This book will be published on 1st October so time to get a pre-order in now!
In what seems to be turning into a recurring theme for me, I came to this book not realising it was second in the series featuring Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur.
Luckily for me, this one works as a stand alone novel really rather well! The novel opens with the death of an old lady in a flat overlooking Shoreham sea front. She is found by her carer, Natalka, who – along with another elderly resident of the block of flats and the local coffee shack owner – become the unlikely sleuths in a case that starts to spiral.
The key to the mystery seems to lie in the lady’s past and, in particular, her provision of consultancy services on murder methods to writers. DS Kaur leads the investigation into the possible murder and finds herself caught up in a literary puzzle.
This was an enjoyable and light read – very much in the realm of cosy crime as there’s nothing graphic or particularly perilous here. Instead, it’s a quite lovely tale of how some unlikely characters forge relationships and support each other. In particular, DS Kaur’s Sikh family were great – warm and likeable – so I hope they appear more in future outings. I wouldn’t say the events were particularly realistic but it’s a clever premise and I was happy to be drawn along in its slipstream.
Overall, this is a rather gentle but engaging mystery. For all its cosiness, I’d still say that it has plenty of surprises and twists that make it enjoyable for fans of this genre.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Header photo with thanks to Art Lasovsky for sharing their work on Unsplash.
I recently reviewed ‘Dear Reader’ by Cathy Rentzenbrink (you can see the review here) and many of the comments I received were about the fact that people really love books about books!
With this in mind, I thought I’d introduce you to some of my favourites!
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‘Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading’ by Lucy Mangan
As a life-long bookworm, I could not wait to get my hands on Mangan’s book about her childhood reading. I’m always keen to read about the experiences of one of my own tribe of book obsessives and was anticipating a blast from the past of my own childhood reading.
I was absolutely not disappointed. Being a similar age to Mangan, a lot of her book choices are cosily familiar and she writes with humour and passion. It was lovely to hear her take on old favourites, such as The Borrowers and Goodnight Mister Tom, as well as many books that I loved as a child and have recently shared with my own children. It was also wonderful to hear echoes of my own adult reservations about some of the books I loved as a child – growing up really does put some of them in a new and unflattering light!
I was also reminded of some books I haven’t thought about for about 20 years…for example, Love and Betrayal and Hold the Mayo (anyone?!) Of course not all of Mangan’s choices were familiar, but it’s so well written that it feels like a friend recommending you great new reads.
What I really loved was Mangan’s defence of being a bookworm as it is something a lot of people don’t understand. Bits of this made me laugh out loud as it was all so familiar.
I’d strongly recommend this to any keen readers who want a humorous, nostalgic trip through the bookcases of their childhood. I suspect it will particularly strike a chord with (probably female) bookworms of a similar age to Mangan (I think 43) who will have a great time rediscovering their love of Sweet Valley High, Judy Blume and other classics!
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
‘The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books Saved My Life’ by Andy Miller
This is another one I only have a Kindle copy of and I regret that – it is definitely one that I would love to dip back in to sometimes.
I really loved this book. Andy Miller is very funny and the book really struck a chord with me. He is a Literature graduate (like me) with a young family (like me when I read this) and really missed reading, so he decided to tackle all the books he claimed to have read in the past and the ones he thinks he should have read.
I think we can all relate to this – as a Literature graduate, there are definitely books that were on my course that I ‘should’ have read or ones that I have a vague idea I might have read bits of only (*ahem* most of Charles Dickens and even a lot of Jane Austen. I know).
His ‘List of Betterment’ was really interesting and made me think about what I want to read – it actually inspired me to pick up ‘War and Peace’ again and I did get a fair way through it…OK, not all the way, but it’s a start and it turns out I like the Peace so much more than the War…
It was a shame that the book didn’t cover all 50 of the books, but I really enjoyed reading about his year as he writes so entertainingly. I heartily recommend this if you want a clever, witty and relatable jaunt through a reading challenge.
