Monthly Archives: February 2011

A melancholy end

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I don’t have hard data to back this up but as you don’t have any way to contradict me I’ll boldly make the claim that Francis’ books have collectively provided me more hours of reading enjoyment than those of any other single author. Apart from the fact I’ve read all 44 of them at least once there’s the ubiquitous factor which has meant I’ve read many of them multiple times. As a young backpacker constantly in search of something in English to read I found that Barbara Cartland and Dick Francis were the two authors whose books I could always find, no matter how far-flung or how un-English-speaking the country was. Having never taken to romances, my choice when I needed written companionship on my travels was often Dick Francis.

Of course all the books are pretty much the same and Crossfire, the last book he had any hand in writing which was published following his death last year, was no exception to the rule. A young-ish (32) bloke of strong character (Army Captain Tom Forsyth who is on leave from the military after being severely injured in Afghanistan) found himself caught up in mysterious or criminal circumstances (his mother is being blackmailed to the tune of £2000 a week) in a scenario at least vaguely to do with horses (she is a trainer). The dramatic events are underpinned by well researched details of an industry, subject or location to add interest (here it’s a potted history of military strategy as Tom treats his approach to the blackmailers like a battle), sometimes there is a love interest (Tom’s primary school crush Isobella) and the good guy triumphs after several close calls with near-death experiences.

It might not be great literature but it is comforting, entertaining and informative (at least the first time you read each book). There are a lot worse legacies a person could leave than several dozen well-told, ripping yarns without loads of gratuitous sex and violence where a good bloke triumphs over a bad one after several close brushes with death or (much worse in a Francis world) failure.

I’ll miss the annual release of a new Dick Francis novel but I’ll always have a soft spot for the man whose writing has kept me company in countless crowded train stations, on innumerable rickety buses and on at least one felucca.

 

 

Review: Burn by Nevada Barr

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National Parks Ranger Anna Pigeon is on administrative leave as she is recovering from recent traumatic events and decides to head to New Orleans where she can stay with a friend, Geneva. One of Geneva’s tenants, a creepy bloke named Jordan, appears to curse Anna using voodoo for no real reason which makes Anna very suspicious. Upon following him into the very seediest parts of post-Katrina New Orleans she becomes involved in a very grim situation involving child sex slavery.

At the same time as these events unfold, another story is also being laid out in intervening chapters. In Seattle, after a late night run to the chemist, Clare Sullivan comes home to find that her husband, her two young daughters and their nanny are all missing from the house. After searching all over she runs next door to see if the neighbours know anything but the house explodes into flames and when they die down firefighters walk out of the wreckage with three bodies, assumed to be her husband and their children. Clare is thought to have murdered them all but goes on the run before she can be arrested.

As you might imagine the two stories end up intertwining, though in a rather unexpected way (though it wouldn’t be so unexpected if you read most of the blurbs and other reviews which give away a fairly major plot point that I was glad I did not know when I started the book).

Although I missed Anna being in the beautiful natural environment of one of the national parks I still enjoyed Barr’s skill at creating a sense of location, this time the city of New Orleans, which is depicted here with beauty and ugliness both and as much more than the tourist destination or news-headline the name conjures up for most. The last part of the story, which takes place inside a club catering to the most perverse sexual tastes is equally well described, if not nearly as enjoyable to immerse oneself in.

Having two main characters whose stories are told in alternating chapters was another difference for this book from any of the others I have read. I liked the structure; particularly in the second half of the book it really added successfully to the build up of tension. I was less taken with the character of Clare, though I can appreciate that Barr was trying something new to keep a series fresh. I can’t give details about what didn’t work for me without giving away plot spoilers so I’ll just say that I didn’t find the focus on Clare’s ‘unique psychology’ particularly engaging. I also thought that it was a bit too easy for Clare to have been a theatre company actor which allowed her to have a diverse range of skills, knowledge and insight that the average suburban mother just would not have.

Overall though the book was compelling, even when the subject matter got very tough to handle. On that score I give Barr credit for not incorporating excessive or gratuitous descriptions of horrid things happening to children, though one’s own imagination does fill in the gaps grimly enough. This is not a book for the faint-hearted but is a well-written, intelligently plotted mystery. It’s worth reading for the character of Anna alone who continues to evolve, grow, make mistakes and generally be a very credible human being. I’m looking forward to number 17.

