Listmania!
"More of the choicest books on my shelves"
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells AllOldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus
Buy used from: £0.01
"Improbable timeline but sticks in the memory"
Where I'm Calling from: Selected StoriesWhere I'm Calling from: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver
Buy new: £9.06 / Used from: £4.64
"I write short stories but not like he did"
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among GhostsThe Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts by Kingston Maxine Hong
Buy new: £12.95 / Used from: £0.34
"This book had a great impact on me in the Eighties"
Our Ancestors (Vintage Classics)Our Ancestors (Vintage Classics) by Italo Calvino
Buy new: £6.98 / Used from: £3.60
"I've loved Calvino - so playful"
Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited (Penguin Modern Classics)Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited (Penguin Modern Classics) by Vladimir Nabokov
Buy new: £7.46 / Used from: £4.59
"You can feel yourself in pre-revolutionary Russia"
Hope Against HopeHope Against Hope by Nadezhda Mandel'shtam
Buy used from: £19.98
"After the revolution and Stalin snuffs out an artist's life"
The AssaultThe Assault by Harry Mulisch
Buy new: £7.04 / Used from: £2.12
"WWII now: an atrocity in Holland and the aftermath"
The Tin Drum (Vintage Classics)The Tin Drum (Vintage Classics) by Gunter Grass
Buy new: £6.96 / Used from: £4.59
"The choicest of the choice: I've even identified with Oskar"
Chekyll & IdeChekyll & Ide by Robert Wood
Buy new: £7.19 / Used from: £1.28
"The second novel in my trilogy"
Troubles: (New York Review Books Classics)Troubles: (New York Review Books Classics) by J. G. Farrell
Buy new: £9.25 / Used from: £3.34
"Went too soon: his finest, I think"
A Handful of Dust (Penguin Modern Classics)A Handful of Dust (Penguin Modern Classics) by Evelyn Waugh
Buy new: £5.77 / Used from: £3.00
"Why this one? It's the ending"
The quest for Corvo: An experiment in biographyThe quest for Corvo: An experiment in biography by A. J. A Symons
Buy used from: £1.89
"Definitely an experiment but none the worse for that"
Lark Rise to Candleford: "Lark Rise"; "Over to Candleford"; "Candleford Green": A TrilogyLark Rise to Candleford: "Lark Rise"; "Over to Candleford"; "Candleford Green": A Trilogy by Flora Thompson
Buy new: £6.16 / Used from: £0.01
"Why did the TV series omit Flora's early life?: there is the magic"
Thomas Hardy: The Guarded LifeThomas Hardy: The Guarded Life by Ralph Pite
Buy new: £8.99 / Used from: £1.00
"Superb biography - the best example I've come across"
The House of Doctor DeeThe House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd
Buy used from: £0.01
"I've enjoyed several Ackroyd's but not all; this his best for me"
In SiberiaIn Siberia by Colin Thubron
Buy new: £6.08 / Used from: £0.01
"Thubron on top form e.g. where he follows the abandoned railway to China"
Naples '44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian LabyrinthNaples '44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth by Norman Lewis
Buy new: £6.18 / Used from: £3.50
"Could have mentioned several by Lewis but for me this is the one"
How Proust Can Change Your LifeHow Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton
Buy new: £4.76 / Used from: £1.18
"I admire de Botton for his ability to mine nuggets from unpromising material"
The Identity of France: History and Environment v. 1The Identity of France: History and Environment v. 1 by Fernand Braudel
Buy used from: £5.00
"Magisterial sweep, as they say"
Ten a Penny (Moving Deckchairs Trilogy)Ten a Penny (Moving Deckchairs Trilogy) by Robert Wood
Buy new: £7.19 / Used from: £3.60
"The third in my trilogy of novels"
Death's Men: Soldiers of the Great War (Penguin history)Death's Men: Soldiers of the Great War (Penguin history) by Denis Winter
Buy used from: £1.00
"Of the many books I have read about WW1 this is the one"
Foe (King Penguin)Foe (King Penguin) by J M Coetzee
Buy new: £4.97 / Used from: £2.43
"I admire Coetzee so much: here he is teasing the reader"
The Comfort of StrangersThe Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £0.01
"I'm not a great McEwan fan but this one hit the spot"
Grey AreaGrey Area by Will Self
Buy new: £5.97 / Used from: £0.64
"As a writer myself the story where a man keeps meeting people who are writing novels made me howl"
The Joy of Laziness: How to Slow Down and Live LongerThe Joy of Laziness: How to Slow Down and Live Longer by Michaela Axt-Gadermann
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £0.06
"Take heed!"