‘The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature’ by Viv Groskop
Another memoir-style book about books, this one follows Viv Groskop as she relates what she has learnt from Russian literature. Like Andy Miller, she is an engaging and lively narrator and this one is definitely worth a read.
I picked this up because I liked Russian literature at university (confession: all in English translation, obviously, and I didn’t like it enough to read all of ‘Crime and Punishment’. Wow, that is bleak). Groskop actually studied Russian at university and lived in Russia for a time, mistakenly believing she was getting back to her roots (it turns out she actually has Polish ancestry).
The book is a very funny trip through Groskop’s Russian adventures as told in a series of mini-essays about what we can learn from classic Russian literature. A lot of it was familiar to me from my university forays into these books, but there were also some really new (to me) and interesting ones covered too.
‘Dear Fahrenheit 451: A Librarian’s Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to Her Books’ by Annie Spence
This is a really unusual idea, but an interesting one! It’s a series of letters to books that Spence has fallen out of love with and books that she is ‘weeding’ from the library she works at to take out of circulation.
It’s really entertainingly written – there’s a lot about the library and some of its patrons as well as about the books themselves. There’s a lot of American books here (Spence is American) and more Sci-Fi than I would read, but it is so engaging – it would be especially amazing for readers who share Spence’s genre interests.
This is worth reading for the section on Judy Blume’s ‘Forever’ – a book that probably needs no introduction for anyone of my generation!
‘Books that Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in Human History’ by Andrew Taylor
I loved the idea behind this one – to take 50 books that have had a huge impact on the world and write a short essay on each (5 or 6 pages each) explaining their main ideas and why they had such an impact.
Some I was familiar with already and are well-known (e.g. Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and Johnson’s Dictionary) but some choices were really unexpected and it was fascinating to read Taylor’s views on why they were so important. It also gave me more information on books that I really should know more about (for example religious texts, a personal blind spot for me!) It was also lovely to see some old favourites mentioned – a bit of nostalgia for my degree course!
‘1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die’ by Peter Boxall
From 50 books in Taylor’s view to 1001 that you MUST read before you die! I love this kind of list book, but I will never get near having read even a fraction of these books!
This is a lovely reference book for bookworms because it features so many fabulous books – some of which you will recognise and others that are new. Because it isn’t just about books published in English (although obviously English translations are available for them all), it is really interesting to read about classic and highly-regarded books from other countries. Each book also has an accompanying picture too, so this is a great book to have a browse through.
Be warned: this is a dangerous book for anyone’s TBR!
‘Read This Next…And Discover Your 500 New Favourite Books’ by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark
This is another book that might well destroy your TBR. It has sections about some brilliant books (12 books per section, divided into themes like ‘Family’ or ‘Love’ or ‘History’) and then recommendations of other books to read if you enjoyed the focus book.
What I loved about this book was that it contained so many books I already really loved (it is always nice to spot something familiar in these books!) However, it also introduced me to many books that I hadn’t heard of, or knew the title only – the synopses are interesting and really give you a sense of whether you’d like the book. There are also some really interesting boxes of information sprinkled through the book – snippets about writers or quirky facts or context – that are a brilliant addition.
There’s also discussion points for book groups which are fascinating – some real food for thought and ways to think about the books that I’d never really considered.
‘The Novel Cure: An A to Z of Literary Remedies’ by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin
This is another book which recommends books to readers, but this time based on a range of ailments that need a literary cure!
Arranged like a medical dictionary, you look up your ‘ailment’ and get your literary prescription (which is then explained to you so you get a flavour of the book recommended).
Is your problem ‘being fifty-something’? Look it up and there are ten novels recommended for you. Maybe you have that ‘Monday morning feeling’ – the cure is ‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf! Road rage? Shame? Yearning for home? They’re all here with the perfect literary remedy.
This is a fun idea and an engaging read, but it also introduced me to some great new books!
