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Diane Banks

In July 2020, in an attempt to bring my reading rate in line with my book-buying rate, because books are first and foremost a starting point for debate, and because reading is inherently a social activity, I committed to writing a few words about every book I read.

Thoughts and comments welcome.

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The First Lady of Fleet Street: The Life, Fortune and Tragedy of Rachel Beer by Eilat Negev and Yehida Koren

Sep 1
2 min

The First Lady of Fleet Street: The Life, Fortune and Tragedy of Rachel Beer by Eilat Negev and Yehida Koren

Robson Press, 2012 Why? During a discussion about Victorian and Edwardian newspaper proprietors, a friend recommended that I look up...

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Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Aug 26
1 min

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Doubleday, 2013; Black Swan paperback, 2014 Why? Having belatedly watched the 2022 BBC adaptation, I was intrigued to know how the story...

4 views0 comments

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Jul 21
2 min

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Sceptre, 2011 Why? I've had this on my Kindle for years, and, with Amor Towles the talk of the town following the Paramount+ adaptation...

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The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley

Jun 23
1 min

The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley

First published by Macmillan, 1984; this edition Vintage paperback Why? I was pretty sure I'd never read it, and as a sucker for...

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An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears

May 27
2 min

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears

Vintage (paperback edition), 1998 Why? I bought my copy of this bestselling, critically-acclaimed novel when it came out in paperback in...

21 views0 comments

Read Write Own by Chris Dixon

May 19
2 min

Read Write Own by Chris Dixon

Cornerstone Press, 2024 Why? Like many others, I spent a considerable part of lockdown setting up my Coinbase account and MetaMask...

36 views0 comments

The Hotel by Elizabeth Bowen

Mar 30
2 min

The Hotel by Elizabeth Bowen

First published by Jonathan Cape, 1927; this edition Vintage Classics, 2016 Why? The promise of a tight cast of characters, a glamorous...

71 views0 comments

The New Political Capitalism: How businesses and societies can thrive in a deeply politicized world by Joe Zammit-Lucia

Mar 10
2 min

The New Political Capitalism: How businesses and societies can thrive in a deeply politicized world by Joe Zammit-Lucia

Bloomsbury Business, 2022 Why? I met Joe Zammit-Lucia at a think tank event a couple of months ago and looked up this book as a...

18 views0 comments

Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to go Viral by Ben Smith

Jan 21
2 min

Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to go Viral by Ben Smith

Penguin Press, 2023 Why? Amidst speculation that BuzzFeed will finally collapse in 2024 - following in the footsteps of its fellow...

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The Jacaranda Tree by HE Bates

Jan 16
1 min

The Jacaranda Tree by HE Bates

Methuen Publishing, 2006 (first published 1949) Why? I've never read HE Bates, and associating him only with the televised version of The...

21 views0 comments

Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries 1918-1938 edited by Simon Heffer

Nov 26, 2023
2 min

Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries 1918-1938 edited by Simon Heffer

Hutchinson, 2021 Why? Like any afficionado of early twentieth-century British social and political history, I diligently purchased all...

25 views0 comments

The Rector's Daughter by FM Mayor

Nov 4, 2023
2 min

The Rector's Daughter by FM Mayor

First published by The Hogarth Press, 1924; this edition Virago, 1987 Why? Continuing with the theme of twentieth-century novels about...

34 views0 comments

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Sep 24, 2023
1 min

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Hutchinson Heinemann, 2023 Why? I love a bit of glitz and glamour, but that has most definitely been out of vogue in fiction for the last...

12 views0 comments

The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien

Sep 3, 2023
1 min

The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien

Originally published Hutchinson, 1960; this edition Penguin Books 1963 Why? It was on the bookshelf where we were staying on holiday and...

14 views0 comments

Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier

Aug 28, 2023
2 min

Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier

Gollancz, 1943; subsequent Penguin paperback Why? Always a pleasure to discover an unread Daphne du Maurier on your own bookshelf. This...

14 views0 comments

Frost in May by Antonia White

Jul 16, 2023
2 min

Frost in May by Antonia White

Virago Modern Classics, 1978 (reprinted 1971); first published 1933 Why? Whilst discussing mid-twentieth-century novels with a friend, we...

19 views0 comments

Father by Elizabeth von Armin

Jul 10, 2023
2 min

Father by Elizabeth von Armin

British Library Women Writers, 2020 (first published 1931) Why? I’m always interested in examinations of women living unconventional...

20 views0 comments

Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively

Jun 18, 2023
1 min

Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively

Penguin Essentials, 2015 (originally published by André Deutsch, 1987) Why? Because it tells the story of a woman living a life...

16 views0 comments

The Go-Between by LP Hartley

May 13, 2023
2 min

The Go-Between by LP Hartley

Penguin Modern Classics, 2000 (originally published by Hamish Hamilton, 1953) Why? As the twentieth century becomes history, its...

30 views0 comments

The Chief: The Life of Lord Northcliffe, Britain's Greatest Press Baron by Andrew Roberts

Oct 16, 2022
7 min

The Chief: The Life of Lord Northcliffe, Britain's Greatest Press Baron by Andrew Roberts

Simon & Schuster, 2022 If Ukraine is the first TikTok war, the Arab Spring the first Twitter war and Vietnam the first TV war, then World...

79 views0 comments

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