Dave Appleby
@daja57.bsky.social
Obsessive reader: reviews on https://davesbookblog-daja.blogspot.com/
Writer of Motherdarling, The Kids of God and Bally and Bro.
https://linktr.ee/daja57
Writer of Motherdarling, The Kids of God and Bally and Bro.
https://linktr.ee/daja57
Just finished my first Brigid Brophy book 'Hackenfeller's Ape' ... 73 years after it was published. Better late than never! Excited to explore more by this author.
Here's my review:
bit.ly/49Qo7Kl
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Literaturesky
Here's my review:
bit.ly/49Qo7Kl
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
"Hackenfeller's Ape" by Brigid Brophy
In this novel, London Zoo houses a pair of Hackenfeller's Apes, the nearest primates to humans. The Professor is studying them, hoping to be...
bit.ly
January 23, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Just finished my first Brigid Brophy book 'Hackenfeller's Ape' ... 73 years after it was published. Better late than never! Excited to explore more by this author.
Here's my review:
bit.ly/49Qo7Kl
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Here's my review:
bit.ly/49Qo7Kl
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Once again I am struggling to understand how a poorly written book with stereotyped characters and a predictable plot can become a best-seller. My review of Elizabeth Day's 'One of Us': bit.ly/49L17N6
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Booksky 💙📚
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"One of Us" by Elizabeth Day
Ben, a politician transparently based on Boris Johnson, intends to bid for the premiership. But will he be destroyed by the murky secrets in...
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January 19, 2026 at 9:42 AM
Once again I am struggling to understand how a poorly written book with stereotyped characters and a predictable plot can become a best-seller. My review of Elizabeth Day's 'One of Us': bit.ly/49L17N6
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Just finished 'Laurels are Poison' written in 1942 by Gladys Mitchell. Apparently Larkin called her 'the great Gladys'. Why? Trigger warnings to include racism and the advocacy of rape as a courtship strategy. My full review: bit.ly/3LD40r9
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Booksky 💙📚
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"Laurels are Poison" by Gladys Mitchell
A whodunnit set in a Teacher Training College for Young Ladies. It seems to be paying homage to Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers, a murder...
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January 16, 2026 at 10:53 AM
Just finished 'Laurels are Poison' written in 1942 by Gladys Mitchell. Apparently Larkin called her 'the great Gladys'. Why? Trigger warnings to include racism and the advocacy of rape as a courtship strategy. My full review: bit.ly/3LD40r9
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Despite my better judgement (I thought the book over-rated) I went to see the much-hyped film of Hamnet. I found it overlong, slow and boring and a massive and unnecessary spoiler right at the start.
My full review: daja57.blogspot.com/2026/01/hamn...
My full review: daja57.blogspot.com/2026/01/hamn...
Hamnet: film review
Slow. Far too long. First of all, there was a spoiler even before the film began when they bunged up a caption to explain that Hamnet and Ha...
daja57.blogspot.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Despite my better judgement (I thought the book over-rated) I went to see the much-hyped film of Hamnet. I found it overlong, slow and boring and a massive and unnecessary spoiler right at the start.
My full review: daja57.blogspot.com/2026/01/hamn...
My full review: daja57.blogspot.com/2026/01/hamn...
@nickmacwrites.bsky.social Just finished 'Slings and Arrows' which I read in just two days. Very enjoyable. It perfectly captures the period. Here's my full review:
bit.ly/49SlmJK
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Literaturesky
bit.ly/49SlmJK
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"Slings and Arrows" by Nick McLoughlin
A pub darts team enters a national competition and starts winning. How far can they go? And how will the private lives of the members affec...
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January 13, 2026 at 1:08 PM
@nickmacwrites.bsky.social Just finished 'Slings and Arrows' which I read in just two days. Very enjoyable. It perfectly captures the period. Here's my full review:
bit.ly/49SlmJK
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/49SlmJK
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
I've just finished 'To Let' the third novel in Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga.