‘Literary Landscapes: Charting the Real-Life Settings of the World’s Favourite Fiction’ edited by John Sutherland
As well as books, I also have an obsession with maps so this one is perfect for me!
It’s beautifully illustrated (sometimes with maps, often with book illustrations, book covers and author photos) and takes the reader on a trip around the worlds created in fiction. These range from the worlds of Romantic or Modernist novels to contemporary books – date-wise this means from Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ to books published in the last decade.
The focus on the places behind the novels or that shaped them is always fascinating and it is another book that – sorry – will probably add to your TBR!
‘What Matters in Jane Austen: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved’ by John Mullan
This is a must-read for any Jane Austen fan as it explains some of the things that seem a bit puzzling for the modern reader. It is also really engagingly written by someone who really knows their stuff – I saw John Mullan speaking at the Hay Festival and can confirm he is a fascinating chap!
This is a great book if you have ever wondered about the conventions and norms of society sitting behind Austen’s stories – from proposals of marriage to money to how the characters address each other, it’s all here.
It also asks some interesting questions about Austen’s body of work such as ‘Is there any sex in Jane Austen?’ and ‘Why do her plots rely on blunders?’ The answers are always readable and often surprising! (Spoiler: there is a lot of sex in Jane Austen’s books! It might be euphemistically referred to but it is there!)
Phew, that’s 10 brilliant books about books! However, I thought that there should also be some ‘honourable mentions’ – books that are also absolutely awesome but I couldn’t fit on my list here:
‘The Complete Polysyllabic Spree: The Diary of an Occasionally Exasperated but Ever Hopeful Reader’ by Nick Hornby – this is a collection of Hornby’s essays on ‘Stuff I’ve Been Reading’ that were originally published in a US magazine in the noughties. If you like Nick Hornby, you’ll like this.
‘Madresfield: The Real Brideshead’ by Jane Mulvagh – this one really stemmed from my love of Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’. It is about the house and the family that inspired the novel and is a fascinating slice of history.
‘Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead’ – yes, OK, I have a Brideshead obsession! This is really engagingly written, and this time focused on Evelyn Waugh himself and his his relationship with the Lygon family at Madresfield. I read this when I was pregnant and gave me my daughter’s name – Evelyn Waugh was married to a lady called…Evelyn!
‘The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands’ by Huw Lewis-Jones – a gorgeous book that only doesn’t appear higher up the list because I couldn’t find my copy! Packed with maps of lands created only in writers’ imaginations from Treasure Island to the Marauders’ Map in Harry Potter, this is worth every penny.
‘The Literary Detective: 100 Puzzles in Classic Fiction’ by John Sutherland – Sutherland is always an interesting guide to literature and this book (in the vein of Mullan’s Austen book mentioned above) seeks to solve things that might not make sense to readers of classic novels.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my list – please do let me know of any books about books that you love. I’m always on the lookout!
I’d like to welcome you to my stop on this blog tour for Random Things Tours. This book was published on 28th August by Book Guild Publishing.
From the Publisher
London, 1858. Passionate, contradictory, and fiercely loyal to his friends, John Ruskin is an eccentric genius, famed across Britain for his writings on art and philosophy. Haunted by a scandalous past and determined never to love again, the 39-year-old Ruskin becomes infatuated with his enigmatic young student, Rose La Touche, an obsession with profound consequences that will change the course of his life and work.
Written in a style recalling Victorian literature and spanning a period of twenty years, the story poses questions about the nature of love, the boundaries of parenthood, and compatibility in marriage.
‘Unto This Last’ is a portrait of Ruskin’s tormented psyche and reveals a complex and misunderstood soul, longing for a life just out of reach.
