Category Archives: Book

Book Review: Bill Hayes’s Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me

Posted on 3 June 2017 by andyq

Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me by Bill Hayes My rating: 4 of 5 stars This would be a good book to read on any occasion but takes on more resonance if you have a connection with New York … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jonathan Galassi’s Muse

Posted on 1 May 2017 by andyq

Muse by Jonathan Galassi My rating: 1 of 5 stars It is admittedly completely unfair to review this book without finishing it, and I did find Pamela Paul’s recent exhortation in the New York Times to read books you hate … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Richard Siken’s Crush (Poetry)

Posted on 17 April 2017 by andyq

Crush by Richard Siken My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve read many poetry collections in my time, and I found this quite a unique experience. I’m not one to watch a horror movie, say, to feel scared. And while … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You

Posted on 7 April 2017 by andyq

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng My rating: 3 of 5 stars I don’t know whether being mixed race, of white and Asian descent, is having a moment, but with little design, the last three novels I’ve read … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Selected Stories of Mavis Gallant

Posted on 29 March 2017 by andyq

The Selected Stories of Mavis Gallant by Mavis Gallant My rating: 3 of 5 stars A university lecturer named Francine Prose praised Mavis Gallant’s short stories effusively, yet precisely, in this article in the New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-t… This article, among … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer

Posted on 23 March 2017 by andyq

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen My rating: 5 of 5 stars I told two friends that I was reading a book about a Vietnamese spy living in America after the Vietnamese war and that it was really funny, and … Continue reading →

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Book Review: BooksActually’s Gold Standard 2016

Posted on 5 March 2017 by andyq

BooksActually’s Gold Standard 2016 by Julie Koh My rating: 4 of 5 stars So, a few Facebook friends were launching a book that sounded interesting so I went along to a launch in Sydney, and enjoyed the readings enough that … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Peter Ho Davies’ The Fortunes

Posted on 28 February 2017 by andyq

The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies My rating: 4 of 5 stars The four stories that make up ‘The Fortunes’ travel in time from the first Chinese-American immigrants to North America, at the time of the gold rush and then … Continue reading →

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Book review: Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air

Posted on 24 February 2017 by andyq

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi My rating: 4 of 5 stars The experience of reading ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ is a strange one. You start with the end, and know that an articulate, passionate and caring man has … Continue reading →

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Book review: Sharon Olds’s Odes

Posted on 21 January 2017 by andyq

Odes by Sharon Olds My rating: 5 of 5 stars I feel some surprise to think how long I’ve been reading the poetry of Sharon Olds, perhaps to find myself so old! From her first books I read, I was … Continue reading →

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