“Middle England” by Jonathan Coe – Review
Jonathan Coe’s Brexit novel is a sequel to The Rotters Club and Closed Circle, each of which were set in the Midlands a couple of decades apart. So besides taking the nation’s […]
Month: February 2020
“The Runaways” by Fatima Bhutto – Review
We read for book group this tale of three young people who are in various ways dissatisfied with their lives – in Karachi and in Portsmouth.
“Rotherweird” by Andrew Caledcott – Review
For book group we read this forgettable if moderately entertaining fantasy which borrows a hodgepodge of ideas with very little discrimination.
“Lethal White” by Robert Galbraith – Review
I’ve enjoyed Robert Galbraith’s series of London-set private investigator books from the outset, The Cuckoo’s Calling, and in general they have improved as the series has gone on.
“Midnight in Chernobyl” by Adam Higginbotham – Review
Sky’s Chernobyl was the best thing on TV last year, far ahead of most of the pack (Giri/Haji being a late contender – there was little else to match the […]
“My Sister, the Serial Killer” by Oyinkan Braithwaite – Review
We read this for book group. The title promises something a rather dark, and it doesn’t disappoint.
“Ascension of the Cybermen” Random Notes
Its a two part finale for season 38 of Doctor Who so we’re saving our Fusion Patrol podcast review until both parts have aired. Here, therefore, are some random jottings representing my […]
“Parasite” Review
We saw this on the strength of the trailer – and after the outstanding Giri/Haji I was in the mood for more Northeast Asian noir. Parasite then went and bagged the best film […]
“The Haunting of Villa Diodati” Review (Podcast Episode)
Mary Shelley travelled with the Doctor for years when she was a man (the Doctor, not Mary Shelley) having first met him at the Villa Diodati during a storm in […]
“N is for Noose” by Sue Grafton – Review
I first started reading Sue Grafton’s ‘alphabet’ series (‘A is for Alibi’, ‘B is for Burglar’ etc) in my teens when I’d just started getting into American private eye books, […]
“The Book of Dust Volume One: La Belle Sauvage” by Philip Pullman – Review
I read this one for my book group, although I’d have read it anyway – happily a friend had just leant it to me when we chose it! I enjoyed […]
“Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley – Review
Sometimes there’s a piece of work that has had a huge influence on many things you’ve read or watched, and yet you’ve never, somehow, managed to go back to the […]