Category: Uncategorized
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Review: The Toy Makers by Robert Dinsdale
I’ve always loved magical realism, ordinary worlds elevated by enchantments. My bookshelves are lined with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s books, I’ve been stunned by the capacity of Jorge Luis Borges, and more recently, I enjoyed The Night Circus (which will draw many comparisons with the Toy Makers). So it’s not a huge surprise that Robert Dinsdale’s…
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Review: How to be Champion: My Autobiography by Sarah Millican
My rating: 4 out of 5 This reads like it was knocked out by a ten-year-old with touerrets, but Sarah Millican’s autobiography, “How to be Champion”, has an endearing honesty that makes it very readable. She writes about her life, with each chapter appended by a few comic how-to-be-champion suggestions to get the book onto…
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Review: Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit
My rating: 4 out of 5 Dirk Kurbjuweit has written a well-crafted literary novel that bounces around the life of the semi-autobiographical character Randolf, his highly strung but intelligent and gorgeous wife Rebecca, and their two children. He follows their turmoil as Dieter Tiberius, the downstairs neighbour, becomes more and more sinister, appearing to threaten…
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The Airbnb Story: How Three Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions of Dollars … and Plenty of Enemies by Leigh Gallagher
My rating: 4 out of 5 I read business books and blogs, so was keen to read this one – to see what hurdles the three Airbnb founders encountered, how their product revolutionised the travel industry, and what impact their product has had on individuals and communities. Leigh Gallagher’s The Airbnb Story does address bits…
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Review: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
My rating: 4 out of 5 I listen to a range of podcasts (personal development, many aimed at writing, and a few for business skills) and Steven Pressfield’s War of Art kept being mentioned as influential to the many creative and entrepreneurial guests. It’s easy to see why: it gives life and personality to concepts…
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Review: Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor
My rating: 5 out of 5 Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 made the Man Booker 2017 long list, his second novel to be long listed (his If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things made the 2002 list) and it’s good candidate to take the prize. The story revolves around the disappearance of Rebecca Shaw, a teenager holidaying…
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Review: The Golden House by Salman Rushdie
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review. My rating: 5 out of 5 Salman Rushdie’s The Golden House was one of those treats where I started the book without knowing a thing about it. Immediately you know you’re in the safe hands of a storyteller, not just a plotter or a writer, but a…
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Review: No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need by Naomi Klein
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review. My rating: 4 out of 5 I should be the ideal audience for Naomi Klein’s “No is Not Enough” – I’m very much a liberal, very much opposed to all the things Trump, and a strong believer in the positives of immigration. However, I did struggle with…
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Review: The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review. My rating: 5 out of 5 I first read Anita Shreve almost 20 years ago with A Pilot’s Wife, too long ago to remember the details, but not that long too forget that I enjoyed it. The Stars are Fire has similar themes: a family wrecked by…
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Review: The Silver Dish by Saul Bellow
My rating: 5 out of 5 Saul Bellow’s The Silver Dish has been on my to-read list for at least a year. Ethan Canin, a guest on Brian Koppelman’s The Moment podcast, praised it so heavily that it seemed rude not to give it a shot. It’s just a shame it took so long to…