30/09/2015

Reading - September 2015

Modern Manners by Philip Howard (2013)
Very disappointing. Billed on the cover as "The Essential Guide to Correct Behaviour and Etiquette", it is actually a loosely organised collection of letters from a regular column in The Times, which in book form is tediously repetitive and shallow. Go and read Debrett's; it's actually quite interesting.
The Week (5 September 2015 | Issue 1038)
Love Lives by Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees (2003)
The style here is very suggestive of Lisa Jewell and in my opinion that's a good thing. I was reminded of this novel by a visit to friends in Littlehampton; sitting on the beach there made me wonder what it is like growing up in a seaside "resort" that is actually just a town next to a beach, and this book captures some of the sense of life in a resort somehow. Plus it's two sweet romances in one, kind of.
The Week (12 September 2015 | Issue 1039)
Friday The Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (1964)
First in a series of murder mysteries with a rabbi as a detective. Decent plot (although I have already forgotten who dunnit) and interesting asides about Judaism. I have a couple of books in this series inherited from C's grandma, but this was read on her Kobo, and the ebook borrowed from the library. 
The Week (19 September 2015 | Issue 1040)
Rumpole and the Age of Miracles by John Mortimer (1988)
I read on Wikipedia that, contrary to my assumption, the short stories are in fact adaptations of the TV series and not the other way round. Nevertheless they work as written stories and Rumpole is such a wonderful character. Great to dip into.
Guitarist (October 2015 | Issue 399)
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (2011)
Myth-making doorstop.

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