Michael Haneke
The white ribbon (Artificial Eye, 2010) An Austrian/German production, filmed in black and white, this was the winner of the Palme D'Or at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, 2009. A series of disturbing incidents upsets the tranquility of a small village in Germany on the eve of World War I in a dark production which carries the German subtitle 'A fairytale'. DVD release, German soundtrack with English subtitles. |
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Sarah Pinborough
A matter of blood (London : Gollancz, 2010) Inspector Cass is haunted by his own past, while his present is taken up with a number of high profile cases, including that of the serial killer known as the Man of Flies. Then his brother shoots himself after killing his wife and child. Is Cass's private family tragedy connected to the Man of Flies? This is Pinsborough's first thriller, though she has previously published in the horror/fantasy genre. |
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Martin Amis.
The pregnant widow (London : Jonathan Cape, 2010) An autobiographical novel, in which Kenneth Nearing is Amis's alter-ego, the book's title comes from a 19th century Russian writer who said 'a revolution creates, not an heir, but a pregnant widow'. The revolution in question here is the sexual revolution of the 1960s and '70s, in full swing as a group of students spend a summer in a holiday castle in Italy. |
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Judith Allnatt
The poet's wife (London : Doubleday, 2010) The poet's wife is Patty Turner, whose husband was the 19th century peasant-poet, John Clare. As Clare descends into madness, Patty struggles to find in him the man she loved amd married. |
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Colleen McCullagh
Too many murders (London : HarperCollins, 2010) A new novel from the author of The thorn birds, this is set in Connecticut in 1967, and features Detective Inspector Carmine Delmonico investigating a spate of murders which may be connected with international espionage, as the Cold War takes centre stage in world politics. |
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Thomas Lynch
Apparition and late fictions (London : Jonathan Cape, 2010) Short stories from the American poet and academic with roots in County Clare. He has written Booking passage : we Irish and Americans, about his experience of visiting cousins on the Loop Head peninsula. |
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Hugo Hamilton
Hand in the fire (London : 4th Estate, 2010) A Serbian immigrant becomes friendly with a young Dublin lawyer, Kevin Concannon, and is drawn into the secret life of the Concannon family. As old tragedies resurface, Hamilton gives us a view of contemporary Ireland through the eyes of a more or less sympathetic outsider. |
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Manuel Rivas
Books burn badly (London : Harvill Secker, 2010) Translated from Galician, this novel opens with the newly-empowered Falangists burning subversive books in a public bonfire in Coruna in 1936, and portrays the years of dictatorship in Spain through the lives of a group of young friends who were witnesses to the burning. Once again it is proved true that where books are burned, people will be next., |
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Ian McEwan
Solar (London : Jonathan Cape, 2010) Set against the background of controversies surrounding global warming and climate change, this is the latest novel from one of the greats of contemporary English fiction. |
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Mavis Gallant
The cost of living (London : Bloomsbury, 2010) Early and uncollected short stories from one of the masters of the form, born in Montreal in Canada in 1922, but living in Paris for many years. Many of these pieces were first published in the New Yorker, to which she was a regular contributor. |
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Col Buchanan
Farlander (London : Tor, 2010) The first in a new fantasy series set in The Heart of the World, in which the hero Ash and his apprentice Nico are caught up in a global conflict between the Mercian Free Ports and the Holy Empire of Mann, ruled by the ruthless Holy Matriarch Sasheen. |
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Joyce diDonato
Songs by Fauré, Hahn, and Head, arias by Rossini and Handel (BBC, 2006) Subtitled 'a journey through Vernice', this disc features mezzo-soprano diDonato, with Julius Drake on piano, in a recital at the Wigmore Hall, London, in 2006. The programme is a selection of songs and arias inspired by the 'the most serene' city. |
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She and Him
She and Him, vols. 1 & 2 (Merge Records, 2008 and 2010) Two releases from the The American Indie band consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, who are set to tour Europe this year. |
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Voice of the seven thunders
Voice of the seven thunders (Tchantinler records, 2010) This features Bolton-based British alternative rock guitarist Rick Tomlinson, with Chris Walmsley on drums and Rory Gibson on bass, in a follow-up to Tomlinson's 2007 recording Voice of the seven woods. |
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John Hiatt
The open road (NewWest Records, 2010) Hiatt straddles several music genres, country rock, folk, and blues, and is perhaps better known as a songwriter. His songs have been covered by many artists including Joe Cocker, Rosanne Cash, Bob Dylan, and the Jeff Healey Band, who took his composition Angel eyes to the Billboard Top 5. He has recorded up to 12 studio albums, some on his own, some collaborations, including Slow turning, Crossing Muddy Waters, Master of disaster, and Same old man. |
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