Read Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom". Had read "The Corrections" a very very long time ago and "Crossroads" when it came out (liking them both) but nothing in between except critics I liked and respected saying how awful Franzen was! Definitely became conflicted about Franzen after I got heavily 1/5

Read Benjamin Stevenson's "Everyone in this Bank is a Thief". Initially found this a little slower to get into than the preceding three, but once I did I was gripped. Has always liked the word fossicked ever since encountering it regularly in Peter Carey, but stoush was new to me. Whilst some of 1/2

Read William Styron's "Sophie's Choice". Although I've never seen it, the film is famous enough for me to know the 'twist' (or at least late revelation in the novel) to which the title refers. Unlike "We Need to Talk About Kevin" where being aware of this detail 'spoilt' the book to the extent I 1/5

Re-read Thomas Pynchon's "V." Was finally prompted to re-read this one by the excellent @pynchonpals.bsky.social which I've followed along with pleasure and learnt a lot from. Hadn't read this for a very long time and is now much more familiar with almost all the following books (apart from 1/3

Read William Boyd's "The New Confessions". Was inspired to pick this off my shelves by the enthusiastic comments under @john-self.bsky.social's reposting of his justified disappointment at "Gabriel's Moon". Gulped it down joyously over two glorious evenings. Has always been a sucker for first 1/5

Read Reginald Hill's "Death Takes the Low Road". A breezy entertaining romp, in Hill's usual literary/allusive style. Enjoyed the references to Keats' stout Cortez and the gentle humour poked at a variety of Scottish stereotypes. Completely unbelievable throughout, yet fast paced in a jaunty 39 1/2

Re-read Martin Amis' "The Moronic Inferno". Was prompted to return to this after listening to the second episode of 'The Martin Chronicles'. Unlike some individual pieces in "The War Against Cliche" and "The Rub of Time" I hadn't returned to any of these since reading it some 25 years ago. So I 1/6

Read Scott Douglas' "The Little Red Book of Running". A nice quick easy Christmas Day read. Lots of handy hints and tips in one place. Enjoyed the disparagement of the arbitrariness of 1 mile and the 10% rule. Hard to tell at times precisely who it was aimed at, as it ran the gamut from 1/2

Usually has a strong stomach (e.g. can eat whilst re-reading the Brigadier Pudding scene in "Gravity's Rainbow" etc.) but I was caught off guard whilst listening to William Gass read "The Tunnel"... 'the head of my cock peeking from between her squoozen boobs like a pig in a blanket' has 1/2

Read John Swartzwelder's "How I Conquered Your Planet". As with its predecessor, I have very little to say about it except that it was funny and I enjoyed it! I think I slightly preferred the first one, but I'm definitely going to go on and read the next one.

Read @alexpavesi.bsky.social's "Ink Ribbon Red". Really liked "Eight Detectives" when it came out, so I got this when it was released, but for some unaccountable reason took over a year to get around to it. As someone who reads a lot of this kind of thing, I found it as gripping (and clever) 1/2

Today (amongst other things) I picked up the first two volumes of the 1877 Author's edition of the Waverley novels (previously owned by someone in 1883) for £2 each from a charity shop... So this Christmas (if I want to) I can read up to "The Pirate" as if I'm living 140+ years ago...!

Read John Christopher's "The Death of Grass". That was absolutely incredible. Chilling, prescient, depressing, scary, believable, inevitable, so many things... Pirrie was awful, but somehow necessary. Hopes this isn't how things would really be, but knows that it is.

Read Noel Streatfeild's "Ballet Shoes". This book wasn't remotely on my radar growing up (is ashamed to say I hadn't heard of it outside of @backlisted.bsky.social). Did not think that a children's book marketed at young girls was something that I would ever read, but I spent yesterday evening 1/4

#220 Read @buehlmeister.bsky.social's "The Lesser Dead". Knew I had to pick it up after reading in the Acknowledgements section of @sgj.bsky.social's "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter" 'Why even bother to write a vampire novel, when Christopher Buehlman’s The Lesser Dead is already out in the world? 1/3

Read @naomialderman.bsky.social's "don't burn anyone at the stake today". Greatly enjoyed "The Future" a couple of years ago, so was pleased to find this easy to read and informative, whilst providing wise words/actionable ideas. Had read most of the texts that were references or recommended, 1/2

So. Farewell then John Carey. Among many other things (including but not limited to) his unforgettable descriptions of a young William Golding's reason for climbing flagpoles and the ritual of sconcing in hall at St John's in the early 1950s ('liable to end prematurely in spectacular cascades 1/3

Read @caimhmc.bsky.social's "Ring the Bells". A delightful Christmas treat. The plot and world building were as brilliant as the four previous installments, and the recurring characters have tremendous depth from their ongoing backstories. Enjoyed the running anti Russell Brand jokes, Clint's 1/3

Belatedly saw the obituary for Betty Mackereth (Larkin's 'loaf-haired secretary' and 'third woman'.) Typically, I hadn't realized she was still alive...

