Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s Everybody Lies

Posted on 19 August 2018 by andyq

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz My rating: 4 of 5 stars I don’t think that big data in itself is fascinating, but with the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: John Irving’s In One Person

Posted on 17 August 2018 by andyq

In One Person by John Irving My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was eleven years old when the World According to Garp was published, and I don’t know how much longer after it was published that I read it. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Tabish Khair’s Just Another Jihadi Jane

Posted on 21 November 2016 by andyq

Jihadi Jane by Tabish Khair My rating: 4 of 5 stars How to imagine the unimaginable? Tabish Khair sets himself quite a task, and a particularly relevant one, in asking how young people from around the world have joined the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Christos Ikonomou’s Something Will Happen, You’ll See

Posted on 20 October 2016 by andyq

Something Will Happen, You’ll See by Christos Ikonomou My rating: 3 of 5 stars A friend left this behind on our bookshelves after staying with us. It’s a collection of short stories all about the collapse of families and communities … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs To You

Posted on 20 October 2016 by andyq

What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell My rating: 3 of 5 stars There was a phase in gay fiction where authors (or their fictional stand-ins) seemed to be lauded for writing about their encounters with poor, rough sex workers. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Joan London’s The Golden Age

Posted on 12 October 2015 by andyq

The Golden Age by Joan London My rating: 2 of 5 stars I did find the setting and time intriguing, and the idea of a care home for kids with polio and a European immigrant couple adjusting to the New … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Carmen Aguirre’s Something Fierce

Posted on 5 September 2015 by andyq

Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre My rating: 4 of 5 stars On my last visit home to Vancouver, a friend gave me this book; I think he knows the author. When I first became friends … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Michel Houllebecq’s The Elementary Particles

Posted on 10 November 2014 by andyq

The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq My rating: 2 of 5 stars When in France… Well, I’d heard about Houellebecq for years but never picked up anything until ‘The Elementary Particles’, much celebrated and much discussed, though I stayed away … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

Posted on 24 October 2014 by andyq

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle My rating: 2 of 5 stars Sigh. The last time I was suckered into reading a Booker Prize winner and disliked it was Ben Okri’s Famished Road. When I was in university, … Continue reading →

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2014 in lists (art, books, entertainment, shows)

Posted on 31 May 2014 by andyq

Aha. New organisational system for 2014… Rather than continue to add to the same big posts of shows and concerts I’ve EVER seen, I’ve organised the old lists into separate archival posts either by the year, or before that… And … Continue reading →

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