“This is an atmospheric and utterly convincing novel… tackling the subject with great empathy in prose that is both detailed and vivid. A considerable achievement.” Michael Crowley, writer and dramatist
“Deeply researched and charmingly written, it resurrects not only John Ruskin, one of the most influential characters of the Victorian age, but his fascinating pupil Rose La Touche, who is portrayed so sensitively that you feel as though you know her.” Daisy Dunn, author of In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny
“Rebecca Lipkin’s thoughtful novel about this complicated man – and his often-confusing world – is a pleasure to read and a very welcome addition for all lovers of Pre-Raphaelitism.” Lucinda Hawksley, biographer
My Review
I am a huge fan of any books set in the Victorian era as I love this period in history. As soon as I knew that this was a book about John Ruskin, artist and art critic linked to the Pre-Raphaelites (who I also love!) then I knew this would be a book for me.
It is a huge book that has been meticulously researched and beautifully written. In keeping with the great Victorian novels themselves, it feels substantial and weighty, retaining the writing style while also being compelling and readable.
Given the fact that Lipkin’s book is a (fictionalised) biography of a character that I thought I knew, I was surprised to read about this aspect of his life – books on Ruskin tend to focus more on his failed marriage to Effie Grey which happens before the opening of this book (although is explored later in the narrative).
This book is instead about his relationship with young Irish girl Rose La Touche, a child who (along with her sister) started as his student but later became the focus of his obsession. The fact that Ruskin is in his late thirties when he meets ten year-old Rose seems slightly uncomfortable to a modern reader (and perhaps was also odd to the Victorians) but Lipkin doesn’t shy away from the less comprehensible elements of Ruskin’s personality. The relationship – not inappropriately physical but oddly obsessive – is presented with all its ups and downs through the narrative and through letters between the key parties (including Rose’s mother, who is the one who brings Ruskin in as art tutor for her children and seems to have a soft spot for him herself).
Indeed, the presentation of John Ruskin is very well done. He is a complicated character and Lipkin presents this through all his contradictions and traits – both noble and less pleasant. There were times in the novel when I really didn’t like Ruskin, but appreciated the factors that had shaped him to be like this – for example, his problematic relationship with his father and his living situation in Denmark Hill. His own struggles with his relationship with Rose are evident in the novel and he – ultimately – seems like a complex man with conflicting emotions.
I did love the way that Rose was portrayed. From the immature petulance of a slightly over-indulged ten year-old, I felt that she grew into someone with so much depth and richness to her personality. I could have happily read more about her in this book.
The real strength in this book is that Lipkin has taken a figure from the Victorian era and breathed life into him. Ruskin isn’t someone that widely known now outside of history and art buffs, so this is a lovely book to reintroduce him to a modern readership. You may not find his situation relatable, but I think most readers would recognise the portrait of a man struggling with his own emotions and desires.
I would recommend this to any fans of the Victorian era and anyone who enjoys reading about interesting characters from the past. In ‘Unto This Last’, Lipkin has produced a gloriously lavish, engaging and immersive book.
About the Author
Rebecca Lipkin has had a passion for Victorian art and literature from a young age. She first discovered John Ruskin through E.M. Forster’s novel, A Room with a View, and later joined the Ruskin Society at the age of seventeen to learn more about Ruskin’s work. Rebecca pursued a career in journalism, specialising in arts writing and theatre reviews, and has worked for a number of national publications. Rebecca says, “Most accounts of John Ruskin’s complex personal life focus on his brief marriage to Effie Gray, but his twenty-year relationship with Rose La Touche was of huge importance to the evolution of his thinking; it is a captivating and tragic story of two people whose loving friendship transcended boundaries and conventions to the very end.”
With thanks to Random Things Tours for my copy of this book for review.
In all the excitement of setting up my blog and all the new releases, I feel that I’ve not shared my reviews on some absolutely outstanding (but slightly older) books.
This book was released in March 2020 and was one of my five star ARCs of 2019.
I really didn’t know what to expect from this, but wow! This is a well-written and pacy thriller that will not be forgotten easily. It’s shocking, sad, tragic…but more than anything made me feel so angry. Just as the writer intended, I think.
