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 Weekend by Charlotte Wood

Jan 9
3 min

The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

Paperback 2021, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (first published in Australia 2019, Allen & Unwin) This was a well-timed read in that it’s set over...

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Silverview by John le Carré

Jan 2
1 min

Silverview by John le Carré

Penguin, October 2021 I first encountered John le Carré, aka David Cornwell, on a conference call shortly after starting at Hodder &...

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The Radical Potter: Josiah Wedgwood and the Transformation of Britain by Tristram Hunt

Dec 27, 2021
5 min

The Radical Potter: Josiah Wedgwood and the Transformation of Britain by Tristram Hunt

Allen Lane Books, September 2021 A biography is shaped by the identity, interests and experiences of its author as much as by its...

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Break the Internet: In Pursuit of Influence by Olivia Yallop

Dec 12, 2021
4 min

Break the Internet: In Pursuit of Influence by Olivia Yallop

Scribe, November 2021 I’ve written recently about how so-called “influencer culture” should be seen as a microcosm of wider trends and...

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The Bookseller of Florence by Ross King

Oct 25, 2021
4 min

The Bookseller of Florence by Ross King

Chatto & Windus, 2021 Best known for his books Brunelleschi’s Dome, Leonardo and the Last Supper and Michaelangelo and the Pope’s...

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The Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield

Sep 19, 2021
2 min

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield

Penguin Modern Classics, 2013 I’ve been meaning to pick up this twentieth century classic for years and, in line with expectations, it...

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TikTok Boom by Chris Stokel-Walker

Sep 18, 2021
3 min

TikTok Boom by Chris Stokel-Walker

Canbury Press, 2021 It’s been difficult to ignore the rise of TikTok over the last couple of years, though for many its significance...

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Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Jul 27, 2021
2 min

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Bloomsbury Books, 2021 This international bestselling debut is pitched around a pivotal scene in the book, whereby babysitter Emira...

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Caesar in Kent by Francis T Vine

Jun 27, 2021
3 min

Caesar in Kent by Francis T Vine

Unspecified, 1886 I came upon this volume in my capacity as a trustee of the Eden Valley Museum, a social history museum in Edenbridge,...

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Mrs de Winter by Susan Hill

Jun 20, 2021
2 min

Mrs de Winter by Susan Hill

Vintage, 1999 (Sinclair Stevenson, 1993) Rebecca has recently been in my mind following last year’s Netflix adaptation, starring Lily...

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Tarzan Economics by Will Page

Jun 7, 2021
4 min

Tarzan Economics by Will Page

Simon & Schuster, April 2021 This book is positioned by its publishers as a “how-to” business book – and by the author on the book’s...

46 views0 comments

The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate

May 19, 2021
3 min

The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate

Hamish Hamilton, 1980; Penguin Classics, 2007 I ordered this modern classic, which I’ve never read, for two reasons: (i) there are an...

44 views0 comments

The Whitney Women and the Museum they Made by Flora Miller Biddle

Apr 27, 2021
4 min

The Whitney Women and the Museum they Made by Flora Miller Biddle

Arcade Publishing, 1999 I’d visited the Whitney Museum a couple of times at its old Madison Avenue location, and was pleased to find...

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The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Apr 5, 2021
3 min

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

HarperCollins, 2019 I’m not a big reader of crime fiction, as I generally don’t care whodunnit. I find the Gone Girls and Girl on a...

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Capitalism in America: a History by Alan Greenspan & Adrian Wooldridge

Mar 29, 2021
4 min

Capitalism in America: a History by Alan Greenspan & Adrian Wooldridge

Allen Lane, 2018 I read half of this two years ago, in advance of chairing a most enjoyable dinner with Economist political editor Adrian...

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Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Mar 16, 2021
4 min

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Gollancz, 2011 (and limited Orion author party edition, 2014) For a number of years, in the days when we did such things, every February...

29 views0 comments

Social Class in the 21st Century by Mike Savage

Mar 1, 2021
4 min

Social Class in the 21st Century by Mike Savage

Plus The British Worker by Ferdinand Zweig & The Rise of the Meritocracy 1870-2033 by Michael Young Pelican Books 2015, 1952 & 1961 This...

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Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Feb 11, 2021
3 min

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Doubleday, 2018 Having enjoyed Diane Setterfield’s hugely successful debut The Thirteenth Tale back in 2006 (subsequently adapted by...

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A Notable Woman by Jean Lucey Pratt (ed Simon Garfield)

Dec 29, 2020
7 min

A Notable Woman by Jean Lucey Pratt (ed Simon Garfield)

Canongate, 2015 (pb 2016) This diary of an ostensibly unremarkable woman is the most extraordinary book I’ve read this year. Prolific...

58 views0 comments

The Card by Arnold Bennett

Nov 23, 2020
4 min

The Card by Arnold Bennett

Public Domain Books (originally Methuen, February 1911) I have a penchant for that particular genre of turn-of-the-(twentieth)-century...

29 views0 comments