“The Amber Spyglass” by Philip Pullman. Last of the 3 books in "His Dark Materials".
"The Interpretation of Murder” by Jed Rubenfeld. Freud in New York. A real tour-de-force, 2nd most popular to Harry Potter.
“No Part in your Death” by Nicholas Freeling. Re-read of old favourite.
“Debunking 9/11 debunking” by David Ray Griffin. Excellent job. I just hope Obama has read it.
“Barnes Wallis” by J Morpurgo. Re-read of a very good biography, although the christianity palled.
“Grotesque” by Natsuo Kirino. As the title says.
“Affluenza” by Oliver James. The sort of thing I have been saying for years.
“Musicophilia” by Oliver Sachs. Fascinating study of music & the mentally ill.
“The Making of a Muckraker” by Jessica Mitford. Picked it up in the street & very entertaining.
“An Utterly Impartial History of Britain” or 2000 years of upper class idiots in charge by John O’Farrell. The sub-title says it all, really. Few mistakes & some pertinent points made in the humour. Xmas present from Jason.
“The Steep Approach to Garbadale” by Iain Banks. Very good - the standard ‘family secret’ plot but very well done.
“A Spot of Bother” by Mark Haddon. Builds very well!
“My Friend says it’s Bullet-proof” by Penelope Mortimer. Unusual.
“The Sun King” by Nancy Mitford. She tries hard to like this shit but does not make it.
“The Dante Trap” By Arnaud Delalande. Enlightenment cops & robbers. Avis’. Very good.
“The Shakespeare Secret” by J L Carrell. Another of Avis’ mysteries. Page turner & full of Shakespeare lore.
“The English Civil War” by Diane Purkiss. Splendid. Taken on the alpine trip but not finished until later. Sketchy on the history of events but enlivened by contemporary accounts & polemic.
“The Rain before it Falls” by Jonathan Coe. Very good but very sad.
“A Civil Action” by Jonathan Harr. Engrossing environmental legal action.
“The Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein. Well researched & detailed condemnation of Milton Freedman & everything he stood for.
“Barrow’s Boys” by Fergus Flemming. Doughty tales of Victorian & earlier exploration, mostly Arctic. It is bizarre to be able to look at the venue on Google Maps:-
“Like a Fiery Elephant - a biography of B S Johnson” by Jonathan Coe. Very good & an imaginative way of writing a biography.
“A Model Victory” by Malcolm Balen. Examines Siborne’s problems in modelling the Battle of Waterloo.
“The Last Place on Earth” by Roland Huntford. Re-read of justified hatchet job on Scott, read as a result of reading the Flemming book (re. Amundsen’s North-West Passage trip). I take more care preparing for an Alpine trip in civilised Europe than Scott did to get not quite to the South Pole.
“Tokyo Year Zero” by David Peace. Most unusual & imaginative crime novel, very claustrophobic.
“Be Near Me” by Andrew O’Hagan. Catholic priest gets into sex trouble. I could scarcely be expected to sympathise.