Author:Judy Dyble with Dave Thompson

Dame Judy has obviously been asked many questions about her time as the first lady of Fairport Convention, or at least has been asked the same few questions many times, and she gets on with answering them early doors. Almost the first page in the book deals with the issue that any reminiscence of those times from this distance is likely to throw up mildly conflicting memories, which very sweetly punctures the self-importance of anyone ready to correct her on the exact date that she may have been at The Roundhouse to see Pink Floyd, and some of the more self-aggrandizing recollections regarding her departure from the Fairports which might appear in other memoirs of the era *cough – White Bicycles*. Tellingly, each chapter begins with a diary entry – not necessarily one from the era in question, but the inference is that this stuff was being written up as it happened. Before addressing the Jimi Hendrix story, confirming singing on The Incredible String Band’s album, meeting Sandy Denny for tea, and having to flounce into a room upon her being asked to vacate the lead singer’s position, she writes (or is at least transcribed) » Continue Reading.

Author:Michael Cunningham

A peculiar diversion, it begins with what one would ordinarily expect to be a plot jumping-off point…and then nothing really happens, although that nothing is written beautifully about. There’s a lovely chapter which follows the dramatis personæ through and beyond a New Year’s Eve party, a couple of vignettes set in a vintage store and some light drug taking, but it’s more about enjoying the language than the narrative. I once heard a song which contained the couplet “He’s as bitter as a New York February morning / She just smiles and doesn’t mind” which kept spinning round my head while I was reading. I think I’d rather like to hear that song again.

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Reading some John Irving, or visiting New York.

One thing you’ve learned

Don’t look for conclusions.

Author:Clare Mackintosh

While TAW was offline I read this crime / police prodedural novel pretty much in one series of sittings (started in a coffee shop, continued on the train, in a departure lounge, on Cityjet Seat 13F and at the Mijdrecht Hotel to be more specific) and for three days after I’d finished it I was still being drawn back in order to replay some of the key events of the book in my mind in the hope of them turning out differently. There is an author’s note at the end – don’t be tempted to skip to it until you have finished and, before beginning, make sure you are sitting extraordinarily comfortably as I imagine you’ll be there a while. The prologue delivers a terrible first blow almost without warning- I almost stopped right there – and the first part of the novel builds tension subtly and inexorably before delivering a blindsiding blow to take the reader into the second half which, cleverly, effectively serves as a prequel to the story we have been drawn into so far. It’s not without its tropes – a senior female figure is “…brilliant but terrifying” (not ‘and’), crunches are ‘sickening’, there’s » Continue Reading.

Author:Tim Earnshaw

Washed-up, guitar shop-owning former rock star wakes up one morning and… Possibly the best summary of this is novel the one I read which proposed it to be somewhere between Franz Kafka and Frank Zappa. Multitudinous diversions tempt the reader into thinking he (or she) has finally got a handle on where the story is going, only for the latest tangent to be revealed as yet another in a seeming trawlerful of red herrings. Almost an anthology of scenes from the same movie, but shot by a number of different directors, our (anti) hero lures us into rooting for him to somehow win out, even as his prospects of doing so diminish perceptibly by chapter.

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

High Fidelity, Catch 22, The Twilight Zone, Zabriskie Point.

One thing you’ve learned

There’s such a thing as a Fender Nocaster.