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Jul 24, 20211 min read
879. Alan Davies - Just Ignore Him
I felt quite cynical about this. Alan Davies, the comedian and TV personality, was sexually abused, in a fairly minor way, by his father...
Dec 28, 20201 min read
839. Sandi Toksvig - Between The Stops
Book of the year so far. A lovely book by a lovely and very funny woman (I loved her hosting of ‘The News Quiz’, can’t get into Q1...
Nov 12, 20201 min read
826. Steve Martin - Born Standing Up
Not too sure why P bought this for me. I am a huge fan of Steve Martin’s early films – ‘Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid’ is probably my...
Dec 22, 20191 min read
737. Robert Spicer - From The Curates Egg
I enjoyed this enormously, but partly because I know Robert (a little) personally and our career paths have run slightly in parallel, and...
Jun 5, 20181 min read
595. Ed Smith - On And Off The Field
Needed something light after Henry James. I have read this before, years ago, and my impression hasn’t changed much - despite being...
Oct 8, 20171 min read
539. Alastair Sawday - Travelling Light
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...
May 16, 20171 min read
487. Kate Atkinson - Behind The Scenes At The Museum
Possibly her first (famous or actual first?) book. Good, but difficult and hard work. The main narrative is a Tristram Shandy like...
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...
Nov 15, 20141 min read
261. Paul Merton - Only When I Laugh
Merton is a very funny man, but not a great writer; the prose is pretty plodding, and the intersected jokes are mainly visual. I didn’t...
Nov 9, 20141 min read
259. Kevin Pietersen - KP: The Autobiography
Hard to comment on this. Of course as a cricket fan, interested to read his book. But it is such an apologia for KP, and such a...
Oct 21, 20141 min read
255. John Carey - The Unexpected Professor
I found this very dull until about the last two chapters when it suddenly blazed into life. Perhaps Carey’s early life was dull as the...
Apr 12, 20141 min read
198. Simon Hoggart - A Long Lunch: My Stories and I'm Sticking To Them
A journalist’s reminiscences/anecdotes about the people he has met and had dealings with. Hoggart is (or was, I think he may have died...
Nov 11, 20131 min read
162. David Gower - An Endangered Species
Haven’t read a cricketing biography for years, and probably won’t repeat the experience for a while. Get this on Amazon
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...
Mar 31, 20131 min read
92. Moshin Hamid - How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia
Heard this reviewed on Radio 4. A bit different. A novel disguised as 'self-help' book very simply about getting rich in rising Asia....
Jan 5, 20131 min read
70. Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
(Requested) Xmas present from my son D. I enjoyed it in the end; found it difficult at first as: I was expecting a linear narrative Some...