Come and escape from the world in some great books!
A beautiful and optimistic image of the future of mankind where, despite our differences and the ravages we have inflicted on the planet, we emerge as ready to take the first steps on a galactic scale.
They - whoever 'they' may be - say that buying books and actually reading them are two very different hobbies! They must say it, it is a google-able image! And as I am in the process of moving house and trying to pack in advance. What were the first things I packed? Obviously my physical books! And ... there have been quite a number of boxes filled already. Old favourites and a few that I have been intending to read and never quite got around to it. Nor will I be able to for a little while as they are all still sealed in boxes. As is my crockery (save for one plate, one bowl, one cup each) and my baking equipment. Clothes? I'll do that whenever! So, these are a selection of the unread books still waiting to be read.
An eminently readable and accessible account of an extraordinary experience, rendered with clarity and precision; for me, however, it seemed to sacrifice the drama and horror of the events.
A tender and sweet story that is in part a political thriller, in part a romance, set on Mars in the near future in which the kindest characters have the most objectionable politics. As a political commentary it was, for me, not unproblematic; as a character-driven romance, it was tender.
"Prophet Song" is a chilling and propulsive novel set in an Ireland turning towards tyranny. When Eilish's husband, a trade unionist, disappears, she is faced with terrifying choices in a society unraveling into oppression and civil war. As she fights to save her family, the novel offers a devastating and deeply human portrait of a country at the brink of war.
In 2024, we reflect on personal challenges, reading habits, and blogging statistics from the previous year. Come and discuss my book preferences, seasonal reading lists, and blogging goals for the upcoming year!
A technically fascinating account as Burnet adopts the different voices of his two protagonists as they invent and reinvent and lose their own identities; the reading experience was rather let down but how unlikeable those characters were.
An incredibly engaging science fiction romp and buddy narrative, so replete in energy, enthusiasm and charm that we can forgive the occasional absurd plot premise and the meagre characterisation.
I had such high hopes for this novel, after loving Girl, Woman, Other and was hoping for something joyful and sparkling; unfortunately, I found the main characters - however well crafted - unpleasant.
This week's TTT is one that I would want to devote more time and thought to than I realistically think I have available right now, so instead, as I am falling behind in my reviews, these are the books that I have read most recently and which still need to be reviewed. Perhaps this will generate some accountability for me as well! Therefore, this week, nothing connects these novels except for the fact that something about them had piqued my interest...
A rewarding conclusion to a great series that plumbs the depths of unspace whilst remaining tethered in the real as well: each of our main Vulture God crew had their specific role to play and came into their powers in a deeply satisfying way.
For me, Top Ten Tuesdays has become a prime source of discovering new books, new authors and new series and it is a genuine delight and pleasure to recognise and celebrate that. One issue, however, is that TTT lists are one amongst other social media including Twitter, Bookstagram, Booktok, Booklr. I am so grateful to you all, but I have been horribly remiss about remembering or recording who recommended what. Usually, it is a scribbled note to myself on a post-it, back of an envelope, a receipt, the back of my hand. So it is a little tricky to do what I would love to do: to give proper credit and thanks where due! So instead, I offer my heartfelt and humble thanks to all of you who offer up your favourite books each week and who comments and visit my little blog.
A fantastically enjoyable romp through the medieval Middle East with swashbuckling pirate queens, demons and djinni, giant squid and rapacious magically enhanced Europeans. A great, thrilling yarn!
Whilst this is still, certainly, a masterclass in world building and an intriguing narrative and a great read. However, am I still convinced that this is, as Amazon declares a "lyrical fantasy masterpiece" on a re-read?
do try to follow a number of book prizes over the year - The Booker Prize, the Women's Prize, the YOTO Carnegie Medal, the Hugo Award ... I find it's a great way to stumble across new authors and it is through these awards that I have found so many of my now-favourite authors: Maggie O'Farrell, Meg Mason, Bernardino Evaristo, Elif Shafak, Becky Chambers, Arkady Martine. And this year I am in the unusual position that I have read - or at least begun - all of the shortlisted novels and some of the longlisted novels. I'm not sure how it happened: possibly I had coincidentally read some before either list was announced - certainly I read some via Netgalley; possibly a number of those I chose to read from the longlist were later included in the shortlist... perhaps I neglected my work in order to read more... But I am in a position to make comment on some of the issues and perhaps rank the novels.
An incredible depiction of the sectarian violence and divisions in Belfast during the heights of the Troubles in the 1970s, and the ways in which people found the chance to connect despite that context...
A dazzling recreation of Renaissance Italy, described in O'Farrell's gorgeous prose, this novel again takes a lesser known character from history - Lucrezia di Cosimo di Medici - and breathes life and vibrancy and urgency into their tragic story: just like Hamnet, we know from the opening pages that Lucrezia is destined to die.
Whilst this is a shoe-in for all the literary prizes of the year - there is no doubting its profundity and energy, its anger and its literary mastery - I found it an incredibly challenging read, piling unrelenting misery upon misery on young Demon's shoulders, robbing him of every joy or success or moment of peace, with only the incredible power of the narrative voice to stave off the bleakness.
A genuinely fun set of science fiction reads, featuring convincing world building and very capable plotting is elevated by a unique and compelling narrative voice in our favourite SecUnit: dangerous, compassionate, distant, a little obsessive and more than a touch neurodivergent.
This is an extraordinary and very strange and elegiacal novel, a nightmarish phantasm of a read: it celebrates classic cinema and its creativity and originality; it lambasts the homogenised sanitised experience of modern cinema; it is cruelly loving of its characters and almost lyrical in its palpable sense of decay. This was unlike anything that I have read in a while...
A startling time loop novel: beneath the horror of Spence reliving the same day over and over, a day clouded in layers of pain and tragedy, is a surprisingly powerful message about toxic masculinity and banter. A fantastic inclusion for the YOTO Carnegie Medal.
A thoroughly entertaining and engaging tale of friendship which, whilst I enjoyed the reading experience, does not quite justify the social media hype that it has received.
Another wonderful gripping novel from Eleanor Catton. Populated with intriguing characters, powerful ideas and incredibly long sentences, this novel is a little like a tapestry: it draws threads from Shakespeare, thrillers, climate change, politics and weaves them together to make something new and unsettling.
Another thoroughly enjoyable criminal romp for Anthony Horowitz and the enigmatic Daniel Hawthorne, uncovering the murderer of a vicious theatre critic before Horowitz is re-arrested for the crime.
A fun vampire novel whose setting was one of its strongest features, divided between middle class white suburbs and poor black communities; it built tension well in the first half but revelled a little too much in visceral body horror to the point where it became inadvertently funny.
The Book Lovers' Sanctuary 
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