Movie, 2014 Big bloated science-fiction, in which a farmer and former NASA pilot heads up a crew to find former missions sent out to find planets to replace Earth. Part space opera; part family film; part social commentary. Most unlikely, part buddy movie, with some fairly toe-curling set pieces between the space farmer and his robots. All this, and quite a few daft scenes and bolted on elements slow things down, though there's some terrific stuff almost hidden out of view, as the film constantly tries to show how flash, clever and showy it is. Something half the length would have been great.

The Small Publishers Fair tends to be the last, or at least, the last significant event in Clod Magazine and Books' event circuit. We still have an afternoon in Luton Library on 22/11/25, but the Small Publishers Fair is the seaon's last hurrah; a big ticket event spread over two (very full) days, where we do the most business done.

It won’t come as a massive surprise to learn, from someone who writes a reading and writing blog, that settling down with a decent book is one of life’s great pleasures. Occasionally, h…

First of Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet, and a coming of age story for Elena and Lila.

Tense, well executed study of a troubled WW2 weapons expert.

A look into how blood, muck and filth were eradicated by Joeph Lister and similarly minded folk in the late 19th century #booksky

Superbly atmospheric neo-noir...

Movie, 2023 Full blown, infinitely interesting Wes Anderson movie, in which colours and artifice are turned up, a whole dump truck of A-listers come along for the ride, and the whole space age paranoia and society are put out for examination. This is a film with a bucket full of ideas, which doesn't, however, really click on the first viewing.

Part five – 8/10/25 – 14/10/25 More stuff and more nonsense from the cutting edge of Luton’s only community bookshop. This week – More Dick Franics books sold. A near fatal …

Novel, 1959 Whodunnit with a very Golden Age feel, largely set in a maze and featuring a cast of characters, each or at least most of whom have a reason for bumping off the murder victim. An enjoyable book with a few classical references and lovely plot developments, and also with some fairly ungentlemanly behaviour from a few in the book who would probably have behaved themselves in a different environment, when they weren't triggered so much.

Movie, 2022 Part biopic, part fantasy, part satire, which takes aim at a number of targets, but falls short every time. There are elements to admire in the portrayal of an outsider and the satirical attack on the music business, though while these occasionally make an impression, the fantasy rags to riches, the kind of noir touches and the incorporation of real life fellow musicians, the mock-documentary put-ups...

Flatpacks (again), flapjacks, a hammer, some great sales technique. Plus a massive ding-dong on tea. Wed 1 October 2025 - 12noon - 5pm The temperature outside may have fallen slightly, but in the shop, there’s still much physical work afoot. More cubes to assemble. I’m getting more adept at putting these together, and the ‘feature wall’ is coming together nicely. 

Fiction, 2020 Series of short pieces, described as stories, though which are probably more accurately thumbnail sketches of characters and situations. No real doubt that the writing is great, and visceral in a lot of places, but the nature of the pieces, which are thematically connected, don't really hang together. The cover and front matter's attention on the critical response to de Waal's previous novel give this a feeling of a volume that's been rushed out for some opportunity or contractual basis. You'd hope some of these pieces are developed, but as the book stands, it feels like a bit of an exercise.

Movie, 2022 Flash, bang, wallop Elvis Presley biopic spanning the whole of The King's life and career, with a keen focus on his relationship with Col Tom Parker. Visually, a treat, although it could be argued that covering such a lot of ground didn't really work. Oddly, Elvis' mid-career was skipped over, but at the same time, neither his childhood nor demise felt as if they were covered in any depth.

Hello again. A short entry this week. There is a longer entry too - if you want the third installment of my tales from the bookshop, it's here. Happy reading. In other news, I was privileged to have a story about our local shopping centre included, a few years ago, in an installation by the Cambridge based artist Idit Elia Nathan…

More shenanigans and goings on from the High Town (formerly Donkey Hall), community bookshop, in Luton. This week, the shop opens. There are readings and jokes. Flat pack furniture and a Dick Franc…

More shenanigans and goings on from the High Town (formerly Donkey Hall), community bookshop, in Luton. This week, the shop opens. There are readings and jokes. Flat pack furniture and a Dick Francis book sold. Cakes now stocked; ambiance being established. ______________________________ Wed 24 September 2025 - 12noon - 5pm A busy day, shifting things. I meet A, who’s in charge of eBay.

Novel, 1960 Story of David Kelsey, and his obsession with Annabelle, his 'true love,' who's married and has a baby in the early section of the book. This is all familiar Highsmith territory - the unrelenting obsession and delusions make for a compellingly uncomfortable read. There's also something deranged in pretty much all the other characters in the book - David's life might be a slow car crash, but he takes down all those he comes into contact with, including Ellie, who's almost as obsessed with David as he is with Annabelle. Double lives, identity and melodrama are all mixed up here - maybe the whole could have been trimmed, ever so slightly. Great, though.

Hello. This week, I’m back in the bookshop. The main reasons for this are to inform and entertain and all that. Also, the shop’s in a kind of gestation or recovery type period; we&#8217…

Movie, 2001 Gothic fantasy horror set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. Right from the off, and the sequence showing the bombing raid, this is a film of objects, symbols and supernature. The close focus on action on an orphanage and the tight cast of characters allow for development and an atmosphere, which brings brutality and horror up against spirits and alliances.

Novel, 2023 Engrossing, engaging, if slightly depressing book, with a compelling plot looking at the issues of race and appropriation in publishing, through the eyes of someone bringing out a book about Chinese in the First World War. Something, here, to give anyone a bit of a glum idea about how books get written and published. The plot builds in some poignant and sometimes challenging questions, and while it maybe is a little overly clever in its manipulations, the writing keeps the attention throughout.

Hello. I've started work at Brown Books, in Luton's highly desirable High Town area, as bookseller. Very pleased, happy and excited too, even if the shop won't open 'properly' for just over a week (news of the opening event will appear here, I suspect). For now, I'm feeling the lifting and carrying a bit, but soldiering on, regardless. Here's a diary of my first week's involvements.

Movie, 2022 Bit of an overbearing genre mash, with what feel like some great ideas and sequences – particularly the old ‘80s sitcom – but which never really pull everything together. This is a horror sci-fi contemporary Western, with overlong sequences, a load of characters who seem sympathetic but never quite click or gel, and a story which buckles under all these strains.

Movie, 1999 Documentary, following film-maker Mark Borchardt’s efforts to start his lifelong project feature film, while trying to finish a horror short in order to fund it. This, really, feels like a film about ambition, despair and the hopeless, grisly, inevitable failure. If this was a fiction, it’d probably sink under the weight of its own depravity. This is Ed Wood in a trailer park, with trailer park versions of sex, drugs and rock and roll all ground together with child support, dementia and crap stunts, delays and snow. However, humanity pushes through, and there’s a small triumph at the end of the documentary, suggesting some future for Borchardt.