Books
These are the books I'm currently reading, and have read with my reviews on Goodreads.
Currently
James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
By James Acaster
Previously
8-Feb '21
13 days
To Be Taught is another excellent story from Becky Chambers. Gently, honest, touching and inquisitive about the universe.📝My review
27-Jan '21
8 days
Growing up with Lenny Henry as a stable diet of light comedy his early years story was enlightening.📝My review
31-Dec '20
1 month
Always lovely. Though kinda ends about 25% short of the actual ending, then it's a little dragged out.📝My review
25-Dec '20
12 days
Many, many personal stories of Christmas, perfect for Christmas time reading even if most carry the same message: family.📝My review
21-Oct '20
20 days
A zoomed out view of the universe that Chambers' has created mostly from the human species point of view.📝My review
1-Oct '20
17 days
A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2)
Enjoyed this story - it had a lot of warmth.📝My review
7-Sep '20
9 days
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
This is the first book, that I can remember, that has made me laugh (multiple times) out loud(!) and cry. I loved it.📝My review
30-Aug '20
21 days
A well told tale of magic and adventure. And more of a starting point for its movie counterpart📝My review (includes spoilers)
10-Aug '20
7 days
The hate crimes make this for brutal reading, but, as always, incredible engaging.📝My review
26-Jul '20
22 days
This is a hard book to read, partly for the confused start, but also the very real ending. A deep insight into clinical depression.📝My review (includes spoilers)
16-Jul '20
1 month
Spectrum Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner
Pretty gentle and sensible introduction to assembly and machine code. I'm pretty familiar with 8-bit assembly already but this helped to lay some decent foundations.📝My review
4-Jul '20
1 month
Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
Fun stuff, as always, but requires prior knowledge📝My review
3-Jun '20
1 month
The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)
Pretty much middle of the road read.📝My review
5-May '20
9 days
Close to Home (DI Adam Fawley, #1)
Solid reading, what I've come to expect from Hunter.📝My review
26-Apr '20
7 days
Innocent and beautiful and left me wanting to take pause when looking around.📝My review
10-Apr '20
14 days
Good lord I miss this woman. I could read and listen to her stories all day.📝My review
28-Mar '20
1 month
Children of Time (Children of Time #1)
Interesting, well written and some nice ideas, but for me, wow, a long read that seemingly never ended.📝My review
26-Nov '19
10 days
Engaging from the very first pages, brilliant writing and ideas with some sci-fi without the need to explain absolutely everything. Loved it.📝My review
17-Nov '19
20 days
Decent sci-fi read, not terribly challenging, perhaps a bit overly grim towards the end, but entertaining all round.📝My review (includes spoilers)
29-Oct '19
1 month
Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3)
If this were a technical rating, the book would get 5 stars. For me however, the book felt like a bit of a slog. It took me 2 months to read it and the story line, good gosh, feels like it is stretched across time.📝My review
1-Sep '19
8 days
The Afterlife of Walter Augustus
A bit obvious, uneventful and a miss for me.📝My review (includes spoilers)
26-Aug '19
6 months
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Unexpected scary bits!📝My review (includes spoilers)
24-Aug '19
8 days
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
All throughout reading this book, I found myself smiling.📝My review
17-Aug '19
1 month
The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)
A tough/hard science start, but gets picks up and good gosh, the ideas in this book are…wow, expansive!📝My review
18-Jul '19
12 days
The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)
My first "hard science" read, but had me immediately inspired to learn more about physics.📝My review
6-Jul '19
7 days
I loved it; gripping, heart warming, shameful, despairing, brilliant and quite beautiful.📝My review
30-Jun '19
13 days
No Way Out (DI Adam Fawley, #3)
Well paced, well written and engaging crime thriller. Not my typical cup of tea, but really enjoyed it.📝My review
17-Jun '19
11 days
There's a clever story in here, with some decent humour but for me, personally, the undertone of sexism and 1980s machismo was a turn off.📝My review
30-May '19
11 days
Certainly a page turner and an easy read. Interesting concepts on near-future issues, but I was left feeling a bit…unchallenged.📝My review
19-May '19
24 days
Great page turner, and I loved the concept of how an individual exits whilst always forgotten in the world.📝My review
2-May '19
1 day
I Had a Black Dog: His Name Was Depression
Beautifully illustrated and communicated. Some particular pages rang more than true for me and it's useful and helps to see the way others articulate their own depression.📝My review
25-Apr '19
20 days
I loved the concept behind this story, but sadly the delivered story fell fairly flat for me.📝My review (includes spoilers)
22-Mar '19
26 days
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)
Absolutely superb stuff. This book was recommended separately by three different friends, and it lived up to expectations.📝My review
25-Feb '19
17 days
Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps... and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind
