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These are great reading. I've read the first two and have the final part waiting on my bookshelf. A wonderful look at the Europe that was destroyed by the Second World War. But also just full of exhilaration and a relish for life.

Illywhacker by Peter Carey. Tremendous skillful writer but this one's dragging a bit, especially compared to his earlier Oscar and Lucinda which I found compelling. Particularly irritating is the way every single character, even minor ones, have to have their features, clothing and posture...

I've just started The Pale King by David Foster Wallace. It seems he deliberately chose to set it in the most boring place imaginable - a tax office in Peoria, Illinois. The author's revered by a lot of fans of postmodern literature. You can't avoid comparisons with Thomas Pynchon I think, not...

That's impressive - sounds slightly daunting. Out of interest, how long a day do you spend reading to get through that amount of books? Do you read other stuff too or just concentrate on that task.

Cheers, not heard of the Alan Furst - I may take a look.

I've just finished The Battle for Spain - Anthony Beevor's history of the Spanish Civil War. Picked it up because it was an event I knew almost nothing about and wanted to learn more. It was certainly informative - he's a skillful and fluent historian. My only gripe he's more interested in the...

And with the climactic scene on Rottingdean beach if I remember rightly.

I've just read Brighton Rock. No idea why it's taken me so long to get round to it but it's a marvellous, chilling, read. And there's nothing quite like reading a fictional story where you can envisage almost every single scene and location (even if it is set 80 years ago).

Just finished To the River by Olivia Laing. A journey along the River Ouse from Slaugham to Newhaven - and very evocative for passing through places I have lived in at various points of my life. One of those travel books mixed with history, culture and wildlife - lots about Virginia Woolf (not...