Dawn
4.5* rounded up.
An extremely enjoyable piece of Tartan Noir, bloody and funny - sometimes bloody funny. I always enjoy a book set somewhere I know and I'm pretty sure I've met Queste and served him a pint (or bandaged his head). I'm sure he'd grate on me after a while, perhaps Skelton would as well, but I'm willing to give them both another chance.
A twisty crime novel written by a lawyer that kept me guessing until the end. Not my usual sort of read but I'm glad I stuck with it. Kellerman is an interesting and believable character, her relationship with her son Ben was touching - more so when I realised Mancini was drawing on her own experience. I'll definitely read more of her works
The blurb had me thinking this would be laugh out loud, a dark twisted comedy mystery - Brookmyre meets the Coen brothers.
Instead, it was an alright read where I wasn't hugely invested in any characters. There was no mystery, just a series of unlikely events happening to some caricaturish people.
Passed the time but I don't think it even made me smile.
4.5* rounded up to 5 because it's Discworld and that's the best world. I love these books for their strange yet familiar worldscape with plots, people and places that are often a version of Earth's own.
This was a witches novel, which are amongst my favourites of the series - featuring, as they do, my hero Granny Weatherwax. I'm loathe to go into the ins and out if the reasons I didn't give it 5* so I'll just say - spoilers!
Terry Pratchett was a literary genius and will be greatly missed, I'm sure he'd have done a bit more tinkering on this if he had the chance.
3.5* rounded up for keeping me on my toes until the end.
A murder mystery with plenty of twists and turns. An investigation into the mind and it's possibilities.
Easy enough to read without being boring. Plenty of fact-based theories to keep you guessing - kept in the dark until the final “oh” moment.
Enjoyable enough read that bodes well for future writing.
Wow, just wow.
“Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset”
Hinton started writing this aged 15 and it was published by the time she was 18 - she's credited as having written the first YA novel. Written in the first person narrative of 14 year-old Ponyboy who lives with his brothers Sodapop and Darrel, the story takes place over just a couple of weeks but so much happens.
There's gang warfare, poetry and fire, heroes and villains, “Greasers” and “Socs”, cigarettes and alcohol, the literature and death. No wonder it's a core text in some US schools and banned in others.
I don't know how I've managed to get so far in life and not read this. It caught hold of me, despite my jaded adulthood, and drew me in. It's so beautifully written that you can't help but empathise with Pony's and experience everything alongside him. I'll be interested to see if the film does it justice (no, I've not seen it either).
So turns out this is number 5 in a sequence that I've never read any of the previous of! Didn't stop me enjoying it and wanting to know whodunnit. It's one of those mysteries where the detective also has a backstory that they eek out - I assume over several books. I'll need to try to get my hands on the earlier ones!
3.5*
I enjoy Page's screen work and didn't know much about his life off screen. Memoirs are difficult because either they are written for the author or the reader - seldom for both. I feel that this was definitely the former, a cathartic acceptance of self that everyone deserves but doesn't always make the best read. There were moments, to do with both general and trans acceptance, that were heartbreaking. Elliot comes across as a very pleasant chap and I'm glad he has such great friends and a good support network.
The fantastic title is definitely the best thing about the book.
Once again, I'm not really sure I knew what I was reading. Not that I didn't enjoy it, I just often didn't really have a clue what was going on. The use of second-person narrative was extra weird - pulling you into the story, making you the protagonist when you (I) were floundering in the strange plot. But yet again, as it ended, I wanted more. Bring on Nona...
A really interesting, informative and well written book which I know I will return to in the future. I think some people may have come to it expecting a self-help manual - and while there are things that you could take from it to work on, that's not what it's about. It's an introduction to trauma care for the lay person. A starting point for those who have some interest but it doesn't require too much knowledge.
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.
4.5* rounded up because I wish I was this cool!
I was a teenager in the '90s but only found Riot Grrl music later on in life (in fact I was at a Bikini Kill gig last week!). I wasn't a feminist then and, like Viv's friend Claudia, I found the concept kind of scary. This book (that I read after the fab film) made me want to go out and publish my own zines, to shout that this is still an issue, that women's voices need to be heard. We should be building each other up it shooting each other down.
My only issues are the romantic storyline - was it really necessary - and there could have been more queer and genderfluid characters. Other than that, great YA read.
