Category: Books

This week I’ve been continuing my classic crime kick with Lady Audley’s Secret, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Written in 1862, it’s getting on for 150 years old. Which is one of those incredible things that seem perfectly reasonable on the face of it, but really, it’s sort of crazy that I’m sat here in my…

(Part One of this Present Tense Book Review.) I’ve rattled through this book, a testament to both the writing and the degree of traffic on Oxford Road this week (I do a lot of my reading on the bus…) On the whole it was enjoyable, and any book with a character called Binky is worth…

One of the quiet pleasures of moving in with Mrs. Monkeyshines was the appearance of a bunch of new books on the bookcase. I’m halfway through one of these now, Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson. According to the cover it’s an international bestseller, but I started it with no idea what it was about –…

(Part Three of this Present Tense Book Review.) The last quarter of the book flags somewhat, and although it has some very funny isolated scenes, it’s nowhere near as good as the rest of the book. For me, this has a lot to do with the appearance of Tom Sawyer, who is supposed to provide…

(Part One of this Present Tense Book Review.) Another 10 chapters down, and Huck’s had an implausible number of exciting and life-threatening adventures. Fun, but shot through with darker themes, of childhood illness, and deadly feuds; and slavery, obviously. It’s hardly ground-breaking to state that Twain’s writing is brilliant, but it is – I enjoy…

I quite enjoyed writing my last present tense book review, and I think it made me consider the book with a more critical eye. So I’m doing it again with Huck Finn, by Mark Twain. I can very vaguely remember it being on TV, but all I can recall is Huck trying to get out…

(Part Three of this Present Tense Book Review.) I’ve now finished the book, and I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a well-written, undemanding thriller. Some aspects of the book seem a little sadistic for my bleeding-heart, liberal tastes, and some of the attitudes of the lead character (and, presumably, author) are xenophobic and right-wing.…

(Part Two of this Present Tense Book Review.) Many adventure novels sag a bit in the middle, but Sapper has kept up the pace up with a kidnap subplot and the introduction of a set of Drummond’s old army pals, who make the plot slightly more credible (i.e. it’s not just one man against an…