The story begins with the body of a young woman, Katie Straw, being recovered from a river in a small town somewhere outside Manchester. The police recognise that it’s probably a suicide, but they just need to check out a few things to close the case. The narrative then splits between the investigation in the ‘Now’ sections of the book and Katie’s life leading up to her death (‘Then’). In this strand, a much darker theme of domestic abuse rears its head and the novel becomes almost unbearable in its inevitability.
However, this is so much more than your average thriller. It is unflinching and quite unsettling in its portrayal of the trauma suffered by the women in the novel. The women’s refuge featured is at once a safe space but also precarious and underfunded. The women residents are flawed and realistic, their decisions often poor and their thinking blurred by their suffering.
It made me angry, I think, because it was so believable; this does happen every day and the statistics about women being killed by their domestic partners speak for themselves. But how do you help or understand women who repeatedly return to or excuse their abusers?
I raced through this book and recommend it highly. It will make you absolutely furious that this happens, but it’s a clever and an engaging read too and recognises some important issues. It’s much darker than my usual reads, but I am so glad I chose it give it a try.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Header photo with thanks to Sydney Sims for sharing their work on Unsplash.
I’ve been a member of NetGalley for years, although I really started reviewing in earnest in 2016. Since then, I’ve reviewed over 330 books for the site and my current feedback rating is at 79%.
This doesn’t take a genius mathematician to work out that there are a fair few books on my shelf still to review!
Today, I thought I’d let you have a quick look at some of what is on my shelf and (therefore) a sneaky look at what may well feature on the blog in coming months.
‘The Whole Truth’ by Cara Hunter – I have loved the rest of the DI Fawley police procedurals by Hunter so was very excited to get the widget for this one! Not published until February 2021, it is an honour to get this advance copy.
‘The Mitford Trial’ by Jessica Fellowes – another series that I’ve followed since the beginning, these books are historical murder mysteries that feature the lives of the Mitford sisters. This latest one looks brilliant as it is based on a real-life murder. To be published in November.
‘The Unforgetting’ by Rose Black – this looks like a glorious historical novel in the same vein as those by Laura Purcell. It is out now and I really need to read it!
‘Between the Covers’ by Jilly Cooper – I love Jilly Cooper and so jumped at the opportunity to read this collection of her musings on life, love and ageing. This is coming out in October.
‘The Secret Life of the Savoy’ by Olivia Williams – this promises glitz and glamour and some fascinating history. It’s out now.
‘The Shape of Darkness’ by Laura Purcell – I’ve loved all of Purcell’s books and was so excited to get this ARC! It isn’t out until January 2021 but it is edging up my TBR as I am so keen to read it.
‘It Takes Two’ by Cathy Newman – I liked Newman’s previous book, ‘Bloody Brilliant Woman’ so jumped at the opportunity to read this account of couples who have made history.
So there you go! 7 books that are at the forefront of my NetGalley shelf. There’s plenty of others and I’m doing my absolute best to get my feedback rating above 80%. I just need to stop requesting now…
Header photo with thanks to Susan Yin for sharing their work on Unsplash.
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. It’s open for everyone to join in and share what they have been/are/will be reading!
Affiliate links are provided for books already published. Thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
What are you currently reading?
I had to put them on hold to meet blog tour obligations, but I’ve returned to ‘A Tomb with a View’ by Peter Ross and ‘More than a Woman’ by Caitlin Moran. Both are proving compelling and I am now racing through them!
What have you recently finished reading?
I finally finished ‘Unto this Last’ by Rebecca Lipkin that I was reading for a blog tour – my review will be up on Saturday so watch this space! This huge and meticulously-researched novel about artist and critic John Ruskin is a treat for anyone who loves all things Victorian.
I have just finished reading Dawn O’Porter’s new non-fiction book about her experiences of lockdown during the early part of 2020. This is due to be released on 1st October and my review can be found here.
I also read (as a buddy read with the lovely Jodie @relish_books) ‘Good Samaritans’ by Will Carver, a dark and twisty murder mystery. It is the first of (so far) three books featuring Detective Sergeant Pace and I’ve seen lots of praise for this series on Twitter. I found it engaging and fast paced, but I also thought it was perhaps a bit too dark and depressing for me – no-one comes out of it well!
