Reading - December 2024

Space: The Human Story by Tim Peake (2023)

A chatty, informal jaunt through the history of space travel. I don't think much of this is particularly new - I've read quite a bit about the Apollo missions and so the sections on that were somewhat familiar - but it's presented in a very readable style. An ideal introduction to the subject or, indeed, a perfect summary if what you want is a general reader on the subject rather than excruciating detail (I'm looking at you, James R Hansen).

The Fourth Protocol by Frederick Forsyth (1983)

Very convincingly detailed but also rather transparently reflective of the author's own views and prejudices. A great yarn nevertheless.

The Maid by Nita Prose (2022)

A nice little murder mystery, featuring a central narrator - the maid - who is presumably autistic (although this is never specifically mentioned). It feels like a cross between Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the series that presumably all publishers want to duplicate, Richard Osman's record breaking Thursday Murder Club books. Very readable - I finished it in a day, although I was off work with a heavy cold so I wasn't doing much else - and enjoyable.  However, I did feel that the final "twist" wasn't very believable.

How Not to Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh (2023)

I enjoyed this, a female-centred whodunnit/thriller, but found the characters a bit stereotyped.

A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (1964)

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie (1953)

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (1962)

They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie (1952)

Well, there's nothing quite like Agatha Christie for nice comforting murder mysteries, is there? Very often one of my go-tos when I'm not feeling well. All four novels (here from the Miss Marple Omnibus Volume 2) are classic Christie, setting the template for all future writers by making sure it's the least predictable person who dunnit, thereby making it a little bit predictable - but only from the perspective of seventy years later! 

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie (1932)

Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie (1979)

All the Miss Marple short stories (collected in a single volume here), but did you notice the incredible time between them? Yet they don't really read any different: Christie and Miss Marple in particular were always caught in a time warp. The stories themselves are nicely condensed, and don't feel too brief.

Marr's Guitars by Johnny Marr (2023)

For some reason it took me ages to get round to reading this, but once I did it only took me an afternoon. It's a sumptuous document of an astonishing collection of guitars but as a book it's a waste of money for me, and I'm not really sure why I bought it. I mean, you've seen one picture of a '58 'burst, you've seen 'em all, right? I'm not going to get to actually play any of these; I might play something similar and then I'll be interested in that. And I'm not sure what motivated Marr to make the book, as he doesn't come across as the type to just do it for the money. Still, nice to get a glimpse into another world!

The Secret Public by Jon Savage (2024)

Blimey, this was hard work. And I really wanted to like it - a history of how gay sub-cultures have informed and bled into mainstream entertainment over the decades is a story worth telling. But this isn't that story, sadly. It feels like Savage wants to be writing an academic tome for future historians to pore over, whereas I think what the subject needs - and certainly what I was hoping for - is a good summary. What we get is a mess of a structure that prevents any kind of clear narrative emerging, and a wealth of unnecessary detail. But none of it is new information and by including too much, the main point of the book - "How LGBTQ Performers Shaped Popular Culture (1955-1979)", to quote the over-reaching subtitle (it's mostly about gay men and pop music) - is fudged and obscured. I finished it eventually - over two months after I started - out of sheer bloody-mindedness but I'm not sure I should have bothered.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (1998)

I wrote last time I read this about the possible charge of cultural appropriation and I haven't changed my opinion (but then I am a white middle-aged, middle-class male so what do I know). What I'd forgotten is how filled with pathos it is - it's not just a jolly African Miss Marple. Very readable and with a clear, unique voice, which is rare I think. I didn't realise until today though that there are twenty five novels in the series!

Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (2000)

The mix of small mysteries, homespun wisdom and little life choices is what makes these, for me anyway. Nothing really bad happens, nothing really major changes - just life moving along at it's usual pace. I don't know if McCall Smith planned these books as a series but in resisting the temptation to stuff each book with a lot of drama, he has given himself all the space to allow a much more appealingly gradual character and plot development. In hindsight, it's a brilliant idea, if the writing and characters are up to it - which they are of course.

Reading - November 2024

The Martian by Andy Weir (2013)

I found this at work and thought a gap of two years was enough to re-read it. Enjoyable all over again.

What to do With a Bad Boy by Marie Harte (2014)

I remain somewhat sceptical that men or women talk or behave like this is real life, but ultimately this is a fantasy ... I'm just not sure whose fantasy. I could have done with fewer "oh no it's all gone wrong" moments, as we all know there's a happy ending in sight - it says something when I start checking how many pages are left in order to know how quickly it's going to resolve itself. That said, it was still mostly enjoyable and seems to be written with affection for the characters and the genre.

