Alex Norton

I loved the movie and I loved the book. Two different beasts - where one is a visual feast with outstanding directing/art design and acting they chose to follow the main recounting of events but removes itself from being a POV perspective.

The book, instead, is strongly POV, the first familiar to the movie viewer, the second, form “Bella's “POV which , of course sows confusion and doubt.

Four stars four being a very well written satire whose singular POV character is really such a a-hole. As a passive twitter user i hugely enjoyed the descriptions of the shitstorms in a tea cup. I actually started using twitter for following sports journalists but it then began to be a great way to follow authors i love, and some handle it deftly like Gaiman or Scalzi. Others play on the periphery like Abercrombie who relish in their 1 stars. In all cases i found this book an enjoyable romp on ground i knew enough of to find it familiar.

And I added a fifth start just because of so many knickers twisted in the GoodReaders reviews... the ultimate trolling fishing trip

Olive, Mabel and Andrew, like for many others, were high points during the pandemic days. As dog lovers we immediately twigged with their world. Andrew is much more than the simple commentator to the dog's videos - he artfully articulates many a dog owner's thoughts on living with dogs, their simplicity and depth of thought, their needs and desires, their generosity of spirit. Yes it certainly helps if you know or have seen the youtube videos, but this diary will speak to anyone who has loved dogs and Cotter is 100% my spokesman for my thoughts.

Highly layered fantasy book centered in a library. Had me at that, i guess. Not sure i followed all the transitions but it is a fine book.

Reminds me of Red Rising inasmuch as it is YAish eminently readable fantasy tale. Fast, no frills plot.

Mixes of Miéville, of Gaiman (and probably Pratchett although i yet to read him) a dash of Abercrombie. This Tchaikovsky is very different from the SF one. More playful but just as complex. Satisfying.

My comfort Historical Mystery writer.

Within it's category it is a perfect book, Didactic, but very readable - it explains the issues and how science helps in uncovering “who did it” and also some little jewels along the way (how to estimate the umber of bodies when all you have is a pile of bones is a good one. Coincidently i really enjoyed the Mary Rose chapter having just finished a Novel that climaxed on the the ship on its last days. I will go back and read her earlier ones.

what Banks wrote in 1999 about AI is astonishingly close to what we are discussing now with the emergence of consumer AI...

By now i know that I will be troubled by Cosby's books, that they will make me uncomfortable. One was a heist novel another was a worst case buddy book, now he goes into Val McDermid territory with a tale of horror. The backdrop is the same but each book is distinct.

Recommended by Adrian McKinty this did not disappoint. It is hard to remember that it is fiction but I want it to ring true. In all cases it is a carefully crafted view of the moral turpitude of British colonialism.

A multi layered trip into Elizabethan London , with hints of Gaiman fantasy. It starts with no real rush but the characters will unfold.

The first of a very interesting trilogy. Each book is slightly different in its approach, with different protagonist - Arachnid in this one. It did have a and ending that I was not expecting. Recommended to who likes Banks (he lacks the humour that Banks has however)

It was on a list of best Historical Novels for 2022 and I cant really fathom why it made the list. The Story had so much potential, especially as it was based on a true person but the story screams YA, and not even for young adults with a brain, but ones that want everything spelt out for them. So you saw everything coming, including the clichés of Irish rascals.

History written by my crotchety old Uncle (David Mithcell is younger than I am) and he reads like Bill Bryson, funny, opinionated, and never boring. I think I will be reading this one a second time, or dipping in to it again quite soon.

I am at the stage of my reading life where I am an unashamed genre reader, although i dislike the ponsiness of the term. I read, mostly, to be entertained, sometimes to learn something new and if the two mix i am delighted. I am not scared of supposed “literary novels” but they do not draw me to them. But a friend's five stars, and to setting of India in the last century sounded interesting enough to venture into it. It was a slow start as I was parallel reading other books but that allowed the first two parts, the foundations, to stew and settle in. I was not enamored, not rushing back to pick it up but i was intrigued as the writing was rich without being cloying. Then, having finished my other books i dove back in and Covenant picked me up and carried me to the end in so many satisfying ways. The story arc makes sense, the characters are fleshed out, the length is not self indulgent

I did not hate it, but it never lost its timidity to either invest time in the world forming (literally) or the characters and it seems a bit flat on both. With these kind of books where science, ecology, social sciences, economic sciences collide you choose to go into the potentially alienating 700 page route that allows you to flesh things out, or split it into three books. With this book we got it all condensed in an earnest “do goodness” that fell a bit flat. Douglas Adams, in one page, with the Cow coming to the table selling their best parts to restaurant patrons achieved far more moral discussion in my mind that 30 pages on bioengineering sentient cows but not “using” them for milk.

This book came through on my Library hold at the same time i was reading Terraformers. So i parallel read them, and even though i might have thought that a historical love story be less gripping than SciFI, i found myself coming back to this more often. My recollection of the Illiad is very poor so I cannot judge if the characters are similar but i found them well developed and interesting.

A very competent historical novel about a conflict I knew little about. I appreciate the fact that Harvey is taking her time to set the canvas for the book. She has done that for the protagonist but i feel i still need more on the historical conflict. Looking forward to the second book

My dog loves this series. His walkies tends to be extended an extra 15 mimutes every time...

Not quite Holmesian” as it lacks that structure, and also a slight miss on the SciFi side as it presents potentially interesting topics but does not really develop them. I enjoyed the story but felt it could be more.

This is everything you want from Scalzi - Witty, quickpaced, always an original viewpoint on an old trope. Really only knock is why is it over so damn quickly.

I adore Banks, but this one felt a bit over produced, and I can't even put my finger on it. Maybe too many ships and characters with different allegiances and the ship equivalent of “He said” “she said” at every sentence just wore me down. On to the next one

The joy of this book was the knowledge is that I now have another 10 or so “go-to” ripe cherries to pick from whenever I want a short burst of happiness. It has a little bit of everything I love in a book: interesting characters, crisp dialogue, some gallows humour, a chance to learn about a time or place in history I was ignorant of, a clever whodunnit to go with the ride, a touch of fantasy. Who knew that Laos in the mid seventies would be my new refuge of whimsy

Having just finished Dan Jones's Essex Dogs you sense the contrast between a historian writing a Historical Novel and a writer doing the same. Unless you are Hillary Mantel the latter always seems more successful. I have to trust that Cornwall has done his homework and it certainly appears to be so. But it is in the characterization that he is so good. The period is a very confusing one and he does a very good job in bringing it to life.