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Sep 21, 20161 min read
431. John Lennard - Reading Paul Scott: 'The Raj Quartet' and 'Staying On'
A short ‘academic’ lit-crit study, heavily pushed on my kindle. I don’t normally read such things, but Scott is such a heavyweight and...
Jun 28, 20161 min read
415. Tim Lott - The Last Summer Of The Water Strider
A library book from P. Set in the 1970’s, a mildly bored and disaffected teenager is sent off to live with his hippy uncle on a houseboat...
Apr 8, 20161 min read
390. Doris Lessing - The Summer Before The Dark
Don’t think I have ever read any Doris Lessing. This struck me as both ponderous and dated. A middle aged woman discovers that motherhood...
Feb 28, 20161 min read
381. Amy Liptrot - The Outrun
Another of P’s library books; I found this a curious mixture of annoying and extremely good. An autobiographical (I assume) story of a...
Feb 27, 20161 min read
380. John Le Carré - The Night Manager
Bought this, slightly conned by Waterstones’ promotion, as it is being serialised on the TV. Don’t think I have read a Le Carré since...
Jan 9, 20161 min read
368. Philip Larkin - The Whitsun Weddings
This feels like a bit of a cheek (is a book of about 30 lyric poems really a book?) but I am in the middle of a lengthy biography of...
Jun 10, 20151 min read
311. Attica Locke - Pleasantville
I wasn’t even aware I had this book – obviously a Radio 4 inspired impulse buy. But very good, even following Ms. Austen. Courtroom drama...
Aug 24, 20141 min read
237. D. H. Lawrence - Lady Chatterley's Lover
Haven’t read any Lawrence for ages; I think that no.223 inclined me to read another novel of thwarted love across the classes. The sex is...
Jun 6, 20141 min read
215. F. R. Leavis - The Great Tradition
Had been meaning to re-read this for years and finally stole my parents’ copy from Bristol a few weeks ago. Leavis, I am sure, was...
Feb 11, 20141 min read
183. James Lee Burke - Creole Belle
L used to be a big fan of James Lee Burke (and James Ellroy), but Burkes’ more recent books seem to me have to become very repetitive...
Jul 8, 20131 min read
126. David Lodge - Nice Work
Not certain whether I have read this before; certainly seen it on TV with Warren Clark and (?) Hayden Gwynne. What struck me is how...
Jun 29, 20131 min read
124. David Lodge - Therapy
Tried ‘How Far Can you Go’ on return from Spain, but I couldn’t go very far; too many characters sitting around in a church in the...
Jun 12, 20131 min read
116. Leena Lehtolainen - My First Murder
1st book about Maria Kallio. Character of some interest but plot very cliched; could almost be 'My First Barbie Doll'. Get this from...
Jun 12, 20131 min read
115. David Lodge - Out Of The Shelter
Aeroplane reading en route for Spain. Haven't read a David Lodge for years. Coming of age novel, apparently quite autobiographical, set...
Jun 12, 20131 min read
116. Leena Lehtolainen - My First Murder
1st book about Maria Kallio. Character of some interest but plot very cliched; could almost be My First Barbie Doll. Get this from...
May 31, 20131 min read
110. Leena Lehtolainen - Her Enemy
Finnish thriller for a change - I got muddled as I was expecting Scandinavian names and places. However with place names like Tapiola and...
May 25, 20131 min read
107. William Lashner - The Accounting
Hard to place. Quite good, reminded me of 'American Beauty' (the film, not the Grateful Dead) in places. Cynical, at times, book about a...
Jan 21, 20131 min read
73. John Lancaster - Capital
Pretty long, 10 days to read although it is January, and we have D+Z back from Australia. Plus, lots of snow (which hasn't interrupted...
Aug 22, 20121 min read
35. Stephen Leather - Hard Landing
By far the worst book I have attempted to read (ever?!), didn't finish it. Luckily only cost a few pennies. Characterless characters, if...
May 5, 20121 min read
7. Stieg Larsson - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
I have read this before, but equally good 2nd time round. Fast-paced and with a brilliant plot. Does the Wennerstrom empire appear in the...