Tag: Robert Goddard

Reviewsrevues is 8!

On By philshanklinIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Today I am celebrating 8 years and 891 posts and a big thank you to those of you who have stuck with me or joined me along the way or even just discovered one or two posts randomly when looking for something else!  I thought I would celebrate by looking at the top 10 most read posts of the last year – some of which were written quite a long time ago now and which have continually appeared on my most-read lists (in fact only number 3 was read and reviewed in 2022).  I admit I do continue to  find it fascinating to see what  people are reading.  So here goes:

10. Diary Of Two Nobodies – Giles Wood and Mary Killen

Posted back in 2018 and has been one of the most read posts ever since.  The musings of the couple from “Gogglebox” has certainly been of interest- although it has slipped down from its number 5 spot in 2020.

9. Scott And Bailey – Series 5

When I last looked at the top posts back in 2020 this was  the most read even though this last series of the ITV police show was first shown in 2016.  Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp certainly made a lasting impression.

8. Past Caring – Robert Goddard

I reviewed this 1986 novel in 2018.  This was the debut novel from the much loved British crime writer and despite me saying at the time “I am convinced, however, that there will be some real gems in the 25 or so works of his that I am still to encounter” I haven’t got around to reading him since.  I do have a copy of his 2020 novel “The Fine Art Of Invisible Detection” looking across at me from the bookshelves as I write this so I might very well find myself rediscovering this author this year.

7. This Is Going To Hurt – Adam Kay

I read and reviewed this in 2018 when it was dominating best seller lists.  It’s just reminded me that I have not got around to watching the BBC TV adaptation which was so well received  and which starred Ben Whishaw- I have the whole series recorded on Sky but never seem to be in the mood to get started with it.  Looking back at my review I’m wondering if that is because I said “I haven’t read anything before with so much bodily fluids sloshing around”.  It’s one thing reading about it but another when you are watching it whilst eating your tea!

6. Kathy Kirby: Secrets Lives And Lipgloss – James Harman

Obviously one of my guilty pleasures which is 60s songstress Kathy Kirby has had a bit of renewed interest in the last year as she features twice in my most read list.  At number 6 we have this four star 2005 memoir which I reviewed in 2016.  Harman shines a light on a woman who found fame under the shadow of her lover and mentor the much older celebrated band leader Bert Ambrose but who after his death went into free fall.  Exploited by both the music business and the press her naivety ran alongside a determination to bounce back.  Harman knew her well and conveys the 1960s showbusiness world she inhabited as well as the vulnerability of some who rose to the top.  It might be a struggle to get hold of this book now which may explain why fans are searching for my review of it.

5. Sanditon – Jane Austen and Another Lady

Another consistent top 5 performer is this 2019 five star review of a 1975 publication of the completion of Jane Austen’s unfinished fragment which was completed by the “Another Lady” in this case Australian-born author Marie Dobbs.  I’m sure the ITV series has helped maintain the interest in what I thought about this.

4. The Very Best Of – Kathy Kirby

Number 79 in my Essential CD lists is the 2016 review of a 1997 20 track release on the Spectrum label.  I’m pleased to see this getting a good number of reviews – I wouldn’t want this singer who was once reputedly the highest paid woman on British television being forgotten.  By the mid 60’s when Beatlemania was at its height her chart career was over yet within these twenty tracks there are some fine examples of British pop music.

3. The Whalebone Theatre – Joanna Quinn

My four star review of this 2022 novel meant that it was out of the running when I came to choose my Top 10 books of the year as I had read so many 5 star titles but this is a book which remained with me throughout the year that I am wondering if my original four star rating was not a little stingy.  A splendid Dorset-set debut and I am pleased that so many people have wanted to find out more about it.  A book which achieved a very good level of critical and commercial success.

2. 20 Of The Best – Shirley Bassey

This budget Music For Pleasure CD spans the years 1960-73 and made it to number 80 in my Essential CD countdown.  This has tended to hover around the lower half of the Top 10 most read posts since publication but has had a real surge this year to become my second most read post.  This is surely because of the continued love and support for this now 86 year old Dame of the Realm, living legend and national treasure. 

1. The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne

How delighted am I to see this at the very top of my most read pile as this is one of my favourite books of all time and I don’t miss  many opportunities to mention this and recommend it so I do hope that readers have found their way to this book through my promotion of it.  I reviewed this back in 2017 and in the eight years I have been writing this book I think only this year’s Book Of The Year “Young Mungo” by Douglas Stuart has come close to toppling this off my favourite book pedestal.  Thank you for seeking this review out in considerable numbers and thank you for reading this book. 

Where are you reading from?

The Top 10 countries for visitors to reviewsrevues.com.  The figures in brackets relate to 2020 when I last published this list.

1(1) UK

2(2) US

3 (7) Australia

4(-) Italy

5 (6) Canada

6(4) Germany

7(-) China

8(-) France

9(5) Netherlands

10 (-) Ireland

Welcome to the new countries in the Top 10.  Not sure what has happened to my Belgian visitors who have slumped from the number 3 position.  Hopefully they will be back before I celebrate reviewsrevues 9th birthday.

Many thanks for your continued support.

What You Have Been Reading – The Top Posts Of 2019.

On By philshanklinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The results are in!  Let’s begin the countdown of the ten most visited (and hopefully read) posts of 2019.  There are now 665 posts on this site for your delectation and it does seem you enjoy digging around for older posts as only one of my 2019 Top 10 actually appeared this year, the rest were posted before 2019 started and in a couple of cases didn’t cause that much interest at the time and have become slow burners.  There have been 95 new posts this year which is a little down from my peak numbers but I’m still pretty proud of myself thinking this is pretty good going after nearly 5 years as reviewsrevues.com.

