33 Books an incomplete list of what I’ve read
My Rock ‘n’ Roll Friend
A very different and important view of the Go-Betweens and how people write about rock music; definitely one that made me think about my own attitudes to this band.
The Restless RepublicBritain without a Crown
Multifaceted view of the Commonwealth: there are some things about the motivations of the people involved here that seem very specific to that time, but others that are still echoing today.
Grove
I think I should have liked this book but the writing was a bit ‘cold’. I think I might read it again if I find myself in Italy though.
Ash before Oak
Not sure what this was trying to do. The more I learned about the main character the less I liked them.
EmpirelandHow imperialism has shaped modern Britain
Makes you think about the world around you – and how you view the history (or the construction) of that world – a little bit differently.
Fifty Sounds
So honest. If you’ve learned any sort of language a lot of this will have you nodding your head in agreement.
The Flaw
Holiday find. Takes a while to get going but the last few pages make you hold your breath.
The Things We’ve Seen
If we aren’t going to get any more W.G. Sebald this is at least as good.
The Undercurrents
If you are going to Berlin you have to read this book.
The complete k-punk collectionCapitalist Realism, Ghosts of My Life, essays from Post-Punk Then and Now and Futures and Fictions, The Weird and the Eerie, k-punk, Postcapitalist Desire
The blog posts can be a bit repetitive (is there a writing format that dates as quickly as blog posts?) but so much to think about and such a great loss. I can’t be the only person wanting to know what he’d make of the last few years.
Small things like these
Spare, short but pretty much perfect. I hope it wins the Booker prize.
Supper Club
I know Lara a little bit, and I don’t think I’m quite the target audience here (or maybe I am?). We are all hunter’s stew in the end.
Flaubert’s Parrot
Made me want to read Flaubert (I hope that was the point?). Unravels gently, but a very satisfying read.
Never let me go
Cold, blank and disorientating at the beginning but turns into something that stays with you.
Mr Phillips
A book about an ordinary person in a big city; how people cope with their environments and circumstances.
Waiting for sunrise
It’s a William Boyd novel, with an episodic structure and spies – but this one did generate a sense of unease and intrigue.
On the cuspDays of ‘62
Always enjoy a new entry in the ‘tales of a new Jerusalem’ series: the piling up of details provides a different view of history.
Most Secret WarBritish Scientific Intelligence 1939 – 1945
Probably one of the first examples of treating the evolution of technology as a socio-technical effort?
Light Perpetual
It’s got linotype machines in it, so definite must read. I would have liked the before and after the explosion that is at the centre of the story to be linked a little more?
The Mirror and the PaletteRebellion, revolution and resilience: 500 years of women’s self-portraits
Lots of new (to me…) artists to look at or look for, but I found the overall structure of the book to be a little bit haphazard sometimes.
The Years
Captures something we probably all feel about the strangeness of personal history mediated in the general, and the constant technological change that leaves us all a bit lost.
A terrible country
Always been fascinated by Russia and this book brilliantly mixes the personal and the political. First Fitzcarraldo editions book: beautifully produced but maybe just a little more margin for the gutter?
From Manchester with LoveThe Life and Opinions of Tony Wilson
It’s not Tony Wilson’s Manchester anymore, but this book makes the case for his unmistakable contributions to ‘the North’.
Hamnet
Families, places and time, written into being.
A Cheesemonger’s history of the British Isles
Shows how technology, place and knowledge will always be related to each other. This book will make you want to eat a lot of cheese.
Mayflies
For a lot of reasons I didn’t want this book to end, but it couldn’t have ended any other way.
No one is talking about this
Where do we go when we go ‘online’?
FreeComing of Age at the End of History
Really worth your time: philosophical, political and very human. Also the cover image is brilliantly right.
Trio
Created a believable context but then destroyed it all with the ending.
Exit Stage LeftThe curious afterlife of pop stars
‘Ah, so that’s what happened to...’ There are a lot of people you’d know in here: even if you don’t, the next one is along in a few pages’ time.
The Every
Both The Every and The Circle are necessary, critical views on the behaviours social media is creating. Some passages are incredibly effective (or affective?) but the overall effect (especially in The Every) doesn’t reach the same level.
The Wall
The old saying about ‘if there’s a gun on the fireplace it has to be used in the third act’ – that seems to happen a lot in this book.
ChumsHow a tiny caste of Oxford Tories took over the UK
Seems to explain a lot about how England ‘works’.