Welcome to Illiterarty.com...

Welcome book lovers. You are amongst friends here. This site aims to provide book reviews, articles about books and authors, possibly an interview or two here and there and some short stories by our reviewers. If you would like to write for Illiterarty, either your own material or a book review, please contact us. Enjoy!

Book review: Blockbuster by Tom Shone


the cover of the book

If this was food, it would be a giant tub of fresh popcorn, covered in hot, molten butter, with an old-school choc top for dessert.

Rating: 8 of 10

Short story: Eight Thirty Five AM



I keep my head down as I walk along, and it feels like I'm in a black and white movie, travelling lack-lustrely in the same direction as everyone else on the street as though we are a dull shoal of fish in blacks and greys.

Book review: The Broken Shore by Peter Temple


the cover of the book

In the starkness and wild of the Victorian coastal countryside, a seemingly straightforward murder is committed. Detective Joe Cashin, who is in recovery from a mentally and physically scarring encounter on the job, pushes through the veneer of simplicity, and is plunged into a dark, complex crime...

Rating: 8 of 10

Short story: Meeting



Sitting at the oak table, staring down at his spotted red tie with his knees pressed together and his hands slippery. There's muttering around the room, the whispering of chair wheels and the creaking of stiff joints, a synthesis of old men, money and expensive suits.

Book review: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov


the cover of the book

If this was about a pubescent boy instead of a pubescent girl, it would confirm everything a certain sort of person likes to pretend lurks primarily within the purview of the homosexual mindset. But it isn't, so deal with it, heteros.

Rating: 9 of 10

Short story: Affair



I loosen my suspender and slide my device for devious journalists over my tweed skirt and onto my lap.

Book review: The Stone Angel by Katherine Scholes


the cover of the book

How do you know it's going to turn out exactly as you think it will down to the last painful ellipses? Probably the proud "international bestseller" label, partially covered by the "$2 Kmart" pricetag. Redeeming feature? It was purchased by someone else.

Rating: 5 of 10

Short story: Operation



When I wake under a laughable cliche of starched white sheets for the same day in a row I realise my recovery is not complete by any stretch of the elastic nightgown although my operation is complete and a success.

Book review: Blaze by Richard Bachman


the cover of the book

A slow man, a dead man, and a baby - Blaze is a soft-pseudo noir novel with a little crime and a big personality, discarded then resurrected by Stephen King.

Rating: 7 of 10

Short story: In The Garden Shed



Imitation vanilla essence;
gun powder, thingumies and lint.

Book review: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman


the cover of the book

Neverwhere is a whimsical tale about a man called Richard, doors, rats, myths, and what really happens underneath London.

Rating: 7 of 10

Short story: Pet



She wears a deadpan expression, maybe sultry, maybe smoky, maybe wistful, maybe bored.

Book review: The R. Crumb Handbook by Robert Crumb and Peter Poplaski


the cover of the book

If this was funnier, contained no sex whatsoever, five times less interesting to look at, but only slightly more suitable for children, it would be a The Charles Schulz Story, published 1971. (Have you READ early Peanuts? Good grief.)

Rating: 6 of 10

Short story: Squat



Chemical extraction in a filthy rental, smoke blue walls and shattered cold windows blacked out by sooty towels.

Book review: Holy Cow! An Indian Adventure by Sarah MacDonald


the cover of the book

An incredibly candid exploration of a few of the religious and cultural elements of that great and varied nation, India. Love it or hate it, there's just something about it...

Rating: 7 of 10

Short story: Adventure



The ocean heaves lethargically, restless and sad with unbearable tight tears.

Book review: After You With The Pistol by Kyril Bonfiglioli


the cover of the book

If this was written by a middle-class douchebag with all the observational skill but zero percent of the humour, it would be any Ian Fleming book.

Rating: 6 of 10

Short story: Trouble



Run. Open the door, slam it shut, run.

Book review: The Dead Zone by Stephen King


the cover of the book

Stephen King examines themes of predestination, fate, love and evil in his classic fifth novel, The Dead Zone.

Rating: 7 of 10

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