03 May 2025

The Age of Possibility

I'm not entirely sure why '18: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives' by Alice Loxton caught my eye, but it did. Perhaps it was just very thorough marketing - it did seem to be everywhere when it first came out! More likely, it simply sounded like it could be interesting, which, to be fair, is a pretty good reason for reading anything.

05 April 2025

Come On, Bill Bailey!

A cuddly toy gorilla reading Bill Bailey's book
Bill Bailey is one of my favourite stand up comedians and, unusually for me, I was aware of him quite early.  Not right at the beginning, but put it this way, the first time I saw him it was in a decent city-centre venue and it only cost me £12.50. Now he's filling stadia, those tickets would cost over £90, and he's presenting great TV programmes left, right and centre! As a fan of his work and knowing he's a Westcountry lad, his book 'My Animals and Other Animals: A Memoir of Sorts' immediately got my attention.

01 March 2025

Do Fear the Reaper...

I'm sucker for a good story idea, so when someone recommended a book about a vicar who also happened to be a serial killer, it certainly got my attention. I had to read 'The Reaper' by Peter Lovesey.