My review: bit.ly/3LzAtym
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Literaturesky
My review: bit.ly/3LzAtym
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Literaturesky
"To Let" by John Galsworthy
This is the third novel of the Forsyte Saga. It follows The Man of Property and In Chancery . Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize for ...
bit.ly
January 11, 2026 at 10:38 AM
I've just finished 'To Let' the third novel in Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga.
My review: bit.ly/3LzAtym
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
My review: bit.ly/3LzAtym
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Just finished a delightful account of travelling by train (mostly in the smoking carriage) in the USA (yes, I know the picture shows a Canadian train of the wrong period but it was the closest I could find). My full review:
bit.ly/3Li2dHT
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
bit.ly/3Li2dHT
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"Stranger on a Train" by Jenny Diski
This delightful travel-book-cum-autobiography won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the J R Ackerley Prize for Autobiography in 2003. ...
bit.ly
January 9, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Just finished a delightful account of travelling by train (mostly in the smoking carriage) in the USA (yes, I know the picture shows a Canadian train of the wrong period but it was the closest I could find). My full review:
bit.ly/3Li2dHT
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
bit.ly/3Li2dHT
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
I've just finished the very first Dalziel and Pascoe book by Reginald Hill: 'A Clubbable Woman'. Written in 1970 and set in a rugby club, it might need trigger warnings nowadays.
My review: bit.ly/4ss8EZq
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
My review: bit.ly/4ss8EZq
#Booksky 💙📚
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"A Clubbable Woman" by Reginald Hill
The first Dalziel and Pascoe murder mystery. Veteran rugby player Connie gets a knock on the head and goes home early to crash out. Later th...
bit.ly
January 5, 2026 at 6:43 PM
I've just finished the very first Dalziel and Pascoe book by Reginald Hill: 'A Clubbable Woman'. Written in 1970 and set in a rugby club, it might need trigger warnings nowadays.
My review: bit.ly/4ss8EZq
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
My review: bit.ly/4ss8EZq
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
Loved the Christmas special of Amandaland on BBC. There was a classic line, when, in a game of hide and seek, Felicity discovers Anne hiding behind a curtain, after Anne farted. "Hoist with your own petard" says Felicity, quoting Hamlet.
'Petard' derives from a French for fart.
Brilliant!
'Petard' derives from a French for fart.
Brilliant!
January 5, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Loved the Christmas special of Amandaland on BBC. There was a classic line, when, in a game of hide and seek, Felicity discovers Anne hiding behind a curtain, after Anne farted. "Hoist with your own petard" says Felicity, quoting Hamlet.
'Petard' derives from a French for fart.
Brilliant!
'Petard' derives from a French for fart.
Brilliant!
Just completed Booker shortlisted 'The Rest of Our Lives' by Ben Markovits. Another US novel in which the protagonist drives away from his life, life Updike's 'Rabbit, Run'. Got great reviews but I was never really involved. My full review: bit.ly/44TV0o0
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
"The Rest of Our Lives" by Ben Markovits
Shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize . Twelve years ago, Tom's wife, Amy, had an affair. He decided then that he would leave their children...
bit.ly
January 3, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Just completed Booker shortlisted 'The Rest of Our Lives' by Ben Markovits. Another US novel in which the protagonist drives away from his life, life Updike's 'Rabbit, Run'. Got great reviews but I was never really involved. My full review: bit.ly/44TV0o0
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Happy New Year!
Kicking 2026 with a review of a book of Japanese Fairy Tales. Some things are universal, some things are culturally specific. Entertaining and fascinating.
Published by @renardpress.com
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4b9Gqws
Kicking 2026 with a review of a book of Japanese Fairy Tales. Some things are universal, some things are culturally specific. Entertaining and fascinating.
Published by @renardpress.com
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4b9Gqws
"Japanese Fairy Tales" by Yei Theodora Ozaki
A fascination anthology of Japanese Fairy Tales collected and translated in 1903 by the child of a Japanese father and an English mother, w...
bit.ly
January 1, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Happy New Year!
