The latest issue of newbooks magazine (nb89) dropped through my letterbox this week.  For those of you who are not familiar with it (where have you been?) this is the only magazine readily available in the UK for readers and reading groups.  It is published four times a year and despite the weather telling us otherwise, this is the summer edition.

I am thrilled to be a listed contributor to this magazine and its sister website Nudge.  This edition and back issues can be purchased by visiting the shop on the Nudge website (follow the link here) either as a single copy or more sensibly by taking out a subscripton.

In this issue there’s lots of ideas for summer reading and there’s still a lot to get excited about.  The featured author on the cover is Jessie Burton, whose latest book “The Muse” is a recommended read and is available to magazine readers for just the payment of postage and package. I still have Jessie’s last book “The Miniaturist” on my shelves, patiently waiting its turn.  I will get round to it as I have read and been told so many positive things from those who have experienced it.  Elsewhere there’s an interview with Emma Cline, who has reputedly got a large advance for her Charles Manson family based novel “The Girls”.  Annabel Abbs (“The Joyce Girl”) picks the five novels which turned her into a writer and Alison Moore (“Death And The Seaside”/ “The Lighthouse”) picks five favourites which feature outsiders.   There are features on the Baileys Prize, the non-fiction Wainwright Prize and the International Dublin Literary Awards.  There are lots of suggestions for reading across various genres- including suggestions for that holiday suitcase and a thorough set of reviews in the Directory pages.

And for regular readers of reviewsrevues.com, there are a few exclusives that you have not seen on this site.  I recently read and reviewed “Rembrandt’s Mirror” by Kim Devereux.  In the magazine you can read my interview with Kim in which she spills the beans about bringing the genius artist and seventeenth-century Netherlands to life.  Also, I take a look at both the film and novel of “Rosemary’s Baby” (my review of my re-read of Ira Levin’s novel is here).  There’s also a feature on the Apollo Classics series I have been reading over the last couple of months (the most recent review of these is here).

And then there’s the book extracts and free books (just pay p&p).  The featured books this month are the latest by the aforementioned Jessie Burton and Kim Devereux, crime novel “Try Not To Breathe” by Holly Seddon and Cornish mystery “Black Rabbit Hall” by Eva Chase.  Persuaded yet?