0142 | Don’t Sleep, There are Snakes – Daniel Everett
Context: Given to me by my mum for Christmas, the same lady who, about 35 years ago, made me a Winnie the Pooh I’ve recently been reunited with after giving…
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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…
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0136 | Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
Context: flowers from Kathy for Mrs Arukiyomi’s birthday which were decorating our room as I read this. REVIEW While everyone else was reading this in my childhood, I was tucking…
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0135 | In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
Context: Everyone was wrapping presents for Christmas while I read this. Lots of book-like shapes with my name on them there! REVIEW A fine piece of reportage which is only…
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0134 | Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson
Context: read this in bits while watching Roy Keane equalise for Liverpool against Arsenal with the father-in-law. REVIEW On p161 out of the 176 pages of this novella, Winterton states…
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0133 | Christ Stopped at Eboli – Carlo Levi
Context: Read this in the tea shop of Reed’s in Downham Market with the in-law’s on the way to Susan’s funeral. REVIEW This is Captain Corelli’s Mandolin meets Walden if…
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0132 | Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Context: Finished this off just after we celebrated Mrs Arukiyomi’s parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. REVIEW An amazing book, made all the more poignant by the fact that it was her…
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0131 | Waterland – Graham Swift
Context: Read large parts of this while doing a loooong backup on my laptop. REVIEW Now this is an interesting book. It’s interesting because, as far as I know, it’s…
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0130 | One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Context: Failed to finish this as I was working through the final modules of my survey course. REVIEW Pants, pants, pants, pants, pants, pants, pants, pants, pants, pants, pants, pants,…
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0129 | The Magus – John Fowles
Context: Read often with a bit of nourishment at Wycliffe. REVIEW When Arukiyomi was a mere early teen, he read The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Didn’t understand it much but liked…
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0128 | The Cider House Rules – John Irving
Context: Finished this (first edition) off the day we made a massive £7 at a car boot sale. REVIEW I really liked this but had a really hard time trying…
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0127 | Suite Française – Irène Némirovsky
Context: Read this as we celebrated 14 years married and got some flowers from the in-laws. REVIEW A moving and powerful account made all the more poignant by the background…
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0126 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
Context: Finished this as we prepared to do some car-boot sales to get rid of stuff prior to moving to PNG. REVIEW My second Kundera novel after The Book of…
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Just curious
I’ve just tallied last month’s download totals of the new spreadsheet versions. They come to about 2000 downloads. The observant among you will have noticed that I’ve set things up…