In general, the concepts and ideas are pretty solid. A lot of common sense that revolves around using sunlight to help with sleep patterns. Somehow I personally experienced a similar sleeping pattern (sticking to a regular alarm, getting up quickly, getting sunlight) and it worked incredibly well for me for 2 years (until I broke the pattern).📝My review
9-Feb '19
18 days
Enjoyed this book. Definitely a modern look at the possibilities of the future ahead of us. I have to admin I was expecting more robots and augmentations and sci-fi, but this leant more towards a political statement in particular about free access to healthcare (which is something I care a lot about being in the UK and having the NHS).📝My review
22-Jan '19
13 days
I wanted to love this book but I kinda fell short right at the end. However, the two protagonists: Patricia and Lawrence are beautifully written.📝My review (includes spoilers)
10-Jan '19
5 days
I've read and enjoyed the previous two Clement stories. This story was fun, and a very easy read (for me to get through 400 pages in a matter of days is testament to that).📝My review
6-Jan '19
1 month
A Brief History of Everyone who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes
Goodness me, this was a good book! Right from the start, Rutherford states that the book won't be littered with references to research papers throughout and the book reads very much like Rutherford is quite literally telling me _a story_ (I should add that references are added in the appendix of the book if you want to validate and have further reading on the subject of DNA).📝My review
2-Jan '19
3 months
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3)
I read this to my son, who turned 7 just after we started. We did end up doing some epic bedtime reading sessions to complete whole chapters. And as with books I've read to him, I shall let his own words dictate this review :)📝My review (includes spoilers)
1-Jan '19
10 days
I did enjoy this story (the 3 stars wasn't a 5 for any negative reasons) - it's pretty well paced, and discusses some particularly interesting ideas.📝My review (includes spoilers)
29-Dec '18
13 days
The Truth Pixie (Christmas Series, #3.5)
Good to read aloud to the kids (took about 15-20 minutes), and a beautiful message in the story, whereby the adult reading...me...might have caught a frog in their throat!📝My review (includes spoilers)
22-Dec '18
6 days
Christmas Jars Collector's Edition
A sweet tale of kindness. I asked for recommendations for Christmas–feelings books, and this is one that came up, and it does indeed do a good job of getting those feel–good vibes going.📝My review
16-Dec '18
1 day
I didn't quite expect the book (read on my Kindle) to be *quite* that short.📝My review (includes spoilers)
29-Nov '18
24 days
Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)
I read the first installment of the Murderbot a few months back (as an Amazon single), but after reading it, I decided I was going to pony up the £8 for the following 3 books - although probably the most I've spent on a single book, let alone 3 books - absolutely totally worth it. I **loved** this series.📝My review
4-Nov '18
18 days
Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
As usual from the MurderBot series: excellent, fresh and entertaining.📝My review
16-Oct '18
7 days
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
Uh! I love this character! This is the 2nd book in the murderbot books and the main character, who I realise now doesn't have a name (nor gender as it's a bot) is so fun to read.📝My review
9-Oct '18
22 days
The two stars are for: fairly decent writing, it wasn't a rabib page turner, but it was relatively easy going for the most part.📝My review
17-Sep '18
8 days
Really quite beautiful. I found myself drawing out my reading time for this book, and almost wanting to find a tree to sit under and slowly soak up this story.📝My review
10-Sep '18
3 days
Really enjoyed this thriller. An easy read and natural page turner (with nice short chapters). I was also drawn to this book because I know Brighton (UK) very very well, and I love reading stories located in places that are familiar to me.📝My review
6-Sep '18
2 months
I read this aloud to my son at bedtime (6 turning 7 in a month). It took a chunk of time, and making the voices distinct was fun and tricky!📝My review (includes spoilers)
20-Aug '18
6 days
Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls
Fun stuff. I didn't realise this was the sixth novel of a series, but it really didn't matter - and almost added more depth since the characters had a lot more backstory.📝My review
11-Aug '18
10 days
Wow. I loved this book. I'm not entirely sure how I found it - I suspect Amazon randomly recommended it to me, and it was definitely a random purchase - but so glad I did.📝My review
1-Aug '18
2 days
My hospital read! I spent a day and night in hospital for tonsillitis, and managed to read through this book (though there's not a whole lot to do in hospital!).📝My review
30-Jul '18
13 days
Unsure. I have to admit that reading this book I often felt a little lost as to what was happening and why, but just carried on to enjoy the ride.📝My review
12-Jul '18
9 months
The Obesity Code: unlocking the secrets of weight loss
I read this book based on a recommendation regarding eating fats. On the title alone, I probably would have ignored this book, but the contents is absolutely superb.📝My review
9-Jul '18
6 days
