Not the Oscars 2026 – Part Deux
For the second time this year, we trip down the digital red carpet to deliver the final 7-12 of Not The Oscars 2026 – part deux. The rest of the films which should have been…
Not The Oscars 2026 – Part One
Yes, it’s that time of year again. The time when we trip down the digital red carpet to deliver the Not The Oscars for 2026. The top 12 films which should have been at the…
Top 10 comedy novels to give your friends (or yourself) this Christmas
Merriest season’s greetings. Are you only now getting round to buying presents? Or is it just me? I always leave it late, though this year I have an excuse: just out of hospital and needing…
Review: The Bonfire of the Vanities
I asked in a blog some years ago if satire worked. If it does, why is the world in such a shitty place? But then, perhaps we’re misunderstanding. Perhaps satire was never intended to improve…
Can you help me deal with Amazon’s high-handedness?
I’d appreciate your help dealing with Amazon’s high-handedness. Some time ago on Amazon I had well over 100 reviews of my first novel, the satirical The Breaking of Liam Glass – the majority 5 star.…
35 Years of Devil in a Blue Dress
Devil in a Blue Dress is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Walter Mosley’s bestseller broke new ground and was snapped up by Hollywood. It opened up whole new possibilities for Black writers. But do either book…
Three books for humans
It’s not easy to find an entertaining book about the way we live now, climate change and politics. Even the words seem so off-putting. But I’ve just discovered three that are great reads in totally…
Books for Christmas reading
Merry Christmas. What are you planning to read over Christmas? Here’s a Yuletide taster menu for you, from the top of my To Be Read pile. Something to fill in deadly gaps between TV Xmas…
Orbital and other books and TV
Fall in love with the earth In my continuing search for books to recommend to you, a few months ago I read Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital. Just two weeks ago, it won the Booker. Never…
Books & TV for the long nights
It’s scary how many books there are out there. So many good books to read – and bad. How do you choose? Actually, do email me and tell me how you choose. I’d be interested.…
The Boys from Biloxi. Has Grisham taken on too big a case?
Not many writers can claim to have made a genre their own, but John Grisham and legal thrillers go together like an American judge and gavel. So, when a new Grisham comes out, there’s a…
Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris
Why should we care? It’s probably the most important question a storyteller needs to answer. It’s particularly pressing when the story relates to events that took place around three hundred and fifty years ago, to…
Not the Oscars
Excited about the Oscar winners? Don’t bother: get excited about Not the Oscars! The good movies that the Academy (and my fellow BAFTA voters) passed over. If you want eight movies that will wake you…
Remote control – Stone Heart Deep by Paul Bassett Davies reviewed
With foreign holidays still only slowly returning, how about a remote Scottish island? One with a freezing-cold loch that contains deep secrets, a populace who seem eerily calm and controlled – and a rather strange…
My 2021 in books
Imagine you could buy a pill that could give you more brainpower, more empathy, better vocabulary and a longer life, while preventing cognitive decline, reducing stress, helping sleep and lifting depression. How much would you…
7 best snow movies
I can’t guarantee a White Christmas, but we can slump in front of the TV to watch a snow movie. Snow movies inspired the main story of my psychological mystery thriller Room 15, which takes…
Please do not ask for mercy… – review
… AS A REFUSAL OFTEN OFFENDS BY PAUL BASSETT DAVIES If this review is late, blame the book. I received it two years ago and read it straight through. But every time I picked it…
5 more things I learned from TV (and the movies)
Last week’s blog sparked some interesting responses. So many of you got back to me with what you yourselves had learned from TV and the movies, that this week I’m adding five more. Obviously, I’m…