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Very lyrical. Incredibly sad. A story as much about emotional migration as it is about the physical.

Marvellously entertaining, with non stop action and a fascinating rendering of the world in 2045 (not a very happy place for most people but life goes on). Love the What If scenario - what if adults can be gene-edited to become another person entirely? The protagonist, Kenneth Durand, is a rather bland Interpol analyst who gets gene edited into becoming the notorious criminal he's chasing, Marcus Wyckes. His neat little life in Singapore (tech capital of the world in 2045) gets ripped to shreds, and his efforts to regain his genes take us to 2045 Malaysia (kinda crummy), Thailand (still the same), and Myanmar (even worse).
There's nothing literary about this novel but the questions it raises on gene editing, identity, the right to choose one's genes, may be ones we would have to face in the near future.

(Not a review; Just musings)
This is the most amazing book I've read this year, or maybe even for several years. I wish I'd read it sooner. It's funny, and sad; tragic and strangely hopeful. A story of grief, loss, and ultimately, of the fragility and beauty of life.

Wow. This book will make you see the world very differently and question why things are the way they are for women. A heady read.

This book has been a slow read, but a very satisfying one. The narrator is as witty as the protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov, a Former Person under permanent house arrest at the Metropol Hotel by the Communist Party. Despite his aristocratic bearings, the Count adapts himself to his new circumstance with surprising agility, never once losing composure nor his fine manners. We meet the hotel residents and staff, as well as emerging leaders of the new country who dine at the Metropol.
It took a long while to settle into the gentle cadence of this novel, but once you accept that the book will not be offering thrilling twists and turns at every chapter but instead beguile you with its language, characters, and dialogue, you can enjoy the unfolding tale of the Count, his daughter, Sofia, and the people around them.
There is a twist, of course, as well as a rapid elevation of pace towards the end of the novel, that make for a satisfying finish.
This book is like a good meal at the Boyarsky, the restaurant the hotel is noted for, which one can only enjoy if one lingers and appreciates the delicate balance of flavours.

A 3.5 stars.
What happens when stranded teens and young adults are cut off from the world (and social media)? This account of how the young employees of an amusement park “Fantasticland” degenerate into murderous tribes is told from the viewpoints of the survivors. At turns horrific and annoying (some of the voices truly, truly grated), the story reminds us that young people may all be capable of violence, once the edifice of civilisation crumbles away.

Hag-Seed is Margaret Atwood's take on The Tempest, part of Random House's retelling of Shakespeare's plays.
The lead character, Felix Philips (aka the multi-faceted vengeful Prospero of the play), is an avant-garde theatre director of the Makeshiweg Festival, who finds himself cruelly booted out of job by his ambitious underling, on the eve of what would be the grand debut of his version of The Tempest. Without a job and and a family, the middle-aged Felix hides away in a derelict cottage, where he plots revenge and mourns his dead daughter, Miranda.
His chance for vengeance comes after a dozen or so years when he gets a job directing inmates of a prison. His revenge takes shape in the form of a staging of The Tempest that he puts on for the benefit of the man who ousted him, now a government bigwig.
While all this is going on, he keeps seeing his dead daughter and talks to her as if she was still alive. These scenes are touching and poignant, though at some point even Felix himself realises he could be losing his mind with grief.
The narrative is often humorous, but always with compassion and sympathy for the characters. The structure is inventive, containing as it does a plot that follows the play, and a play contained within the plot that enables the author and readers to explore Shakespeare's work. Any fan of Shakespeare would be doubly delighted.
Hag-Seed was unexpectedly entertaining, emphasising as it does the unexpected dark turns that real life can take, and how one can learn - perhaps - to let go of pain and emerge with some light still inside.

A big book and one that I wish I finished years earlier. The audiobook made completion possible this time and the writing made it pleasurable. Beautifully written (with the help of a ghostwriter, I believe) and well arranged, the autobiography underscored the title. The journey to an apartheid-free SA was indeed long and arduous, which made the achievement all the more extraordinary. This is also an inspiring tale of belief in principles and in man's capacity to change, and Mr Mandela's unshakeable refusal to succumb to hatred is exemplary.
Ps: The narrator of the audiobook is excellent.

3.5 stars. This was a long slog especially in the first half. There are many themes explored: race, identity, independence, inequality, but it's all told as from a distance. The protagonist works for a celebrity who decides to build a school in West Africa. We never even know the name of the protagonist even though the tale is told from her POV.
But the writing is brilliant, and she describes perfectly emotional reactions. Love her insights into elitism as well. Some parts are humorous, though because the distance from the story is such (imagine you're viewing the tale via an old TV set), it never gets to funny the way On Beauty did.

What a delightful reading of a favourite classic!

Rosamund Pike brings to elegant life all the wonderful characters that populate Jane Austen's novel on class, snobbery, and discrimination (and lopsided inheritance laws) in Regency England. There is no male hero quite equal to Mr Darcy, and Elizsbeth's wit amuses anew. The narrative, despite it being written more than two hundred years ago, can still make me laugh, especially when narrated in the honeyed voice of Ms Pike. Who would have thought?

One of my absolute favourite lit classics.

This is a very disconcerting tale of two sisters and their Uncle who live in the aftermath of a family poisoning that killed the girls' parents, their brother, and their Aunt, and for which the older sister had to face a trial (and was acquitted). It's written from the point of view of the younger sister, Merricat, a sly, intelligent, and half-wild 18-year old who is the only one of them who goes to town and thereby endures the villagers' taunts. When their cousin Charles comes to visit, his presence disturbs a carefully ordered routine with unexpected results.
A gothic story brilliantly told, with menace, dark humour, and wry observations of family relations and wealth.
Highly recommended.

