On top of her favourite reads, Kerry keeps a Big Fat Geek Spreadsheet of all the books she reads each month, complete with a 5 star system (5 being best, 0 being pants). She thought she’d share it with you because you can never have too many lists. Warning: there might be a few spoilers here.
February 2018
1. Kiss, Kiss,by Roald Dahl
****
I bought his Collected Short Stories in York at Christmas. It was second hand but in pristine condition. Having spent a couple of months in the bottom of my bag, it’s looking a bit more dog-eared, but no matter. It means I’m enjoying it. There are a few uncomfortable moments with Dahl’s prose, mainly to do with attitudes to women. No-one can accuse him of being “right on”, but he’s a pure storyteller. It ends with the short story, Champion of the World, which of course went on to be one of my favourite books as a child, Danny, the Champion of the World, along with James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Oompa Loompa.
January 2018
1. Skippy Dies,by Paul Murray
****
I would never have picked up this book, but I got into a conversation with one of my work colleagues at a team-building offsite. As the wine was flowing we started to talk about books. He recommended this and I recommended A Prayer for Owen Meany. Before Christmas we each bought each other a copy as a gift (partly because I will never lend Owen Meany out again – too precious). Skippy Dies is a book for young lads, there’s no doubt about that, but Murray gets dialogue down very well, and I’m a sucker for sparky chat. It has some weak characters. Carl, for instance, the drug dealing psychopath, is not too convincing. But Skippy and Rupert “von Blowjob” are. All you young males out there, especially ones educated at boarding school, think you’ll like it.