0402 | Londonistan | Melanie Phillips
Context: Went for many long walks through Ropner Park in Stockton-on-Tees around the time I was reading this. Many hard decisions to make. REVIEW This is not a relaxing read….
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0400 | In the Heart of the Seas | Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Context: Finished this off while lying on a new memory foam topper that I bought for our bed. Mmmmmemory foooooaaaaaammmmmm! REVIEW Here’s a strange book. I spent most of this…
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0399 | Mary Barton | Elizabeth Gaskell
Context: Sorted out a load of scrap metal from my late father-in-law’s old office while listening to this. REVIEW My first Gaskell was a bit of an unexpected page turner…
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0398 | The Secret River | Kate Grenville
Context: The first book I read back in the UK where I could finally avail myself of the wonders of ordering books for free at a library… mmmmmm! REVIEW As…
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0394 | Doctor Zhivago | Boris Pasternak
Context: One of a couple of books I read while we stayed in Port Vila, Vanuatu with this amazing view of the harbour from our veranda. REVIEW Being Russian, this…
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0393 | Tarzan of the Apes | Edgar Rice Burroughs
Context: kids jumping into an azure lagoon in Vanuatu provided a perfect backdrop for this book! REVIEW I thought this was going to be hard going and a difficult read….
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0386 | The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle | Tobias Smollett
Context: Listened to Vol I of this on a boat from Masarau to Kokopo, East New Britain, PNG with the volcanoes of Rabaul in the distance. REVIEW I started off…
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0384 | The Three Musketeers | Alexandre Dumas
Context: Started this on my way down from Mt. Wilhelm, PNG’s highest peak. Paused at a stream to get my breath back. REVIEW This is a rollicking tale of derring-do,…
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0383 | The Children’s Book | A. S. Byatt
Context: Mrs Arukiyomi picked up a ton of great fruit at the market as I was finishing this off. REVIEW Not read any of Byatt’s work before although I have…
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0381 | Evelina | Fanny Burney
Context: Listened to this as we encountered a landslide on the road to Mt Wilhelm, PNG’s highest peak (4507m)which the wife successfully climbed while I succumbed to altitude sickness at…
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0377 | The Sorrows of Young Werther | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Context: Messed around on one of the world’s great slip’n’slides while I was reading this. REVIEW Heard that this is one of the most accessible Goethe’s and so it made…
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0376 | The Book Thief | Markus Zusak
Context: Borrowed this from the house of a friend at Ukarumpa. REVIEW Heard a lot about this… all of it good… about how tear-jerking it is and its merits as…
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0373 | Perelandra | C. S. Lewis
Context: While I was reading this, Mrs Arukiyomi suffered the loss of a lovely cardigan which got caught in the back wheel of my motorbike. Thankfully, she got away with…
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0368 | Never Mind the Bullocks | Karl Kruszelnicki
Context: In my room at the Kokopo Centre where we were staying during a language survey, I read this while watched by a hideous doll on the wall. Who makes…
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0364 | Out of the Silent Planet | C. S. Lewis
Context: While I was reading this, we went next door to have dinner with some friends and their dog. REVIEW A colleague has this trilogy and highly recommended it so,…
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0362 | The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists | Robert Tressell
Context: Was reading this when I visited PNG’s only shopping centre in Port Moresby. Saw a Huli warrior in the supemarket in full regalia! REVIEW Took me a long while…
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0358 | Where Angels Fear to Tread | E. M. Forster
Context: having recovered from an infection in my left leg, I went out and badly sprained my right ankle while reading this. REVIEW Haven’t read Forster for a long while…
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0353 | The Vicar of Wakefield | Oliver Goldsmith
Context: Listened to this on a 14-hour hike from hell through some of the steepest mountains I’ve yet seen in Papua New Guinea. REVIEW If you’re looking for a sentimental…