Isabel Costello

LATEST ARTICLES ( 299 )

• Guest Author – Louise Walters on Writing in a Young Person’s Voice

  

  This week is a first and a third! I’m really delighted to welcome Louise Walters as the first author ever to appear on the Literary Sofa three times (links to... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Michael Dean on Fictionalising the Life of a Famous Artist

  

  As readers most of us have fictional themes or settings we especially enjoy. The art world is undoubtedly one of mine, just as visiting exhibitions and gallerie... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Week in Marseille

  

  I’ve recently returned from a glorious week in Marseille staying with my lifelong friend G, the younger daughter of my French godmother (my own French story is... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Ruth Figgest on Writing About Mothers and Daughters

  

  This week I am delighted to be hosting a debut novelist with an exceptional track record: Ruth Figgest, who was born in Oxford and grew up in the USA, has been... Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Book Review – A Secret Sisterhood by Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney

  

  Last year this book caught my eye for several reasons, not least the beautiful cover which also graces the new paperback edition I finally got around to reading. Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Alicia Drake on Paris as a Longterm Ex-pat

  

  Hosting today’s guest author and featuring her debut novel, another of my Spring Sofa Spotlight titles, feels like a special occasion and not only because... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Claire Dyer on Research and Imagination

  

  Last week’s Spring Sofa Spotlight met with great enthusiasm and lots of my favourite feedback: that people discovered books they may not otherwise have heard... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Sofa Spotlight – Spring 2018

  

  Spring is in the air, I’ve been reading (as always) and it’s time for my latest selection of recommended new releases. Narrowing it down is never easy – I’ve... Read more

  Posted on 21 February 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Quick Reads 2018

  

  This is a quick post about the launch of Quick Reads 2018 from The Reading Agency, a selection of six short books (only £1! Read more

  Posted on 01 February 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• 2018 Reading Round-up #1 – Two Books About Vietnam and America

  

  This was just going to be a review of two superb books I read on holiday in Vietnam, both set partly in that country and partly in the United States. Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Two Weeks in Vietnam

  

  Last week was a brilliant start to 2018 with lots of interest in my piece on time management – I’m delighted readers found it helpful. Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Starting from Here and Now

  

  A belated happy new year! This isn’t the first post I was expecting to write in 2018, but for reasons which will become apparent, I’ve decided to take a more... Read more

  Posted on 09 January 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• My Books of 2017

  

  This is one of the most fun posts to write but it’s also difficult, when I spend the entire year featuring books I’ve really enjoyed and rated here on the... Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Isabel Losada: Sex – Let’s Be Honest

  

  I’ve resisted using this line for more than six years but this week’s post really is Sex on the Literary Sofa, discussed in frank terms by two women called... Read more

  Posted on 06 December 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Launch of Stories for Homes 2 – an Anthology in Aid of Shelter

  

  On Saturday night I took part in a fantastic event supported by the Folkestone Book Festival: the paperback launch of the second volume of Stories For Homes,... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Book Review – This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam...

  

  This is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a book I have listened to, rather than read. There’s been a huge boom in the popularity of audiobooks in recent years... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• How Do You Know If a Novel’s Worth Writing?

  

  A few weeks ago I was walking along Newport Sands in Pembrokeshire with a clear head and a feeling of serenity – unfortunately it didn’t last long. Read more

  Posted on 16 November 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Charles Lambert on Entrapment

  

  This week I am delighted to welcome back Charles Lambert, one of the most consistently brilliant authors I’ve discovered through running the Literary Sofa,... Read more

  Posted on 08 November 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Slow Journeys – Why We Read

  

  Today I’m pleased to be receiving a visit from one of the most prolific and versatile people I’ve met in the book business, and many of you will know her too:... Read more

  Posted on 01 November 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Henrietta Rose-Innes on Cape Town

  

  Last week’s piece on Resilient Thinking and First Drafts was my first post about writing in a long time and it struck a chord with so many people that I’ve... Read more

  Posted on 18 October 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE