Pot-Bouille

by Emile Zola
This marks the half way stage in the Rougon-Macquart series being the tenth out of 20 novels. It is set in Paris and describes the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie through the goings on in one house in the Rue de Choiseul. Only one member of the Rougon-Macquarts features and this is Octave Mouret who comes to Paris from the South and sets about conquering Paris and its women, with varying success.
It was a good read and as usual peopled with a number of great characters, notably the horrible Mme Josserand and her equally obnoxious brother, Bachelard 8/10

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen
A very enjoyable yarn from Jane Austen. Her books are very amusing and this one has a great, but not too taxing, mystery running through it. 9/10

Zola, A Life

by Frederick Brown

An excellent book. It is very readable and has a great balance between Zola's life and his works and a very good chapter summarising the Dreyfus affair. There are also some interesting photos spread throughout the book. If you want a comprehensive introduction to Emile Zola and his work then this would be a good place to start. 9/10

Amazing Disgrace

by James Hamilton-Paterson

This is the follow-up to the excellent Cooking with Fernet Branca and gives us the further exploits of the snobbish but very funny ghost writer Gerald Samper. This time he is writing the biography of a one armed and obnoxious woman sailor while longing for more worthwhile subjects, such as Max Christ the composer.
The book has some very amusing episodes but seems to rely to heavily on its predecessor and I did not enjoy it as much. 5/10

The Bullet Trick

by Louise Welsh

This was a good thriller set between Glasgow, London and Berlin and involves the bizarre tale of a conjuror going through a tough time. It was gripping and I read it very quickly although in places it felt a bit strung out. Would still recommend it though. 7/10