Nine Book Reviews

Summer is over and winter is drawing in. Now is the time to think about something new to read, or something different, or both.

Here are links to my nine, most recent book reviews. They may give you some inspiration for your next read.

 

Men in Caring Occupations by Ruth Simpson

What does it mean to be a man in a female dominated profession?

 

Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, by Agatha Christie 

Hercule Poirot is ill, he is dying, and he invites his old friend, Arthur Hastings, for one, last investigation

 

A Tiny Bit Marvellous by Dawn French

This is a story of modern family life, told through the diaries of three different members of one family

 

The Clothes They Stood Up in by Alan Bennett

This is a slim volume but Bennett still manages to pack a punch with his sparse prose, with many touches of his sharp and on-the-nail humour.

 

The Part-Time Job by PD James

This is another slim volume, just one short story and an essay, but it’s a perfect quick read as an eBook.

 

Tales Of The City by Armistead Maupin

It is 1976 and Mary Ann Singleton changes her visit to San Francisco into a permanent move.

 

How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman

It’s the suburbs in the 1970s, and two teenage lads, Enn and Vic, go to a teenage party to meet girls.

 

Rude Britannia: One Man's Journey Around the Highways and Bi-ways of British Sex By Tim Fountain

Tim Fountain set out here to explore Britain’s sexual highways and byways, to explore the fetish clubs, swingers’ clubs, dogging sites and much, much more.

 

The Fallen Curtain by Ruth Rendell   

Ruth Rendell was known for her dark psychological thrillers, but she also wrote many short stories. This was her first collection of them.

 

Happy reading

Drew

Nine Book Reviews

The summer is here so why not find something new to read. Here are nine of my book reviews that might give you some ideas what to read next.

 

The Machine Stops by EM Forster

This was a fascinating read and so surprising coming from the pen of EM Forster.

Three Ex Presidents and James Franco by John Buchanan

It is 2008 and John, an Irish university student, is spending a year at an American liberal arts college.

Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale

The title of this novel has a double meaning and Patrick Gale uses both of them with skill and breadth.

Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why; The Science of Sexual Orientation by Simon LeVay

Simon LeVay is a neuroscientist and takes an evidence-based approach to his subject.

Holocaust Tips for Kids and Smite the Heathens, Charlie Brown by Shalom Auslander

Satire is a difficult form to get right.

A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell

“Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.”

Stonemouth by Iain Banks

Iain Banks’s prose almost effortlessly evokes the Scottish town that has passed its sell-by date and the people who remained there for their many different reasons.

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon

Here Chabon has tried to write a “new” Sherlock Holmes story but as an old man no longer interested in crime.

The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie had an equally successful career as a playwright as well as a novelist. The Unexpected Guest is a fine example of her murder mystery plays.

 

Happy reading

Drew

Nine Book Reviews

Summer is here and its time some more reading in the sun. Here are links to nine more of my book review to give you some reading ideas.

 

A Demon in My View by Ruth Rendell

In 1970s North London, in a rundown guest house, two men accidentally share the same surname. This coincidence leads to dark secrets being uncovered in Ruth Rendell’s classic crime novel.

Sorting Out Billy by Jo Brand

Women friends rallying around together to support a friend in trouble is almost a staple of so much Chic-Lit, but Jo Brand takes this premise and turns it into a darkly comic novel.

The Impact of Inequality – How to make sick societies healthier

Is our society still divided by class, is who you are born to still important or are we divided into haves and have-nots, especially in health and social care?

84 Charing Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff

This double volume of her books are the perfect gateway into the world of Helene Hanff’s wonderful writing.

The Laying on of Hands by Alan Bennett

It is the memorial service of Clive Dunlop, masseur to the great and good. But Clive has died, aged only 34, from a sudden illness, and many of the mourners there are worried about what exactly he died from.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Santiago Nasar is to die. The whole town knows this will happen and why, but no one steps forward to prevent it.

Dying to Be Men by Will Courtenay

“Women have more illness but men die younger,” this simplistic old saying does have a grain of truth in it. The book takes an in-depth look at the different social and environmental factors in men’s lives and their effects on health.

From the Windrush to Wapping by Jeff Jones 

Jeff Jones has lived enough to fill six ordinary lives.

Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple is probably the most famous female detective in English literature

Happy reading

Drew