Read J. G. Ballard's "Cocaine Nights". Listened to the @backlisted.bsky.social episode and learnt that the cover of my 1996 hardback represented a mirror and cocaine. Goodness knows what I thought it was meant to be - fireworks? a scratch? white paint? Clearly I am too sweet and innocent for 1/3

Read @kurtbaumeister.bsky.social's "Pax Americana". Finally got around to this after picking it up when "Twilight of the Gods" came out in order to try it first. Liked the opening sections setting up the premise and drip-feeding the alternate timeline (four Bush terms followed by three Cheney 1/2

Re-read David Lodge's "Small World". Goodness me that was enjoyable. I'd (almost) forgotten how much I liked it the first few times I'd read it, and re-encountering it after so many years was even better. As a recovering literature graduate and lifelong reader, at times it seems almost perfect. 1/4

Read Stella Gibbons' "Starlight"... Wow! Previously I'd only read "Cold Comfort Farm", so wasn't quite expecting a tale of possible demonic possession. Absolutely enthralling from start to finish. Was unfamiliar with 'Michaela and Arman' [Denis], and 'eupeptic' was a new word to me. It really 1/2

As if I didn't already have more than enough books/pages to read, among yesterday's charity shop finds were Ian Rankin's three Jack Harvey novels and Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. Those last three had a sticker on the back showing they originally came from Dymocks (in Australia) and a 1/2

Read Sebastian Fitzek's "Mimik" tr. @jamiebulloch.bsky.social. As twisty and turny as ever. Can never predict the final twist(s) in his novels, and this one was particularly jaw-dropping. Surprisingly I found the 'split pages' worked successfully. Enjoyed the meta explanation about people 1/4

Read Ray Nayler's "Mountain in The Sea". Took a while to get around to this, after picking it up when it came out because it was recommended by Robin Sloan. Once I started reading the first chapter, I couldn't put it down and spent most of yesterday evening with it. Engrossing, tightly plotted 1/2

Read Crystal Zevon's "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead". Another @backlisted.bsky.social title I didn't believe could interest me until I started it... (Knew "Werewolves of London", "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Keep Me In Your Heart" from the coverage of his death - but nothing else). Has 1/5

Read Jason Ayres' "1984: A Year in the Life of Nobby Clarke". This was just as unputdownably page-turningly readable as the previous four books. Not being a gambler, I was initially uncertain whether I would like this one, but I needn't have worried. All the feel-good, nostalgic elements were 1/2

Read Simon Garfield's "The Wrestling". A masterpiece of oral history. Even though the heyday was largely before my time, many of the names and personalities were familiar. Clearly the British version was very different to the American spectacle. Enjoyed the snapshot of WWF circa 1992. Max 1/2

Read Sarah Perry's "Enlightenment". Was ravished by the phrase on the opening page 'at half pass four a fisherman caught a cup untouched since the ink was wet on The Battle of Maldon, spat twice, and threw it back.' Got a little bogged down by the frequent changes of viewpoints and then listened 1/3

After a (very) fallow year [by my standards] of barely 210 books so far, I've somehow got through 6 books in the last 6 days (2214 pages) so might be finally starting to read more regularly again. Although I'm back to my lazy ways today and barely 100 pages into my next book.

