Isabel Costello

LATEST ARTICLES ( 428 )

• The First Sofa Spotlight of 2019

  

  Moving on from a near-exclusive focus on new releases has been great for my reading but I still love making exciting discoveries in the constant flow of new... Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• 2019 – A New Year on the Sofa

  

  If I leave it any longer it’ll be too late to wish you a happy new year, so consider it done – I hope you had a good break over the holidays. Read more

  Posted on 09 January 2019 BOOKS, CULTURE

• My Year in Books 2018

  

  It’s time to reveal my Books of 2018, a post I always relish writing, but this year it’s more complicated than usual. It’s been a strange reading year for me,... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Unusual Book Gift #3 – Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye with Rebecca Mascull

  

  The last in my trio of Unusual Book Gift gift suggestions is remarkable in several ways. Firstly, novella Miss Marley is a prequel to one of the best known, bes... Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Unusual Book Gift #2 – Single-story Pamphlets from The Guillemot Factory

  

  Within minutes of pressing ‘publish’ on my first unusual book, The Accidental Memoir by Eve Makis and Anthony Cropper, I was receiving messages from readers... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Unusual Book Gift #1 – The Accidental Memoir by Eve Makis and Anthony Cropper

  

  Christmas isn’t really my thing but books and writing are, so over the next couple of weeks I’m dedicating three blog posts to book gifts which are in some way... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Novel Process – the ‘Re-type Draft’

  

  Like many novelists, I get asked a lot of tricky questions and that’s not likely to change when my next book comes out. (Yes, I’m saying ‘when’ because I have t... Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Word for Freedom – Stories of Women’s Suffrage

  

  This week I am delighted to be featuring The Word for Freedom, an anthology just published to celebrate the centenary of female suffrage in the UK. Read more

  Posted on 06 November 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Post – Ben Blackman on Taking Nine Months to Read One Novel

  

  Enter my competition she said, you could win a lunch with me she said. Yet somehow it comes to the fact I (that’s italics too but it’s difficult to tell if you... Read more

  Posted on 31 October 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Joy Rhoades on the New England Tableland, NSW, Australia

  

  The first Australian Writers on Location post (Clare Atkins on Darwin) proved exceptionally popular back in the summer and I’m delighted to be returning to a... Read more

  Posted on 17 October 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Pick a Book, Any Book (you Hadn’t Heard Of)

  

  This is a parallel post to Book Hype (for want of a better word), inspired by the entries to my recent Literary Lunch competition in which entrants had to name ... Read more

  Posted on 03 October 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Book Hype (for Want of a Better Word)

  

  Sometimes I commit to writing something and then think Oh shit. I did briefly wonder if it’s possible to talk about book hype and the like without it... Read more

  Posted on 03 October 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Claire Fuller on Finding Inspiration in Place

  

  I’d like to start by thanking everyone for the exceptional response to last week’s Literary Lunch competition, which prompted a deluge of retweets, entries and... Read more

  Posted on 26 September 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Literary Lunch 2018 Blog Anniversary Competition

  

  HOW TO ENTER info at end of post **closing date Monday 24 September 2pm (UK)** Today I’m launching the (in theory) annual Literary Lunch competition to celebrat... Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Amanda Huggins on Japan

  

  Welcome to the first guest post of the new season, a special one in several ways. It’s the first time Japan has featured in my Writers on Location series, and... Read more

  Posted on 19 September 2018 BOOKS

• The Verdict on My Summer Reading 2018 – Part Two

  

  It’s been a frantic couple of weeks since I returned from Provence and the days of lounging by the pool reading for 6+ hours seem very distant. Read more

  Posted on 18 September 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Verdict on My Summer Reading 2018 – Part One

  

  As always at this time of year, this is an informal round-up of the books I read during my summer blog shutdown (as distinct from my Summer Reads selection of... Read more

  Posted on 10 September 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Autumn Preview 2018

  

  Welcome back to the Literary Sofa – I hope you enjoyed a long hot summer and some good books. This is a quick Hello, I’m back! and glimpse of the upcoming... Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• My Poolside TBR 2018

  

  This is one of my favourite posts because it always feels like I’m off duty, or soon will be. For me, the year starts in September – literally, as my birthday i... Read more

  Posted on 30 July 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location ̵ Philip Teir on Jakobstad, Finland

  

  This week’s post concludes the coverage of my Summer Reads selection; a record number of authors (7/12) have joined me on the Literary Sofa and I’m very gratefu... Read more

  Posted on 26 July 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE