0158 | The House of the Spirits – Isabel Allende
Context: Read this while visiting our friends who live next to this old rail bridge on the Tyne river, Northumberland. REVIEW If you like One Hundred Years of Solitude, you’re…
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0157 | The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Context: Finished this off as we packed up to head away for a holiday over Easter weekend. REVIEW Steinbeck establishes himself, in my mind, as the USAnian Orwell with this…
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0156 | Possessing the Secret of Joy – Alice Walker
Context: Daffodils abound in the spring sunlight while I read this mostly on walks to and from work. REVIEW The wife read this before me. That doesn’t often happen and…
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0155 | The Old Devils – Kingsley Amis
REVIEW Who names their child Kingsley? I mean, honestly, who does? It sounds like the name you’d give a Basset Hound. Anyway, name apart, this was a terrible novel. It…
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0154 | The Long Goodbye – Raymond Chandler
Context: more audio while working in the kitchens at Horsleys Green. REVIEW Immediately after finishing the Big Sleep, I went straight on to listen to this. I was disappointed in…
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0153 | The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
Context: Listened to this in a day or two while working in the Wycliffe kitchen. REVIEW The film is an absolute classic. In fact the book made me want to…
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0152 | The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Context: Listened to this while working in the kitchens of Wycliffe UK – cutting onions mostly. REVIEW It’s quite a simple plot really. Each brother represents a different element of…
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0151 | Cat’s Eye – Margaret Atwood
Context: finished this off in our room in Piddington with a view out over the garden. REVIEW I liked this. It kept me wanting to read more and I was…
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0148 | Hard Times – Charles Dickens
Context: Read this mostly on my way to and from work along this farmer’s track. REVIEW This is a shorter novel than most Dickens I’ve read but it still contained…
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0147 | The Sea – John Banville
Context: My dad gave me this for Christmas so it was appropriate I finish it off at his place where, over the road, they’ve laid out the foundations of the…
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0146 | Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes
Context: listened to this while I worked in the kitchens at Wycliffe. REVIEW This is a loooong book and I listened to it over about three weeks on my mp3…
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0144 | Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Context: Moving house again, this time to a room in a lovely house in Piddington. REVIEW Never read any du Maurier so wasn’t sure what to expect from this. I…
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0143 | Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad
Context: Snow outside, great fire, comfy sofa, cosy pub, pint of Bulmers -wonderful. Shame the book was pants. REVIEW As with Heart of Darkness, I found this a labour to…
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0141 | War & Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Context: Finished off the last of this epic (a Christmas pressie from the mother-in-law) over coffee with Mrs Arukiyomi. She was the one with the coffee. REVIEW What can I…
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0140 | The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie
Context: Found this among my grandmother’s collection and listened to it on numerous journeys to B&Q as we refurbished the kitchen. REVIEW Just like The Moonstone which provided the foundation,…
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0139 | Perfume | Patrick Suskind
Context: Bought this for my grandmother for Christmas but, having listened to it, decided against giving it to her. She’s not much of a fan of orgies. REVIEW Perfume is…
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0138 | The Newton Letter – John Banville
Context: My dad presented me with this and I read it while staying with him. REVIEW This pamphlet of a novella wasn’t anything remarkable. Never read any Banville but from…
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0137 | The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick
Context: this was a gift for my niece which I read before placing under the tree for our belated Christmas celebration. REVIEW Selznick really cares that children capture the beauty…