Category Archives: Book

2022 in lists: concerts & shows, theatre, books, movies and TV

Posted on 31 December 2022 by andyq

Movies (seen on TV, probably on a streaming service, or on an airplane) Annie Live! We’d lost track of the live musicals on network TV, but since we love musicals, I found it. It’s such an odd musical. The songs are … 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: Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad

Posted on 19 June 2022 by andyq

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I returned for another read of this novel after reading the latest Egan, The Candy House, and thoroughly enjoying it. And I clearly didn’t review … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Hanya Yanagihara’s To Paradise

Posted on 26 May 2022 by andyq

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara My rating: 2 of 5 stars It’s always difficult, that second book, after the one you fell in love with. Can you read it on its own merits and try not to compare the two? … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Byron Katie’s Loving What Is

Posted on 15 May 2022 by andyq

Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie My rating: 4 of 5 stars In November 2015, I seemed to have marked this book as being on my shelf, and having read it, and I … Continue reading →

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Book review: A.M. Homes’s Jack

Posted on 23 April 2022 by andyq

Jack by A.M. Homes My rating: 3 of 5 stars I remember, back in the days, being very impressed with A.M. Homes’s short fiction, but I lost track of her. In any case, I recently came across ‘Jack’, her first … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jeanette Winterson’s Lighthousekeeping

Posted on 17 February 2022 by andyq

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson My rating: 3 of 5 stars For many years, Winterson’s ‘The Passion’ was one of my favourite books. There was a perfect melding of myth and history, poetry and a sweeping romanticism that appealed to the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Bernhard Schlink’s Flights of Love (short fiction)

Posted on 6 February 2022 by andyq

Flights Of Love by Bernhard Schlink My rating: 4 of 5 stars What I like about a collection of short stories, over, say, a novel, is that the landscape is wider, if not necessarily as deep. So, with these stories, … 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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Book review: Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You

Posted on 1 January 2022 by andyq

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney My rating: 4 of 5 stars I watched ‘Normal People’ and loved it but hadn’t read any of Sally Rooney’s work until just recently. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found … Continue reading →

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