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Dave Appleby

@daja57.bsky.social
482 followers 335 following 1.1K posts

Obsessive reader: reviews on davesbookblog-daja.blogspot.com Writer of Motherdarling, The Kids of God and Bally and Bro. linktr.ee/daja57

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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 17h
I've just completed 'heart, be at peace', Donal Ryan's sequel to his debut, 'The Spinning Heart'. The portrait of a small Irish town community built up, collage style, through the voices of some of its inhabitants. Brilliant. My full review: tinyurl.com/2vp5ajbm #booksky 💙📚 #books 📚 #literaturesky
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
'Sunrise' by Tea Obreht has a nested story structure like that in 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell. My review of the former: tinyurl.com/2e5muvsf #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"Sunrise" by Tea Obreht
Three stories, joined in a sandwich structure, so that ' An incident over Horsebone Lake' is split into two parts and arranged first and l...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Slim first. Need to build up a head of steam.
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I know what you mean. Those movie biopics which show just the inspirational part rather than the sweat. Not this one. He attends life drawing classes, learns how to draw profiles really quickly, learns about priming and stretching canvasses ... The Parade, and The Every. One slim and one faaaaaat.
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I've just finished this superb little novel by Dave Eggers. It's about the life of an artist and is beautifully told. I'm going to the library now to find another by this writer. 'Contrapposto' by Dave Eggers. My full review: tinyurl.com/46bhpwys #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"Contrapposto" by Dave Eggers
A kunstlerroman, told, at least initially, as if it were a cartoon, using as few details as possible and yet creating a picture of real, viv...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
After 12 years, I've re-read, and re-evaluated, du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek. My new review: tinyurl.com/mp4p9zc4 #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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Frenchman's Creek" by Daphne du Maurier
Seldom has derring do been better derring done. A love story between a bored aristocratic woman and a pirate set in the days of the Restora...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Is it good or is it bad when you ask google a question and the top (AI generated) response references a blogpost you wrote? bit.ly/1Qvjovc
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"The Swerve" by Stephen Greenblatt
I still can't quite understand why I loved this book so much. In 1417 Poggio, a Florentine, having lost his job as Apostolic Secretary when ...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Ploughed my way to the end of 'House of Leaves' - a typographical tour de force - by Mark Z Danielewski. Wow! Have I decrypted the arcana and solved the mystery? My review: tinyurl.com/y6vaau5t #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
A tour-de-force of surreal art. It purports to be the second edition of a book originally written by 'Zampano' with an introduction and ex...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Weird post-apocalyptic novel 'The End of Everything' by M John Harrison is now on the Booker shortlist! My review: tinyurl.com/47ht5dyj #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"The End of Everything" by M John Harrison
Longlisted for the 2026 Booker prize . Phillip Tennent, one of a com munity of beachcombers, rescues something seemingly organic and alive ...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The brilliant 'Black Bag' by Luke Kennard is shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Congratulations @lukekennard.bsky.social My review: tinyurl.com/yhwzxm8w #Booksky 💙 📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"Black Bag" by Luke Rennard
Shortlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize .   An actor, rarely in work, agrees to take part in a university psychology experiment. He had to dre...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
😊
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
@serpents-tail.bsky.social Wow! What a thought-provoking book. First thoughts on 'The End of Everything' by M John Harrison: tinyurl.com/47ht5dyj #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"The End of Everything" by M John Harrison
Longlisted for the 2026 Booker prize . Phillip Tennent, one of a com munity of beachcombers, rescues something seemingly organic and alive ...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
@maxpuffins.bsky.social Thank you for recommending 'The End of Everything' by M John Harrison (though I would have read him anyway, being a fan of his work). I think I enjoyed it; I was certainly impressed. Well weird! My full review: tinyurl.com/47ht5dyj #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"The End of Everything" by M John Harrison
Longlisted for the 2026 Booker prize . Phillip Tennent, one of a com munity of beachcombers, rescues something seemingly organic and alive ...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
@renardpress.com Just finished this clever autofiction (with some metafiction) about an author writing her own life in the guise of a character who is an author writing her own life disguised. My full review: tinyurl.com/2p9uzmfs #Booksky 📚💙 #Books 📚 #Literatureasky
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"Maybe the world will end so we won't have to" by Natasha Bell
Autofiction layered. Tasha, ie the author (and we learn that 'Bell' is a pseudonym) decides to write about her life by creating herself as...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Romantic historical fiction at its most Victorian classic: Lorna Doone by R D Blackmore. My review: tinyurl.com/5329e77t #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Thank you. Our library has Excellent Women so I'll try that for starters.
