brightphoebus

A Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway

I agree, iff. Kehlmann is a philosphical writer but it is so lightly done. How he can combine nihilism (I think this is what he is exploring) with humour and engagement, and tell an interesting family story at the same time is a bit of a mystery. This is my second Kehlmann after Me and Kaminski and I will definitely read more of him

So Many Ways To Begin - John McGregor

BROTHER Of The More Famous Jack - Barbara Trapido

I get a thrill each time I choose my next book. I'm generally eyeing it up just as I come to the end of my current one, so there is the feeling of being just a bit unfaithful to the one I am with. Gosh, I sound nuts

Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

JOURNEY To The Centre Of The Earth - Jules Verne

The Financial Lives Of the Poets - Jess Walter

I'm so sorry, Barblue. When I lost my brother two years ago I felt a chunk of me fall away. Thinking of you.

Soldiers Of Salamis - Javier Cercas

Sons AND Lovers- D.H.Lawrence

I'm recovering from the demonstration in Downing Street last night. We got a place right by Downing Street itself which meant shouting ourselves hoarse to keep up, and well placed to see all the placards and feel the anger and camaraderie of the crowd, but very hemmed in and my sore feet ache still. The situation the world faces is very grave. Is the understatement of the year...

This unusual and brilliant novel is set in New York, but not the city we think of now. In the mid eighteenth century it was a town in minature, only 6,000 people of Dutch and British origin, small enough for everyone to know everyone else's business but large enough for mystery and secrets. In it lands a young man from England who seeks payment for a bill of £1,000. He is fresh-faced and intriguing to the people of his host city who try to find out his story just as he tries to understand the complicated life of the new and still parochial place. He makes mistakes all over the place as we are entertained and fascinated by what he finds, and what he makes of what he finds. It does reflect the literature of the times, is picaresque (which I normally hate, but please don't let that put you off), but far, far more than a mere adventure or a comedy of manners. It goes to the heart of how we choose to live, its central mystery keeps you guessing until the last pages and you don't feel let down by that at all as the story is a cracking one. The FT finds the writing "always enlivened by sleek humour and delicate observation...this is wonderful stuff".

Go Tell It On The Mountain - James Baldwin

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

The Way WE Live Now - Anthony Trollope

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness

The Invisible Man - H.G.Wells

Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel

Nights At The Circus - Angela Carter

Lost In Translation: A Life In a New Language - Eva Hoffmann

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

Death Of The HEART - Elizabeth Bowen

Driving Over Lemons - Chris Stewart

Gosh, Mm I just can't keep out of this Foyles shop, and neither can Mr bp. It is always calling me in if I am anywhere near it. The collection is so well chosen, and so well displayed. Every floor is a delight. The caff and the loos and the wifi help to lure one in as well. Long visits don't necessarily end in purchases, thank goodness, but do tend to end in a frantic urge to rush home and read faster to make way for more reading...