Kicking 2026 with a review of a book of Japanese Fairy Tales. Some things are universal, some things are culturally specific. Entertaining and fascinating.
Published by @renardpress.com
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4b9Gqws
Kicking 2026 with a review of a book of Japanese Fairy Tales. Some things are universal, some things are culturally specific. Entertaining and fascinating.
Published by @renardpress.com
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4b9Gqws
Reposted by Dave Appleby
So, here are my favourite books of 2025. It was pretty close with some books (nearly picked 2 by Penelope Lively). Typically, most books are backlisted titles. I think I may have only read one book published in 2025 anyway. Full list with publication year for context in alt text.💙📚
December 31, 2025 at 10:19 PM
So, here are my favourite books of 2025. It was pretty close with some books (nearly picked 2 by Penelope Lively). Typically, most books are backlisted titles. I think I may have only read one book published in 2025 anyway. Full list with publication year for context in alt text.💙📚
I've just finished the beautiful 'This is Happiness' by Niall Williams, a lyrical novel set in a vanished corner of Ireland. I MUST read more by this talented writer.
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4q01Dxz
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4q01Dxz
"This is Happiness" by Niall Williams
“ I came to understand him to mean you could stop at, not all, but most of the moments of your life, stop for one heartbeat and, no matter...
bit.ly
December 29, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I've just finished the beautiful 'This is Happiness' by Niall Williams, a lyrical novel set in a vanished corner of Ireland. I MUST read more by this talented writer.
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4q01Dxz
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4q01Dxz
Merry Xmas. Hope you all had wonderful presents, especially books.
December 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Merry Xmas. Hope you all had wonderful presents, especially books.
At Christmas, a good gothic read is always welcome, but this prequel to The Turn of the Screw fell short of my expectations.
My review: bit.ly/4avTkof
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
My review: bit.ly/4avTkof
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
"Fyneshade" by Kate Griffin
Conceived as the prequel to The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Fyneshade is an interesting hybrid of Victorian Gothic and Fantasy. But ...
bit.ly
December 23, 2025 at 10:35 AM
At Christmas, a good gothic read is always welcome, but this prequel to The Turn of the Screw fell short of my expectations.
My review: bit.ly/4avTkof
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
My review: bit.ly/4avTkof
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
In 1932, John Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize for Literature over, inter alia, H G Wells; the committee cited "his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga".
My review of the 2nd in the series, 'In Chancery'
bit.ly/4s5uA
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
My review of the 2nd in the series, 'In Chancery'
bit.ly/4s5uA
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
"In Chancery" by John Galsworthy
This sequel to The Man of Property (and the Interlude called The Indian Summer of a Forsyte) is set during the Boer War and contrasts the d...
bit.ly
December 22, 2025 at 12:38 PM
In 1932, John Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize for Literature over, inter alia, H G Wells; the committee cited "his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga".
My review of the 2nd in the series, 'In Chancery'
bit.ly/4s5uA
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
My review of the 2nd in the series, 'In Chancery'
bit.ly/4s5uA
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Inspired (if that's the right word) by the hugely-adapted TV series, I have started to re-read the Forsyte Saga. Here's my review of the first novel: A Man of Property:
bit.ly/4s8Q5th
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4s8Q5th
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
"The Man of Property" by John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga ". T...
bit.ly
December 21, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Inspired (if that's the right word) by the hugely-adapted TV series, I have started to re-read the Forsyte Saga. Here's my review of the first novel: A Man of Property:
bit.ly/4s8Q5th
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/4s8Q5th
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
I'm a subscriber and I always enjoy my monthly book from Renard who offer a fascinating range of novels and poetry and more.
A lovely profile this month in @spiracleaudiobooks.bsky.social Spotlight series, this time focusing on Renard 🦊 in celebration of five years of publishing 🙌
www.spiracleaudiobooks.com/articles/aus...
www.spiracleaudiobooks.com/articles/aus...
