Colin Marks's Blog, page 14

Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

This is a fresh approach to self-help books – swear a lot, accept your problems (but choose them wisely), and tell people to stop aiming for the clouds and instead tackle those values that keep them in the gutter. There are definitely some interesting bits, particularly around values and simplifying your dreams, but I don’t think I’ll be changing my life in any way!

See review on Goodreads.

Review: The Crow Road by Iain Banks

I did struggle with Crow Road. It’s one of Iain Banks’s earlier novels, and it shows. I did enjoy The Bridge, which came out before, but that was focussed on story – Crow Road is heavily character based, where the action is minimal, and the whodunnit doesn’t really start until three-quarters of the way through, and then fizzles out as fast as it started.

My problem with this novel is the over-writing – long rambling sections, which though well written, drag on and on. Likewise, the first-pers...

Review: The Reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent

I realised I loved Jean-Paul Didierlaurent’s The Reader on the 6.27 when I took offence at “trousers corkscrewing” down someone’s legs – they don’t corkscrew, they concertina. The writing (and Ros Schwartz’s translation) is so elegant and poetically rhythmic, that the rare off-word pulls the reader out of Guylain Vignolles’ magical world.

The blurb on the back of Jean-Paul Didierlaurent’s The Reader on the 6.27 unfortunately compares the book to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie. While there are si...

Review: Explore It!: Reduce Risk and Increase Confidence with Exploratory Testing by Elisabeth Hendrickson

This is a quick read and offers some sensible approaches to exploratory software testing. There’s no great insights, and personally I don’t feel I’m going to approach testing any differently as a result of this book, but it certainly contains information that others may find helpful.

See review on Goodreads.

Review: The Toy Makers by Robert Dinsdale

I’ve always loved magical realism, ordinary worlds elevated by enchantments. My bookshelves are lined with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s books, I’ve been stunned by the capacity of Jorge Luis Borges, and more recently, I enjoyed The Night Circus (which will draw many comparisons with the Toy Makers). So it’s not a huge surprise that Robert Dinsdale’s The Toy Makers was right up my street.

The book is set in a toy shop in London, and spans the period from before and after the two world wars. It fol...

Review: How to be Champion: My Autobiography by Sarah Millican

My rating: 4 out of 5

This reads like it was knocked out by a ten-year-old with touerrets, but Sarah Millican’s autobiography, “How to be Champion”, has an endearing honesty that makes it very readable. She writes about her life, with each chapter appended by a few comic how-to-be-champion suggestions to get the book onto both the biography and self-help shelves.

If you’re a fan of Sarah Millican’s stage shows, which I am, then you won’t be disappointed – the self-deprecating humour is there,...

Review: Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit

My rating: 4 out of 5

Dirk Kurbjuweit has written a well-crafted literary novel that bounces around the life of the semi-autobiographical character Randolf, his highly strung but intelligent and gorgeous wife Rebecca, and their two children. He follows their turmoil as Dieter Tiberius, the downstairs neighbour, becomes more and more sinister, appearing to threaten his wife and their children. He explores what it means to be suspected of a serious crime, of abusing your kids, how you doubt you...

The Airbnb Story: How Three Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions of Dollars … and Plenty of Enemies by Leigh Gallagher

My rating: 4 out of 5

I read business books and blogs, so was keen to read this one – to see what hurdles the three Airbnb founders encountered, how their product revolutionised the travel industry, and what impact their product has had on individuals and communities. Leigh Gallagher’s The Airbnb Story does address bits of the first two but it’s very much a company manual, even the criticism is framed positively. The three founders are impressive individuals and have taken huge steps to learn...

Review: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

My rating: 4 out of 5

I listen to a range of podcasts (personal development, many aimed at writing, and a few for business skills) and Steven Pressfield’s War of Art kept being mentioned as influential to the many creative and entrepreneurial guests. It’s easy to see why: it gives life and personality to concepts like procrastination and creative flair, and once fully formed, these can be banished or embraced depending on how you proceed with your habits and lifestyle.

I’ve come across Pressf...

Review: Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor

My rating: 5 out of 5

Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 made the Man Booker 2017 long list, his second novel to be long listed (his If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things made the 2002 list) and it’s good candidate to take the prize. The story revolves around the disappearance of Rebecca Shaw, a teenager holidaying in the timeless unnamed village at the centre of this novel. Unlike every other novel with this plot-line, instead of focusing on the mystery of the disappearance, the whodunit/what-happe...