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Continue reading →: Book Review: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ll confess that I have only come to read this classic sci-fi novel because of the movie Bladerunner. My love for that film has been rekindled because of the sequel newly released. Those of…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is proving to be a most annoying author, to say the least. For much of this story, her second novel, I frowned. The sense that Roy is actually a bit of a loony hasn’t left me since reading her classic ‘The God of Small Things’. ‘The Ministry of…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I have become accustomed to disappointment when picking up a relatively new book (as in, written with the last 15 years) which everyone tells me is ‘a classic’. I can think of several such books I’ve read where, at best, they are good – but certainly not worthy of the…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: Talking Heads by Alan Bennett
Talking Heads by Alan Bennett My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’m late to the Alan Bennett fan club, I’ll admit. I’m also not ashamed to say that a more urgent interest in him has directly arisen from watching the film “The Lady in the Van” which I thought was…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: Five Go Gluten Free by Bruno Vincent
Five Go Gluten Free by Bruno Vincent My rating: 4 of 5 stars I never read reviews of books before I write one myself. I’d rather give my own thoughts and find I’m a lone voice than be influenced by the opinions of the masses. However, after writing a review…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: Five on Brexit Island by Bruno Vincent
Sometimes, you just want a book to chill out with rather than tax your heart or your mind. For that reason I picked up my two ‘Enid Blyton for adults’ books, bought for me as a Christmas gift, and decided to plough through them. They were obviously going to be…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan My rating: 5 of 5 stars It is not normal to say this about a book of history but: ‘The Silks Roads’ is one of the most exciting and illuminating books I’ve ever read. By ‘exciting’ I mean…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
This was a novel I was looking forward to reading. There’s something lovely about period novels (this one set in 17th century Amsterdam) because they are usually well-researched and details are accurate. In today’s internet-ready global village, an author can’t get away with ‘winging it’ any longer. There’s always some…
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Continue reading →: Announcement: My next book is coming!
I am very pleased to announce that my forthcoming new book ‘Mad Dogs & Englishmen…’ is coming very forth indeed! Part travelogue, part guide to the newbie visitor to Bangladesh, ‘Mad Dogs’ will educate and amuse readers who want to know just what it feels like to be a foreigner in a very…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
This novel was bought as holiday slush, a get-away-from-real-work kind of a book. Yet another semi-tired old post-apocalyptic flesh-eating zombie story which combined ‘I am Legend’ with ’28 Weeks Later’. While I can’t pretend the novel is a literary masterpiece or that Carey has completely blown the whole virus-attack zombie…