What about the audio book?

I was a bit wary of this edition because it’s a different narrator than has read the previous two Anna Pigeon books to me but Joyce Bean did an excellent job and I quickly forgot that Anna used to speak with a different voice. The wide range of accents and complex dialogue must have been a stretch for any narrator but Bean sounded like a natural.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The only review I could find of Burn which did not have any nasty big plot spoilers was at Kittling Books (because Cathy just wouldn’t do that sort of thing)

I have reviewed two of the Anna Pigeon books Hunting Season and Borderline

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

My rating 3.5/5
Author website
Narrator Joyce Bean
Publisher Brilliance Audio [2010]
ISBN N/A (downloaded from audible.com)
Length 12 hours
Format audio (mp3)
Book Series #16 in the Anna Pigeon series
Source I bought it

Review: Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy

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The fourth book in the White House chef series sees Executive Chef Olivia (Ollie) Paras and the rest of the White House kitchen staff welcoming a new President on Inauguration Day. But when Ollie finds a box of famous brand barbeque chicken wings have been delivered especially for the new President’s young children she makes the unpopular decision of refusing to give the wings to the children because she doesn’t know who delivered the box and the rules about what food can be given to the First Family are very clear. The decision plays a role in the President’s wife bringing in a new personal chef to the White House and even though her job is on the line Ollie is not allowed to tell the First Lady that the chicken turned out to be poisoned or that the children are still under threat.

I like this series because of the out-of-the-ordinary setting so it didn’t really bother me that in this one there was less mysterious drama for Ollie to be involved with than in some of the previous books. In some ways it made for a more believable story because it really isn’t feasible that chefs face a life threatening situation every day, and the inner workings of the kitchen politics that underpinned this one kept me entertained and empathetic. Poor Ollie has her job in jeopardy for doing exactly what she was supposed to do with respect to her workplace rules and has to cover for the shortcomings of the person brought in to potentially replace her. Anyone know a workplace where that kind of thing doesn’t happen regularly? If you do can you leave me a comment and an application form?

If not terribly real-world credible the core of the mystery here is logical and believable within the context of the novel and not nearly as far-fetched as some cosies tend to be. It involves people from a hostile country (Hyzy sensibly made up a country rather than ascribe evil intent to anyone real) wanting something from the US Government that they are unlikely to want to give so dastardly means are resorted to and Ollie is, once again, in the right place to attempt to save the day.

This is a light, quick read that is full of well-researched details about White House goings-on. The characters are fun to love (or hate) and there is enough suspense in the story to while away some pleasant reading hours.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

I have reviewed the three previous books in this series State of the Onion, Hail to the Chief and Eggsecutive Orders
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
My rating 3/5
Author website http://www.juliehyzy.com/
Publisher Berkley Prime Crime [2011]
ISBN 9780425239230
Length 275 pages (plus recipes at the end)
Format mass market paperback
Book Series #4 in the White House Chef mysteries
Source I bought it

The dog ate my reviews

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I have been reading more than reviewing lately, though in some cases not for want of trying.

I listened to Martin Edwards’ The Serpent Pool narrated by the always marvellous Gordon Griffin and enjoyed it very much (4 out of 5 stars). The 4th of the Lake District series it sees DCI Hannah Scarlett investigating the drowning of a young women called Bethany Friend. Originally the case was closed as a suicide but Hannah’s mentor, Ben Kind, was never quite sure and the girl’s mother, now dying herself, is absolutely sure her daughter did not kill herself. There are also current murders that may have some connection to the earlier death. And for light relief there’s the romantic triangle of Hannah, her boyfriend Marc and Daniel Kind who is the son of her now deceased mentor and a historian who has helped out on previous cases.  I am very much looking forward to book number 5 in this series which is due to be published in April (*woot* it is currently awaiting me on my eReader).  The reason the book will remain forever un-reviewed is that the flash drive which contained my nearly-finished review has spontaneously ceased to function. It is now nearly 2 weeks since I finished listening to the book and I have learned that I must review straight away if I am to make any sense of things. But do not fear, there is an excellent review of this excellent book at the excellent website Euro Crime (courtesy of Maxine of Petrona fame).

