Category Archives: Books

Alice Munro’s Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You

Posted on 5 October 2024 by andyq

Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You by Alice Munro My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’m slowly buying all the Alice Munro collections that I haven’t got on my shelf (except for the collected works, as I reckon all … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Lars Saabye Christinsen’s The Half Brother

Posted on 10 December 2022 by andyq

The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen My rating: 3 of 5 stars I just couldn’t get through it, but I won’t give it a poor rating. From reading rave reviews from newspapers and literary magazines, and seeing the praise … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads

Posted on 9 August 2022 by andyq

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen My rating: 2 of 5 stars I still remember reading ‘The Corrections‘ and then recommending it to everyone I knew. I found it comic, poignant, brilliant and unfortunately relatable, and I was very much swept into … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House

Posted on 5 June 2022 by andyq

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was disappointed with Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘To Paradise’ after I loved ‘A Little Life’ so much and felt the same with Viet Thanh Nguyen’s ‘The Committed’ after the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Armistead Maupin’s Mary Ann in Autumn

Posted on 14 January 2022 by andyq

Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin My rating: 3 of 5 stars I loved the original Tales of the City series. As a much younger man, they made me imagine San Francisco, and what it might be like to … Continue reading →

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2021 in lists: concerts & shows, theatre, books, movies, TV

Posted on 31 December 2021 by andyq

Movies (seen in the cinema) Bonjour Tristesse. Read some grumpy words about this here.  La Dolce Vita. Read some grumpy words about this here.  Possessor. A movie from David Cronenberg’s son, Brandon, I brought husband because it was described as … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Christos Tsiolkas’s Dead Europe

Posted on 1 December 2021 by andyq

Dead Europe by Christos Tsiolkas My rating: 2 of 5 stars I remember that I could barely read The Jesus Man, finding it pointlessly grungy and shocking. But I loved The Slap: the premise was clever, it was a page-turner, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Committed

Posted on 29 August 2021 by andyq

The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved The Sympathizer. I found the story of the duality and duplicity of the half-French, half-Vietnamese counterspy original and irresistible, and it was one of my favourite … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Rowena Lennox’s Dingo Bold – The life and death of K’gari dingoes

Posted on 23 July 2021 by andyq

Dingo Bold by Rowena Lennox My rating: 4 of 5 stars It is a tragic circumstance, I think, the dingoes of K’gari (formerly named Fraser Island). Dingoes are wild animals, in a country that is no longer wild. How do … Continue reading →

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2020 in lists: concerts & shows, theatre, books, movies, TV

Posted on 31 December 2020 by andyq

Movies (seen in the cinema) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Enjoyable enough and hit the mark, I thought. I would have liked to see Rose get more screentime. I enjoyed seeing Carrie Fisher. I got mixed up and expected … Continue reading →

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