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Jan 21, 20161 min read
371. Charity Norman - The New Woman
A library book via P, although probably a ‘woman’s book’, I loved this, beautifully written with a really well constructed plot – would...
Nov 7, 20151 min read
352. Lawrence Durrell - Balthazar
Book 2 of the Alexandria quartet, which I am beginning to really enjoy. Balthazar overwrites Justine, correcting a lot of misassumptions...
Oct 1, 20151 min read
341. William Boyd - A Good Man In Africa
I am sure I read this about 2 years ago and hated it. This time round it was very good, maybe in contrast to the excess Kate Atkinson in...
Sep 24, 20151 min read
340. Patrick Gale - The Whole Day Through
A short and unplanned read post no.339 above. This is a very good book, but as I had forgotten about it I can’t think of much to say. If...
Sep 11, 20151 min read
336. Kate Atkinson - When Will There Be Good News
Enjoying these so much, I immediately bought the 3rd Brodie novel (no.335 is the 1st and no.336 the 2nd). This took a bit of time to get...
Aug 29, 20151 min read
333. Kate Atkinson - A God In Ruins
As it is a library book, due back 5 September, I thought worth another read. It is actually quite an old fashioned novel, reminded me at...
Aug 15, 20151 min read
330. Sebastian Faulks - A Fool's Alphabet
Either I had forgotten this, or it has sat unread (by me) on the bookcase for 10 years. It grew on me; couldn’t see the point for about...
Aug 14, 20151 min read
329. Leonardo Padura - Havana Blue
Read this before (no.262), but rushed through all his books too fast. On re-reading, this strikes me as a fairly simple (and ultimately...
Jul 24, 20151 min read
322. Émile Zola - La Faute De L'Abbé Mouret
I didn’t read it in French, but don’t like the English translation (‘Abbe Mouret’s Transgression’ which misses half of the point) in my...
Jul 14, 20151 min read
321. Émile Zola - The Conquest Of Plassans
Plassans is the village where no.315 takes place, so we have moved back from Paris to Provence. A priest is taken in as lodger by a...
Jun 13, 20151 min read
312. George Eliot - Felix Holt: The Radical
I suppose a pre-cursor of Middlemarch, this centres on the 1832 general election, which seems to have post-dated some electoral reform....
May 31, 20151 min read
307. Émile Zola - A Love Episode
I wouldn’t have chosen this, but it is very difficult to navigate a Complete Works on a kindle. This is an odd book, about a widow with a...
May 13, 20151 min read
302. Katherine Webb - The Night Falling
One of Paddy’s cast off’s (like no.300 above). I read too many ‘feminine’ books because they are there available. This was quite good,...
Mar 29, 20151 min read
291. Patrick White - The Vivisector
This is a long and difficult book; I did punctuate it with no.290. About a modernist painter in modern day Australia; dedicated to Sydney...
Feb 6, 20151 min read
281. Elizabeth Jane Howard - Confusion
Book 3 which takes us from 1942 to the end of the war. Lots of events as the girls grow up and Louise gets married to a dreadful man,...
Aug 9, 20141 min read
233. Sebastian Faulks - The Girl At The Lion d'Or
Beautifully written, really quite a simple love story, except not really. A compressed version of 'Birdsong', I had forgotten how much of...
Apr 5, 20141 min read
195. Patrick Gale - The Whole Day Through
A beautiful (short) novel, about a couple who were literally a couple at university, meet in later life when he is married, have a brief...
Mar 19, 20141 min read
189. Honoré De Balzac - Old Goriot (Père Goriot)
Read this in English, but Father Goriot sounds a bit naff. Quite a difficult book to read, as no chapters or other natural breaks in the...
Oct 31, 20132 min read
159. William Boyd - An Ice-Cream War
My other birthday book! I read this years ago, enjoyed it, and couldn't find it on Amazon for the kindle, hence the paperback purchase. I...
Mar 18, 20131 min read
87. Jennie Rooney - Red Joan
Best holiday read so far. About an English girl who goes to Cambridge pre-WW2 and falls in love with a Russian émigré communist. She is...