A Sure Thing by Marie Harte (2016)

I really am reading other books, but they're all a lot longer - and physically heavier - than this lightweight thing. This is the kind of thing I save for before I fall asleep: easy-reading, straight-forward and, you know, nice. Except I probably won't bother with Marie Harte again. I'm sure the "New York Times bestselling author" (it says here) knows her market, and I'm sure domineering alpha males are a common fantasy but this one is basically a bit of arse and to my mind it's no use having a self-confident, heroine if she basically becomes a doormat when the hero smoulders at her. Add in a couple of uncomfortably borderline non-consensual sex scenes and an ending that feels like it occurred when the author hit her word count, and it added up to a book I wasn't sorry to reach the end of.

One Day in Apple Grove by C.H. Admirand (2013)

Another slice of idealised American small town life and loves, with a little grit added in the form of an ex-military man with PTSD. Sweet but not particularly memorable (as evidenced by the fact that I started re-reading this a few months later and it took several chapters before I realised I'd already read it).

Reading - October 2024

Phew, Eh Readers? by Tom Hibbert, ed. Barney Hoskyns & Jasper Murison-Bowie (2024)

I remember Tom Hibbert's "Who The Hell ..." columns from Q magazine very well - always the first article in the magazine, always an amusing read. But I was surprised to find that the Q house style, which I would have credited to Mark Ellen, is attributed by Ellen himself to Hibbert. Perhaps that accounts for the superlatives thrown around by many of the contributors here, who all seem to have regarded the man with much fondness. Sad to say, though, the pieces collected here don't live up to the picture painted by his friends; they're somewhat superficial and not particularly funny. Ideal for a ten minute diversion in Smash Hits maybe, but there's no evidence of the "master satirist" here. The book's all right but by the end - the painful "Pendennis" columns - I was just counting the pages until I was finished.

How to Handle a Heartbreaker by Marie Harte (2014)

Ruining Mr. Perfect by Marie Harte (2014)

The next two instalments in Marie Harte's McCauley Brothers series are basically the same as the first - but that doesn't matter really. They are very readable, contain relatable and enjoyable characters, and plenty of hot sex scenes. Not that I care about those of course.

All Gone to Look for America by Peter Millar (2009)

The title's slight - deliberate? - misquote of Simon & Garfunkel's gorgeous "America" is one of a few odd factual errors that I noticed (who is "Karin" Carpenter?), each of which have me wondering just slightly about the accuracy of the rest of the book. Which is a shame, because it's an entertaining journey across the rail network of the US. Millar is not writing with the same level of effortless wit or wisdom as Bill Bryson, but kept me interested throughout.

All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye by Christopher Brookmyre (2006)

Undemanding fantasy fun. I've said before it would make a great film, but I think the biggest issue with it - for studios - is that the main protagonist is a middle-aged woman, which, sadly, even in this day and age, is not considered to be a marketable proposition. Certainly the plot is no more far-fetched than many thrillers.

In Rides Trouble by Julie Ann Walker (2012)

The second book in the Black Knights Inc series leans even more heavily into the thriller aspect, which has two unfortunate side-effects: firstly, it reduces the romance element to a very simple story arc; but secondly, because it does have the necessary romance, the story is stripped of any suspense, since obviously it's going to end happily. A decent read, but I was starting to lose patience by about two-thirds of the way through.

Awkward Situations for Men by Danny Wallace (2010)

I like Danny Wallace's long-form adventures, but this collection of short columns reads like it's probably culled from a newspaper or magazine and is a bit disjointed. Some decent laugh-out-loud moments but overall a bit disappointing.

Reading - September 2024

Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes (2010)

An interesting and amusing look at a country I'd not really considered much before but which proves - unsurprisingly, really - to have a distinct culture and character of its own. I found the descriptions of the way that democracy is implemented the most interesting as it is probably unique, but there's lots to enjoy here. There's also a newer edition than the one I found at work that contains extra chapters and which I might need to borrow from the library.

Tempting Fate by Stacy Finz (2019)

I needed something enjoyable to read on a train journey and had actually forgotten to take a book - so this was an easy choice via the BorrowBox app while I was on the train. Still a bit contrived in plot terms but a good read.