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I've never tried Barbara Pym. Is 'A Few Green Leaves' a good place to start?
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Max Puffins @maxpuffins.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Lots of hype around Switzy, long listed for the Booker Prize, just released in September. Tough subject matter - mental decay, the loss of identity and death - but still a surprisingly enjoyable read. Review 👇 #books #switzy #bookreviews #booksky maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie...
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Book Review: Switzy, by Emma Cline
Ready to look death right in the eyeballs?
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Great review. Looks like another one for the tbr mountain. Have you read 'Let Go My Hand' by Edward Docx? Also about the trip to Switzerland, but narrated from the PoV of one of the sons of the man booked to die, as he, his half-brothers & dad camper van to Switzerland. My review: bit.ly/2JEq5mj
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"Let Go My Hand" by Edward Docx
Wow. The title comes from King Lear ; it is the moment in Act 4 Scene 6 when the blinded Gloucester has been led by his son Edgar to wha...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I've just finished Booker longlisted 'Black Bag' by Luke Kennard, a frequently very funny and skewering satire on the themes of identity and masculinity (?). My full review: tinyurl.com/yhwzxm8w #Booksky 💙📚 #Literaturesky #Books 📚
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"Black Bag" by Luke Rennard
Longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize .   An actor, rarely in work, agrees to take part in a university psychology experiment. He had to dres...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Thank you @maxpuffins.bsky.social for recommending 'Ghachar Ghochar' on your brilliant substack blog. I have now read it. What a delightful novella, so cleverly written! My full review: tinyurl.com/yxva28fx #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"Ghachar Ghochar" by Vivek Shanbhag
This beautiful jewel of a novella describes the corrosive effect of wealth on the inter-relationships within a family. "Ghachar ghochar", ...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Slightly disappointed by 'My Cousin Rachel' by Daphne du Maurier. My review: tinyurl.com/5deh2sd5 #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"My Cousin Rachel" by Daphne Du Maurier
Set in the days before motorised transport, before railways, when it still took three weeks to travel from south-west England to Florence, t...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
And an even weirder idiot to do this more than once.
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
And i purchased Flamingo Hotel by Drew Gummerson after regularly being prompted by the author on BlueSky! Didn't regret it though. My review: tinyurl.com/5px8d7s9
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"Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel" by Drew Gummerson
Narrated in the anonymous second person, present tense, this week in the life of dishwasher employed at the hotel who, like Walter Mitty, re...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
A work of genius? Or very much not? My review of R A Marno's 'What the Fog Conceals' published by @saltpublishing.com tinyurl.com/5ctwbn3w #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Two novels by D H Lawrence in a row! About time. My review of Sons and Lovers: tinyurl.com/3vnv4p2n #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"Sons and Lovers" by D H Lawrence
Painted by Nottinghamshire artist Sheila Wood An exploration of the Oedipus complex. Paul Morel, second son of his possessive mother, finds ...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
My review of D H Lawrence's remarkable 'The Rainbow': tinyurl.com/4uun6c9k The rainbow in the photo might be over a housing estate now but the arch shown was once the gateway to an iron foundry that made a steam plough for Garibaldi.
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"The Rainbow" by D H Lawrence
This novel was published in 1915. It is a multi-generational family saga. There are multiple religious themes.  Will Brangwen, when courti...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My AI assistant has just told me that there are no Metro newspapers today "because it is Sunday". Back to bed then.
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I was at the matinee performance of Sinatra the musical at the Aldwych Theatre in London yesterday. After the interval it was announced that the curtain had stuck in the down position and the rest of the performance was being cancelled. Tickets to be refunded. Has this ever happened to anyone else?
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Last night I attended a brilliant production of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' at the Grove Theatre Eastbourne. Superb acting and a great play. But it didn't flinch from exposing the grotesque misogyny of the 1962 original. My full review: daja57.blogspot.com/2026/08/one-...
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A stunning production of the play of the novel that spawned the Oscar-winning film.  I saw this at the Grove Theatre in Eastbourne on 22nd A...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I was surprised to enjoy 'The Wedding People' by Alison Espach. I didn't think it was my sort of book. But it is beautifully written and combines insight with wit. My full review: tinyurl.com/y5t9uar9 #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"The Wedding People" by Alison Espach
This funny, well-observed and sometimes profound novel opens with a stunning hook, when Phoebe, the only guest at the hotel not to be part o...