December 18, 2025 at 6:49 AM
I'm a subscriber and I always enjoy my monthly book from Renard who offer a fascinating range of novels and poetry and more.
Just read William Golding's The Paper Men published after his Nobel Prize. I was disappointed. Too many books about drink-sodden ageing novelists. My full review: bit.ly/3MDQfsd
#Books 📚
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Literaturesky
"The Paper Men" by William Golding
Hunted by an American academic who wants to be given access to his papers as his official biographer, best-selling author Wilfred Barclay ...
bit.ly
December 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Just read William Golding's The Paper Men published after his Nobel Prize. I was disappointed. Too many books about drink-sodden ageing novelists. My full review: bit.ly/3MDQfsd
#Books 📚
#Booksky 💙📚
#Literaturesky
#Books 📚
#Booksky 💙📚
#Literaturesky
Just completed a Sophie Hannah Poirot continuation murder mystery: 'The Killings at Kingfisher Hill'.
My review: bit.ly/4iJKXHC
#Booksky 💙📚
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My review: bit.ly/4iJKXHC
#Booksky 💙📚
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"The Killings at Kingfisher Hill" by Sophie Hannah
On a motor coach to Kingfisher Hill, one woman is scared that she will be murdered if she sits in a certain seat; another woman confesses ...
bit.ly
December 10, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Just completed a Sophie Hannah Poirot continuation murder mystery: 'The Killings at Kingfisher Hill'.
My review: bit.ly/4iJKXHC
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
My review: bit.ly/4iJKXHC
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
I've finished by 2025 A-Z of novelists challenge with Stefan Zweig's 'Beware of Pity', an intoxicating read. My full review: bit.ly/3KfLk04
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
"Beware of Pity" by Stefan Zweig
There is a frame story in which an author meets a young man who has served with distinction during the First World War and become a war hero...
bit.ly
December 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I've finished by 2025 A-Z of novelists challenge with Stefan Zweig's 'Beware of Pity', an intoxicating read. My full review: bit.ly/3KfLk04
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
Gertrude Stein was a writer with a fascinating (unique?) style. My review of her 'Three Lives': bit.ly/44FctjJ
#Booksky 💙📚
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#Literaturesky
@renardpress.com
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#Literaturesky
@renardpress.com
"Three Lives" by Gertrude Stein
Three short stories/ novellas by the famous American ex-pat novelist who also write Blood on the Dining-Room Floor . Despite Stein's privile...
bit.ly
November 29, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Gertrude Stein was a writer with a fascinating (unique?) style. My review of her 'Three Lives': bit.ly/44FctjJ
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
@renardpress.com
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky
@renardpress.com
In my 2025 A-Z of novelists challenge, I've finished Y for Yourcenar, Marguerite 'Memoirs of Hadrian'. Here's my review:
bit.ly/3Ka8swE
Next up: Z for Zweig, Stefan: 'Beware of Pity'
#Books 📚
#Booksky 💙📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/3Ka8swE
Next up: Z for Zweig, Stefan: 'Beware of Pity'
#Books 📚
#Booksky 💙📚
#Literaturesky
"Memoirs of Hadrian" by Marguerite Yourcenar
The Pantheon in Rome was built by Hadrian The fictionalised autobiography of Hadrian, one of the better Roman Emperors. He is old and dying ...
bit.ly
November 22, 2025 at 11:53 AM
In my 2025 A-Z of novelists challenge, I've finished Y for Yourcenar, Marguerite 'Memoirs of Hadrian'. Here's my review:
bit.ly/3Ka8swE
Next up: Z for Zweig, Stefan: 'Beware of Pity'
#Books 📚
#Booksky 💙📚
#Literaturesky
bit.ly/3Ka8swE
Next up: Z for Zweig, Stefan: 'Beware of Pity'
#Books 📚
#Booksky 💙📚
#Literaturesky
Shepherd's warning over Eastbourne
November 22, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Shepherd's warning over Eastbourne