23/08/13: Michèle Roberts – Paper Houses: A Memoir of the '70s and Beyond (2007)

Not many books could contain all of these sentences:

1. "All my life as a writer I have loved the semicolon."

2. "I had seen Suzy Seven-Up in a bar on Patpong smoking seven cigarettes through her c*** at once: I showed Bertie that I could do the same."

3. "I was so terrified I shat my trousers."

4. "Goodness: I'd become a lesbian."

5. "I could watch the sunset melt into blue-grey night, pick out the coiled lazy snake of the motorway, creased and glittering with cars, the oblongs of tower-blocks pitted with gold. Above me, jets trailed jewels."

The author writes nicely, whether it's on the wonders of working as a librarian at the British Museum or detailing her various London flats and the people she shared them with, and there are some very evocative passages: "In summer, people kept their long fron windows open to the night, rectangles of gold releasing the hot clatter of jazz."

She takes herself very seriously – not necessarily a bad thing. As an insight into life in London in the 1970s, this is a fascinating and rewarding read.

11/08/13: Ian McEwan – On Chesil Beach (2007)

Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting have just been married and are honeymooning in a hotel at Chesil Beach, Dorset, in 1962. But on their first night together they are separated by class and expectations, and the physical consummation that Edward so craves is repellent to Florence.

How this very English scenario plays out – and the events that led up to this evening, and those that lead away from it – are played out in McEwan's ultra-focused, almost clinically precise prose over 166 pages. It's compelling stuff.

09/08/13: James Bowen – A Street Cat Named Bob (2012)

Touching tale (tail?) of a recovering drug addict/homeless man who adopts a lost ginger tomcat, who in turn gives him a reason to live. James takes to busking with Bob by his side or on his shoulders, and his fortunes begin to improve. Later he sells the Big Issue and ultimately becomes a minor celebrity – hence this book. Along the way, there are scary episodes such as losing Bob in the crowded streets of central London, being treated with hostility or suspicion as one of society's marginal figures, and the harrowing cold turkey of getting off methadone.

Bob the cat emerges as a great character – strong-willed and intelligent, brave but vulnerable – and it's moving to read about the bond that builds up between man and animal. This inspiring book is also a reminder that we need to be kinder to sellers of the Big Issue: they don't get given their magazines, they have to buy them. They are urged to manage this responsibly as a mini-business, as this helps them scrape a living with dignity (in a way that charity hand-outs don't).

James Bowen was more fortunate than most because his furry friend often acted as a magnet for public goodwill (odd how we relate to animals more emotionally than we sometimes do to humans). So spare a thought for those without gorgeous pets to melt the hearts of passers-by and read this excellent book.