Reviews 

This is one of Paddy’s and very good. Emma Smith is an Oxford Professor but this book really tries to demystify Shakespeare, and...

This is a lovely book. Saw the film on the TV last week and discovered that our next door neighbour had given the book (twice) to Paddy...

I am not sure that I have read any before, and am not sure I would read any more. I thought this was pretty trite and trivial in...

I enjoyed this enormously, but partly because I know Robert (a little) personally and our career paths have run slightly in parallel, and...

I hate doing this but am half way through this book, and really can’t see any good reason to finish it, so I won’t. I really enjoyed...

Don’t know why I bought this. Slightly jokey female novel about a dental nurse/assistant –you can certainly learn quite a lot about...

I enjoyed this, although it was long and hard work! Annoyingly, it succumbed to various clichés attaching to this type of novel; about 3...

First book on my very challenging to use new kindle. I re-read 650 with a view to re-reading this, but my kindle then died, hence a...

Never read any of these before, but very very good. Quasi detective novels set in Tudor England whose heroine/ detective Shardlake is a...

No coincidence (and no relative I assume) but started re-reading this only for my Kindle to die. So unfinished. Finished this after...

I have been meaning to read this for years, but thought I should read more Dostoyevsky first. Steiner wrote this in his late 20’s and his...

A library book of Paddy's. Couldn’t entirely make this out – an eponymous (Nell Stevens) PhD student in London has a love affair which...

Running out of books on holiday, found this on my kindle. Never read it before and won’t again. Get this on Amazon

I had never read this and really enjoyed it, although probably a holiday/beach read. Written with great power, anger and a lot of...

Emergency purchase at WH Smiths in Gatwick, as kindle won’t accept my card for some reason. Wildly controversial at the time, now perhaps...

This was very good, although I’d have enjoyed it more if: I had realised it was a reworking of Antigone and I had any knowledge of the...

This sort of thing has not been done before, and I thought it was brilliant. Too complex a plot to summarise, but a very funny and clever...

Needed something light after Henry James. I have read this before, years ago, and my impression hasn’t changed much - despite being...

I don’t think I have ever read any Muriel Spark before, but put her on my list after reading 568. Quite a strange book; Jean Brodie’s...

I asked for this for my birthday, and try to avoid writing about books I haven’t finished, but sometimes life is just too short. He...