What do you think you will read next?
I really want to read some more fiction as a lot of my recent choices have been non-fiction (or fiction based on real life events).
I’m planning on reading ‘Cows Can’t Jump’ by Philip Bowne for a blog tour on October – this debut book looks absolutely brilliant and I’m looking forward to the promised humour after the bleakness of ‘Good Samaritans’!
I also have a blog tour for ‘The Creak on the Stairs’ by Eva Bjorg Aegisdorrir. This one looks like an intriguing slice of Nordic Noir and I love the premise – a body found in a lighthouse and an investigation that uncovers a community’s well-hidden secrets.
My NetGalley shelf is (as usual) overflowing so I still have some lovely options there too – the 2021 Laura Purcell release (‘The Shape of Darkness’), the next Stuart Turton book (‘The Devil and the Dark Water’) and the latest in Cara Hunter’s excellent DI Fawley series (‘The Whole Truth’) are also vying for my attention!
As usual, thanks to NetGalley and blog tour hosts for keeping me in excellent books! All opinions are entirely my own.
Header photo with thanks to Sincerely Media for sharing their work on Unsplash.
This book, to be published on 1st October, is a non-fiction journal of the lockdown period in spring/summer 2020 by the journalist, writer and television presenter, Dawn O’Porter.
I really like Dawn O’Porter. Having watched several of her documentaries and read a couple of her novels, I’d say I was pretty much sold on her work and so was very much looking forward to reading this book, a diary of her lockdown experiences. She lives in LA with her actor husband and two small sons so I was fairly confident that her experiences of lockdown wouldn’t be anything like mine!
Saying that though, O’Porter’s experiences are pretty relatable for anyone who has lived with small children. The potty training, the sleep deprivation, the repetitive questions about favourite dinosaurs…I think most people would recognise something there! Add into this pet ownership, navigating the weird new world of lockdown, preparing for a house move, cooking, and the ups and downs of marriage and I expect that something in this book will strike a chord with everyone.
Other reviewers have mentioned that it is a bit soon to be reading about lockdown. As we seem poised on the edge of a second wave of coronavirus, I can totally understand that this book might be a bit too much for some people. As it was, I didn’t particularly focus on the lockdown theme as O’Porter writes engagingly about things not connected to the virus.
Yes, it was lockdown that meant she had to spend more time with her kids, but the anecdotes about family life are funny and entertaining. Indeed, there’s plenty here that’s not corona-themed, such as O’Porter’s grief about the death of her friend, Caroline Flack, or her musings on the death of George Floyd from the centre of LA’s protest-zone (where she lives).
At its best, this book is hilarious and fresh – a funny and lively take on a time that challenged most of us. However, for me, the political elements of the book were slightly less successful and a bit discordant after the candid, confessional style of the rest. It was interesting to hear O’Porter’s views on racism and anti-racism, but it did move the book from something fairly light and entertaining to something more didactic, which wasn’t really what I was after.
Overall. if you like Dawn O’Porter’s writing then there is a lot you will like here. Some of the things she writes about are relatable, some are a bit banal and some are a bit odd (she lost me at the crystals). Some things are very funny and others sad. What isn’t in doubt is O’Porter’s ability to entertain with her writing and it is for this reason that I’d recommend this book.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
If you’d like to pre-order this book (released 1st October), please use my affiliate link below – I’ll earn commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my blog.
Header photo with thanks to engin akyurt for sharing their work on Unsplash.
This lovely book is out this week – it really is one to savour and return to repeatedly!
I love books and I love books about books! This one is partially a series of book recommendations, part autobiography of Rentzenbrink’s life around books and part meditation on the function of books in our lives.