3.5* rounded up
Bookclub read [UoG]: There's a lot to like about this novel. As an amateur etymologist, I loved the literal power of words in this world. There's a kind of steampunk fantasy element that fascinated me and I love, love, love a library. It was also refreshing to read on family, friendship and betrayal without any irritating romantic love stories. I enjoyed the asides where we got a deeper understanding of the main characters. I found the world Kiang created was quite realistic with it's grubbyness and confliction. The cover is delightfully designed and illustrated - overall it is a thing of beauty.
On the dislike side - it's huge! I'm sure it could have been shorter and kept it together. The footnotes were distracting (and often unnecessary). Letty, as a character, was a scapegoat for the white ruling upper classes. Her Interlude purports Letty's discrimination by sex is comparable to the racial injustice experienced by her friends - “Leticia Price was not a wicked person. Harsh, perhaps. Cold, blunt, severe: all the words one might use to describe a girl who demanded from the world the same things a man would”. Yet she continues to come across as a selfish, silly girl who just cannot understand what her friends experience.
Nevertheless, it ended well and I will often ponder how the world was left, what it did to recover and how Victoire's tale continues.
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!
A surreal graphic novel that I went into with absolutely no clue what to expect (I just wanted to read it before watching the film with my daughter) and was blown away.
What does it mean to be a hero or a villain? Where does a sidekick end and a supervillain begin? Is friendship more important than winning?
And dragons, monsters, fighting, evil plans, cute cat, science, more fighting, dinosaurs, love ...?
This began as a web comic and grew an audience there. This version has some bonus content: sketches showing the evolution of the characters and Christmas mini-stories.
The artwork is individual, beautiful and horrifying at times. At first I found it simplistic but I wasn't being fair and now the intricacies of the beautifully drawn characters stay with me. The story, also, has depth and complexities that deserves pondering over and probably returning to.
Another graphic novel read on my phone that I'll be seeking out in print as I feel I've not (literally) got the full picture in this format.
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.
Reread + Bookclub read {S+S}/[UoG]: this had popped up in both my book clubs and I'd not read it at the time. I'd remembered not really liking it so was surprised to see I'd given it 4* previously. Having finished it today I remember why.
Overall I liked the idea, the extended “It's a Wonderful Life” was interesting, who doesn't want to know what they could have been had they taken a different fork in the road? I like the echoes of the other lives that bleed through into each other, the idea that despite the differences some things will stay the same.
I didn't, however, like the ending. It was all too positive. This idea that everything will be alright now because she has accepted her faults and will live for happiness. All will be fine if she gives piano lessons to vulnerable teens, volunteers in her free time and donates to environmental research.
I felt that the darkness of the previous chapters was undermined by the glow of the final few. Having lived with the “black dog” I know that sometimes it's on your back and at other times it's just lurking in the shadows, but it's always there. This ending felt so false it tarnished the pleasure of the rest of the book.
That saying, it was well written. I did like it overall and I'm glad I re-read it. At least now I've reviewed it now I'll remember why I had the feeling I disliked it before going in this time.
Bookclub [UoG] read: 3.5* rounded up to 4.
There were times I enjoyed this and times I nearly put it down for good. Perhaps I don't know enough about Bulgaria, maybe I'm not smart enough.
The concept, as it began, with the Time Shelters as a support for those living with dementia, was inspired and beautiful. I've since learned that versions of these exist around the world, which gives me a bit more faith in humanity.
When the world began to split apart (no spoilers here) my interest waned. I struggled through the last third having enjoyed the beginnings. This put a damper on my overall feeling about the book.
Whether it was a book about the future or the past, it was ultimately a book of stories. A book which worships words and other books. While the concepts were sometimes a struggle, the ease of reading - some chapters were two to a page - made this very hard to put down.
Having just read Hunger (the sequel to Gone) a worl without adults was not such a shock. This first volume gives no answers to why or how. Instead it introduced us to the small gang of kids who are thrown together and must learn to survive. The illustrations were good, reminding me almost of primary school reading books. I look forward to finding out more about what has happened and what this little group will have to face.
An enjoyable read with some basis in history. I was swept into this instantly and happy to stay along for the ride.
The chapters change narrators as Lady Christian and Violet tell their versions of the tale. You can't help but feel sorry for three main females as their lives are ruined but the men around them.
I look forward to reading future works by this author.
A strange story that melds the gothic horror of the 19th century with the Scottish politics of the 1970s. A mysterious and marvellous tale that will leave you with questions not fully answered.
To talk to much about it would be near impossible so I'll say I can't for it would spoil the plot.
I loved it, Gray's imagination is as huge as ever and the illustrations are divine. My only regret is that I read it on my phone and didn't get to fully appreciate them - I know what I'll be asking for for my birthday!
