Reading Matters (week 026) 24 June 2025

Sven Alexrad’s increasing prominence as an author is emphasised by his acclaimed new novel, The Nicotine Gospel (Penguin Random House). A widowed, eccentric father of two small boys, struggling to get close to them, teaches them you can tell everything worth knowing about a person by the cigarettes they smoke.

This was back in 1987 and it worked, for a while.  Axelrad’s storytelling is simultaneously comedic and philosophical.  I’m captivated by it.

Irish novelist, John Boyne, he of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas fame, has concluded his four books encompassing the elements.  Air (Penguin) takes place in an airplane ride from Sydney to Ireland, during which a father tries to convince his beloved son (14) that his alienated mother loves him.   Heart-warming and heart-breaking.

Half the world’s population – women – silently endure menopause  with symptoms ranging from memory loss, to sleeplessness and suicidal thoughts. Now leading  British dietitian and nutritionist with her own clinical practice has written a  picture-filled, appetising book: Food for Menopause( Murdoch / Jonathan Ball) that is rich with information and sensible advice. If you’re in your 40s, you need this book – fast!

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall