Closing Time by Joe Queenan I have enjoyed all the Joe Queenan books I’ve read, particularly The Unkindest Cut: How a Hatchet-Man Critic Made His Own $7,000 Movie and Put It All on His Credit Card. Queenan is a journalist and author, having written for the New York Times and The Guardian amongst others, where his Read More
Month: August 2009
Gaskella goes walkabout on Bookmunch
I was delighted when Peter at Bookmunch invited me to review a book for them. So you can now see my review of Fists by Pietro Grossi here. I really enjoyed it.
My Life According to Books I Have Read
I got this fun meme from Kay at The Infinite Shelf. Using only books you have read this year (2009), cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. It’s a lot harder than you think! * Describe Yourself: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo * How do you feel: Cloud Busting * Read More
A book with mischievious intent, that doesn’t entirely live up to its promise
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith If you look at all the reviews, you’ll see that this monster mash-up of the beloved novel has totally split opinions of those who have read it. I’ll tell you mine after a bit of explanation. Zombies have been plaguing the English countryside for Read More
Rude Awakenings!
Maybe it’s my current reading (Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith), but I’ve been having vivid dreams. The latest of which consisted of a science experiment at school involving woodlice which transmogrified into giant maggots (remember the Pertwee vintage Dr Who with maggots – but not quite so big and Read More
She sells sea shells by the sea shore
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier This is the story of two women in the early 1800s – fossil hunters who played an important part in the beginnings of the evolutionary debate. Elizabeth Philpott and her younger sisters have to move after their brother marries; not being able to afford to live in Brighton, they choose Read More
What my cricket-mad brother is reading and listening to …
After my Mum obliged my request to make some remarks on the blog about her recent reading, I asked my brother if he was interested in doing the same some time. Within an hour or two he had supplied me with the paragraphs below – not keen at all! As you will see, three out Read More
Good Clean Spy Fun – with a spot of murder, and a good dose of drugs …
The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler When I saw that Penguin were reissuing five of Ambler’s novels in their Modern Classics series, the choice of which to read first was easy – I picked The Mask of Dimitrios. Apart from having been published during the same year as Chandler’s The Big Sleep, this novel Read More
What my Mum is reading
Being between books to review at the moment, I asked my 70-something Mum what she’s reading. She probably reads more books than I do, and every time I see her she borrows a bagful or two. She always returns them with sticky notes on telling me what she thought. She reads widely, and dare I Read More
My new cult faves have arrived – WooHoo!
I’m now the proud owner of two new cult faves – which to read first? The Booker longlisted Me Cheeta, the ‘autobiography’ of the Hollywood star chimp. Our book group has chosen this for our October book, but I can’t wait that long to read it. Or should I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Read More
Griff does Abingdon!
I’ve just got back from a very entertaining evening in Abingdon in the company of Griff Rhys Jones, along with half the town it seemed. It was a sell out event and the Guildhall was absolutely full. Brits need no introduction to Griff – he’s been on our telly screens for about three decades now Read More
Powerful prose wrought from chemistry and music…
Solo by Rana Dasgupta I read Dasgupta’s first novel Tokyo Cancelled back in 2007 and it was one of the most original debut novels I’ve read in recent years; it has really stayed with me. A modern take on the Canterbury Tales, Tokyo Cancelled is really a linked story cycle in which a group of Read More
A solid and enjoyable police procedural
Spider Trap by Barry Maitland Barry Maitland is the author of a series of nine crime novels so far featuring the detective team of ‘Brock and Kolla’. Some years ago, I remember reading one of the earlier ones, The Chalon Heads, which was set in the world of stamp collecting. A plot involving gangsters and forgers Read More
From Wilson to Thatcher – what a decade!
When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies by Andy Beckett The 1970s were my formative years. I was ten years old in 1970, so I was a Seventies teenager. My 1970s were full of being a teenybopper with my beloved David Cassidy, girl guides then the youth club, and the hard graft of Read More
A slow-burning yet rewarding novel
How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall I hugely enjoy reading all the buzz about the Booker Prize, but I normally don’t indulge in any deliberate speculative reading, preferring to pick and choose a select few short/longlisted titles after the event. Today though I can say I’m totally with it just this once, Read More
