Some escapist reading on this very hot morning. Gossip Girl in the FUTURE! Very fun book about a bunch of teens in far future New York. Lots of Black Mirror style gadgets and universal teen drama.

Chronicles Of Fairacre is fictional pen and ink sketches of a country school teacher's life. Miss Read is a pseudonym, but Dora Saint, the woman behind her, was exceedingly popular in her time, other people feeling just as I did about the coziness of her stories. #bookstagram #150in2017 #mrmbookclub #nowreading

The story of a man named William Stoner (not as you might think, a novel about a pot smoker) and his unremarkable quiet life as a professor, as a husband, and as a father. The New Yorker, Guardian and New York Times all have long essays on this book so go read those for more, but I would just pick this up unhesitatingly without reading any more about it. One of the best things I've ever read. Seriously.

Deliciously creepy classic which sort of sneaks up on you. Always heard a lot about Shirley Jackson but never got around to reading her. We Have Always Lived In The Castle is the story of a family who live in a village where everyone hates them. Told through the eyes of the younger sister Merricat, it starts out slowly and when you least expect it, starts to sucker punch you with twists. My favourite kind of narrative.

Took me aaaaages to finish Paul Auster's latest, a gargantuan book with multiple time lines in the style of The Post Birthday World or Life After Life. It's a device I've always admired but I'm not sure how I feel about the book. It was well written, but could have done with stricter edits. Got to be a bit of a plod wading through the last quarter, but still ambitious and did I mention well written? The sentences sing.

Such a pleasure to discover an author when she's already got a whole body of work. I did that with Tana French and spent the last ten days binge reading her Dublin Murder Squad novels. Brilliant brilliant crime stories full of the little details you only find in literary fiction. Highly recommend for your next fix.

Memoirs are my favourite kind of non fiction. Began the year with this.