Tag Archives | booker shortlist
Cover of Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

“Half Blood Blues” by Esi Edugyan

10 October 2011 · Reading · Comments { 17 }

This book has it all: a compelling story, a great setting (black jazz musicians in Nazi Germany and occupied Paris), lyrical prose that perfectly captures the voice of the bass-player narrator, Baltimore-born Sid Griffiths, while also weaving in elements of the music it describes. It has jealousy, betrayal, a nice twist in the ending, and [...]

Read full story · Comments { 17 }

“The Sense of an Ending” by Julian Barnes

19 September 2011 · Reading · Comments { 30 }

I bought a signed copy at Highgate Bookshop, took it home and read it from cover to cover without stopping. That’s partly because it’s a short book (150 pages, with fairly large type and liberal use of white space) but also because it really drew me in and made me want to read more. The [...]

Read full story · Comments { 30 }

“Netherland” by Joseph O’Neill

6 December 2009 · Reading · Comments { 2 }

The narrative style was very interesting in this book. In the present, Hans van den Broek is at home with his wife Rachel in London, receiving a phone call to say that his old friend Chuck Ramkissoon has been found murdered in New York. The novel is written more or less as Hans would have [...]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }