Search
Nov 1, 20151 min read
350. Patrick Gale - A Place Called Winter
Fond though I am of Patrick Gale, I didn’t like this much; too much gay proselytising, although he explains the genesis of the book (a...
Oct 8, 20151 min read
343. Joseph Conrad - Heart Of Darkness
I read this to compare and contrast with no.342 above, and despite being better known and perhaps regarded, I thought it was pretty dire....
Aug 25, 20151 min read
332. Kate Atkinson - A God In Ruins
What a wonderful title! And a wonderful book, possibly highlight of the year so far. The story of a family, largely a man, spanning the...
Aug 6, 20151 min read
326. Richard Flanagan - Wanting
Saw a very good program on the TV about him and thought I would start off, still post Zola, with something easier than 'The Narrow Road...
Jun 8, 20151 min read
309. Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens: A Brief History Of Humankind
Book of the year so far. A real helicopter view of homo sapiens starting pretty well with the science and biology, ending with cyborgs...
Apr 9, 20151 min read
296. Naomi Alderman - The Liars' Gospel
This is very good. A retelling of the gospels - mainly the crucifixion - from the perspectives of four characters – Mary, Judas Iscariot,...
Mar 4, 20151 min read
286. Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
This is extremely good, but long and hard work and I am not doing it justice. I am going to break the habit of this record and return to...
Nov 21, 20141 min read
263. Charles Emmerson - 1913
Another birthday present; this one from Patrick Stephenson. This is a geographical/historical picture, city by major city, of the world...
Aug 28, 20141 min read
238. Sue Monk Kidd - The Invention Of Wings
Paddy recommended this; I didn’t like it at first, but enjoyed it more and more as it progressed. It is a semi-fictionalised biography of...
Sep 30, 20131 min read
149. George Orwell - Homage To Catalonia
Thought I would read this in view of our impending trip to Barcelona. It is very flat and factual; you get no real idea why he went there...
Mar 21, 20131 min read
89. Leo Tolstoy - War & Peace
21.03.2013 Meanwhile, where I am now halfway through 'War & Peace', which I started post no.83. It is good but hard work - last night's...
Dec 26, 20121 min read
67. Sebastian Faulks - A Possible Life
Described as a novel, this is really five short stories, with obscure (if at all) thematic interlinkings. The best was the last one, but...