Read Sharon Bolton's "The Token". As page-turningly gripping and enjoyably plotted as always! The 'controversial journalist and [Talk TV] show host' Peter Morgan, sounded suspiciously similar to Piers. My one quibble was with the (entertainingly written) 'thirty years earlier' flashback... 'Does 1/2

Read Terry Pratchett's "Raising Steam". While listening to @mappingthezone.bsky.social's "Vineland" season, a discussion of the Discworld novels prompted me to look at the list of them to try to decide which was my favourite. I promptly realized that for some reason I had never read this final 1/4

Read Reese Witherspoon & @harlancoben.bsky.social's "Gone Before Goodbye". As compellingly page-turning as always, with the breakneck speed masking any implausibilities. After innumerable twists on the missing person dead/not dead scenarios, he is still not predictable. Reached the end without 1/4

Read Craig Brown's "Ma'am Darling". Finally got around to this after hearing it so warmly recommended during @iammilliam.bsky.social's appearance on an old episode of @notrollergirl.bsky.social's "You're Booked" podcast - and is very very glad I did. For some reason when it came out, I must have 1/6

Read @ruthwarewriter.bsky.social's "The Woman in Suite 11". This slipped down very easily. It was nice to re-meet some characters from the earlier book (even if in my case it was only from 4 months ago rather than 9 years!) Immediately zeroed in on the same out of place word that tipped off Lo 1/3

Read @lissakevans.bsky.social's "Small Bomb at Dimperley". Read this as slowly as I could to savour it, as after enjoying the previous four novels over the past year I knew I would soon have no new ones left. Loved the evocative nature of the period language and references - pi-jaw, halma, 1/5

@lissakevans.bsky.social's "Small Bomb at Dimperley" opens with Prosser's 'Companion to Buckinghamshire' mentioning 'a trio of carved wyvern'. Knows that a fictional 1908 book could absolutely phrase it like this, but that doesn't stop my brain screaming at me that it should be wyvernS! Will 1/2

Re-read @ianrankin1.bsky.social's "Fleshmarket Close". Thought that this tale of 'refugees and asylum-seekers, the economic migrants. The mistrust and resentment they brought with them, the way tribes feared anything new, anything form outside the camp's tight confines'. would be particularly 1/5

Read Thomas Peermohamed Lambert's "Shibboleth". That was one of the funniest books I have read in quite a while (and funny because it's true!) Had put off reading it for about 6 months because despite being a lover of campus novels, I wasn't convinced that I'd like this hyper-modern spin on 1/3

Read Stephen Greenblatt's "Dark Renaissance". Has been a fan of Greenblatt's writing, New Historicism, literary biographies and most importantly Kit Marlowe since the first year of my English Lit degree, so this was a delight. Understandably it was 'conspicuously marked by words like perhaps and 1/2

Read Robert Shea/Robert Anton Wilson's "The Golden Apple". Did not enjoy this as much as the first volume (although obviously I did like it enough to finish it). It had fewer memorable set pieces, paranoid conspiracy theories or phrases. (Did like 'the cab crawled along fast enough to possibly 1/2

Read Lee & Andrew Child's "Exit Strategy". A quick read, and the early multiple fight scenes were very well done. I agree with some of the reviewers that the second plot half was unnecessarily convoluted, and some of the expositional conversations felt forced. Reacher seemed a little more kill 1/2

Reading this review of John 'penis with a thesaurus'/'malfunctioning sex robot attempting to administer cunnilingus to his typewriter' Updike's Letters (which I probably won't read), reminds me that I really do want to read "Couples". www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

After trying the first book shortly after it came out and deciding after an appropriate number of pages that it wasn't for me, this episode has done what 10 years of people telling me I was wrong hasn't - made me want to go back and attempt it again.

Read Robert Rankin's "Normanghast". That was a very pleasurable trip down memory lane. I gobbled down all his books chronologically in 2007-8, then read each of the new ones as they came out right up to this one which I'm getting to 2 years late. This was a welcome revisit to all the Brentford 1/3

Read @chrischibnall.bsky.social's "Death At The White Hart". Finally got around to this after picking it up based on his excellent @backlisted.bsky.social appearance discussing Ishiguro's "The Unconsoled" in April. A gripping detective tale full of well fleshed out convincing characters. The 1/2

Read Ian McEwan's "What We Can Know". As a devourer of Richard Holmes' literary biographies, campus novels, climate fiction, discussions of the history/future of the humanities and the novels of Ian McEwan (!) this was tailor made for me. Enjoyed lots of things about it, including but not 1/3

Near the beginning of @irvinewelsh.bsky.social's "Men in Love", Renton tells us in Amsterdam 'Ah've never paid for sex', which is odd because in "Trainspotting" he was forced to leave Aberdeen University 'mid-way through the first year after blowing his grant money on drugs and prostitutes.' 1/2

Read Muriel Spark's "A Far Cry From Kensington". That was very funny! The sly asides and witty comments by the narrator were delightful (although the author certainly did not intend my internal sophomoric snigger at phrases like 'Abigail showed me her Box'!) The humor made the nastiness and 1/2