Category Archives: 101greatreads

The wallcreeper by Nell Zink (Fourth Estate)

Posted on January 27, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I was looking at the map when Stephen swerved, hit the rock, and occasioned the miscarriage.” A WALLCREEPER is a small, blue grey mountain bird, similar to a nuthatch except it has striking crimson wings which only show in flight. … Continue reading →

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Into the wild by Jon Krakauer (Pan)

Posted on January 7, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Greetings from Fairbanks. This is the last you shall hear of  me Wayne”. JON Krakauer wrote one of the great Everest books Into Thin Air, which I have not included here because it was written in 1997. This work is … Continue reading →

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The lady in the van by Alan Bennett

Posted on December 21, 2015 by drewsmith28

“I ran into a snake this afternoon,’ Miss Shepherd said. ‘It was coming up Parkway. It was a long grey snake – a boa constrictor, possibly…’” POSSIBLY, is one of Miss Shepherd’s trademark conversational gambits in this miniature masterpiece, a short … Continue reading →

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Young skins by Colin Barrett (Vintage)

Posted on November 26, 2015 by drewsmith28

“My town is nowhere you have been, but you know its ilk. A roundabout off a national road, an industrial estate, a five screen Cineplex, a century of pubs packed inside the square mile of the town’s limits. The Atlantic … Continue reading →

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The burning room by Michael Connelly (Orion)

Posted on November 17, 2015 by drewsmith28

“Deep down Bosch knew the dead were the dead and they no longer suffered the cruelties of life.” I lIKE Harry, he is the sort of detective you might want on your block, ex-Vietnam ‘gator, single parent, coffee obsessive, jazz-listener, … Continue reading →

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A brief history of seven killings by Marlon James (Oneworld)

Posted on October 23, 2015 by drewsmith28

“I know I was fourteen. That me know. I also know that too many people talk too much, especially the American who never shut up, just switch to a laugh every time he talk ’bout you, and it sound strange … Continue reading →

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Nora Webster by Colm Toibin (Penguin)

Posted on October 21, 2015 by drewsmith28

“You must be fed up with them. Will they never stop coming?” WE are back in Enniscorthy on the south east tip of Ireland midway between Dublin and Cork. We have already met Nora tangentially in Brooklyn. Eilis’s mother called … Continue reading →

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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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