As much as I wanted to love Sunburn: The Unofficial History of the Sun Newspaper in 99 Headlines, and at time I genuinely did, it was the kind of book that overstayed its welcome by the halfway mark.
I love James Felton as a comedian. He's witty, political, and irreverent. For the first quarter of the book or so I was absolutely engrossed and his comedic stylings translated well. He managed to insert humour into topics that would usually make me shake my head in disappointment and disbelief. But as the book went on, that humour started to feel a bit samey, and I found myself getting bored, which was a real shame.
Thankfully, the structure of Sunburn is such that you can read it in small sittings. It took me a month to finish reading it because it ended up being my waiting room read on my phone's Kindle app - I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and read the whole thing. It provided the perfect bite-sized distraction for when I didn't have the time to fully immerse myself in something.
Sunburn is interesting, surprisingly informative, and definitely not short on humour. It's a fun, easy read, but be prepared for the humour to wear thin after a while in long sittings.
Reviewed by pamela on
Reading updates
- 24 July, 2021: Started reading
- 24 July, 2021: on page 0 out of 336
- 20 August, 2021: Finished reading
- 20 August, 2021: Reviewed