Dawn

This novel puts us straight back into Seb's experiences with HappyHead - a novel approach to treating teenagers with mental health issues. Written in the first person, we cannot help but be drawn into the horrors he endures.
It's definitely a bit darker than the last one, lots of threats and fears but ultimately I felt it held back.
I don't imagine there will be another HappyHead novel but I'll be interested to read whatever Silver brings us next.

A thrilling and exciting tale, dystopian (and we know I love a bit of that) maybe a bit premonitory (a mysterious virus killing off indiscriminately) and completely engaging.
Red pulls on a backpack and sets out for Grandmother's house and we tag along while the world gets wilder, weirder and increasingly more dangerous.
Using flashbacks to fill in the blanks, we never quite know exactly what has happened and the pace is kept up.
I'm rounding up to 5 stars because I feel the ending was rushed yet a little slow - important questions were unanswered and I felt a bit underwhelmed as I turned the last page.
But overall it was a most enjoyable read, I liked the movie references and thought Red was a damn fine hero!

I found my copy of Neverness at a church bring-and-buy sale around 1993. I don't remember if it was the cover that caught my eye or if the person selling their books (for mere pennies towards the church roof) persuaded me to buy it. What I do remember it that I LOVED it, I read it and reread it from the age of 15 till the end of my teens. I remember pleading with my friends to read it but they never managed to make it through the 600+ pages. They didn't get the beauty of mathematics and become obsessed with the poetry of Blake. In my whole lifetime I have met only one other who has read and loved this book.
At 16 I wrote a letter to David Zindell (never sent and now lost) crying out my praises. I wrote my own sci-fi stories (terrible, plagiarised and thankfully also lost) inspired by his words and worlds. This was my favourite book, of then but of all time?
It's been over 20 years since I last read Neverness and nearly 25 years since I first read it. I was wary to pick up the old pages and return there, would I still feel as much as I did then (for, like many a teen-ager, I felt too much)? Had I changed too much to fall through the stars with Mallory and return to the Devaki?
I need not have feared. This is still my favourite book. Perhaps I have become cruel and callous as in the past the pages had choked me to tears but over these few days I barely sniffed. But I still felt, I was there among them all yet again, careening across the ice or floating in the belly of their lightships. I understood so much more, words that I had assumed were alien invention suddenly had new meaning when I saw their roots (although I had a dictionary by my bed when I read as a teen it was puny in comparison to Zindell's vocabulary and there was no Google to quickly check a word or fact).
I cannot describe this book, what it meant to me or why I still love it. All I can do is implore you to read it, to give yourselves up to it and let it open your mind to the universe.

“What good is a warrior without a war, a poet without a poem”.

I'd have thought I'd had enough of COVID by now but this was a good read. Suitable for those with little or no medical knowledge, it is well written and gives an insight into what was happening in primary care during the start of the pandemic. Francis has had an interesting career and I'll probably look into some of his other books, he also used passages from Dafoe's ‘Journal of the Plague Year' which I'm going to try to find now.

An extended essay on life and death, it ebbs and flows like the sea. Sometimes pulling you into the emotions of the dying and the bereaved, then distancing you with philosophical theories and quotations.
This is not a book that needs stars or critiques, it is a writer's way of making sense of death and loss. It reminded me of my feelings about my own mother's dying, it made me want to write poems and prose.

There's always a fear that the second book won't live up to the first but this one more than does. Baldree combines carnage and cosiness to create another perfect piece of work.
Characters are completely believable: flawed, funny and (in one particular case) foul-mouthed.
As with the previous one I just didn't want to put it down and could have happily read many more pages. I hope that there are more stories to come.

Way and Simon's synergistic mind-melding sprouted this graphic novel. A soul sister to a concept album I've never even heard.
I'm probably not the intended audience but I like the weird dystopian future and the beautiful yet brutish artwork. At times bizarre and confusing, I reread it again just to get my head around it (and spend a bit more time in each frame).
The afterwords are worth a read, two sides of the same coin. Way's “awakening” moved and saddened me more than anything in the story.

