life Archives - The Quick and the Read

Book Review: ‘How to Raise a Viking’ by Helen Russell

I enjoyed Russell’s ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ and so was pleased to be granted an eARC of ‘How to Raise a Viking’. I’m really intrigued about the Danish/Nordic/Scandi way of life and loved Russell’s chatty and self-deprecating wander through her experiences of (firstly) living Danishly and (now) raising Viking children.

Blog Tour: ‘Lessons’ by Ian McEwan

I’m delighted to join the blog tour for ‘Lessons’ by Ian McEwan today.

Thanks to Random Things Tours and Jonathan Cape for my place on the tour and for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Blast: ‘Tell Me Everything’ by Laura Kay

Thanks to Milly Reid at Quercus for inviting me onto the blog blast for ‘Tell Me Everything’ by Laura Kay which publishes TODAY!

Thanks to Quercus too for my proof of this quirky and uplifting book – as always, opinions are entirely my own.

Blog Tour: ‘Adult Assembly Required’ by Abbi Waxman

Happy publication day to ‘Adult Assembly Required’!

Having loved Waxman’s first book – ‘The Bookish Life of Nina Hill’ – I was absolutely delighted to be invited on the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Isabelle Wilson at Headline for my spot on the tour and for the review copy of the book – opinions, as always, are my own.

This book is not quite a sequel to Nina Hill, but shares some of the characters from the first book – great news whether you read or didn’t read the previous book because this either works fine as a standalone or you can become reacquainted with some old friends!

Book Review: ‘The Marmalade Diaries’ by Ben Aitken

Given that Aitken’s previous books have been mainly focused on travel, it would seem that a Covid lockdown might put a crimp in his style.

Not so.

This book covers the period of national lockdown when Aitken, in his thirties, ended up living with 84-year old widow, Winnie Carter. She needed a helping hand round the house, he needed a cheapish room to rent – but neither of them then needed a period of national shutdown to be announced that threw these unlikely housemates together even more intensely!

(Audio)Book Review: ’24 Hours in Ancient Rome’ by Philip Matyszak

I love an Audible bargain and this is one of my best purchases of recent times!

The book covers 24 hours in the life of Ancient Rome, with each ‘hour’ focusing on a different person who lives in the city. We see a diverse selection of people over the course of the day, as well as learn a lot about how the inhabitants of Rome lived. This is clever and entertaining social history.

Book Review: ‘My Mess is a Bit of a Life’ by Georgia Pritchett

Given my book obsession (hardly a secret), it is quite rare that I pick up a newly released book in my genres in Waterstones that I haven’t heard of before. This one grabbed my attention (bright orange cover!) and I began idly flicking through it. Within a couple of skimmed lines, I was sold and bought it.

I hadn’t heard of Georgia Pritchett before, although I now feel ashamed to say that given her impressive CV writing for pretty much every comedy show I could think of from ‘Spitting Image’ to ‘Veep’, ‘Have I Got News For You?’ to ‘The Thick of It’.

What grabbed me was just how funny this book is. I’m always on the lookout for books that make me laugh and – as it made me giggle to myself in Waterstones – this one hit the spot in seconds.

Essentially, the book is written as Pritchett’s explanation to her psychiatrist about all the things she is anxious about. This starts from her earliest memories and works in chronological order through her life to date – right through her stellar career and into the struggles she is having that take her to her doctor’s door.

Doesn’t sound immediately hilarious, does it?!

However, the writing is absolutely sublime. Pritchett perfectly skewers thoughts and people and events with such precision that it is just so relatable. This is something I didn’t think would be possible when I compare my life (pottering round in Cheshire) with hers (pottering round the White House with celebrities). Turns out that anxiety is a universal experience – who knew?!

There are some great running jokes – Bob Dylan’s every appearance made me snort with laughter – but there is also real warmth in the descriptions. I loved Pritchett’s Dad (complete with story about how he got his nickname – The Patriarchy), The Moose, The Speck…no-one is called by their actual names and it is like being let in on family in-jokes.

As Pritchett becomes older and immersed in her career, the reader is treated to some lovely anecdotes about celebrities and working on high-profile comedy programmes. It never becomes about name-dropping and there is always Pritchett’s imposter syndrome to contend with – she is self-deprecating to the point of not realising that her achievements are down to her own talent.

That’s not to say that the book doesn’t cover some really serious (and anxiety-inducing) topics. Some of Pritchett’s experiences are heartbreaking, yet there is a matter-of-fact presentation of them and an ability to see humour in the darkest of situations.

I loved this book so much. I raced through it, reading bits to anyone who would listen along the way, and I’m already thinking about a reread! If you love humorous books with bucketloads of warm wit then this is for you. If you have anxiety in any form, the sentiments will all seem so familiar – except narrated by someone really, really funny.

You do need a copy of this book! Please use my affilate link and thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases:

‘How to Live. What to Do’ by Josh Cohen

As soon as I saw the subtitle for this book – ‘In search of ourselves in life and literature’ – I knew I had to read it. Thanks to Sarah at Harwood PR for sending me a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review – opinions, as always, are entirely my own.

I love books about books and loved the sound of this one! Josh Cohen is a psychoanalyst and Professor of Literary Theory – there is genuinely no-one better suited to take the reader through the trials of human life while also offering up literary examples of characters who have suffered the same timeless conundrums.

