schopflin's reviews
724 reviews

Still Life by Louise Penny

medium-paced

3.5

This is well-written and had some nice touches but I found it strangely uncompelling. I liked the main detective and some of the other characters were good but I didn't believe in some of the others.  I wouldn't refuse to read another one but I'm also not chasing after them. 

The Invention of Essex: The Making of an English County by Tim Burrows

medium-paced

4.0

I enjoyed this but it has in common with many of this type of book that it observes things about a place and makes a case for the place being exceptional, when those things are characteristic, not unique. It's very much a personal view - not the book Owen Hatherley would have written, or that Gillian Darley did. It gets particularly murky on the issue of house prices and gentrification.  But then that's never going to offer up simple answers. Still, I learned many things and it was fun to spend so much time exploring Estuary and London suburban Essex. He doesn't write so much about the rest of the County, but that's part of the personal approach.  

Out of Bounds by Val McDermid

fast-paced

3.5

Good, solid crime writing. I like DCI Karen Pirie but I don't always believe in her. Sense of place,  as ever, very good. 

Mr Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense by Jenny Uglow

slow-paced

4.0

I love a good doorstep biography and this one played to my tastes - Victoria art, culture and travel. There was a lot of detail and analysis of the nonsense poems that some might find arduous. But then my background is art rather than literary history. I really got a sense of who Lear was and following his life was an enjoyable journey. 

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

slow-paced

3.0

I really struggled with this book. Why would I want to read such bare prose about such horrible people. But I am glad I persevered. Even aside of how the story grows (very slowly) there's an amazing sense of place. 

Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham

medium-paced

3.5

I enjoyed this, my first Margery Allingham. Albert Campion is engaging and the characters all fascinatingly drawn. A lot of plot and mystery in a short book and I didn't guess the solution.  Although I'm not 100% sure I am satisfied with it either. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs

Monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art By Bad People? by Claire Dederer

medium-paced

4.0

This is well-written and a thoughtful look at the issues of bad people whose art we love. It's very much a contemplation of the issues rather than an exploration of the individuals mentioned. I'm not sure I agreed with all of it but I enjoyed the journey and I certainly have lots more thinking to do. 

The Burning by Jane Casey

fast-paced

3.5

The first Maeve Kerrigan book and it's good. I don't regret the lack of Josh Derwent because I have never quite understood his attraction.  There's not a huge amount of suspense in the plot but it's an enjoyable read nonetheless. 

The Treasuries: Poetry Anthologies and the Making of British Culture by Clare Bucknell

slow-paced

3.0

This was a well-meaning present and well-written, but was a bit of a slog for me. It's only tangentially a book or publishing history, focusing on a series of examples of poetry collections to describe specific cultural moments in British history. I think it probably doesn't help that I am not a poetry reader but regardless of that,  some episodes were of more interest than others. 

The Foundling by Georgette Heyer

fast-paced

3.5

Not my favourite Heyer. I liked the hero very much but the strong female character was kept very much in the background. Enjoyable enough though.