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Currently Reading…
How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. It's funny cos it's true.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Stuck half way, but it's true, her eyes do change colour. Like David Bowie. Or a Blythe doll.
Recently read…
Gumble's Yard by John Rowe Townsend.
Noah's Castle by John Rowe Townsend.
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness. Grim, but brilliant kids' book.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Brilliant dystopian book for teens. The short prequel is a free Kindle download.
Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman. 607 pages, seven viewpoints of the same extraordinarily inter-twined events. Clever, full of good ideas but I didn't warm to the main character and didn't love it anywhere near as much as A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz.
The Fear by Charlie Higson.
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson. I HATED this book - which was a surprise as I really liked the previous 3 Jackson Brodies, esp the previous one. Why? Too many characters I didn't care about. Not enough Jackson Brodie. And I know it's grim up North - but just too, too grim. Forced myself to finish it, but only because I bloody paid for it.
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson. MUCH better than the TV adaptation, which I found very confusing. Very readable - some of the turns choices made by the main characters have had me going 'whaaat'? but it's all the more believable and enjoyable for them.
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Good, but didn't enjoy it as much as Case Histories.
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. Bliss.
Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer.
Solar by Ian McEwan. Good holiday read but not stunning literature.
One Day by David Nicholls. I am officially the last person-but-one in England to read this. Loved it, though. Bastard.
Moonraker by Ian Fleming. Ah, another improbably-named young woman to see you, Mr Bond. (Like I can talk).
Obstacles to Young Love by David Nobbs. This lad Nobbs will go far. Funny, touching, very occasionally annoying, but a damn fine novel.
The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim by Jonathan Coe. Hated the ending. Sorry. Sure it's been done elsewhere. My first, and probably last, Coe.
Hungry the Stars and Everything by Emma Jane Unsworth. Delicious!
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. It's Dickens with swear words. In a good way.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. From 1949. Perfect. It's so good, I love it so much. Cannot believe I've never read this before.
Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason - bit disappointed. Just a police procedural. Not that odd. No big DNA conspiracy.
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford - I proof-read a neighbour's uni essay on this and had to read it. Bleak it is, so bleak - especially for a man of my age and circumstance. Almost gave up but half way through I 'got it' and glad I finished it. But grim. Grim.
The Game by Jack London.
The Man Who Went Up In Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. 2nd Martin Beck novel from the original masters of the modern (1960s) police procedural.
Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming. I enjoyed this WAY more than Engleby. Really good, flavour of Bond captured very well indeed.
Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St John. Great children's book, set in St Ives, Cornwall. If the Laura Marlin Mysteries continue like this, I might have to write my own Caitlin Ros Mysteries. (Geddit?!)
Sweet Desserts by Lucy Ellman.
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming.
Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. My first Faulks - he's too damn popular with the ladies for my liking. I almost gave up on it on page 85. Luckily something happens on page 86. Blog post coming...
Street Kids by Chandrika Kaviraj. Excellent unpublished story for older children set in Pakistan and India during Partition.
The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre.
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. My first Bond. It's just as I would have hoped and expected. And me oh my does Vesper Lynd remind me of someone.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. There's a stunning novel in here, struggling to get out. Just spare me the state of Russian agriculture, Leo, I beg you...
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø - this is shaping up very nicely, up there with The Snowman and The Redeemer.Calendar
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Category Archives: TV
Stealing in the name of the Time Lord
Another series of Doctor Who ends, and you gotta admire the boy Davies’s chutzpah. It’s great but he seems to have nicked half of it from Star Wars, and the other half from the Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As … Continue reading
Posted in Doctor Who, TV
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Broken News
Bad stuff happened in London today, and as I attempted to impose some order on our office by finally, finally tidying up (shades of Withnail – “Don’t go in there!”). While I was tidying up I had News 24 on. … Continue reading
Posted in media, TV
2 Comments
We are not worthy
This series of Doctor Who was a bit humdrum. Then came ‘Family of Blood’, which I thought was one of the best episodes ever. Next came ‘Blink’ – which has to be the best ever episode of Doctor Who ever; … Continue reading
Posted in Doctor Who, TV
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Doctor Who by Dennis Potter
Don’t get me wrong – the current episodes of Doctor Who (Human Nature) are just the best ever, and I think David Tennant is the best Doctor ever. But in Doctor Who Confidential over on BBC Three, David Tennant says … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Potter, Doctor Who, literature, nostalgia, TV
1 Comment
Ashes to Ashes
Life on Mars finished last night. Every week it begins with Sam Tyler explaining that he was in a car crash, and woke up in 1973. “Am I mad, in a coma or have I travelled back in time?” And … Continue reading
Posted in TV
8 Comments
Life on Mars (2)
For the last few days I’ve been wandering around in a bit of a daze, feeling as if everything was a long way off. As if I were in an episode of Life on Mars and would wake up in … Continue reading
Posted in TV
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Life on Mars
One of my favourite TV shows, Life on Mars, returns next week. I can’t wait, but I’m a bit worried about discussions I hear about whether Sam Tyler has really gone back in time, if he’s in a coma or … Continue reading
Posted in TV
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Big Brother – the truth
I’ll tell you the real reason Big Brother is such Big News. People just like saying “Shilpa Shetty”. I just said it to myself just now. Mmmm. Feels good.
Posted in media, TV
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Humax PVR meets Mac
They’re stupidly named – nowt personal about a box that sits in the living room and which we fight over control of… but I finally gave in and bought a ‘Personal Video Recorder’. Torn between the Topfield and the Humax, … Continue reading
Shallow age
I’m pretty sure that when I watched the TV adaptation of the Iain Banks novel The Crow Road when it first aired in 1996, I fancied the intelligent, feisty Ashley Watt (played by Valerie Edmond). Watching it again tonight on … Continue reading
Posted in literature, TV
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