Category Archives: 101greatreads

So you don’t get lost in the neighbourhood by Patrick Modiano (Maclehose)

Posted on October 2, 2015 by drewsmith28

“Almost nothing. Like an insect bite that initially strikes you as very slight. At least that is what you tell yourself in a low voice so as to reassure yourself.” THE perfect novel, I might speculate, would be 155 pages … Continue reading →

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A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Picador)

Posted on September 15, 2015 by drewsmith28

“The eleventh apartment had only one closet, but it did have a sliding glass door that opened onto a small balcony, from which he could see a man sitting across the way, outdoors in only a T shirt and shorts … Continue reading →

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Blood, bones and butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (Vintage)

Posted on June 8, 2015 by drewsmith28

“We threw a party. The same party every year, when I was a kid. It was a spring lamb roast, and we roasted four or five whole little guys who each weighed only about forty pounds over an open fire … Continue reading →

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The Gathering by Anne Enright (Vintage)

Posted on June 1, 2015 by drewsmith28

“I would like to write down what happened in my grandmother’s house the summer I was eight or nine, but I am not sure if it really did happen.” THE back cover copy on my edition says that this 2007 … Continue reading →

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The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman (Simon & Schuster)

Posted on May 21, 2015 by drewsmith28

“You would think it would be impossible to find anything new in the world, creatures no man has seen before, one-of-a-kind oddities in which nature has taken a backseat to the coursing pulse of the fantastical and the marvelous.” STORY … Continue reading →

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Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage)

Posted on April 28, 2015 by drewsmith28

  “It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shear’s house.” On first reading of Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time … Continue reading →

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Sapiens, a brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Harvill Secker)

Posted on April 9, 2015 by drewsmith28

“About 13.3 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being in what is known as the Big Bang.” YOU will like this one. It is about you. Us. The master species. The wise ones.  Dr Harari’s middle … Continue reading →

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The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber)

Posted on March 30, 2015 by drewsmith28

“You would have searched a long time for the sort of winding lane or tranquil meadow for which England later became celebrated.” We are in Shrek country. Frodo-land. There are ogres, sprites, curses. It is middle England, post Arthurian, pre … Continue reading →

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Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (Penguin)

Posted on March 14, 2015 by drewsmith28

“Eilis Lacey, sitting at the window of the upstairs living room in the house on Friary Street, noticed her sister walking briskly from work.” Another major Irish talent. This one from County Wexford. A professor no less in creative writing. … Continue reading →

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10 Rules of Writing by Elmore Leonard (William Morrow)

Posted on January 23, 2015 by drewsmith28

“These are rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story.” YOU might like to follow the example of … Continue reading →

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