Rentzenbrink intersperses elements of her own life story with discussion of the books that helped her to get through or make sense of it all. Some of that life story is sad, especially the event of her brother’s death which became the focus of her own book. However, it’s also uplifting as she finds meaning and support and inspiration from the pages of the books she reads which, ultimately, sees her rising through the ranks at Waterstone’s and into a writing career.
The books she discusses are varied and interesting, from the childhood comfort of an Enid Blyton book to the Julian Barnes books that inspired her to take a new path in life.
Overall, if you love reading then there is much to enjoy here. Reminders of books that you have read and enjoyed. An interesting autobiography. Recommendations on books by genre. Lots of bits that will make you nod in recognition. The sense that you have found one of your book tribe! Personally, I found this a comforting and engaging read that made me reflect on the books in my own life.
I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
If you’d like your own copy of this, please use the link below – it is an affiliate link so I may receive commission at no extra cost to you.
Header photo with thanks to Aung Soe Min for sharing their work on Unsplash.
Released this week – a new book from Nick Hornby is always an event in my diary!
I feel like I should declare my love of Nick Hornby books at the start of this review – I usually love the dialogue and the insight into people and the humour of Hornby’s writing. Indeed, ‘High Fidelity’ is up there with my absolute favourite novels and I think I’ve read pretty much all his work.
This book had so much promise – essentially an age gap romance between a 42 year-old white woman (Lucy) and a 22 year-old black man (Joseph) set against the Brexit referendum. There’s loads of scope for exploration of people’s attitudes to race, class, age, 21st century British society…so far, so good!
And indeed, a lot of this is delivered upon very well by Hornby – he perfectly captures, for example, the rage caused by Brexit on both sides of the Leave/Remain debate. Lucy’s job as a teacher also struck a chord with me as reflecting my own life.
However, it’s not a perfect novel. While it’s enjoyable and interesting, it doesn’t quite hit the spot for a romance as it’s too messy and makes you wonder what the appeal is in the relationship, especially for Lucy who tolerates some pretty poor behaviour from Joseph. It felt a bit more like social commentary than a fully absorbing novel in places.
Overall, I would say this is an engaging and light read with some interesting points about British culture in the age of Brexit and Black Lives Matter. Whether it works as a romance is more up for debate – it didn’t for me. If you like Hornby’s writing (as I do) then you’ll probably like this, but for everyone else then I’d start with ‘High Fidelity’ or ‘About a Boy’ as Hornby’s real masterpieces.
I received a free copy of the novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
You can buy this book using the link below – I may earn commission on purchases at no extra cost to you.
Header photo with thanks to Jude Beck for sharing their work on Unsplash.
I really like Ruby Wax and – to be honest – felt like I needed to read some good news in 2020, so this seemed like a good book for me right now.
This book is packed with ‘good news’ – ways in which humanity is making steps forward in various fields that are often unreported by the doom-and-gloom mass media.
It was really heartening to read of some really positive projects and people really making a difference, from a global project setting up ecovillages to those individuals helping refugees on the front line in camps in Greece. There are some really worrying and harrowing stories alongside the cheeriness – it is useful (but sad) to see the extent of the problem before Wax shows us the people and projects trying to fix the issues.
Wax also looks at technological advances and the ways in which businesses are embracing more sustainable models and developments in education so that schools become more than exam factories. In order to do all this, she travels widely and meets lots of interesting people. This all makes for engaging reading as Wax relates all this with her trademark humour and self-deprecation.
One of the slightly odder things about the book is that it was written pre-pandemic so it doesn’t grapple with that at all. However, Wax has added some footnotes and a little bit of an introduction to explain this so it is not a problem – just strange to read the optimism with the hindsight of what has actually happened!
All in all, this is an uplifting and hopeful book and one that I would recommend to anyone who feels that the world is headed in the wrong direction. I can’t quite embrace the mindfulness that Wax endorses so enthusiastically, but I’m totally on board with all the other messages in this engaging and positive book.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Header photo with thanks to Jon Tyson for sharing their work on Unsplash.
