Mark Hodkinson

Mark Hodkinson's memoir of growing up bookish in a community where reading for the sake of it is not common.

The early parts, describing his childhood and teenage years were, for me, more relatable and so interesting, but it did sag rather in the middle when he talks about his time as a journalist covering punk rock and sport (mainly football). The book then picked up when the author talked about his time as a publisher and his bookish life now.

Hope the author knows about this site as he would more than fit in. He is from a very 1970's working class background who basically loves books, despite them being seen as 'feminine' (or worse) / waste of time/space/money in his family. There was ONE book in the house he grew up in before he discovered literature. I'll let that statistic settle in.
His biography takes in setting up his own publishing house (Pomona) and has brought a number of 'working-class' British authors back into the show more published world.
Not much older than myself and certain similarities in our up-bringing but a lifetime removed from my own literary background where thankfully reading was encouraged from a very early age. show less

Great book about the English indie band The Wedding Present. The book was published in 1990 so it only covers up through their first RCA album Bizarro. It's a great, quick read about the group and it's short because there doesn't seem to have been a lot of drama within the group. That may disappoint some, but I found it refreshing! Also, i was expecting Gedge to be a lot more of a ladies man considering his song lyrics, but that does not seem to be the case.....again - refreshing!

Being an account of a season with Manchester City during the time when they were down in the third level. The book is anchored in weekly newspaper columns and access, so it's not a fan's-eye-view. It has a place, though, and it's a fascinating story.