Lucy
Reading this is like being in the eye of a hurricane. It's exhausting and full on but such a brilliant book.
While I don't love the Booker Longlist this year, I do love that it made me read this book. And in a year where I read Demon Copperhead, this may be the most traumatic yet. Made more so by watching what is happening in Israel and Gaza.
I loved this book just as much as the first one, although it is quite a different plot, taking place as it does, in space.
The only quibble I had was with Edna, who really didn't feel like the strong, powerful woman we met in TCS.
Wow, what an amazing, inventive, unique read. Doesn't dumb down the science, it was totally out of my league science wise, I felt like I needed Physics for Dummies on hand at all times.
Fantastic book! Has to be in my top five for the year. Really well written, with a quirky crew of characters. I can't wait for book 2.
A funny and slightly catastrophic story of a food writer who discovers her husband is having an affair. It's a little dated now being over 40 years old but much still rings true. Beautifully narrated by Meryl Streep.
Wow, what a brilliant read. It reminded me a lot of The Overstory with its trees and ecological themes, but spanning hundreds of years, a dozen central characters, twisting narrations and common stopping places. Immersive and enthralling.
I wanted to rate this really highly, for the first half of the book is easily a 4.5 star read. I enjoyed the writing of Benjamin and Helen Rask, the story of their lives and the financial explanations. The 3rd quarter, where Andrew and Ida spoke lost me and I didn't love Mildred's diaries. I found the second half mismatched and patchy, difficult to get into. 3.5 rounded down.
A mixed bag of decent and a bit silly and schmaltzy love stories between isolated teens in lockdown. Some like The Green Thumb War by Brittney Morris were charming and clever but others like Stuck With Her by Rachel Lippincott were just annoying. The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade by Bill Konigsberg was my favourite.
A poignant and slightly surreal story of a mother and daughter and dementia and swimming.
My second Anne Tyler, a joy to read, the simple lives of simple people, a family story from the 1940s through to the pandemic. Relationships and marriages, love and family, nothing unique, just ordinary family life.
Probably not my kind of graphic novel mainly because the Greek pantheon is so confusing but I did like the art and the idea.
Claire Keegan writes prose as beautiful as anyone writing at the moment. Like her previous short stories, So Late in the Day deals with dark issues - misogyny - in a revelatory and poetic manner.
At the heart of it, this book is a very human story, and perhaps that's why I didn't love it like I loved her husband's books. Helen seems to swing between loving and promoting her lifestyle, and feeling overwhelmed by it all, which ofcourse, is totally normal. I didn't love the intensity to which she promotes eating meat, but again, she is a farmer, ofcourse she believes her way of life is best and I can't fault her for that.
Overall I found the book to be a bit disjointed and patchy in places, but really enjoyed the farming parts and the honest way she talks about her life.
A beautiful poetic read with rough edges. A stunning portrayal of a family at the edge of the world and a country in turmoil.
3.5 stars. Lost points for being infuriatingly difficult to read, literally, the text is all over the place. The main character was painfully “YA” but the supporting characters were enjoyable. I enjoyed the premise more than the writing.
Hard to believe that NO adult in this book cottoned on to what her Mother was up to. Not the nurse or the tutors. Not once in 18 yrs did social services check up. And if she had this insanely dangerous disease, why was she not under the care of dozens of doctors. NO ONE thought this was weird.
AND now shes 18 her mother is effectively holding her prisoner as an adult in her own house. Dumb.
And what was the point of Ollys family story? Literally nothing came from it. We didn't even find out if he and his Mum and sister escaped.
2 stars because I liked Maddy and Olly and their romance was sweet.
I adored The Martian, and I really wanted to like this book, but it felt clunky in places and the main character is odd and cringeworthy at times.
That being said, I would be happy to return to the world he has created, but with a slightly different collection of characters. Bring back Svoboda, Rudy and Bob!
An all consuming tome of a story of sisters and mothers and wives and daughters and family. It was just too dense and wordy for me. 150 pages less and it would have been a 5 star read.