The next non-review is of a book called Leeches by David Albahari. I feel very guilty about this one because I asked for it as a review book via Net Galley and I’m also annoyed with myself because I was going to count it for the Eastern European Reading Challenge. My problem is I’m half way through the book and have absolutely no idea what’s going on. We’re in Belgrade in the 1990′s and a journalist (never named) (I don’t think) sees a man slap a woman and he tries to run after her (no idea why) but he loses her then he sees some triangles which he thinks are a symbol (of what I’ve no clue) then he smokes some dope then he talks to a painter then….I really don’t know. I think I was standing in an entirely different queue (the one for ‘eats too much of the wrong things’) when the genes for comprehending surrealism were handed out. My brain feels like it’s starting to shake inside my skull when I try to come to grips with this kind of fantastical writing. I wish it wasn’t the case but, so far anyway, wishing hasn’t made it so. Again though there’s a really great review of someone far cleverer than me so go visit Ted at BookeyWookey.

In case you missed it I did review a great Australian novel called Line of Sight by David Whish-Wilson but decided to post it only at Fair Dinkum Crime (a new blog focusing on Australian crime fiction only that a friend of mine and I have started). I’m still pondering whether or not to post reviews of Aussie crime fiction at both blogs but, in this case anyway, I decided to give the fledgling blog an exclusive (I do urge you to check out the review, it’s another terrific 4 star rated book, a fictionalised account of a real 1975 murder in Western Australia that highlights police corruption and abuse of power in some very unsettling ways).

I’ve still got three more reviews to catch up on to bring me up to date but I have hope I’ll actually manage to get those written by the end of the month. Otherwise I really will be blaming the dog.

Review: Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré

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I chose to read John le Carre’s 24th novel because it is due for discussion on a local TV-based book club next week and I was curious to see how le Carré’s work is travelling these days, having enjoyed some of his classics like Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy. I’m also using “international” as my seventh continent for the Global reading challenge which I’m describing as a book which has action in three or more countries (here we visit England, Antigua, France, Switzerland and, via flashback, Russia)

Perry Makepiece and his girlfriend Gail are upper-middle class nearly-thirty-somethings who spend a small inheritance on a once in a lifetime tennis holiday in Antigua. There, in (very) lengthy detail, they meet Dima, a Russian criminal with an extended family who challenges Perry to a tennis match as a cover for inveigling the pair in his plan to defect rather than be assassinated as he soon expects to be. Upon their return to England Perry, trying to shield Gail and her legal career from as much involvement as possible, informs the relevant spooks. So enter Tom, Dick and Harry (the code names the three spies use for a portion of the novel, I’m struggling to remember their real names or why they felt the need for this absurd subterfuge) after which everyone spends some time in a basement and then there’s some more tennis.

That synopsis, interspersed with snippets of Dima’s personal history as a member of the Russian criminal brotherhood, takes about 50% of the audio book to unfold which might give you an idea of the pace of this so-called thriller that slumbers along in second gear for its entirety. If I included the bizarre and disconnected sub plot about Dima’s daughter’s pregnancy to a climbing instructor but left out all the tedious tennis, spy-craft exposition and wallowing in indecision by the spooks, the remainder of the plot could easily be summarised in a single paragraph and then you could all save yourselves the bother of reading it at all. Even the extraordinarily abrupt ending is dull, as if the author was as tired with the whole thing as I was by then.

Le Carré assures us that the money laundering and its links to the UK financial crisis at the heart of this novel is very real and I have no reason to doubt him But it doesn’t matter how real the basis for the novel is if the author can’t make me believe it and I didn’t believe the premise for this novel for a single second. Nothing about the character of Dima, his choice of defection route or the use by the British secret services of a couple of randomly chosen amateurs for work like that felt remotely credible. Even if such things go on every day in the real world, le Carré didn’t manage to make me believe it in his made up one. The ‘instruction’ of Perry and Gail seemed much closer to the spy games I played when I was eight (I got a spy kit for my birthday that year which included invisible ink and machines which my best friend and I used to send and receive coded messages that our respective brothers couldn’t read) than to any real life espionage. I would have been unsurprised to see the cone of silence?

