Search results

The Maniac by Benjamin Labutat. It's a novel based on the life of John von Neumann - a really interesting read so far

Is it a glorifying biography or a realistic one? He was a fantastic cricketer, probably the best there's ever been, but, by all accounts, not so great as a human being.

Metaphysical Animals by Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachel Wiseman- one of my Christmas books. It's about how four women re-shaped the study of ethics following the Second World War. It's a cracking read, I'm racing through it.

Crook Manifesto - Colson Whitehead, my new favourite US novelist

Excellent choice - I laughed so much when I read that for the first time.

Unfit and improper persons - written by some DULLARD

Try anything by Dickens. I found them a hard slog when I was young but have been reading them over the past few years and they're a great read. Pickwick Papers is very easy to get into and is the funniest but they're all well plotted with some comic moments in all of them. Apart from that: Tom...

1968 by Mark Kurlansky. It's basically a summary of everything that happened in that year - the most eventful post-war year since 1956. I was at primary school at the time so only half conscious of things going on around me, it's a chance to get fully acquainted of the details of the Prague...

It was wonderful. It would make for great TV. I'm looking for more Zangwill now

The Goalkeeper's Fear at the Penalty Kick - another book I've been to read for ages (and, no, it's not about Robert Sanchez)

King of Schnorrers by Israel Zangwill. It's been on my shelves for a while so I finally got round to reading it - it's great, I wish I'd started it earlier. Trivia note: I see that Zangwill lived in Sussex and died in Midhurst

I thought that was pretty widely known

Babylon Berlin - Volker Kutscher. I enjoyed the TV series so much, I thought I'd read the source material. It's very good and, as an added bonus, the plot differs slightly from the series, so I don't always know what's going to happen next

Berlin Exchange - Joseph Kanon. A cold war thriller, he's as good in this genre as Alan Furst is in pre-war and wartime Europe

The Merthyr Rising by Gwyn Williams. The story of the first stirrings of the trade union movement, the fight against armed troops (under the red flag, the first time it was used as a symbol of rebellion) and the unjust hanging of Dic Penderyn - all in the town where my family's from. Ardderchog.

In Parenthesis - David Jones. Been looking for this for some time and got it for a fiver at the weekend. A Welsh poet's account of the First World War. Just started it and it looks a fascinating read

Future Days by David Stubbs. It's an account of German bands of the 70s and 80s - the sort of groups that only I, Tony Towner's Fridge and HWT listened to. Makes me want to dig out my old Tangerine Dream albums ...

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. An 18th century novel written in the 21st century - am enjoying it immensely

Middle England by Jonathan Coe. It's the third book of the trilogy that began with The Rotters' Club: an examination of the events leading up to the referendum vote ... and the aftermath. Fewer comic moments than in the first book and rather heavy handed in its examination of Brexit politics...

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris. I do like his books, they're tightly written and well researched. What's interesting about this one is that none of the main characters are particularly sympathetic -making it more fascinating than most thrillers.