298 ratings | 146 reviews | avg rating:4.16

more photos (1)

David Lewis James’s Followers (10)

David’s Bookshelves

to-read (24)
currently-reading (2)
read (296)
creationism (2)
history-as-novel (2)
religion (1)
satire (3)
the-soul-of-kindness (0)
thriller (1)

David’s Friends (71)

Helen Lewis

262 books | 563 friends

Angel

15,347 books | 4,948 friends

Martin Turner

708 books | 91 friends

Jill James

955 books | 1,114 friends

Richard

5,588 books | 957 friends

Aya James

14 books | 16 friends

P.S. Winn

15,554 books | 4,967 friends

Niall

456 books | 731 friends

More friends…

David Lewis James

Goodreads Author

Born

in London, The United Kingdom

March 18, 1932

Website

http://www.quaggabooks.net

Twitter

davejamesbooks

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction, History

Influences

Proust, Joyce, Dickens etc

Member Since

April 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomdavid_james

edit data

David James is the author of more than 150 articles and book reviews. He is a graduate from London, Leeds and British Columbia, and has taught at universities in England, North America, Morocco and the Gulf.

As a specialist in Nineteenth Century fiction he has been the recipient of a Commonwealth Scholarship and a British Academy Fellowship. Charles Dickens and the Night Visitors is his fifth published novel.

In 2014 he inaugurated The Quagga Prize for Literary Fiction, won last year by Enver Carim. This year's winner is Peter Cowlam for Who's Afraid of the Booker Prize?

He lives in London with his wife and family.
...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask David Lewis James questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
David Lewis James’s books

Average rating: 4.13 · 8 ratings · 4 reviews · 9 distinct works

	The Confessions of Becky Sharp really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Scholar's Tale 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paris Bound really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2002	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Manuscripts Of The Holy Qur'an: Volume 1, From The Beginning To The Fall Of Baghdad H656 Ad 1258 = Mund̲u Al Bidāyaẗ Wa Ḥattá Suqūṭ Baġdād ʻām 658 H 1258 M: Al Ǧuzʼ Al Awwal 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1998	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Punching Judy 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Boy Among Men 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1988	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Boy Among Men 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sudoku: 100 Easy Level Puzzles (8.5x11) Includes Solutions In Back 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sudoku: 100 Hard Level Puzzles (8.5x11) Includes Solutions In Back 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by David Lewis James…

11 posts
David Lewis James's Blog: The Scholar's Tale

Five Star Reviews and all that

David James June 24, 2014 at 12.25 pm #

I’ve always bleated on about five star reviews, which are frequently supported by useless comments such as ‘couldn’t put it down’, ‘Wow!’ or, my favourite ones: ‘beautifully written,’ or ‘wonderfully crafted.’

I used to subscribe and even review for newbooks and was for a time taken in by such effusions. I’d think, ‘there’s so much wonderful stuff out there Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 24, 2014 04:24

View all 11 posts »

David is Currently Reading

David James is currently reading

The Paying Guests

by Sarah Waters

bookshelves: currently-reading

read in August 2015

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

David James said: "
Waters, Sarah. The Paying Guests

After an intriguing start the book gets lost in a police procedural caper that drains one’s initial relish. The author obviously has the power to arouse reader interest and even to delight by recalling the London of po ...more "

Aug 31, 2015 03:00AM · see review

David James rated a book really liked it

Charles Dickens and the Night Visitors

by Mr David Lewis James

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jan 09, 2014 12:06PM

David’s Quotes

“I have always held… that the skin of the bear must not be distributed until the bear has been killed.”
― Paul Reid, The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill

8 likes

“Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive
But to be young was very heaven.”
― William Wordsworth, The Prelude

tags: love

178 likes

“If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge

109 likes

“People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to
”
― Malcolm Muggeridge

93 likes

recent posts
David’s Groups

THE Group for Authors! — 12878 members — last activity 19 hours, 5 min ago
This is a group for authors to discuss their craft, as well as publishing and book marketing.

Just Literature — 333 members — last activity May 04, 2020 02:38AM
I feel there is the need for a forum where we can discuss literature. Not just rate books and say how much we like them, but anything to do with liter ...more

Book Buying Addicts Anonymous — 3309 members — last activity Oct 10, 2025 02:55AM
All are welcome, but this group is meant for those who not only love to read, but those who also love to buy their books to read as well as those who ...more

Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! — 987 members — last activity Jan 25, 2020 03:58PM
This is a place for people to discuss their books, published or soon to be. Its more than 140 characters :] The topics here are about your writing, h ...more

Book Review Club — 2889 members — last activity Oct 15, 2025 05:40AM
This group is to help authors to achieve more-HONEST-reviews by reviewing freely provided books/ARCs. Rather than post scathing reviews, the reader ...more

Aussie Readers — 6473 members — last activity 14 minutes ago
A group for all Australian Goodreads members (and those interested in Australia), no matter what they read!

Goodreads Writers — 49 members — last activity Nov 21, 2017 06:49PM
Are you an author? Already published or has a Kindle Version? Or are you in the process of trying and need feedback and reviews? Even if you are just ...more

♥ Nothing Better Than Reading!! ♥ — 6263 members — last activity Oct 14, 2025 02:53PM
We strongly believe that life means happiness and happiness means books. And what's more, we have room for everyone here! Slow reader, quick reader, ...more

ALLi Goodreads Group — 164 members — last activity Apr 28, 2015 07:44PM
ALLi Goodreads Event

Ask the Author — 621 members — last activity Jun 06, 2023 03:43PM
Hello friends, writers and readers. This is group about the new www.goodreads.com instrument "Ask the Author". let's use this best goodreads.com tool ...more

More of David’s groups…

David’s Friend Comments

No comments have been added yet.