The characters are the final let down of this 11 hour and 23 minute disappointment. In the past le Carré has been a master at creating intriguing people who leap of the page and demand to be investigated, absorbed and understood. Here the characters are all flat and kept at arm’s length with emotions that seemed the same whether they were facing imminent death, the break-up of a marriage or the fact their cup of tea had grown cold. Tom, the oldest of the MI6 agents, is a poor imitation of le Carré’s best-known, bureaucracy mastering creation George Smiley and Dima is a caricature of the evil Russian stereotypes of B grade movies. The rest of the characters have already faded from my mind.

Listening to this book was like one, long yawn. Aside from an excellent narration and the fact that le Carré can still put words together in a way that is pleasing to a lover of the English language there is really nothing to recommend the thing at all. However, elsewhere on the ‘net reviews of the novel are split fairly evenly. If you do decided to read it I hope for your sake you’re in the half of the population that has an entirely different reading experience to the one I had. But just in case I suggest you take a pillow.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
My rating 2/5
Author website http://www.johnlecarre.com/
Narrator Michael Jayston
Publisher BBC WW [2010]
ISBN N/A (downloaded from audible.com)
Length 11 hours 23 minutes
Format audio (mp3)
Book Series standalone
Source I bought it

Crime Fiction Alphabet: G is for Genealogists

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In my years working as an archivist I came across a lot of genealogists looking for convicts in their family tree (it had become fashionable in Australia to be able to trace one’s roots back to the era when the country was a penal colony for England) but I don’t think I ever came across one who was saving the world from a killer. In crime fiction though there are a few such hardy souls.

For my face to face book club last year we read Dan Waddell‘s first book to feature genealogist Nigel Barnes, The Blood Detective, and it was my favourite book club read of the year. Barnes is called in to help London police when a series of bodies are found to have references to birth and death records carved into them. Having fled the world of archives primarily due to growing tired of a certain kind of genealogist I was particularly taken with Waddell’s depictions of the profession but I also liked the way he incorporated the historical research into his story of a serial killer on the loose. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in this series, Blood Atonement, which looks to incorporate one of the world’s foremost genealogical research institutions, the Morman Church’s archives in Utah.

In more of a cosy mystery Fiona Mountain‘s Pale as the Dead introduces Natasha Blake as a professional genealogist called in to assist with the search for a missing artist’s model. Once you get past the rather implausible premise (why a genealogist not a private detective) the fictional investigation is quite fascinating and the details about both the art world and the profession of genealogy are incorporated well into the story.

A series I haven’t yet read but which looks interesting is English author Fay Sampson‘s series featuring Suzie Fewings who is an amateur family historian. The blurb for the first of three books in the series so far, 2009′s In the Blood, says “Keen family history researcher Suzie Fewings is delighted when she discovers an ancestor with the same name as her teenage son. But what she finds out about the seventeenth-century Thomas casts a darker shadow than she expected. Then her own Tom’s girlfriend is found dead in mysterious circumstances, and Suzie finds it hard to suppress her growing fears that Tom has inherited more than a name from his predecessor”.

The longest running series I know of to feature a genealogist is Rett MacPherson‘s which so far consists of 11 books featuring Torie O’Shea who is a museum docent and amateur genealogist in Missouri. In the third book of the series, A Comedy of Heirs, Torie discovers that her great grandfather was shot on his front porch and the crime never solved (partly due the long list of people who hated him). When Torie starts to investigate the 50-year old crime she uncovers a conspiracy of silence within the family and things are less than humorous when new deaths occur to cover up the old crime.

Do you know of any other crime fiction to feature a genealogist? Or perhaps one where genealogy plays a pivotal role? Perhaps Arnaldur Indridason’s Jar City would qualify in the second category as it involves the use of Iceland’s genealogical database to solve the investigation at the heart of the novel.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise is hosting the crime fiction alphabet meme which requires the posting of an article relating to the letter of the week. Do join in the fun by reading the posts and/or contributing one of your own. You don’t have to write every week.

