Kate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books Five and Six
5. "The Howling Miller" by Arto Paasilinna (Canongate, 2007)“The Howling Miller” is a book that I’ve recommended to many people (based on Nic’s rave reviews) but one which has actually been sat on my...
View ArticleMarvellous Monday Book Group: 14th March
The weather on Monday eveningwas disappointinglybenign. No rainlashed against the(single glazed) window panes of Mr B's,the wind was absent and thetemperature almostbalmy. We weregathered to...
View ArticleLucinda's Reading Challenge: Now for the Science Bit...
Obviously, ANYTHING on theMr B's science shelf is going tobe a good read, but I have tosay Michael Brooks' 13 ThingsThat Don't Make Sense is abit of a find. In addition to(paraphrasing DonaldRumsfeld)...
View ArticleKate's Reading Challenge 2011: Book Seven
7. "Just my Type" by Simon Garfield (Profile Books, 2010)Not just for font geeks or graphic designers, my second non-fiction read of the year "Just my Type" reveals the fascinating stories behind...
View ArticleMr B's 2011 Reading Journey Book 4 (Arkansas) - The Dog of the South by...
After my annual Bath Lit Fest and aftermath blogging hiatus I'm back to prove I haven't just stopped reading. From Texas, oddly, I decided to briefly go North to Arkansas, mainly because, with "True...
View ArticleMr B's 2011 Reading Journey Book 5 (back to Texas again) - The Last Picture...
Reading Larry McMurtry's "Roads" back in January (blogged about previously) left me wanting to read his magnus opus "Lonesome Dove", until I saw quite how Magnus it really is. After dismissing that...
View ArticleMr B's 2011 Reading Journey Book 6 (New Mexico) - The Blackbirder by Dorothy...
Moving Westwards again in my Reading Journey I've just hurtled through New Mexico in the hands of one of the queens of American suspense, Dorothy B. Hughes. Whilst Penguin have recently reissued her...
View ArticleMarvellous Monday Book Group: 18th April 2011
Good weather prevails atthe Marvellous Mondaybook group. Sunshinestreamed in throughthe windows -completelyat odds with the drizzly,bleak landscape ofGeorges Rodenbach'sBruges-La-Morte.This is a story...
View ArticleKate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books 8 - 11
8. ? by ? (?, 2011)Book eight demands a rather enigmatic blog as I am not yet able to reveal exactly what it is, so instead, here's a few teasers...~ It is a psychological novella revolving around a...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group Update: Meeting 3
In Penny's absence,I thought I'd pen acouple of notesfollowing the latestmeeting of herUlysses SupportGroup...Well done to the 5 of us that eschewed chocolate chomping for literary chewiness and...
View ArticleMarvellous Monday Book Group: 9th May
A remarkably sunnyEaster holiday periodaccompanied by thegorgeous prose of J.L Carr...what couldpossibly be better?Not much, accordingto the MarvellousMonday group, whowere all beguiled byA Month in...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group: Aeolus
Books and food seem to be following me around...this evening's meeting at The Salamander was accompanied by some delicious bar food (thank you Rachel et al!) - and we probably needed the extra...
View ArticleAnd the Award for The Independent Bookseller of the Year goes to... Mr B's...
Brimming with excitement and a little bleary-eyed, the Mr B's team have returned from the Book Industry Conference and Bookseller Industry Awards as the proud owners of the Independent Bookseller of...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group Meeting: Lestrygonians & Scylla and Charybdis
An ambitious 'two section' session, which again highlights the range of styles that Joyce foists upon the reader in quick succession. Bloom's chatty, internal monologue as he decides where he will...
View ArticleKate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books 12-14
No.12 "How I Lost the War" by Filippo Bologna (Pushkin Press, 2011)In a rare B team read-off Nic and I decided to pick a novel and read it simultaneously. We both loved Pietro Grossi’s “Fists” (so...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group Meeting:The Wandering Rocks
Everyone agrees that given the diverse nature of each of the separate sections we have read so far, restricting ourselves to reading just one section works best. And this section was chock full of...
View ArticleMarvellous Monday Book Group: 27th June 2011
In many ways, Italo Calvino'sCastle of Crossed Destinies isa perfect book group read. Thepremise is intriguing: in a nodto Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,travellers meet up at a castlebut find they have...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group: Sirens
Big pats on the back all round as we realise we have a third of the book under our belts. This section produced some polarised opinions. Some felt it was unneccessarily inscrutable and that Joyce could...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group: Cyclops
So, the unease of Bloom as an outsider in Dublin is suddenly unleashed as he confronts the bigotry (one eyed-ness) of the patrons of Barney Kiernan's bar. Anti-semitism is overtly articulated. Bloom...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group: Nausicaa
Any sympathetic feelings for Bloom in the last section are tested here. Dirty old man or romantic fantasist? As a voyeur, watching three young Irish girls by the sea at dusk, Joyce spares us no details...
View ArticleMarvellous Monday Book Group: Travels with my Aunt
Lots of willing travelling companions for Grahame Greene's unconventional Aunt Augusta - so many turned up for this one that we had to split the group in two. So, this post will only be able to cover...
View ArticleKate's Reading Challenge 2011: Books 15-19
OK, I admit it; I may have gone a little off course with my reading year, having just read eight fiction titles in a row (oops!). I promise I’ll get back on track soon; in the mean-time here are my...
View ArticleUlysses Support Group: Oxen of the Sun
Thank goodness we had the foresight to organise some sustenance for this meeting (thanks to James at The Salamander) - this was one of the longest and widest ranging discussions thus far. Not...
View ArticleWhat's the technical term for half a Booker Shortlist?
A small diversion. I have now read three of the six Booker Shortlisted titles and I believe that even on this sample, the judges have made a rod for their own backs. All utterly different, all utterly...
View ArticleMarvellous Monday Book Group 19th Sep: The Prestige
Although this has been published under the SF Masterworks banner, ChrisopherPriest's book is rather lacking in sci fidetails. In fact, as MM Book grouperChris pointed out, there is really justone...
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