Met the man himself today. Very interesting and intelligent, fabulous dry sense of humour.

Fascinating book with an interesting and varied cast of characters, that you got to know, inside out, throughout the book. They are extremely believable and three dimensional. I did not always understand the symbolism of the serpent - seemed to represent too many things - but overall a great read!

Excellent! 😊

I am finally getting started on this epic fantasy series! Sunday afternoon + tea, biscuits and George R R Martin = bliss 😊

Better late than never. Big thumbs up from me 👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'You see this? Every time you open this you get free.' Wonderful true words! 😀👍

Love the narrator's voice! Marlon James is in my experience THE master of point of view! 👍

An amazing tour-de-force which brought me a new awareness of how an entire people have been affected by a culture which has sought to exclude them from not only justice but also a secure sense of themselves. Devastating but essential reading imho

Fancied a thriller for a change! Reading this one in advance of a writing workshop on plot. The great and the good of crime fiction have lined up to provide quotable quotes on the back cover. Very gripping so far!

Narrated by a foetus in utero, this short novel retells the timeless story of Hamlet from a radically new perspective. McEwan is highly original, charming and disarmingly modest in person. It was a privilege to ask him about his book. Sadly he had a prior commitment & couldn't socialise after the event but I got a snap as he was passing (figure on foot on the right - the one on the left is journalist, broadcaster & interviewer Mark Lawson)

Waiting for the author himself. Will be hearing all about his latest novel!

Beautiful poetic writing. Sarah Moss writes the way I would like to (but rarely can). The imagery is so perfect and psychologically accurate for a man who is afraid for his daughter's life.

Woke up, started reading (it's a hard life, being on staycation!). According to the The (London) Times: 'Sarah Moss is one of our country's most underrated writers... If there is one author you take a chance on this year, let it be her - it's time, and money, well spent'. I'm convinced already & only got to p.18!

This book was AMAZING!! I couldn't believe how gripped I was throughout the 1096 pages. Prior Phillip (the protagonist) is an extraordinary brave intelligent man and I was rooting for him and his supporters throughout. Fiction segues seamlessly into historical fact in a knockout ending which I was holding my breath throughout! PLEASE read this book you will never regret it!

Absolute classic of historical fiction. I am supposed to have finished this by Wednesday for my local book group, but I think it's unlikely I'll get more than half way through!

'But now listen carefully, for I will tell you what socialism is. Well, socialism is a really wonderful thing'. Quote on pg. 1 demonstrating the spirit of the modernist experiment in general in Eastern Europe although this book is more specifically about architecture & town planning. Cannot wait to get stuck in!

Just started in the car on the way back from the library in my local town and already hooked!

Interesting - still only fairly early on but v entertaining about writers & their lives & funny peccadilloes! Especially Balzac! Accompanying it is a book journal (bought from Paperchase) with my TBR for the month. It includes some very long books!

I LOVE this book. It is so unflinchingly honest.

'We have the privilege of writing life as it is, which can make our work glisten with truth'

Potterhead? Me?! .... Always.

Beautiful prose! Not yet finished it though...

In Hardy's House in Dorset, beautiful Max Gate. Come visit!

'Other writers deploy what I would call a catharsis of exhaustion: their books present themselves as rich and extremely taxing experiences that simply come to an end at some point where writer, reader, and indeed characters all feel they've had enough.' Hilarious!!

'Some of this book - perhaps too much - has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it - and perhaps the best of it - is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will.'

Utterly brilliant! Andy Martin applies his academically forensic analysis to Lee Child's creative process.