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

@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 ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ“š #Books ๐Ÿ“š #Literaturesky

"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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@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 ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ’™ #Books ๐Ÿ“š #Literatureasky

"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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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?

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-...

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

A stunning production of the play of the novel that spawned the Oscar-winning film.ย  I saw this at the Grove Theatre in Eastbourne on 22nd A...

daja57.blogspot.com

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 ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ“š #Books ๐Ÿ“š #Literaturesky

"The Wedding People" by Alison Espach

This funny, well-observed and sometimes profound novel opens with a stunning hook, whenย Phoebe, the only guest at the hotel not to be part o...

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โ€œA June morning, the air heavy as a wet sock and the sun hanging unencumbered overhead.โ€ 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...

"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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