How to Cook Game in the Ancient World

 As Christmas approaches, our thoughts naturally turn to the dinner table. I've written a piece on how the Romans cooked for the Christmas issue of Shooting Times - get the festive issue in print.

Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine

Nicholson Baker's debut novel, published in the late 1980s, has been reissued by Granta in a handy pocket-sized paperback. It's about an office worker who buys a new pair of laces - and that really is all the plot. I've reviewed it for the Times Literary Supplement.

Literary Review Christmas Children's Books Round Up

I've been reviewing children's books for Literary Review for about 15 years now... and it never fails to please me how many powerful and wonderful books there are. I wish I had space to cover more. This year, I've reviewed:

 

The Monsters of Rookhaven by Padraig Kenny

The Midnight Guardians by Ross Montgomery

Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant

I, Ada by Julia Gray

The Midnight Swan by Catherine Fisher

The Haunting of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes

The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff 

You can read the review here, but do get the December/January issue - a bumper double one. 

One other small item of news: I received the CD audioboook of How to Teach Classics to Your Dog. I always enjoy the physical versions, rather than the digital ones - somehow it makes a more satisfying experience to load the CDs into the machine. My lurcher, obviously, is already listening...