This is the second round of the meme which was first run from late 2009 to early 2010. My contributions that time were discussions of books with one word titles.

Lies, damned lies and statistics

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As you might expect there has been much news commentary about the collapse this week of the parent company which owns Borders and Angus & Robertson, collectively Australia’s largest bookstore chain by a long shot. One of the best roundups of opinion appeared on Crikey on Friday. The online-only news outlet talked to a range of industry pundits about the issue. I can’t help but respond to two points made in the roundup:

  • Sophie Cunningham, author and former publisher said “I don’t see this is about parallel importation”.
  • Maree McCaskill, CEO of the Australian Publishers Association said “Ultimately if you look at the stats of the average shopping price, it’s cheaper to buy in Australia”

To both of these comments my response is “bullshit”.

My evidence is in form of a small chart. Here are the prices of a half-dozen current release books:


As you can see there is not a single book that is cheaper to buy in Australia (not even the one by an actual Australian author) and I promise you if I had more time I could have made the chart 100 books or 1000 books long and nothing would have changed. Some things you should know

  • These were the first six books I thought of, not a carefully selected set of aberrations.
  • Book Depository offers free shipping to Australia
  • Boomerang does not offer free shipping in Australia (shipping is $6.95 per order regardless of how many books you buy so if you want to take advantage of their low-ish prices you really have to order in bulk otherwise each book costs $6.95 more)
  • All of these titles have been officially published in Australia.

To Ms Cunningham I say, “how can it not at least partly be about parallel importation (i.e. the regulation preventing an Australian book seller from importing a title from overseas if the same title has been released in Australia or is planned for Australia within 30 days)? If Dymocks or Readings or Boomerang were allowed to buy their stock at the same places and at the same rates as Book Depository then one of their biggest cost pressures would be significantly reduced and that has to be a factor for them all.

To Ms McCaskill I say “do you think if you say a lie often enough we’ll believe it?” Clearly it’s not cheaper to buy books in Australia and only a fool would pretend otherwise.

Obviously there are a number of factors at play over the collapse of REDgroup, not the least of which appears to be that the company really did have the business sense of house bricks, and the book selling landscape is changing worldwide, not just in Australia. But I am heartily sick of being treated like a moron or cast as un-Australian by pundits like Ms McCaskill (who in the same article claimed Australian consumers don’t care about Australian companies) simply because I don’t choose to throw my limited disposable income at overpriced, badly run businesses.

An upside to spam?

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Even on my tiny little corner of the internet I have attracted nearly 8,000 pieces of spam that, until today, I never looked at thanks to the excellent filter that WordPress uses. But I accidentally clicked on the wrong button in my blog’s dashboard and am now thinking I might be missing out on something good. I mean, these spammers are so nice, and clearly of discerning character as can be seen by some of the lovely things they’ve had to say just today:

Wow! This can be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Magnificent

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The web site style is perfect, the articles is really nice

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I spent last 2 hours reading your content and must say: awesome site

I know it seems like these people are just buttering me up so I’ll click on their evil links and/or allow my computer to become a robot for their nefarious schemes but in 25 years in the workforce no one has ever told me that I am basically magnificent or awesome or any of these other nice things. Most days I just count myself lucky no one spits on me (some days aren’t even that good) (and yes I am being literal). So I’m seriously considering turning off the spam filter and wallowing in the love :)

Review: The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu by Michael Stanley

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The third of 14 books I plan to read for the medium level of the Global Reading Challenge takes place in Botswana and is the second ‘Detective Kubu’ book by Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. The book is published as A Deadly Trade outside the US.

At a tourist camp in the lush northern part of Botswana the bodies of two guests are discovered early one morning while a third guest has disappeared, apparently back to nearby Zimbabwe. When authorities realise that there may be political and/or international ramifications arising from the case Assistant Superintendent David Bengu, known as Kubu which means hippo in Setswana, is sent from Gaborone to lead the investigation. Ably assisted by local Detective Sergeant Joseph “Tatwa” (giraffe) Mooka the pair soon discover that everyone at the camp has something to hide and that nothing is what it appears. The first of many twists in the case is that one of the two dead men, school teacher Goodluck Tinubu, is recorded as having died thirty years earlier in the bloody Rhodesian civil war.

