The Establishment And How They Get Away With It - Owen Jones

73%
25.09.14

Very few non-fiction books are promoted to my To Be Read pile but I bought this on its day of publication because I admire the work of Owen Jones so much. True to form, he confirms what I already suspected, in this immaculately researched exposure of moral bankruptcy within the framework of the UK (and probably elsewhere). Whatever your political views, this is the sort of book that turns you into a ranting activist - it did me.

I hope the second edition gets a more thorough proofread, though - the typos are distracting.

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

67%
23.02.14

If I reviewed all the books I share with my daughter at her bedtime, this blog would be four times as long. But this is (comparatively) fabulous for a children's book, with vibrant, flawed characters and a plot like a crazy puzzle that still doesn't really make sense at the end. I remember enjoying Jones' novels as a kid but now I appreciate the quality of her writing.

Mr Pip - Lloyd Jones

58%
13.06.08

I wasn't sure what to make of this - whether I'd missed the point or whether there really is nothing more than some obscure attempts at narrative metaphor and heavy-handed didacticism. The teenage girl narrator is unconvincing, which is a bad start, and, though it paints a frightening yet paradaisical world, I just didn't understand it. Something to do with reinvention of truth through storytelling, I think.