On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

My favourite McEwan work: short, sharp, touching, skilful.

The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham

I'd forgotten how sexist this book is, how sexist Maugham generally is. Nonetheless, it's a stunning portrait of a man who does portraits -- I'm writing this for myself so puns come aplenty, o imagined reader I am writing to regardless. Maugham combines psychology with storytelling, but in a majestic way: allowing a character's mysterious behaviour to remain mysterious, not providing reasons where reason knows not, all the while still rendering the characters believable.

30-Second Mythology edited by Robert A Segal

Very lame. Hard to believe this collection of not-well-written mythological vignettes could be written by a number of contributors rather than a single author.

My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad

Fun, warm, a bit long. Dickensian in its portrayal of curious characters, yet lacking depth.

A Geek in Korea by Daniel Tudor

The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran by Robert Spencer

He cherry picks, is biased... but Spencer is also appraising the Koran more honestly than many others who more blithely claim the book to be about peace.

The Koran by God translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and another by Tarif Khalidi

Hard to believe this book is the basis for a religion. Tedious, repetitive. Is almost a book of Chinese whispers derived from the Old Testament repeated ad nauseam.

The Koran: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Cook

Dull work that detailed some of the more boring details in slipshod manner.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

Dictator by Robert Harris

Such jolly good fun. A bit rushed in the end. The whole series should probably have been a tetralogy than a trilogy, but that's a trifling criticism when compared to the galloping joy of reading the series.