I almost had to force myself to keep reading Tim Winton's Cloudstreet, but was rewarded because the further I went the more I enjoyed it.

Before that I read Steven Carroll's The Gift of Speed, an excellent read with some truly exceptional moments, marred only by the misery being spread on unnecessarily thick at times. It has a brilliant ending. I like good endings.

At the moment I am reading a not-very-memorable book, but I've got Martin Cruz Smith's Stalin's Ghost on the bedside table lined up for next. I'm looking forward to that. Gorky Park was another very good book with a very good ending.