Changes

Hi, hello and we hope all is well with you. Summer, what we had of it, is over. And it's time for the autumn books release rush. There's an awful lot of good stuff coming out over the next few weeks. Ian McEwan, Will Self, David Mitchell, Martin Amis, Sarah Waters, Howard Jacobsonand Jacobson and Ali Smith all have new books to come. So keep an eye peeled on on the Bookbag [http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=The_Bookbag homepage]]. We'll be reviewing as much as we can as quickly as we can, promise!

What else has been happening in the world of books? Well, the aforementioned Will Self is his usual provocative, well (Will?) selfSelf, writing for the BBC. He thinks George Orwell was a [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28971276 "literary mediocrity"]. Sacrilege, cries Jill! We love you, Will, but badmouthing our beloved Orwell? How could you?!

In fiction, Ani (and the Man Booker Prize longlist) is recommending [[The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell]]. Holly Sykes is 15 and has found true love with an older man in his twenties - until she finds him in bed with her best mate. Upset and disorientated, she runs away from home. This may enable her to escape from the unfaithful Vinny and her overbearing family but not the weirdness. She's not the only one though: Hugo the student, conman and lothario thought he was only doing someone a good turn when the weirdness started for him. There is a point to it though: eventually battle lines will be drawn and it's anyone's guess as to who will win, despite what the Anchorites may say. This is the life of Holly Sykes also doubling as an eclectic confection of enticing curiosity. In other words it serves those of us who just want a stonking good read as well as the literary discussionistas. Ani wants wanted it to win the 2014 Man Booker but we shall seeand thinks it should have made the shortlist.