This Pulitzer Prize-winning book is a monumental effort by Richard Powers, in both length and scope. It’s a book about trees and people. The two are intertwined against a background of the destruction of the North American forests for timber; … Continue reading →
I probably wouldn’t have read this book if some friends hadn’t given me a copy as a present (thank you, M and B!), and I’m really glad they did. How can a book which is basically about bike components be … Continue reading →
I am in awe of Emily Chappell. Not only does she do amazing things on a bike (see also “Where There’s a Will“), but she writes engagingly and fluently about her life on and off the bike in such a … Continue reading →
Nothing to do with Inspector Morse’s sidekick, these three novels are set on the Hebridean island of Lewis, the most northerly of the archipelago. The setting of a small community where everyone knows everyone else is not unusual in crime … Continue reading →
An entertaining and thought-provoking personal account of the highs and lows of living life as a single woman.
Continue reading →The subtitle of this book is “Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World”. It presents a series of case studies supporting the author’s belief that what we think is ‘history’ – what we think we know about the … Continue reading →
The author is well-known and successful in the world of endurance cycling – people who cycle 200 or more kilometres a day, day after day, across continents, grabbing a few hours sleep here and there, eating what and when they … Continue reading →
With regret, this is the least satisfactory of the Robert Harris thrillers I have read. Set in Geneva and based on the financial markets’ “flash crash” in May 2010, Harris’s usual comprehensive research allows him to write in detail about … Continue reading →
These are the first three of a six book series of mystery thrillers set in the late 16th century. Elizabeth I is Queen of England, Henry VIII’s break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries is still a recent … Continue reading →
Suggested to me by an afficionada of the spy genre, I must admit that this book didn’t impress me at the start; the basis of the story seemed too improbable. But as I got further in it won me over … Continue reading →