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Rónán Hession @ronanhession.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
💙
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
“A June morning, the air heavy as a wet sock and the sun hanging unencumbered overhead.” From 'Outside Looking In' by T C Boyle, a novel about the LSD experiments of Timothy Leary. My full review: davesbookblog-daja.blogspot.com/2026/07/outs...
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"Outside Looking In" by T C Boyle
A novelisation of the story of Timothy Leary and his promotion of LSD. After a 'Prelude' set in Basel in 1943 in which we learn of the dis...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
“My mind, thought Bill, is like a fly in a matchbox.” 'The Land in Winter' by Andrew Miller My review: tinyurl.com/fpfuuh4u
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Isn't it just a wonderful book, redefining the role of the 'new man'. My review: bit.ly/3YZ1jmw
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"Leonard and Hungry Paul" by Ronan Hession
This advertisement for non-toxic masculinity is a gentle book, grounded in normal everyday life, which uses meticulous observation and psych...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Was the character of Merlin based on a Scottish wild man of the woods with PTSD following a battle of 573 AD? My review of 'Scotland's Merlin' by Tim Clarkson: tinyurl.com/ycy3e974 #Booksky💙📚 #Books 📚
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"Scotland's Merlin" by Tim Clarkson
Clarkson, an "independent researcher and historian", claims that the figure of Merlin, the wizard in the Arthurian legends, may in part have...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
A classic
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
It is a fabulous book, written as if it were a play. My review: tinyurl.com/2mfreru4
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Max Puffins @maxpuffins.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton is Australia’s favourite 21st Century book. Here’s a review of it and a little dive into why that might be. #books #booksky #bookreviews maxpuffins.substack.com/p/australias...
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Australia's favourite book? "Boy Swallows Universe" by Trent Dalton - Review/deeper dive
Australians' favourite 21st century book. Why?
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Interesting review. Must add it to the tbr list. Although, of the ABC top ten, I really disliked 3 and 5 and wasn't that keen on 9. What can I say? Not sure my tastes align with the mainstream, let alone the Australian mainstream.
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I Nancy Mitford's 'Love in a Cold Climate' a satire or is it simply sneering at those of us who don't have servants? My review: tinyurl.com/2mnk2hy9 #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"Love in a Cold Climate" by Nancy Mitford
If you like 'Downton Abbey' and similar work set in the  world of the English aristocracy between the First and Second World Wars, you might...
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I started Nancy Mitford's 'The Pursuit of Love' by accident, thinking it was her 'Love in a Cold Climate' but I'd started so I finished. Here is my review: tinyurl.com/43fwyccs #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"The Pursuit of Love" by Nancy Mitford
Anyone who knows the much-publicised history of the Mitford family will know that this is a fictionalised version of that. (And sanitised;...
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Rae Radford @raeradford.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This is so true..... #BookSky
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Karly Kingsley @karlykingsley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
🎯
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Bluemoose Books @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
3 years ago I appeared in The Guardian And my slippers went viral. 'Bluemoose Books is a small but mighty literary hit factory.' @theguardian.com
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Drew Gummerson @drewgum.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Visited @beardedbadgerbooks.bsky.social in Derby today at Bustler. It’s fantastic. Signed some books. Bought some books. Had a pint and a pizza. It’s an amazing indie space. Beautiful! @renardpress.com
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I have to order online in a restaurant on Exeter Quay ... and it asks me to select a percentage gratuity ... before I have had the service. Do I pick 5% and expect the waiting staff to spit in the food or 20% and expect to be served before the table next door? A millennial dilemma?
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
A super series But weird
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Drew Gummerson @drewgum.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Royalty report for Saltburn just in. 29 copies sold past 6 months. Including overseas (2) and ebook (4). Fergus is asking if that means he stays on the budget treats. Buy a copy via the link to increase his treat quality*. renardpress.com/books/saltbu... *(treats always top quality. Don’t worry!)
A black Labrador peers up at camera from a grassy field.
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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Just finished my 3rd reread of 'Gaudy Night' by Dorothy L Sayers. Ranked 4th best ever crime novel by the Crime Writers' Association but it's so much more than a crime novel. Long, but wow! My full review: bit.ly/3oJoWLQ #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky
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"Gaudy Night" By Dorothy L Sayers
The eleventh Lord Peter Wimsey whodunnit principally starring Harriet Vane, whodunnit author and Lord Peter's lover interest. Harriet goes ...
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