3.8 stars.
A good treatise on AI's development, promise, and perils, offering both an enticing view of the benefits of super-(artificial)intelligence and the horrors. If you're looking for balanced arguments as well as basic ideas of where AI is and where it's heading, this is a good read.

A 3.5-star. The premise is intriguing: people who are murdered get to come back to life again, hence dispatchers are employed by the state to kill those who are dying from.accidents to enable them to live again. Within this setting, John Scalzi has created a plausible missing persons (and possible homicide) case involving a billionaires wife and a missing dispatcher. Interested enough to follow through on the sequels within the series.

Beautifully written. Like how his wife describes the writer's grave site, this memoir too will make you uncomfortable, even as you find some peace in its words.

Didn't expect to find this book enjoyable but it was - enjoyable and insightful. There are plenty of “rules” and tips on how to focus more deeply, with many examples drawn from past and current figures.

Well written and interesting, with concise explanations of each region's geographical constraints and advantages, dovetailing into politics and events. A very helpful book.

A real page-turner, with a tough-cookie female DI as protagonist who I found to be a tad too tough at first but whose emotional state and reactions became clearer throughout the story. Her backstory packs a lot of emotional punch.
The story itself, while on the surface a serial killing, brings to the fore some serious issues: social welfare, abandoned / neglected children and the adults responsible for their care. Plus, some feminist threads as bonus.
I started this story on a Friday and couldn't put my Kindle down for the next two days! A very addictive serial killer thriller with some interesting characters, the lead female character included, and a setting in England's West Midlands.
I am rather glad I purchased this book (despite my reservations) though this does mean I have to read the author's other books now...
Highly recommended, if you are looking for a smart, fast-paced thriller.

4.4.

A story that made the hairs on my arms rise, after I finished reading.

This is The Exorcist, updated for the era of reality TV and blogs, both of which are main parts of the book's narrative.

A 14-year old girl, Marjorie, acts strangely and hears voices in her head. Is she mentally ill, or possessed by the devil? Her father thinks the latter, her Mom is skeptical, but both Mom and Dad, driven by desperation perhaps, accept the offer of a television network to film the family as they deal with Marjorie on the assumption that she is, indeed, yes, possessed by the devil.

The story is told from the POV of Marjorie's 8-year old sister, Merry, both from her vantage point of an adult, fifteen years later, as she's interviewed by an author writing the story of her family, and of her 8-year old self.

Interspersed throughout are the blogposts (fifteen years hence) of Karen, who dissects the reality TV show of the Barrett family through the lenses of pop culture.

There are truly chilling moments in the novel, moments that convince you that Marjorie is indeed supernaturally cursed. Then the next chapter convinces you otherwise.

But the tale is more than just about demonic possession (or the mistaken assumption thereof) and is also about the disintegration of the Barrett family as they deal with Marjorie. It's also about how the seemingly twisted idea of televising a family trauma becomes a new normal, and how that very act affect a family's decisions and emotional state.

I read this in fewer than five sittings, because the story was just that compelling. Is she or isn't she? Will they or won't they? Then the shock of the ending.

Recommended for fans of horror looking for a modern twist to a classic trope.

The tech info in this book is incredible - and the destruction it can wreak is, as well. A fast-paced tech thriller that will appeal to geeks. This would make a great movie, and I'm definitely moving on to the next installment.

Fast, furious, fun read! Dragons in China, a country used to having everything and everyone under control. Whatever could go wrong in a secret zoo of dragons?
If you loved Jurassic Park, you'll enjoy this one.
Ps: and if you can be patient with the author's love of exclamation marks and italics (fortunately, less than in his previous works). He spins a great yarn. Love the premise.

An Audible production. Performance was fabulous, and story is solid. Just that there's a lot of “Be careful” and Ripley seems way nicer than how I remember her from the movies.

Read this in the recommendations of strangers on Facebook and it's one of the most gruesome horror I've read. The perfect diet book, actually, because you'll lose your appetite within the first chapter.
In a nutshell: Five boys and a Scoutmaster are on an island, soon to be joined by a man, ravaged by a mysterious disease, who's escaped from a military research centre. Things go bad, very bad, and it's pretty much up to the kids to survive.
The above does not do justice to the horror contained in the tale. Shades of Lord of The Flies with its frequent kids vs adults juxtaposition, but really, a solid, frightening Man vs Monster story.

This is a re-read and this time I'm listening to the story. The voices are first-rate and thankfully they gave Mina a sensible voice.
Dracula is at the same time more melodramatic and slower paced than I recall. I understand now why the Hollywood version took ample liberties with the storyline though I much prefer Stoker's depiction of Lucy.
The story is told entirely through different characters' journals and the “voice” of Dr Van Helsing is indeed distinctive, not just in auditory terms but in word choice and sentence construction.
The ending had a very long build up and a very short climax. But the author built up the rules of vampyr very well, weaving in the many bits and pieces of local folklore and myth to start the Canon of the Vampire.
The Audible edition is excellent and brought to life the original Dracula.

A really fun read, combining history and technology together to solve a wordy mystery. Makes me want to alternately work in an independent bookstore like Penumbra's, and Google!

Interesting comparisons with the tech industry and venture capital. Also I didn't realise his machine was “stolen” by two of his funders when one partner died. The writing is a bit plain, but the references and facts have been checked out by the author. I started this month's ago and didn't realise I had a chapter left.