Author Archives: drewsmith28

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About drewsmith28

Words, words, words...

Books of the year 2016

Posted on December 14, 2016 by drewsmith28

MOST of the titles here for obvious reasons could make a claim to an end of year list. A few stand out as being perhaps more essential than others, not all were released this year but I only recently discovered … Continue reading →

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Days without end by Sebastian Barry (Faber)

Posted on November 29, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The method of laying out a corpse in Missouri sure took the proverbial cake.” ELENA Ferrante took four books to portray her Neapolitan chronicles, so Sebastian Barry follows the fortunes of the McNulty family in different, self standing tomes, just … Continue reading →

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On writing by Stephen King (Pocket)

Posted on November 17, 2016 by drewsmith28

“This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit.” BEFORE you are tempted to take out your feather plume and dip it in the black ink, before you type in the password on your computer, … Continue reading →

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The shogun’s queen by Lesley Downer (Bantam)

Posted on November 5, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Japan has been at peace for close on 250 years, ever since Ieyasu Tokugawa unified it in 1603 and took the title of Shogun – Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo.” WHAT Hilary Mantel is to the Tudors or Rosemary Beard to the Romans, … Continue reading →

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The Crossing by Michael Connelly

Posted on October 26, 2016 by drewsmith28

“They ate at Traxx in Union Station. It was a nice place that was courthouse close and favored at lunchtime by judges and lawyers. The waiter knew Haller and she didn’t bother giving him a menu. He simply ordered the … Continue reading →

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His bloody project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Contraband)

Posted on October 16, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I am writing this at the behest of my advocate, Mr Andrew Sinclair, who since my incarceration here in Inverness, has treated me with a degree of civility I in no way deserve.” GOOD writing is like singing, you hit … Continue reading →

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Gilhead by Marilynne Robinson (Virago)

Posted on October 6, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I am old, and you said, I don’t … Continue reading →

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Cry, mother Spain by Lydie Salvayre (Maclehose)

Posted on September 27, 2016 by drewsmith28

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A ceremonial ring on his venerable hand, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Palma pointed at the chests of the ‘guilty poor’, singling them out to … Continue reading →

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Irene by Pierre Lemaitre (Maclehose)

Posted on September 20, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Alice, he said, looking at what anyone else would have called a young girl”. THIS first in a trilogy translated from the French is as brilliant as it is grotesque. Crime writing splits between those trying to do outdo each … Continue reading →

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1491 by Charles C. Mann (Knopf)

Posted on August 31, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The plane took in weather that was surprisingly cool for central Boliva and flew east, toward the Brazilian border.” THE symbolism of the plane is that we now take for granted what people less than 100 years ago would never … Continue reading →

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