Hell on Wheels by Julie Ann Walker (2012)

The late, great humourist Miles Kington created the imprint Mills & Bang: "a new publishing house, which will issue novels for men and women – romantic military fiction!" It was, of course, a joke (just read the plot summaries online - they're great). However, Julie Ann Walker - I presume independently - seems to have decided there's potential in this idea. This is an über-patriotic vision of the US, where all men are alpha+ males, all women are feisty and independent while loving high heels and skimpy underwear, and everyone loves their guns and their country. There's plenty of action, both in the romantic sense and the thriller sense, and the book reads well, but I can't help but wonder who this is intended to appeal to. Maybe it is both women and men, since this is the first in a series of, incredibly, twelve books. And yes, before you ask, I probably will read another!

A Wedding in Apple Grove by C.H. Admirand (2012)

I'm looking for something along the lines of Stacy Finz' Nugget novels, which I've enjoyed very much but have read twice each, hence this and my previous choice. In this case, it's much more gentle affair, set in a mythical small-town America that might exist somewhere. Overall, it reads like a pretty typical Silhouette/Harlequin/M&B category romance, but at about twice the length, it does drag a bit at times. Maybe some people like the "suspense" (there's no actual doubt about how it's going to end, of course); still despite this, I enjoyed being in this little world for a while. Again, I'll probably read the next book!

The Troublemaker Next Door by Marie Harte (2014)

Yet another series starter! This time it's enjoyable albeit pretty standard stuff - she's sworn off men and is afraid to commit, he's not looking for a relationship - but padded out with some pretty spicy sex scenes. There's a bust-up that comes out of nowhere and seems designed to bring on the necessary third act, and I wasn't entirely happy about how submissive the heroine was sometimes, which seemed more like a male fantasy than a woman's. But what do I know? I'll probably find some more in this series too. But now it's time to read something a little bit more substantial.

Reading - August 2024

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (2013)

When I first picked this novel (in the book exchange at work) I thought the title meant that this was about people who are both crazy and rich. For some characters this is true - the ridiculous excesses of the over-privileged are never far from the storyline - but mostly it means that they are just incredibly wealthy. Regardless of the satirical elements though, the appeal for many surely will be in simply marvelling at the amazing wonders of the super-rich. Unfortunately, this tired quickly for me and Kwan's insistence on naming every possible designer and detailing every element of interior decor became heavily distracting, and the whole thing started to drag a bit. The story kept me going, as I wanted to see how it ended, but although the resolution was as expected - happy! - it was a bit sudden and unsatisfying at the end. I suspect there's more in the sequel, although I'm not going to bother too much about finding out.

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith (2004)

Ostensibly this is a murder mystery, but I think that McCall Smith is just using that as a basic structure on which to hang a quiet study of a certain type of character and society. The cast is clearly being introduced for a series of novels and so there's a lot of scene-setting and not really much detection. The final conclusion is muted, even by McCall Smith's standards, and although there was kind of a twist, it didn't really meet the basic requirements of the genre. I might try and find the next book though.

Chariots of Fire (second draft) by Colin Welland (1980)

It's hard to be objective about the differences between this early draft and the final result, as it's one of my favourite films and I wouldn't change much about it. However, one thing that has occasionally struck me is that there isn't much anti-semitism in the film itself, and if you're not looking for it (or, arguably, if you're not Jewish) you might completely miss it. Most mentions come from Harold Abrahams himself, talking about how he experiences it. But in real life I'm pretty certain it was a lot more prevalent; anti-semitism was an accepted, establishment position (still is, in some areas of British life, and I'm not talking about the far right). This draft includes a lot more explicit prejudice, and that shows more clearly what Abrahams was reacting to. So maybe keeping that in might have made sense. On the other hand, there's a whole set of scenes in which the US coach tells his team that they need to avoid the temptations of the Paris night-life and "nocturnal emissions" because it will sap their strength, which feels like it comes from a completely different film, like a 1920s-set Porky's or something, and was rightly cut!