Enjoyed the history and medicine side of it but not massively drawn in by the characters. Hadn't realised it was a sequel but don't really care enough to search it out. 3.5⭐ rounded up - Ambrose Parry does it better.

I would have read this in one sitting if my phone battery hadn't run out! Each tale entices you further in to the mysterious lands of princesses, witches, curses and love. Each teller shows us a different angle of the traditional stories, individualising them through the first-person narration. The short story cycle has the recounter ask a question from another character which leads to the next tale. I liked this at first but found it grated slightly on repetition. Overall, it is an enjoyable twist on traditional fairy tales with a focus on the female experience.

This follows Okonkwe, son of a drunkard wastrel, who aspires to be a great man of his clan and have many titles. He is a warrior, strong and steadfast, following the way of his elders. Not necessarily a nice man but he looks out for his wives, children and fellow villagers.
Achebe uses the story of the ill-fated Okonkwe as a frame for the greater theme of colonisation by the white man. To see how the white invaders took over the hearts and minds of the clansmen and women and turned them against themselves. As Okonkwe tries to uphold the ways and beliefs of the elders the new religion colonises the very minds of some of the villagers with disastrous consequences for the clan and Okonkwe himself. After the shock reveal of the last chapter the arrogance and dismissal in the passing thought of the commissioner took my breath away.
I'm glad I read this for my own pleasure and not as a student, I can imagine that taking it apart in class would have dampened the enjoyment. Instead I was able to escape to the dusty red dirt, the torrential rains and the mysterious gods and goddesses of the Umuofia. I hope Ezinma did well.

From an aesthetic point of view this is not a pleasant book, it's cheaply made from an eBook PDF and it certainly feels it. The cover is too shiny and flimsy and the paper pages are blindingly white. It is also shoddily edited, at one stage full stops were replaced with the letter a - giving the speaker a sudden cod-Italian accent!

However, I persevered because I really wanted to read the main story, Shanidar, which sowed the seeds for his first, and my favourite, novel Neverness.

Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed with Shanidar. I had probably blown it up in my head having been wanting to read it for nearly 30 years. It turned out, though, that I already pretty much knew the plot. Furthermore, the writing is good but not a patch on his later work.

Disheartened, I read on. The following 2 stories reminded me of the tales published in Omni magazines (probably where I first got my love of sci-fi and fantasy). They were good, but not great. Written on prescribed topics at a writer's conference they explore themes developed in his later works: what is man? what is god/God? can man become more? can man become god/God?

And then, with the 4th story, I found the diamond in this book. When The Rose Is Dead is beautifully realised, the characters are believable, the Endless City with its endless wars is a desolate future. Zindell uses this story to explore memory: does memory make the man/woman and what happens when it is destroyed? These themes are expanded on in his Requiem For Homo Sapiens but get lost amongst his many others - here they shine! As the hints were dropped and you could see where the story was leading you, still Zindell blindsides us in the last pages. Here, was the poetry I come to expect from his writing, the beauty, the pain, the romance and the inevitable loss. Here is a tale that I will read again and again and continue to get more out of.

The final 2 stories did not live up to this promise but were much better than the earlier offerings. Martian Compassion was inspired by Wells' War Of The Worlds but becomes a critique of the Gulf War. Zindell's Martians were so similar to his Agathanians (in a completely indescribable way to those who have not read Neverness) that it quite took me out of the story and I struggled to stay immersed. Nevertheless, the story was interesting, well written and had a point - why CAN'T we all just get along?

Zindell finishes this collection with The Tiger which is a strange little tale. It could be set anywhere but inevitably, for Zindell, it's a dystopian post-war city - which has nothing to do with the plot. When a tiger suddenly starts spending time in the city centre the inhabitants first aim to destroy and then grow to worship her. As they gaze at her they wonder and question everything, needing to know the how and why of everything, while she just exists.

Overall this is a good collection of stories allowing us to follow the evolution of an author and the development his favoured themes. My only complaint is that it cost me so much to buy and is so badly put together!