The counters were all zeroed last January 1st so these reflect the most read posts since then.  The figures in brackets relate to when I last has a countdown back in April when I was celebrating the 600th post.  To read the original reviews (and bump up their figures even further) just click on the link to the post.

10 (-) 63 Up– This is the only new post from 2019. This seven yearly update of a group of participants began back in 1964 when they were seven years old.  In June this year we had the latest in what is always a five star experience.  Shown as a three parter with director Michael Apted still at the helm this is an experiment which at the time it commenced was revolutionary and now is just fascinating.

9 (3) Atlantic Ballroom – Waldeck   CD review as part of my rather sparse Music Now Thread (although I may have more time to concentrate on this now that the Essential CD rundown is complete).  Originally posted in November 2018.

8 (8) Mary Portas; Secret Shopper.  Posted in January 2016.  This Channel 4 series saw Mary investigating customer service.

7 (7) Once Upon A Time – Donna Summer.  Posted in March 2018.  This 1977 double album which I placed at #85 on my Essential CD list has this year been the most read of my CD reviews

6 (4) The Diary Of Two Nobodies – Giles Wood & Mary Killen.  Posted in Jan 2018. The “Gogglebox” pair still pulling in people interested in finding out more about them away from their TV viewing chairs.

5 (-) Nutshell – Ian McEwan.  Posted in April 2016.  I will hopefully get round to reading and reviewing author McEwan’s 2019 published “Machines Like Me” (as featured on my 2019- What I Should Have Read post).  In the meantime plenty of you still want to know what I thought about this original crime novel.

4 (2) Scott and Bailey – Also posted in April 2016.  The 5th and final series of this obviously much missed TV series seems to have become established as the most read of my television reviews.

3(-) Past Caring – Robert Goddard.  I was exploring Robert Goddard’s back catalogue in January 2018 when I posted a review of his novel from 1986.  I didn’t love this early work and did feel confident that he has written some real gems in the twenty-five or so novels since this.  He is one of those authors who people when returning his library books are very keen to recommend to me.  I should certainly seek out more by him in 2020.

2(-) The Dark Circle – Linda Grant.  Her 2019 published “A Stranger City” just missed out on my end of year Top 10 but you still seem to be seeking out her 2016 novel the review of which I posted in October of that year.  This was her 7th novel and is set largely in a TB sanatorium in post-war Britain.  This has been the most read fiction review this year.

1(1) This Is Going To Hurt – Adam Kay– Came in as a new entry in the 600th post and is now looking established at the top of the pile.  His much awaited “T’Was The Nightshift Before Christmas” was a much slimmer tome than hoped for but no doubt found its way into many stockings over the festive period, but this is the book which Kay fans will return to.  The interest in this review is no surprise, despite the book being published in 2017 and not being picked up by me until November 2018 this is (according to the bestseller.co.uk website) the third biggest selling book in Britain in 2019.

The new entries

In my next couple of posts I’m intending to look ahead to what should be coming up in 2020 book-wise and also scouting around the blogosphere to see what some of the other bloggers have really enjoyed in 2019 before we knuckle down to the real reviewing business in 2020!

Past Caring – Robert Goddard (1986) – A Murder They Wrote Review

On By philshanklinIn Murder They Wrote..., Uncategorized2 Comments

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pastcaring

This is the 5th novel by British author Robert Goddard I’ve read over the years.  He now has some thirty works to his name yet this was his debut first published in 1986.  So far the two of his novels I have enjoyed the most have been “Set In Stone” (1999) and “Play To The End” (2004) yet admittedly I haven’t really been completely bowled over by what I have read.

 The title does seem to be asking for trouble here and in what is quite some intense plotting there were times when I felt I myself was approaching the “past caring” stage but there was always just a little twist to get my interest back when I could feel it fading.

 Martin Radford, unemployed historian, is invited to Madeira where a job opportunity arises.  A wealthy South African has found a journal left by the previous owner of his villa, an ex-Cabinet minister who shone in the Asquith administration but who resigned suddenly and ended up in self-exile in Madeira.  Radford is asked to research and comes across regret, secrets, political feuds, Suffragettes and a closer family connection than he had anticipated.  We get to read the memoir in full and the mystery of Edwin Stafford’s departure from the political scene drives Radford to ever desperate measures.

 It brings the historian into contact with three generations of the Couchman family.  I did at times struggle to distinguish between them which might suggest that Goddard hadn’t quite fully realised his skills with characterisation at this stage of his writing career.  There’s also a love interest for Radford which never rings true (but that could very well be intentional).

 I was drawn into the plot and really enjoyed the memoir aspect of it.  I like the way Goddard locks events into history in his novels and the focus on unravelling these mysteries.  As such, the older characters seemed to resonate with me more than the modern.  (The “present” in this novel being the mid 1970s).

 All in all I would put this on a par with the stronger Goddard novels I have read (so better than Days Without Number” (2003) and “Name To A Face” (2007).  He is an author who explores themes which draw me in but sometimes there is a density of plotting and issues with pace which prevent a whole-hearted recommendation.  I am convinced, however, that there will be some real gems in the twenty-five or so works of his that I am still to encounter.

 threestars

I read a Corgi paperback reprint of “Past Caring”, a novel which was first published in 1986.