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin (2023)

There are probably useful ideas and insights aplenty in this book but the writing is not interesting enough to warrant wading through to find them, and the perpetuation of various flavours of bullshit is something I find borderline offensive. I almost gave up early on when Rubin delivered his own spin on the hoary old "there are some things science will never understand" ridiculousness, but when he started advising people to trust their gut instincts rather than experts when it comes to career and life decisions, because apparently it always works out for the best - well, I'd had enough. It's nice that Rubin's life has been successful, but as is too often in these cases, it's mostly down to luck, not superior instincts. And don't get me started on the tired old "artists are tortured souls, which is why they take drugs" garbage. (Note that these are not actual quotes, I'm just summarising the impression I got)

Reading - July 2024

Portable Magic by Emma Smith (2022)

An amusing and diverting history, discussion and discursion of books as physical objects, as opposed to their contents.  Although this is available via the library's (excellent) e-book service, I made it a point to reserve and then read a physical copy, as to do otherwise would seem wrong somehow!

50 Ways to Ruin a Rake by Jade Lee (2015)

I chose this mainly because of the amusing title. It's a regency romance, and in fairness, there's slightly more period flavour than you get with The Duke and I (the first Bridgerton novel). More of it is played for laughs than I expected, there's less romance and the ending is a bit sudden. Still, not a bad way to pass the time.

The Love Algorithm by Claudia Carroll (2022)

Not exactly a romance, more a gentle comedy about friendships. Ignore the vagueness about the central plot device (a dating app that seems to just magically work), and it's a sweet story.

White Picket Fences by Tara Taylor Quinn (2000)

Undemanding and familiar reading for when I'm feeling ill (which is now, just for clarity).

A Snowball in Hell by Christopher Brookmyre (2008)

Another book I know very well. I can see why the lengthy exposition might annoy some people but I like it.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie (1934)

One of the benefits of being ill is having lots of time to read and I finished this in a day - although in fairness, this is a very short book. (And in fairness to me, it was the second book I read that day!) A bit whodunnit, a bit thriller, not the most impenetrable Christie plot ever, but easy to read.

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker (2022)

We join the patron saint of every indie misfit who dreams of stardom as he goes through a stash of his own memorabilia. There's nothing here of intrinsic value and much that it outright tat, but of course it's all rescued by the stories it prompts. It's all so very ... Jarvis. I don't have anything against him (I love Pulp's mid-90s albums and it's impossible not to admire his sheer persistence and individualism) but sometimes he feels like a cliché of himself. That doesn't stop this book being a fantastic, entertaining read. (side note: I got this from my Secret Santa last December and I feel slightly sheepish now at having waited so long to get round to it, so, if you're reading this, thank you very much and sorry!)

The Times Style Guide edited by Ian Brunskill (2017)

I don't write professionally as much as I used to, but even so I like a good style guide. This has much that is very sensible and even if I disagree with the occasional stylistic choice (e.g. I don't like "eg"), it would make a good ready-made basis for a team to use.

Crumb by Richard Bertinet (2019)

A new bread book! Well, new to me, anyway - and the first time I've read one for ages. I chose this because it was the only one available in the library, but Bertinet has done a few, and he also has videos on YouTube that are refreshingly straightforward (too many bread videos on YT are all clickbait titles and zero content). I like his approach and I might even try a sourdough again. However, as usual, most of the book is made up of recipes that are variations on the same thing. Bonus points for including a challah recipe, but minus points for adding butter to it (you can't add dairy to a bread intended to be eaten at a kosher table).

Reading - June 2024

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926)

An old friend, read many times since my teens, but still a good plot, well told, and a great (and innovative at the time) twist ending that, going by the reviews on Good Reads, can still surprise almost 100 years later.

The Break-Up Clause by Niamh Hargan (2023)

A straightforward and enjoyable enemies-to-friends romance with a slightly implausible initial premise, albeit one that didn't spoil anything.

Reading - May 2024

Teacher, Teacher! by Jack Sheffield (2007)

I found this on the shelves of the book exchange at work and have been reading a chapter at a time, a couple of lunchtimes a week. It's quite an episodic style, described on the cover as "Heartbeat for teachers" - although personally I'd say it was basically All Creatures Great and Small set in a school, but perhaps that's not a current enough reference. Anyway, it bears all the signs of a first-time writer (too many adjectives and unnecessarily detailed background information) but is nevertheless amusing, sweet and nostalgic. Apparently there are another nine books in this series!

Not The End Of The World by Christopher Brookmyre (1998)

A brilliant, tightly-plotted, righteous takedown of organised religion and in particular US fundamentalist Christians. Spot on in every respect of course. Hugely entertaining and deserves to be much better known - I keep recommending Brookmyre's earlier output since no-one I speak to appears to have heard of him!

