This was fun to read but not my faveourite style of writing. The story felt a little bit fragmented, but the pace was good. Didn't really connect with any of the characters and it felt a little flat. I may read more Twain in the future, perhaps some of his work which is more geared towards adults may be more to my taste. 

This was my first Richard Dawkins book and I'll happily read more of them. There were plenty of interesting points throughout the book and for the most part he avoided repeating the same points, which I've found to be a common  problem in popular science books. If you've watched, and enjoyed, videos of his lectures then you can take solace in knowing this book reads very much like one. I would rate it higher if the science behind some of the points was gone into more depth. The book clearly targets those who have an interest in understanding how the world works, but not necessarily coming from a science background. 

This book is a collection of 2 1 sorry articles where Clarkson explains why each dear of engineering has a soul, while also giving a brief history of it. It's a very light read and only takes a couple of hours to get through. For the most part politics is advised which is good given how polarising Clarkson can be. Each article was well written and easy to read but extremely short. In sure each article required some research but you so very the feeling not a huge amount of effort was needed to put this together and it's a bit of a cash grab. Ultimately the book was fine, but nothing deep and no new information. 

I'm a big fan of
Hunter S Thompson, so of course I enjoyed this book. I've seen the film many times and its probably taken some of the enjoyment out of the book since the film is almost line for line the same as the book. There's no major plot to this book, it's very much a Gonzo journalistic piece with added chaos. Great to read but honestly the film is just as good. 

A really good crime mystery book, which if you're a fan of the genre I'd put up as a very good example. As a prequel you can read it out of order as I have done with no issues. The interpersonal relationships between the mother and others is gone into deeply and a good read. It lost a point or two just due to what I felt was an unnecessary second twist and it got a little slow in the middle but overall a very enjoyable read

An enjoyable, if not somewhat slow, classic novel. I do find a lot of the characters in Dickens novels a little one dimensional, but the writing style and plot lines tend to make up for it. Having only a vague pre-conception of the story I found many of the twists genuinely surprising and would recommend this to anyone who's a fan of classic literature. Personally I find it less brilliant than ATale of two Cities, but still better than some of his other works. 

Having a murder mystery set in a real historical setting and trying to remain faithful to the real people's characters whilst writing a fiction novel is quite a challenge, but expertly achieved here. It's a slow burn so you have to commit in first third knowing it gets quicker paced later on. A solid mystery, very interesting characters, sub plots all coming together neatly at the end tying up all lose ends nicely. A unique book which I'd recommend. 

Quite fun, if not dark, Sci fi heist novel. As good as some of the culture series, with an exciting ensemble of characters. Feels quite jovial in places but with dark overtones throughout, so the title is on point. Ending is a little abrupt in my opinoin, but definitely worth a read of your am Iain M Banks fan

This is my third DCI Banks novel and probably my favourite so far. The culmination of the last couple of books plotlines was nice, and i found I have become emotionally invested in the characters. I still struggle to go as far as 4 stars, as much fun as it is to read it's not anything groundbreaking. It does feel as though this series is coming towards a close which isn't surprising after so many books, but having discovered this quite late I'm happy I have the earlier ones to still enjoy. 

This is such a good retelling and reimagining of the Greek myths. The level of liberty taken with the language and the plot is perfectly balanced to bring the myths to a contemporary reader. The footnotes covering etymology and links with other mythologies are really interesting and will worth paying attention to. I found the last third of the book a little harder to read though.Whilst the first two thirds felt like one epic tale with an overarching plot the last third felt a little more sporadic,more like a collection of loosely connected fabels,making it a little harder to get absorbed by. Still a great book and well worth having in your collection.