The main character in Cover-Up Story is Doug Perkins, of London PR firm Perkins and Tate. To call Perkins and Tate a successful PR firm would be stretching the truth: they have a tiny office, their part-time receptionist/secretary is literally a schoolgirl, and buying a cup of coffee might blow the petty cash budget. It is the late 1980s and the excesses of the decade have taken their toll. Perkins is putting all his eggs in one basket: he is banking on financial and reputational saving from Nashville’s Bart and […]
College baseball, without Linklater, with the White Whale
The cover drew me in: this book looks like it should be a delicate coming-of-age tale about a boy growing into a man, using baseball as an allegory for the wins and swings-and-misses of life. Given the cover model’s relaxed repose (and likely heavily influenced by the amount of fanfic I read, which, as John Cho says “gets gay fast”), I also assumed it would be a tale of a young man discovering his homosexuality. Baseball, young men exploring their sexuality: tick, right up my alley. […]
Stephanie Plum: no character development since 2005
More years ago than I care to recall, I picked up a book called Four to Score from my local library. It had a vaguely competent heroine called Stephanie Plum, a hot guy from her past, crime, humour, euphemisms for sex, all that good stuff. Since then, I have felt compelled to read everything ever written by Janet Evanovich. I used to buy everything, but stopped a few years ago, for which reason the following review will make clear. I recently moved and joined my new local […]
Independent, forward-thinking girl and the charming boy next door
Julia Quinn is a reliable historical romance author. That sounds vaguely condemnatory, but is meant as a compliment. Her dust jackets loudly proclaim her as “this generation’s Jane Austen”, which as a Janeite I feel is a bit of stretch, but her novels are always fun, frothy, and highly readable. Because of Miss Bridgerton is Ms. Quinn’s latest, returning to the infamously populous and vivacious Bridgerton clan. (Ms. Quinn’s Bridgerton series is worth checking out – they are fabulous characters.) Sybilla “Billie” Bridgerton lives on her […]
Full disclosure: I actually thought this book was about owls and diabetes. I also had no idea who David Sedaris was: a naturalist, I assumed. His name was familiar to me and I really like owls, plus the book was free. Thinking back, I’m pretty sure the only thing I actually knew about him is he was on Aisha Tyler’s fabulous podcast Girl on Guy once, but the interview has not stuck in my head in any way more memorable than, “He’s pretty funny. And he […]
Douglas Adams + Dirk Maggs – be still my beating heart
I have a love affair with the work of Douglas Adams. Starting from a young age, when my elder brother brought home some books with covers that linked up to make a bigger picture (mind blown!). He has a turn of phrase that I find relentlessly hilarious. Dirk Maggs produces radio dramatisations for BBC radio, something I discovered a couple of years ago, when Good Omens (a top 10 book for me) was on the radio at Christmastime. (Spoiler: it was phenomenal.) So, imagine my joy when I found a […]