Such good fun. I think my favourite character was actually Dog. I loved the inner monologue that went with the Hell Hound!📝My review
3-Jul '18
3 days
The story of an 11 year old boy after his father dies. The story uses a unique story telling device where it's told from the boys mind (or imagined diary), but the result is a stream of consciousness, littered with rule-breaking authoring techniques.📝My review
1-Jul '18
2 days
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
Love it. Witty, humourous, original and fresh.📝My review
30-Jun '18
8 days
Oh wow. Where do I begin with my review? I'm always amazed at how current a book written in 1931 can be so current and readable nearly a century later in 2018.📝My review (includes spoilers)
21-Jun '18
6 days
Postcards From the Edge (Suzanne Vale, #1)
I've now read two Carrie Fisher books and I've loved them both. She is…was such a superb author chock full of quotable lines.📝My review
15-Jun '18
26 days
(warning: not really a review, more of a thing to remind me of the book)📝My review (includes spoilers)
10-Jun '18
1 day
Jessica Jones, Vol. 2: The Secrets of Maria Hill
Always great stuff from Bendis and Gaydos.📝My review
9-Jun '18
2 months
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
Read aloud to the 6 year old. A little scary for him at times, and frankly I'm amazed that he can follow the story whilst I read and he (sometimes) plays with Lego!📝My review
20-May '18
15 days
A future in my past written in a distant past. What an amazing book. Orwell's writing has lasted near perfectly (i.e. modern and in context) some 70 years later (which frankly blows my mind).📝My review (includes spoilers)
6-May '18
13 days
Stories of Your Life and Others
I absolutely loved this collection of stories. Inspiring, beautiful, not-so-sci-fi that it was disconnected from our world.📝My review
22-Apr '18
13 days
Wow this book was a slow read given that it was only 198 pages. It took me 4 weeks, which, isn't a huge amount of time, but the first 80% of the book felt like an age that just wouldn't end.📝My review (includes spoilers)
31-Mar '18
23 days
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (Adrian Mole, #8)
I had a hard time reading this book, took me a long time as I found Mole and the surrounding characters extremely…sad or pathetic or selfish. It continued on like this until about 80% where I started to enjoy the book a little more and the characters finally start to bloom and become more complex, and endearing.📝My review
3-Mar '18
8 days
Proper page turner thriller that seemed to get faster and more intense as the book worked it's way to its ending.📝My review
11-Feb '18
11 days
Who Sent Clement? (Clement #1)
Really enjoyed it, and after reading Pearson's '86 fix and the sequel, I'm pretty certain I'll continue to read his books.📝My review
31-Jan '18
10 days
The Night Masquerade (Binti #3)
Beautiful. Inspiring. Amazing. I loved this third installment of Binti's adventure. What an amazing world and collection of characters Nnedi Okorafor has made.📝My review
22-Jan '18
15 days
The story was interesting enough, but I ended up getting frustrated with both the author's portrayal of women throughout the book (always using physical traits to describe them, like beautiful, or soft skin), and then there's an entire chapter dedicated to sexist undertones of "how women are past their prime by 30s".📝My review
7-Jan '18
3 days
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power
Nice alternative to the super heroes I've read in the past. A very strong young woman (that I'd want to share with my kids), and surprisingly doesn't kick butts as often as she alludes to, but uses sensible discussion and compassion to bypass her foes.📝My review
4-Jan '18
2 days
Very easy and quick read (for me). The writing is extremely conversational (which makes for a nice change).📝My review
3-Jan '18
2 days
Another superb Saga volume. The artwork is so incredible, subtle and respectful - as in the writing.📝My review
2-Jan '18
4 days
Loved this book. For me, it puts a magnifying glass on the grotesque behaviours that men have and still do, inflict on women, simply because of gender, this warped idea that one is stronger than the other. As a man this book is a huge insight into the reality of the power struggle, along with being a great page turner and great thriller.📝My review
29-Dec '17
21 days
A beautiful tale, and the detail of the characters, their surroundings and the history throughout the book made me often wonder if it was actually a biography!📝My review
26-Dec '17
4 days
Really good, classic stuff. Dickens certainly knew how to string out a sentence too!📝My review
8-Oct '17
9 days
Beyond Broadhall (The '86 Fix #2)
Loved it. I happened to read this directly after the '86 Fix, and although it didn't have the same "retro" feel of the first book, it was superb all the same.📝My review (includes spoilers)
26-Aug '17
4 days
I loved this book. I'm not a fan of the apocalyptic stories, but this is so well told both from the storyline, but also the _way_ the story was written and each chapter is given from the perspective of the character (whilst still being 3rd person)—that I couldn't put the book down. Love it.📝My review
1-Mar '17
16 days
I loved this story. It helps that I'm a dad with a son who has some similarities to the characters, but I found this story so warm and loving. I also found myself dragging the ending out just so that I could continue to have these characters in my life a little longer.📝My review
