Title/Author

• Annals, Tacitus
• Agricola, Tacitus; I think this book made me hate Tacitus. So many inconsistencies, and I *know* it's supposed to be a euology to Agricola, but the constant ass kissing gets a bit much. It's worse when the other governors get dismissed or Tacitus is completely rude about them - his expansionist policies often get in the way of proper criticism (or appropriate praise), such as with Turpilianus. Even with the governors Tacitus considers 'bad', it's very difficult to make your own opinion with the two or so sentences other governors that aren't Agricola get.
• Death and Croissants; The two books in the series are very nice and cosy. The characters are quite stereotypical, but I think they fit fine within the type of story and they're used well for comedic effect/chemistry. It also helps to have completely ridiculous characters who don't fit their stereotypes at all, such as Richard's old English friends. I'm very excited for the short story coming in November and the eventual sequel, which seems to be taking a new turn for the series.
• Death and Fromage; see notes above
• Harvest, Jim Crace
• History of the Peloponnesian War; The first 'proper' history (Herodotus doesn't count, the bastard), despite its flaws (it has many), it's pretty good. I'd write more but I'd be here all day.
• Julius Caesar, Shakespeare
• I, Claudius, Robert Graves; Graves definitely takes some creative liberties with the historical events, but considering it's a work of fiction and he incorporates them quite well I'm not too fussed. I'm a bit torn on Livia being represented as a cunning mastermind: on the one hand, her character is interesting and seeing how she destroys the family from the inside is certainly good to read (and watch in the BBC series), but on the other it's completely playing into the hands of the ancient and misogynist writers. Whether she was actually so evil is debated nowadays, and most likely writers such as Dio and Suetonius write her as such to me a good story (which works, clearly), but also because she was quite influential for a woman of her time.
• If Cats Disappeared From The World
• Othello, Shakespeare
• Papillon; If even half of it is true I would give up my favourite mug. But an entertaining read. There are certain parts which you can definitely tell are quite exaggerated, if not completely fictional. The very very long chapter/s with Papillon on the island with the Indians(?) is especially tedious... I think I just skipped it. I've also decided to read it in French for some practice, which has been enjoyable.
• Roman History, Dio
• The Cat and the City; The way the city is depicted is so vivid, it's incredible. The cast is quite wide, with each chapter focusing on a different character. They're all intertwined, however. I will say that I had some struggles keeping up with who was who as different characters were mentioned throughout the chapters. Regardless, each character was written very well, and you could see a lot of care went into the book. The author even makes use of drawings (a part of one chapter is shown visually through a child's manga drawing) and styles of text (when the cat has a robot-ish twin created of itself and shares a conscious, the text splits in two) to add some flair, let's say.
• The Dry Heart; I wrote my thoughts in my journal, and I can't be bothered to rewrite them.
• The Neverending Story; A story from my childhood, which I loved.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius; Allows me to read juicy gossip but in a professional way: because it's considered a classic, it's acceptable to read!
• The Tobacconist