Book posts

These are my book notes. Nothing fancy. They’re not really reviews, more like thoughts a day or two later, and I try and write them before I pick up another book. Writing something quickly gives me a snapshot to look back on, and it seals the experience more firmly in my brain.

December 17 2022, 14:36

Chaotic reading

This morning there was a thin crust of snow on the ground. The car park was empty, and the lines were hidden, so I chose a spot near the meter and hoped. [more...]

April 23 2021, 19:23

Stop What You’re Doing and Read This!

It’s been a tough year, and in the tumult of it, I stopped enjoying reading (again). Instead, I watched films, which are just as wonderful, but do a fundamentally different job. [more...]

April 01 2021, 13:10

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I bought it three years ago in a bookshop sale, in spite of the cover, which honestly put me off reading it for a long time. [more...]

December 30 2020, 14:56

My 2020 in books

I’ve had a tough year reading books. I fell into the trap of seeing reading as work and lost the joy of it. Writers aren’t supposed to admit to not enjoying reading. [more...]

December 21 2020, 20:01

London Gothic

The protagonists of London Gothic are walkers, art lovers, film buffs and train nerds. They are loners, in the main, fascinated by urban spaces and routes between places. [more...]

December 07 2020, 21:28

Exit Management

The term ‘exit management’ is a euphemism for firing troublesome employees. Lauren is exceptional at it, and is highly valued by her monstrous boss, Mina, for her emotional control and ability to get the worst jobs done. [more...]

May 18 2020, 06:09

Rebecca

It’s hard to pinpoint when I stopped reading Rebecca. I started in the middle of April, and I chose it for many reasons. There were so many little cues from the universe that it felt rude not to read it. [more...]

April 17 2020, 10:34

My favourite five books of 2019

In 2019, on Goodreads, I set myself the challenge of reading 52 books. Here are my favourite five. [more...]

March 03 2018, 21:09

High Rise

I read several Ballard books in the late nineties — my mid-twenties — starting with short stories, before being entranced by the shiny silver paperback cover of Super-Cannes. I thought I’d read High Rise, but I quickly realised on starting it that I hadn’t. [more...]