I'd seen the film so I knew how it was going to go, ergo no surprises. I don't like doing it that way, I always try to read the book first.
It was a fun read as our plucky young astronaut goes from disaster to disaster via DIY and disco.
Sure Watney is irritatingly optimistic, I understand that he got on several reviewers tits - and probably the crew's too! I found him a good diarist though, explaining the science and keeping me interested in his survival. He's nicely balanced by the parallel stories on Earth and the ship.
What stands out for me are the episodes where a cold, omniscient voice narrates Watney's activities on Mars - I actually found them pretty spooky, especially considering where in the story they appear!
Already planning on reading more of Weir's fiction and probably rewatching the film again!

It was probably a mistake to read this having never read any Reacher novels. To be fair there's no real need to know anything about Child's creation, he sits in the shadows of this like a ghost. But it might have given me some interest, had I some prior knowledge. Instead, I just couldn't get enthused by the plot or care for the characters. I was glad to finish it quickly and have no intention of reading anything more about Otto and Gaspar's investigations. I might risk an actual Reacher at some point but I've plenty of other books I'd rather read first!

Just a great fun read that I whizzed through. A secret semi-supernatural spy agency, an amnesiac paper-shuffler turned superhero, weird mutanated allies and foes - what's not to like? And despite being a re-read it hadn't lost it's moments of suspense and surprise.
Nice to read a female protagonist written by a man that isn't a super-sexy one-dimensional fantasy and actually appears to be quite realistic and believable (in an albiet bizarre parallel version of our world).
I had only one gripe, and it's a petty little thing that nags at my teeth again and again when reading fiction set in the UK and written from the point of view of an English person.... American spelling!! Taylor would use those superfluous Us, double consonants and Ss instead of Zs (that's “zeds”

This got loads of positive reviews and I was worried it was over-hyped. Glad to say I was wrong, this was a really good debut novel.
It's a story of a family falling apart as the mother's loses herself in her alcoholism. Shuggie adores his mother despite the drink and will do anything for her.
The darkness and depression of Glasgow's poverty-stricken underbelly are reflected in the themes. It's really not a happy book although there's a slight whiff of positivity at the end.
It reminded me a bit of Angela's Ashes but I was more enthused by this as it's set in my adopted home. I enjoyed Stuart's blending of the broad Glesca patter with his poetic prose.
It's not my usual sort of read but I'm glad I gave it a go and it definitely deserves all the plaudits.

Book-club read [UoG]:
Enjoyed Marian and her story, could have done without Hadley. There was a lot going on, lots of side-plots and characters. Sometimes the most interesting things were buried under yet another pairing. Too many coincidences, makes it quite unbelievable fiction despite being based on so much fact.
In the end I'm not sure we needed to know, I'm quite sure Hadley didn't deserve to.

3.5 stars

Naoki Higashida was13 years old when he wrote this. Diagnosed with “autistic tendancies” aged 6 he struggled to verbalise and learnt to express himself through an alphabet grid.
Here he answers typical questions asked to those with autism such as “why don't you make eye contact when you're talking?” and “why do you like spinning?”. Each answer is a couple of pages of his reasoning behind these actions (or inactions) and interspersed beween them are a couple of his short stories with a longer one at the end of the book. This final piece of fiction elicits empathy and is beautifully written.
I was unaware, until afterwards when I read reviews, that there was controversy over the authorship, whether it had been embellished or mistranslated etc. I felt that it reads as believable and truthful, he comes across as an intelligent, well-read teenager, keen both to learn and to teach. He has thought hard about his answers and expresses them clearly.
My only criticism is that he uses “we” and “us” throughout his explanations. I doubt it is the same for every person on the autistic scale. Perhaps it is the innocence of youth to think you can speak so confidently for 1% of the population. Especially when some will never be able to tell us what they are experiencing.
Regardless, it has opened my eyes and will make me think more as to why some of the people I know do such things. Armed with this knowledge I shall endeavour to make my interactions with them more comfortable.

