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  • Book Review: Last Orders

    Last Orders by Graham Swift. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. Last Orders is the story of a group of men who take a short road trip from London to Margate to dispose of the ashes of their lifelong friend, Jack Dodds, stopping off at various places on the way. The book makes extensive use…

  • Book Review: The Brotherhood

    The Brotherhood by Jerry B. Jenkins. My rating: 4 of 5 stars. The Brotherhood is the story of Boone Drake, an ambitious rookie cop who wants to take on the Chicago underworld, facing some tough personal challenges along the way. The first few lines of this novel grabbed me straight away. I knew it wasn’t…

  • Book Review: The Cement Garden

    The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. The Cement Garden is the dark story of four siblings who live together in a large house overlooked by tower blocks. First they have to deal with the death of their father, then their mother; then they do what they have to do…

  • Book Review: Needful Things

    Needful Things by Stephen King. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. Needful Things is the story of a new shop that opens in a small town in Maine, and the subsequent events that unfold around the customers and the residents of the town as the proprietor of the shop begins to do business. The setting…

  • Book Review: My Legendary Girlfriend

    My Legendary Girlfriend by Mike Gayle. My rating: 4 of 5 stars. My Legendary Girlfriend is the story of Will, a hopeless romantic who is still trying to get over being dumped by the love of his life three years before. The book is set over the course of a single weekend, and is a…

  • Book Review: On Writing

    On Writing: A Memoir by Stephen King. My rating: 5 of 5 stars. On Writing is exactly what it says in the sub-title: a memoir. But it’s more than that. While the first third of the book recounts key events in King’s life that perhaps make him the writer he is, the second two thirds…

  • Book Review – Who Moved My BlackBerry?

    Who Moved My Blackberry? by Lucy Kellaway. My rating: 4 of 5 stars. Who Moved My BlackBerry is the hilarious story of Martin Lukes and his struggle to reach the top of the corporate ladder and become “22.5 percent better than his bestest”. The book is written entirely as a series of emails from Martin…

  • Computer Industry Book Reviews

    Back in the 1990s, I wrote regular book reviews for computer industry magazines. It was a great little gig and I enjoyed reading the books and seeing my writing in print. I also got to keep the books after reviewing them, and ended up with a large collection. I’m sure I still have some of…