Books
<‑HOME

I'm keeping track of all the books I read here, latest first.

Hover / tap on a book for summary and rating and a link to a page with more notes and thoughts.





Christmas present from Hester.

We

by Yevgeny Zamyatin

READING

Pretty sure I liked her last novel which was one of 6 in the international booker that i read back to back.

The Wax Child

by Olga Ravn

Unread

Have read I and II and enjoyed. Saw III in Foyles so of course I picked it up.
★★★★★

On the Calculation of Volume III

by Solvej Balle

28/12/2025

Can't remember quite where or why I picked this up but an endorsement from Max Porter is going to count for something.
★★★★★

THe Heart in Winter

by Kevin Barry

19/12/2025

Re-reading this for the second time.
★★★★☆

A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

by Ilan Pappe

21/12/2025

Picked up from Gosh Comics but it's more like an exhibition catalogue. I like the pictures and want to spend more time looking at them.

Only Human

by David Shillinglaw

14/12/2025

Recommended by a woman on instagram who talks about writing and other things. Will share a link when I find it.

How to Write Clearly

by Tom Albrighton

READING

Another pristine Verso publication found in the second hand book shop. Sounds interesting.
★★★★★
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Eviction: A Social History of Rent

by Jessica Field

28/11/2025

Found in the local second hand book shop. Sounds interesting. Verso. Nice cover.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0 stars)
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Anthropocene Communism

by Paul Guillibert

16/11/2025

Read this already but a while ago and too quickly.
★★★★★
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

The Invisible Doctrine - The Secret History of Neoliberalism

by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison

11/11/2025

Decided to buy this after the Novara Downstream with Yanis.
★★★★☆
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Raise Your Soul: A Personal History of Resistance

by Yanis Varoufakis

12/12/2025

This was on display on the stairway in Foyles and caught my interest. Something different.
★★★☆☆

The Burial of the Rats

by Bram Stoker

07/12/2025

After Drive Your Plough I will always try Olga Tokarczuk.
☆☆☆☆☆ (no stars)

House of Day, House of Night

by Olga Tokarczuk

07/12/2025

Anything published by Fitzcaraldo is likely to be good.
★★★★★
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Big Kiss, Bye-bye

by Claire-Louise Bennett

29/10/2025

Recommended in London Review Book shop. I continue my sci-fi voyage of discovery.
★☆☆☆☆
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Babel-17

by Samuel R. Delany

02/11/2025

This was recommended (can't remember where now) as a good fictional account of Palestinian life.

Men in the Sun

by Ghassan Kanafani

READING

Staff recommendation in the London Review Book Shop. Genuinely wasn't sure if this was real or fiction when I picked it up.
★★★★★
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Petrushka: Proceedings of a Conference on Severe Epidemic Phytonotic Syndrome (SEPS)

by Peter McCarey

22/10/2025

A consistently interesting and entertaining author. Until now?
★★★☆☆
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

What We Can Know

by Ian McEwan

19/10/2025

How fascism came to Turkey, and how it is coming for your country too.
★★★★☆
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

How to Lose a Country

by Ece Temelkuran

10/10/2025

Ordered this straight after reading Autobiography...
★★★★★

For Sarah by Peony Gent

02/10/2025

Beautiful drawings. Thoughtful and poetic. With lots of yellow.
★★★★★
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Autobiography has become a stone in my shoe by Peony Gent

28/09/2025

Bought on instinct from the 2nd hand shop. Seduced by the cover and title.
★★★★★
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

A Ship of the Line by C.S. Forester

05/10/2025

I liked the writing style of the first couple of pages so I bought it.
★★★☆☆

The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker

27/09/2025

Odd title for a sci-fi. Tarkovsky went with Stalker.
★★★★☆
NOTES & THOUGHTS ‑>

Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

16/09/2025

Conrad's Heart of Darkness on an alien planet.
★★★★☆

Downward To The Earth by Robert Silverberg

10/09/2025

Moving, down to earth Scifi tale of one man's life.
★★★★☆

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

05/09/2025

Hoping this will help me understand how money works in the modern world.
★★★☆☆

Keystroke Capitalism by Aaron Sahr

03/10/2025

An assult in WWII and it's ramifications over the life of the protagonist.
★★★☆☆

The Assault by Harry Mulisch

28/08/2025

How the 99% have resisted the elites and fought for a fairer world.
★★★★★

A Radical History of the World by Neil Faulkner

16/08/2025

★★★☆☆

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

14/08/2025

★★☆☆☆

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

04/28/2025

★★★★☆

Ubik by Philip K. Dick

02/08/2025