This paragraph made me burst out laughing on the tube this morning. Perfection.

Absolutely loved this book and enjoyed devouring it. Felt like I came away with a real evocation of the period in time, the people involved and the city itself.

Like those little coincidences. Reading about the first day of spring on the first day of spring.

Learnt so much about textile history from this book and loved every minute of it.

Disappointingly flat. Felt like The Atlantic summarised best, it has ‘the shallowest understanding of political reality‘ akin to daytime tv. Clumsy analogies, characters that were divided ideologies rather than well-rounded individuals. I kept wanting it to develop into something and had to accept 300 pages through that it was never to be. Not terrible in itself, but desperately dull when it had been sold as a depiction of Trump‘s America.

First book finished this year was actually a re-read as I couldn‘t resist the illustrated edition of Patti Smith‘s ‘Just Kids‘