It’s been a while hasn’t it? I’ve read some books.
Under The Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami is a superb exercise in piecing together seeming disparate short stories into a grand post-post-apocalyptic sci fi experience. This was the first Big Green Bookshop book club book of the year. I’ve fallen so far behind on these.
Grave Expectations by Alice Bell is brilliant. One of those books you don’t want to finish because then it’ll be over. Thankfully Alice has written another two books in the series which I have bought but am yet to start. Lots of real laugh out loud moments and a very entertaining whodunnit. If you’re going to read any of the books in this post it should be this one.
The Joys of Excess by Samuel Pepys is a collection of all the horrid descriptions of the things ol’ SP ate and drank. So many barrels of oysters. So much eating until he was sick. You’re going to need to have a tab open with old terms for various cuts of meat. Great stuff.
Thirst: Twelve Drinks that Changed My Life by John Robins. So much warranted emotional heft. If you’re even slightly in the Elis & John multiverse then this is a fascinating and gut wrenching read. There were multiple moments when I said “fucking hell John” out loud and had to go for a walk.
I’m currently reading The Shortest History of Germany by James Hawes. It’s okay so far but I think I prefer really long histories of stuff.