‘Dearly’ by Margaret Atwood

Although I’ve been a long-time fan of Margaret Atwood’s novels, I hadn’t really read much of her poetry before this. Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook version (narrated by Atwood herself) – I did also buy the hardback version as I think I take things in differently through reading and listening. I can recommend both formats though!

This collection of poetry was published in 2020, a year after Atwood lost her long-term partner to dementia, and the poems do understandably focus on loss, grief and ageing. However, the poems were written between 2008 and 2019 and so do also have a wider scope of Atwood’s interests and concerns, among them the environment, attitudes to female bodies and the nature of memory.

Although some of the poetry is bleak, it is not without hope and the trademark flashes of dry wit for which Atwood is famous, such as in ‘Everyone Else’s Sex Life’ – and I like to think you can hear this in Atwood’s deadpan, drawling delivery of the poems.

There are some very powerful poems in the collection and I was glad to have had the hardback book to fall back upon to read the lines again and think further about them – I am not sure the audiobook, while slow paced in its narration, really gives readers the time to absorb the poetry. For this reason, I think repeated listening would be necessary.

Particularly poignant for me was the longer poem, ‘Songs for Murdered Sisters’. This was written for the baritone singer Joshua Hopkins ‘in honour of his own murdered sister’ (as we only find out in the acknowledgements at the end of the book). This poem moves – in clearly delineated sections – from the sense of absence and grief through anger to remembrance and acceptance. It’s a striking poem that stood out to me on first listen and one I’ve gone back to.

I can’t even pretend to have absorbed and fully understood all the poetry in this collection yet. I think it is one that I will need to return to many times, yet I can say that I found the first reading very engaging, thought-provoking and moving. I’m not a crier, but definitely had a lump in my throat for some of the poems!

As other reviewers have commented, the narration by Atwood is quite flat and without much emphasis. I don’t see this necessarily as a negative – I have heard Atwood read her work before so kind of expected the monotone delivery. Instead, I think her reading of the poems allows listeners to build their own interpretations of the words – and the poetry is strong enough that it packs a punch even without the narrator giving us clues through the reading.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry or who shares Atwood’s concerns – and actually many of the themes are universal. What I would say is that the poetry collection is absolutely 5-star-excellent. However, I’m not wholly convinced that the audiobook is quite the right format for the poetry so I’d recommend it ideally in conjunction with a printed copy – for me, the audiobook is a 4 star presentation of 5 star material.

If you would like a copy of this excellent poetry collection (or its audio version), please use my affiliate links below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.

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‘More than a Woman’ by Caitlin Moran

I love Caitlin Moran. I think she is funny, brave and always readable. I love the fact she has turned her considerable journalistic writing skills into a career in which she produces brilliant fiction and non-fiction books. She is the reason I have a Times subscription (she is a regular writer for them) and a shelf full of her previous books.

That needed to be said up front. Although I read and review lots of books, I’m not the most impartial reviewer in this case. Evidence: I pre-ordered this book and paid out of my own pocket! No ARC, no waiting for the prices to come down, no second-hand copy, no waiting for Christmas…honestly, this is all so out of character for me!

With that said, I did wonder how she would have enough to say about the topic of being a woman. She covered a lot of ground (rather marvellously) in her book ‘How to be a Woman’ ten years ago – how much more is there to say?

Loads, it turns out. Moran is now in her forties (like me) and has plenty to say about this stage in her life. It is in middle age that (Moran observes) life becomes less about you and more about everyone else – your children growing up, pressures of work, ageing parents – and it is really tough. You aren’t the same person as you were ten years ago and it needs a whole new way of navigating. Add into this the current state of society – it’s safe to say the patriarchy hasn’t yet been smashed – and Moran has plenty to write about.

This book is structured into chapters denoting an hour in the middle-aged women’s day. Thus, we are taken from 7am (The Hour of ‘The List’) through various points in the day – The Hour or Parenting Teenage Children (eeek – not looking forward to this myself!), The Hour of Housework, The Hour of Crisis… It is all hugely relatable and it is strangely comforting that the things I stress about seem to be universal.

Particularly striking for me was ‘The List’ as I’ve done a lot of thinking about mental load recently and the fact that women seem to bear the brunt of the thinking about things. It was heartening to read Moran’s own list and think that I am not the only one trying to keep on top of work, parenting, marriage, life admin, pet care…

Yes, there are a lot of serious points made here about women’s place in society and the pressures to ‘have it all’ (read: ‘do it all’). However, it is also absolutely hilarious and Moran is unafraid to share some rather intimate things. It is like a chat with your best friend, if your best friend is a totally unfiltered over-sharer! The bathwater thing (you’ll have to read it) really made me laugh out loud…

As well as being laugh-out-loud funny in places, there are some really serious points, especially Moran’s daughter’s fight with anorexia. I found the story extremely moving and am glad that Moran (and her daughter, because it was shared with her permission) included this intimate story that shows that each family has its struggles behind closed doors.

This is a feminist book but one that should be required reading for everyone – it is so insightful and engaging that I think anyone would enjoy it (and probably learn something along the way).

Please do go and buy a copy of this book. If you are a women of a similar age to Moran (or live with one) then you will recognise a lot here. It is uplifting and extremely funny, but will leave you with a lot of food for thought.

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