Bright Lights, Dark Shadows by Carl Magnus Palm (2008)

Originally published in 2002, so a couple of years after the initial success of Mamma Mia! on stage, and well before the film, this was apparently the first serious book about Abba. It's comprehensive without being trainspotter-y or boring, and really brings out the unique nature of not just their music but their history, and why they sounded like they did and achieved what they did. Really interesting - although I'd love to read a more recent edition to see if it's been updated in the light of Voyage, since Palm confidently predicts in the book that they will never reunite!

The Wichita Lineman by Dylan Jones (2019)

One of the wonderful things about Jimmy Webb's classic song "Wichita Lineman", and in particular Glen Campbell's original and definitive recording, is that it manages to say so much about love and heartache in so few words. You might now be able to guess where I'm going with this review! At its core, this book strikes me as a decent, in-depth magazine article for something like Mojo, but with a lot of padding inserted to make it into a short book. As a result, it kind of misses the point, because there's far too much here that's not about the song itself - probably because, once you've quoted Webb and Campbell themselves, there's not that much to say (unless you want to get into the technical aspects of the song and recording itself, which Jones doesn't and in fairness would be a different book). Ultimately, this failed the main criterion I set any book about music: it didn't make me want to go and listen again, even though I love the song.

Bloodhounds by Peter Lovesey (1996)

I picked this up at the book exchange at work while looking for something to read during lunch, primarily because I vaguely recognised the author's name. I hadn't read any of his books before, but I will look for more, as this is a very good murder mystery. I think the twist at the end is somewhat implausible, but the story is well told and the central character - detective Peter Diamond - an appealing character who I am pleased to find features in at least a dozen more of Lovesey's books. Off to the library I go!

Reading - April 2024

The Déjà Glitch by Holly James (2023)

I love a time loop film, but one of the common features that has always bothered me is that at the end, everyone seems to be best friends with the person who's finally learned their lesson - even though they've only just met him that day! (as far as they're concerned anyway) This story is mainly from the other side of that relationship, which I don't think I've seen before, and it is surprisingly plausible (within the boundaries of a universe that has a time loop in it, of course). It's also a very readable and enjoyable contemporary romance.

Reading - March 2024

An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain by John O'Farrell (2009)

A concise and surprisingly effective primer to the last 60 (ish) years. As befits the author of Things Can Only Get Better, this is broadly more sympathetic to the centre-left, politically, but doesn't spare the Labour governments either. In between the jokes, there's a lot of actual history being conveyed. Very entertaining, if - as per the title - a little exasperating when you look back at the opportunities missed. But, as I mentioned in my review of Stewart Maconie's superb The Nanny State Made Me, the people get what the people vote for.

Totally Wired: The Rise and Fall of the Music Press by Paul Gorman (2023)

In which an interesting subject is made tedious and dull. I think Gorman's attempts to be comprehensive have completely hamstrung any sense of a real story - indeed, the "fall" is covered in a mere handful of pages - and instead we get an unfocussed ramble through myriad minor titles and names. I managed to finish it with a last final push over a few hours but blimey it was hard work. One for the charity shop.

Stompbox created by Eilon Paz; edited by Dan Epstein and James Rotundi (2021)

I love playing with effect pedals and find the subject really interesting. But the ostensible raison d'être of Stompbox - 100 of the "greatest guitarists" discuss their favourite pedal, accompanied by a photo of said item - occupies less than half of this book. The rest is a collection of articles that are mildly interesting but don't add anything new to the subject. I feel that anyone sufficiently interested in pedals to want to read the first half of the book will already know all the information in the latter half. A much slimmer volume that just had the players and their pedals would have been much better, although presumably couldn't warrant the same price. It also has to be said that although there are some genuine greats amongst the players included, there are some choices clearly only here to make up the numbers. So was it worth it? Well ... not really. It's an interesting diversion but ultimately this book is not worth the expensive, luxurious and ostentatiously heavy coffee table treatment.

Love Again (originally Text for You) by Sofie Cramer (2009)

I read this after watching the film and while it's the same basic plot - man gets texts on his new phone number from a woman writing to her dead boyfriend - the overall feel is very different. While the film is a slightly tongue-in-cheek romcom about finding new love, the book is a more serious examination of the grieving process - a romance still, but one with a bit more depth. Despite that, I found it a little unengaging. Perhaps it's because it's been translated from the original German (SMS für Dich), perhaps because it feels like there are missing scenes; one recurring feature of the narrative is to describe how a main character feels about something that happened earlier, "off camera", as it were, rather than actually including the scene itself. The big emotional break up then reconciliation is curiously muted too. And there's no Céline Dion!

