Search
Sep 4, 20171 min read
519. Benjamin Black - Prague Nights
Benjamin Black is the non de plume of John Banville, not that I have heard of him either. This is a slightly picaresque quasi-historical...
Jun 28, 20171 min read
504. James Lee Burke - Black Cherry Blues
Haven’t read one of these for years. I used to love James Lee Burke, but that was in a different place and this now seems pretty...
Dec 10, 20161 min read
451. Elizabeth Buchan - The New Mrs Clifton
Paul Scott apart, this would I think be my book of the year this year. A library book that Paddy enjoyed, set in post war England. Quite...
Oct 29, 20161 min read
440 - John Burdett - Bangkok Tattoo
Never hear of this guy, but found him on a ‘Best Crime Thriller’ website. Opaque, at least to me; an English lawyer, he has written a...
Oct 7, 20161 min read
436. Katarina Bivald - The Readers Of Broken Wheel Recommend
This is a lovely book, totally different and beautifully constructed. A lonely young Swedish woman arrives in the run down Iowa town of...
Oct 3, 20161 min read
435. John Braine - Room At The Top
A follow on from Lucky Jim. Interesting these post-war working class boys (if the authors really were) who are interested in different...
May 25, 20161 min read
402. Samuel Butler - The Way Of All Fish
This has sat on our bookcase since October 1977 unread. It seems to be quite a famous book, but it is pretty poor. I don’t know who...
May 15, 20161 min read
400. Mike Brearley - Phoenix From The Ashes
Another one from the attic, I don’t know why as there is lots of space in cricket books downstairs. This is about Botham’s Ashes in 1981....
Apr 3, 20161 min read
389. Emily Bronté - Wuthering Heights
Hadn’t read this before; quite hard work but interesting book, particularly given publication pre 1850. Maybe there were lots of similar...
Feb 21, 20161 min read
379. William Boyd - Sweet Caress
Very readable, but a little similar to other (I think W Boyd) books; the 20th century seen through the developing life of an individual....
Feb 17, 20161 min read
378. Jessie Burton - The Miniaturist
This is very good; totally different, potentially difficult but beautifully written and so easy to read. Set in late 17th century...
Feb 4, 20161 min read
375. Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove
I didn’t like this much; P read it alternating between tears and hysterical laughter, but it did nothing for me. About a grumpy old and...
Jan 10, 20161 min read
369. James Booth - Philip Larkin: Life, Art And Love
An Xmas present from B, maybe with Larkin’s most famous opening line in mind. (?) I started hating it, seeing it as a typically footnoted...
Oct 11, 20151 min read
344. Lawrence Block - A Dance At The Slaughterhouse
A lot more fun than Conrad, despite the title. Block writes a very good story and Matt Scudder is an interesting character. The ending is...
Oct 1, 20151 min read
341. William Boyd - A Good Man In Africa
I am sure I read this about 2 years ago and hated it. This time round it was very good, maybe in contrast to the excess Kate Atkinson in...
Jun 26, 20151 min read
318. Saul Bellow - Humbolt's Gift
Tried, but failed to finish this at the end of the holiday. Bellow now seems to me to be very overrated; some Jewish humour, but pretty...
May 28, 20151 min read
306. Ed McBain - Nocturne
A much later book than no.304, and much longer and more ponderous. The central conceit is quite clever (an apparent murder, which...
May 17, 20151 min read
304. Ed McBain - King's Ransom
Haven’t read one of these for years. This is an early book (1959) and surprisingly good. The story is beautifully constructed, as the...
Feb 22, 20151 min read
284. André Brink - A Dry White Season
The author died recently, and I heard about this on a Radio 4 obituary programme. I believe he was a white Afrikaan who became...
Jan 4, 20151 min read
275. Clare Balding - Walking Home
I enjoyed this – don’t normally like books by celebrities but Clare Balding has had to work out how to be a gay upper class horsey girl,...