Search
Jul 5, 20211 min read
875. Susie Steiner - Persons Unknown
I love Susie Steiner’s 'Manon' book, of which I think this is the 2nd (maybe 3rd) and it is shocking and horrible to hear that she now...
Apr 17, 20211 min read
856. Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet
I enjoyed this, particularly the last quarter after the boy’s death, but struggled with the early chapters where there were (for me) too...
Mar 30, 20211 min read
853. George Eliot - Middlemarch
Remains, probably, my favourite book, but it is seriously long! (although lots of distractions over the last few weeks – cricket,...
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...
Oct 22, 20201 min read
821. Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist
Thought I would try another Dickens after 819 and not really enjoying the 21st century 820. Quite enjoyed this, but Dickens' characters...
Oct 9, 20201 min read
819. Charles Dickens - Our Mutual Friend
Not being a big Dickens fan, I thought I would try one yet again and took this on holiday. Deliberately chose a book I knew nothing...
Jan 6, 20201 min read
741. Bernadine Evaristo - Girl, Woman, Other
A library book of Paddy's – we think this may have shared the Booker Prize with the new Margret Atwood. Predominantly, it initially...
Sep 30, 20191 min read
717. Jessie Burton - The Muse
This is by the author of ‘The Miniturist’ which I have seen on television if not read. Not in the George Eliot class (well what would...
Sep 14, 20191 min read
715. Zadie Smith - Swing Time
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...
Jun 25, 20191 min read
691. Linda Grant - A Stranger City
This is a very good book, but muscular and not an easy read. About millennial London, but quite unlike 684 or Lanchester’s ‘Capital’;...
May 26, 20191 min read
686. John Fowles - The French Lieutenants Woman
Bought 1977, so probably haven’t read for 40+ years! Brilliant, hasn’t aged at all and I had minimal memory of either the book or (I am...
May 19, 20191 min read
684. Sebastien Faulks - A Week In December
Enjoyed this a lot (must have read it before). Quite similar, structurally, to John Lanchester’s ‘Capital’, but Faulkes is a better...
Mar 30, 20191 min read
671. Ian Rankin - Tooth And Nail
I have read this (and most of Rankin’s books) before, but unlike say Peter Robinson (and Rankin is I think a better writer) the titles...
Feb 15, 20191 min read
659. Michael Ondaatje - Warlight
I struggled with the first half of this book which seemed almost Dickensian in its slow development. 2 kids are abandoned by their...
Nov 11, 20181 min read
639. Sally Vickers - Where Three Roads Meet
I enjoyed no 636, so thought I would try another. This was probably not a great choice – sounded interesting but wasn’t really – the...
Oct 13, 20181 min read
632. Nell Stevens - Mrs Gaskell And Me
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...
Sep 21, 20181 min read
626. Sarah Vaughan - Anatomy Of A Scandal
No.598 which I convinced myself over dinner with Paddy in Korcula was worth re-reading (having re-started it and intending to be...
Aug 12, 20181 min read
616. Mick Herron - Slow Horses
The first of the Slough House novels, possibly my 3rd read but they are so good and improve every time. This begins with River’s...
Jun 23, 20181 min read
604. Zadie Smith - White Teeth
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...
Apr 10, 20181 min read
585. Jake Arnott - The Long Firm
Have read this before but took it as airport aeroplane reading, and as the flight to Stockholm was delayed got through a lot of it. It is...