Fingers Crossed by Miki Berenyi (2022)

I always look for good reviews on a book cover as I've learned that if no-one has anything nice to say about it, there's probably a reason. However, Fingers Crossed comes with so many laudatory quotes from both heavyweight publications and reliable insiders, both on the cover (front and back) as well as inside, that it's a bit intimidating. What if I don't like it? Thankfully, this is not a problem here. Miki Berenyi writes fluently, with admirable clarity, and dispassionately lays out the facts of her life leading up to and during her time with her band, Lush. It's not an ordinary story by any means. The stories from her childhood are saddening but provide a necessary context for her life later, while her insights into the sexism and exploitation at the heart of the music industry at the time (and almost certainly still) are not revelations but no less disheartening for all that. And yet throughout she comes across as well-balanced - helped, dare I say, by a quarter of a century's perspective and the grounding of a subsequent normal life and family. It's a really good read and I don't think you'd have to be a fan of Lush to enjoy it. I'm happy to know she's OK. And finally, a very, very slight personal connection: me and my friend Pat once had a beer in the World's End in Camden with Chris Acland, Lush's drummer. He was lovely and bought us chips, which, given that he was probably more broke than we were, was a nice thing to do.

Notting Hill by Richard Curtis (1999)

I've kept this for 25 years primarily because Hugh Grant's afterword is so funny, and because some of the deleted scenes are interesting. I read it this time to complement the film.

The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest (2023)

Enjoyable contemporary romance, readable and believable.

Reading - February 2024

The Truth by Terry Pratchett (2000)

My first Discworld book in nearly a year! I think I might be more than half way now. Anyway, this is a satire of the press and, if I remember Terry's back story correctly, more personally informed than most. There's some of the usual trenchant observations and pointed comments, along with a plot that is pretty standard Pratchett fare.

Reading - January 2024

Quite by Claudia Winkleman (2020)

I think Claudia Winkleman is a great presenter - natural, funny and intelligent. She's developed a very distinctive style, and that style is carried through into this book - I can just hear her saying exactly what's written here. However, it doesn't translate perfectly to the medium of a book. While on TV and radio we tend to get small snippets of her, in Quite we get a lot, all at once, which turns out, unfortunately, to be a bit too much. I think the book might be designed to be read in small bursts. Still, entertaining and amusing and clearly not intended to be taken too seriously (apart from the bits that are).

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon (2016)

I've been badgering K to watch The Map of Tiny Perfect Things and Love at First Sight (both of which she'd love, I'm sure) and so she said she would if I read this first. Well, I've fulfilled my side of the bargain (although I'm not convinced she will hers, as she seems to regard it as a point of pride not to do something if I have asked her to ... teenagers!) and happy to have done so. The book covers less than 24 hours in which our two lovers meet and fall in love - classic YA material, and so really not aimed at me. I'm too old to fully immerse myself in the belief that you can meet and connect so fully and so quickly with someone and know it's "meant to be" - but then again, I'm not so old that I can't remember that urgency, of feeling like it should be possible. As a result, I can totally understand the appeal of the book while not being quite swept along with it. I enjoyed it though, and I liked the way Yoon managed to combine the requisite doomed love angle with a nice little happy ending. (side note: the actors in the film adaptation - which K assures me is terrible - look nothing like what the characters did in my head, they're both much too pretty and too old! And I just watched the trailer and the tone is all wrong)

Yes Man by Danny Wallace (2005)

Amusing, silly, sweet in places (particularly at the end) and a nice way to pass lunchtimes at work when I just felt like a quiet thirty minutes. Probably took me about six months to read that way! Now returned to work's book exchange.

Never Had It So Good by Dominic Sandbrook (2005)

Blimey, this was hard work! In a good way though - it's a history of Great Britain between the Suez Crisis (1956) and The Beatles (1963) and so full of detail that I found it hard to read in anything other than small instalments. I feel like I've absorbed less than 5% of it and still been mightily educated. I'm full of admiration for the way Sandbrook has managed to aggregate so much research and yet still make it readable - albeit so information-rich that I found it hard to digest, and it took me a few months to finish. Really good, though. There are at least three more books covering the rest of the 60s and 70s which I am simultaneously looking forward to and dreading at the same time.