The Lexus and the Olive Tree - Thomas FriedmanThis one had been on my shelf for ages. I had avoided it because I thought the content would be heavy going. But it was actually an easy read. Great breadth of knowledge on globalisation. A good perspecti...

Equal Rites - Terry PratchettThis is Pratchetts third novel and the first in his witches series. This is a very light, funny, and easy to read book with a linear storyline. This is the first appearance of Granny Weatherwax and while his other charact...

Cod - Mark KurlanskyA whole book about a fish? I actually really enjoyed it. Mark chronologically follows the history of the cod and its influence on humanity. Great human interest stories and snapshots from periods of our history. It follows the tra...

Flood Tide - Clive CusslerI ended up abandoning this one about 100 pages in. The previous books by Cussler I have enjoyed started with a history mystery as the first chapter. Then the rest of the book an action/adventure as Dirk and Al solve it. This...

The Flaneur - Edmund WhiteThis is a "the writer and the city" series in which some of the finest writers of our time reveal secrets of the city they know best. Peter Carey did one on Sydney.I have never read Edmund White, I thought this would be a li...

Mindstar Rising - Peter F. HamiltonThis was one of those secondhand bookshop finds, some old Sci-Fi that I thought might have some good ideas. In fact it was written in 1993 and I was very impressed with it.Set in the future after the climate crunch ...

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S ThompsonThis one of my favourite books - well paced, funny, debauched. Great characters, good description of drug binges and some societal observations. At about 200 pages it is an easy ready too.Do yourselve...

A Walk in the Woods - Bill BrysonThe promotion of the recent film based on this book reminded me it was somewhere on my shelves. I dug it out and really enjoyed it again. It is the same as all Bryson's work, entertaining and informative. Some part st...

Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne HarrisThis is a lovely literature but did not blow me away. It is a History/Literature/Food/War book.Set in regional France in the village of Les Laveuses with a food theme Joanne is known for.  One chapter i...

The Light Fantastic - Terry PratchettThis is Pratchett's second Discworld novel and the second with Rincewind and Twoflower.The is the same enjoyable romp as the previous one, The Colour Of Magic. This time with have Cohen the Barbarian and of course...

A Gull on the Roof - Derek TangyeA couple leave London behind for a flower farm on the Cornwall coast. I thought this would be a normal modern sea change book, some fun light reading, in fact it was written in 1961. It is really hard work withou...

Colour of Magic - Terry PratchettThis is the first book in the Discworld series. This one stars Rincewind and Twoflower. Pratchetts style at this stage was a humorous fantasy. It has magic and heroes and dragons. It is drawn from the traditional...

Here is my collection of Prickle Farm Books. I finally got the first book and read it recently. It is the same as the others - a funny, easy to read yarn. The first book was published in 1983 and follows the adventures of Mike Hayes and his fami...

The Orchid Thief is a non fiction book by Susan Orlean.We start off being introduced to John Laroche and his adventures in the orchid world. But the book expands to cover some history of orchids and orchid hunters, people within the Florida orchid co...

"Burning Chrome" by William Gibson is a collection of short stories. It includes his first published work - "Fragments of a Hologram Rose" appearing in Unearth 3 in 1977.Johnny Mnemonic, another short story, went on to be a film starring Ke...

Just finished reading "Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less" by Jeffrey Archer. I have read this a few times. It is a well paced, easy to read financial thriller. At around 250 pages you can knock it over pretty quick.It was written in 1976. I was amaze...