Coming soon... (In theory at least) ...my over-view of reading in 2021.
Books Read
Shaun Bythell, Confessions of a Bookseller
A diary of a year in the running of Scotland's largest bookshop (The Bookshop, Wigtown), apparently covering 2015.
I read Bythell's previous diary - The Diary of a Bookseller - some time ago (checking on Goodreads, I see that it was way back in 2018) and enjoyed it a lot. Bythell writes well and amusingly in the most-customers-are-idiots school. In spots the all-pervading grumpiness reminded me of the old sitcom Black Books, though with less wine.
Recommended.
A light-hearted and opinionated whistle-stop tour of the first 50 years of the Star Trek franchise, the bulk of which covers The Original Series - how and why it was made, cancelled and revived.
Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club
This was a big hit when it came out, and deservedly so. It a fun and fairly fluffy book about crime-busting pensioners.
As Osman certainly knew (being the consumate TV professional that he his), if it was put on the screen (and is going to be), it would be a very enjoyable Sunday evening's watch. One of those books you read with half a mind to who will be cast to play each part.
The Handmaid's Tale is so frighteningly topical that it's hard to remember that it was published 35 years ago. With The Testaments, Atwood has given us a worthy sequel.
Here, we have the inside story of the Gilead regime, one of the leading players being a point-of-view character and driving the story. Atwood is always worth reading, this is a good and rewarding read.
Currently Reading
As I predicted when I started this, it's been slow going. That's not because it isn't interesting, merely that an eighteenth-century account isn't easy reading. But Dampier has a good story to tell (half explorer, half pirate), and I think it worth perseverely.