There is much to like about this book. Kubu is a charming character and the portrayal of his work and family life is a refreshing change from the tormented lone wolf coppers we see so much of. He manages to maintain a civilised relationship with his immediate superior, is happily married to his first wife and even has a sound relationship with his parents. This in particular provides an interesting angle as it depicts the differences in outlook and behaviour between the generations. Other characters are nicely drawn too, including Kubu’s workaholic boss Jacob Mabaku, his colleague on this investigation Tatwa who is newly qualified and still learning the ropes and his delightful wife Joy. The collection of misfits and outsiders who have made their home at the Jackalberry Camp also intrigue, none of them being stereotypical and all of them having very believable reasons for ending up in their present circumstances.

The authors have also done a good job with the historical and political backdrop to this story, dealing relatively lightly but intelligently with both the Rhodesian war and its aftermath and the need for a delicate handling of the relationship between Botswana and the troubling neighbouring Zimbabwean Government. I’m sure it would have been easy to have turned the book into a lecture about these subjects but avoiding this trap made the story much stronger and more thought provoking as readers are left to draw their own conclusions.

I did however find the book a little too long. The story itself felt slightly more complicated than it needed to be and for me it dragged in the middle portion as there was much driving across country and relaying of information from one jurisdiction to another which was unnecessarily repetitive and slowed down the pace. That aside though The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu is an entertaining read and you’d be hard pressed to find a book more evocative of its image-rich, exotic location. The inclusion of two maps and a cast of characters (with phonetic pronunciations) is the icing on this very delicious cake and I am looking forward to a third installment of this series.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

This book has been reviewed at Aust Crime Fiction and Crime Watch

I reviewed the first book in the series, A Carrion Death, for last year’s Global Reading Challenge.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
My rating 3.5/5
Author website http://www.detectivekubu.com/default.aspx
Publisher Harper Collins [2009]
ISBN 9780061883248
Length 441 pages
Format eBook (ePub)
Book Series #2 in the Detective Kubu series
Source I bought it

On balance, I’m not sorry

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Earlier this year I had a bit to say to REDgroup which owns Borders and other bookselling brands here and in New Zealand about the reasons why I don’t shop with them. I’m not sure if my assertion that they had the business sense of house bricks was correct or whether today’s announcement, that the company has been placed into voluntary administration, was an inevitable consequence of a changing world. Either way it is big news for book lovers in Australia.

I have been meaning to write a follow up to that original post which prompted a long and heartfelt response from Chuck, a bookseller in Melbourne, who agreed with some of the things I said and disagreed with others, providing some great insight from the retailer’s point of view. The reason I haven’t written the follow up is that I couldn’t really think of the right words to say to someone who clearly is a passionate book lover and who wants to make a long term living from the selling of books. Because I’m just not sure that’s going to be possible for very much longer in this country.

It’s clear I’m not alone in choosing where to buy my books based largely on price. Last weekend my face to face book club met for our monthly get together. We met in a local independent bookstore that is also a coffee shop and it came up in conversation that although we have bought coffee and cakes there not one of us has ever bought a book in that shop. Why not? Too expensive.

It is always sad to see businesses flounder and I genuinely feel for the people who will undoubtedly lose their jobs out of this process. I will also be sad if this is the beginning of the end of bricks & mortar bookstores in this country. But even then I can’t summon any guilt over my part in the downfall of book selling in Australia.

Ever since my brother moved to the US in 1988 and I started making regular trips there I have had personal evidence that Australian readers get royally screwed by ‘the industry’. I really don’t care if it’s the publishers or the sellers or the parallel import restrictions to blame. The point is that for decades we have paid, on average, three times what the rest of the English speaking world has paid for the same book. Until recently we put up with it because we had no alternative but now we have, en masse, adopted overseas retailers and eBooks and any other option newly available to us because we love books but we were sick to death of getting screwed.

Is there a future for bricks and mortar book selling in this country? I’ve no idea. Certainly not if the industry continues to behave in the way it has done both in the distant past and recently. But even if they do adapt and respond intelligently I wonder if this particular genie is out of the bottle for good.

Meanwhile, I’m buying all my books online. And not feeling guilty about it.