saw A Thing (Bantam, £14.99), and The Spider, by Lars Kepler (Zaffre, £16.99), is the latest in the Joona Linna series of Scandi detective novels…

The disappearance of a 15-year-old girl leads DI Heather Filson into the murky Glasgow underworld in JD Kirk’s The One That Got Away (Zertex Crime, £9.99), the promise of a new life on a remote island turns into a nightmare in The Sanctuary, by Andrew Hunter Murray (Penguin, £9.99), and Standing In The Shadows (Hodder, £22), is the final, engrossing, novel in the Alan Banks series from Peter Robinson, who died last year…

Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown (Headline, £25) is the first in a new trio of novels from Alison Weir spanning three generations of the Tudors, Winding Stair (Biteback, £20), is the debut novel from MP Jesse Norman, based on the uneasy and uncertain transition from the dying Queen Elizabeth I to king-in-waiting James I, and My Friend, Anne Frank, by Hannah Pick-Goslar (Rider, £20), is a remarkable story of friendship and resilience, telling the tragic story of Anne Frank and her family from the perspective of someone who grew up with Anne and so nearly suffered the same terrible fate…

John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life is a lavish and heartfelt tribute to a rock musician renowned for his work with King Crimson, Roxy Music, Family and Asia, available from (www.johnwettonbook.com), Warner Bros, 100 Years of Storytelling, by Mark A Viera (Running Press, £35), tells the story of the great Hollywood studio, featuring many rare images from the Warner Bros vault, and The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton, £18.99), is a masterly, thought-provoking and epic tragi-comedy, full of brilliant characters and heart-breaking plot twists…

Other stories in Features

Bomber Command
Cropredy – the friendly festival
Cricket Summer of 1964
Heroes in the Mountains
1974, the strangest of years
Motorbike at the National Motor Museum
Royal robes
Peter Sellers’ Aston under the hammer
National Bingo Day 27th June 2023
Hen Harriers
Air up
Simon Evans reviews the latest CDs
April’s Top DVDs selected by Simon Evans
Here we go, here we go…for the Coronation
Otter
Easter on a budget
‘The Slug’ will race again after 100 years
Bath night for dogs
Classic Motoring Memories
Tios Drinks
Shake up your makeup
New Year, New You
From Italy with love
Mail-order meat comes of age
Christmas recipes
Christmas Crafts Part 2
Back to your roots
In your garden in Winter
Christmas Crafts
Christmas Gift Ideas
Vegan Skincare
Recipes for hope
Beauty Feature - Embrace the grey
Calling all coffee fans!
World Oceans Day 8th June
Beauty Feature - Feet First
Craft Corner - A great Easter basket
Battle of Britain
Claire Foy "I didn't get life until I was 32"
Alexander Armstong: "My family is my priority"
Cosyfeet Community Award 2019
How to Maintain Your Independence in the Kitchen
Ruth Wilson "Audience's don't know who I really am"
1969: The Year The Dream Died
Want to live the (Feel)Good Life? Move to Watford
Pressures of the sandwich generation
Steve Coogan"The most radical thing I can do is talk about love"
Oldie of the Year 2019
Rabble: The Movement keeping you fit and making you money!
Suzi Quatro: "I've always been a rocker at heart"
Giving up plastic
Women in WW1
Do you remember? UFO
Bognor and other Regises
John Lennon & Yoko Ono: 'Imagine'
Bill roache "It's a real privilege to make people happy"
Nana Mouskouri "Music brings me peace, love and hope"
How to Earn Money by Working from Home
How to get the best night's sleep, every night
Ringo Starr "I'm learning to handle life"
Headphones with a built in hearing test
Petula Clark: "I make the most of every moment"
London's other underground
Blue Peter: Here's one they made earlier
Gary Oldman: "Acting is an antidote to self hatred"
Emilia Fox: "I've learnt to find my own voice"
Love Your Gut Week Recipes
Puffin photos help to tackle decline of the 'clowns of the sea'
Craig Revel Horwood: "I don't care what people say about me"
Do you remember? Apple Records
What a Carry On!
Worried about being worried?
"I feel like the unluckiest person in the world."
Death of a Princess
Queen Elizabeth: Happy and Glorious
The Beatles: It was 50 years ago...
Hank Marvin: “Meeting Cliff changed my life”
Nicole Kidman "Children are the joy of my life"
The world of Parry Ray
Monty Python: Something completely different
Staffordshire Day
I always think I'm going to get found out
All shook up...The day that Elvis died
Twiggy: "I thought the world had gone mad"
Peter Capaldi: "I like characters who are strange"
Make eating breakfast a resolution which sticks, with milk&more
"Turning 60 can't be that bad!"Jennifer Saunders
The Enduring Power of the Unknown Soldier
Bradley Walsh "Variety is great for the soul"
Thank you, Brewood
"You never know what's round the corner"
1966 and All That
Remembering the Heroic Olympians
Martina Navratilova: "I Always Question Authority"
Guide for choosing clothes for older relatives
Getting older and disabled drivers behind the wheel
Men in Sheds
Scared to Shop!
Over 40s Named Most Successful Online Daters
Stay at home mum and author re-ignite's her career
Dating in later Life
Great garden getaways
Toton Engineman Review
The Making of Les Mis
“I’m a restless person by nature”
"We’re such country bumpkins”
Still time for tearooms
Hallowed hall of fame