3.5* rounded up for the cute cover and the creepy chapter headings.

A book about grief, belonging and bees. A genderfluid queer kid goes back to summer camp to investigate the mysteries about their twin sister's death.
Can Mars be accepted, do they want to be, who by?
There's horror and romance, bees and honey. It gets a bit weird towards the end which pulled the rating down for me but I'm glad I stuck with it.

I love John Wyndham but had never read this novel before. It didn't disappoint, the Sci-Fi and practical 50's English village life meld together perfectly here echoing Well's himself (referenced several times for good measure). The end was unexpected and gave me quite a surprise, I kept trying to turn to the next page but there was nothing left.
My only complaint is with the edition, a library ebook, which rather irritatingly kept joining words together. This was enough to take me out of the flow
and away from Wyndham's world. When will I ever learn, paper is always a better read!

An intelligent little book about difference and the way it is perceived.
In Wyndham's post-nuclear world any mutants are destroyed or are cast out by the religious tribes who strive to maintain the norm.
Our narrator, David, has an invisible difference that puts him, and his friends, at risk. But what if there's a place where they would be accepted?
Published in 1955 it feels just as fresh as anything written today and would fit well into the popular YA bracket.
An enjoyable, quick read that I'm bound to return to again and again.

A perfect book where the horrors finally beget beauty and love. The understanding and acceptance shown in this work is refreshing, it feels like it was written yesterday not 40 years ago.
It's difficult to read at times because of the terrible things the characters have to face. But in the end it is worth every painful page and tear.
One of the best books I've ever read and that's high praise indeed.

3.5 stars rounded up. A debut novel that is a collection of stories, not so much intersecting as co-existing - a literary representation of the apartment building. Yet ultimately it is about Blandine as it all comes together in the end.
It almost works and the writing is good enough to create a collection of bizarrely believable characters.

A beautiful book that I just couldn't put down. There's so much love for the characters, you're rooting for them through your tears. It's like Jacqueline Wilson and Alice Oseman had a wee Glasgow baby - I absolutely loved it!

Set in a New York of the 1870s Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. Apparently she was displeased to find that it was chosen due to having “best present[ed] the wholesome atmosphere of American life and the highest standard of American manners and manhood” and rightly so as her novel shows the pompous idiocy of that generation trapped by the rules of their society.

I'm sure there are people who have had to read this book at school and discuss the imagery (Newland Archer, is his name a shadow of the New World to come, is he an ironic pioneer who cannot partake?). But there is such joy on Wharton's descriptions as she pokes fun at the staid and stuffy society he inhabits.

The pictures she paints are so clear that I was shocked to discover Scorsese had cast Winona Ryder as May and Michelle Pfeiffer as Ellen - if anything I'd have put them the other way around. I can't imagine how he filmed what is essentially an examination of unrequited love in a repressed society where glances speak volumes.

I was not surprised at how the novel ended, in the end it was only proper. But I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed on both Newland and Ellen's behalf. The true innocent here turned out to be Newland himself and his wife, May, the victorious hunter.

“‘Women ought to be free - as free as we are,' he declared, making a discovery of which he was too irritated to measure the terrific consequences.”

So states Newland towards the end of chapter 5. But, alas, none of you were really free.

This is technically a young adult book, I suppose in the vein of Hunger Games or Maze Runner. It's certainly pretty dark with plenty of despair and a bit of death.
In a dystopian version of the UK the children of uncaptured criminals are imprisoned in their stead. Locked into a ‘strap' physically attached to their spine these ‘strutters' pay for a crime they didn't commit. The plot follows 16 year-old Ant and her 11 year-old brother as prisoners riot and the system starts to fall apart.
I liked this book but I didn't love it, it was well written, interesting, good characters with depth and backstories etc. Mayo paints pictures with his words and the premise is terrifyingly believable but it didn't really ‘grab' me at any point. It's also pretty long and although there are some exciting moments I found the ending a bit of a let down.