Twitter Archives - The Quick and the Read

Book Review: ‘Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You’ by Becky Holmes

I first discovered Becky Holmes on Twitter/X where she has the brilliant and hilarious account, @deathtospinach – a platform she uses to take down some of the sleazier characters who send her messages. She’s funny and sassy and so entertaining, so I was delighted to hear she had written a book. Sign me up for a review copy!

Thanks to NetGalley for granting me a copy to review – opinions, as always, are my own.

In this book, Becky Holmes tackles the topic of online romance fraud – all those ‘Keanu Reeves’ and similar accounts that try to woo unsuspecting women on the internet with the aim of taking money from them. Some of this involved engaging with the scammers themselves, but Holmes also talks to women who have been the victims of such fraudulent activity – and warns against the way that the scammers are getting smarter and harder to resist.

Book Review: ‘The Spirit Engineer’ by A J West

I am so ashamed that this book sat on my NetGalley shelf for so long! I was missing an absolute treat – and I’m not alone in my opinion as this was recently voted as Bert’s Books’ Book of the Year by readers on Twitter.

The story opens in Belfast in 1914, a city still grieving the loss of the Titanic two years before. A scientist, William Crawford Jackson, is working at the Institute and living in the city with his wife, Elizabeth, and three children. Having suffered a personal loss in the Titanic sinking, Elizabeth is reeling with grief and, like many of the city’s residents, open to the new ideas of spiritualism that oppose everything her sceptical husband stands for. When he hears mysterious voices at one of Kathleen Goligher’s seances, he starts on a quest to discover the truth…

Wow, this is such a cleverly-plotted book! As I followed William on his lengthy journey to find answers, I found myself really unsure what to think about spiritualism – and this is an absolute strength of the novel. Are the practitioners genuine conduits between the living and the dead, or are they frauds looking to play on other’s grief? Are those who attend the seances merely naive and silly, or pitiable figures whose emotions are being manipulated? West keeps his cards incredibly close to his chect until the end of the novel. As William vacillated in his own thoughts, I found myself being pulled along and as keen for answers as he was.

The setting of the book is also a triumph – a perfect historical moment for this story and some genuinely creepy settings, from the Goligher’s seance room to the austere halls of the Institute with their sinister statues. There are some truly frightening elements in play here and West uses them well to create a sense of rising horror – the images of the Titanic victims that keep being recalled are horrific and vivid and the sensory description slightly stomach-churning at times.

William Crawford Jackson is a brilliant choice of narrator – he is both based on a real person (as is Kathleen Goligher) and wildly unreliable as he narrates his experiences. His voice is distinctive and strong – he starts out as a kind of mildly comic Edwardian man in the model of Charles Pooter from ‘The Diary of a Nobody’ and then expands into something much more multi-dimensional and complex. Lady Adelia Carter begins as a snobby Lady Bracknell character, yet also takes quite a journey over the course of the novel. The characterisation is pitch-perfect throughout, and there is the added bonus of cameos by Arthur Conan Doyle (himself an advocate of spiritualism) and Harry Houdini (for the history nerds like me!)

I can also imagine this is a gorgeous book to have a physical copy of as there are some beautiful illustrations that start each of the novel’s main sections.

There is so much to love about this novel and I recommend it highly to all lovers of cleverly-plotted and immersive historical fiction. For me, this is up there with the best writing by authors like Sarah Waters, Laura Purcell and Andrew Taylor. I really wish I had read this sooner and it is one that will stay with me for some time to come. The end – when it comes – is surprising and eye-opening and entirely unforeseen. I defy anyone to predict it – although you will have fun trying.

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Header photo by CHIRAG K on Unsplash

Book Review: ‘Put a Wet Paper Towel on It: The Weird and Wonderful World of Primary Schools’ by Lee and Adam Parkinson

I’m a teacher. Mainly a secondary level one, although I do have primary-age children so the school world explored by brothers Lee and Adam Parkinson in this book is not entirely alien to me. I had also seen posts by Mr P on Twitter but hadn’t made the connection with this book – the @ICT_MrP account is (I think) run by Lee.

This book is an entertaining jaunt through life as a teacher. It covers all the parts of the school year that are part and parcel of teaching life – the parents’ evenings, the school play, assemblies…plus the primary school belief that a wet paper towel can cure all ills. Headache – wet paper towel. Bruised knee – wet paper towel. Major arterial bleeding – wet paper towel. True.

‘Alexa, what is there to know about love?’ by Brian Bilston

An belated happy publication day to the new poetry collection from Brian Bilston! This little gem of a book was out last Thursday (21st January) so do order now!

I first found Brian Bilston’s poetry on Twitter and loved its clever wordplay – this led me on to his first poetry collection, ‘You Took The Last Bus Home’ and his excellent novel (with poetic interludes) ‘Diary of a Somebody’. I was, therefore, thrilled to be granted an ARC of his new poetry collection by NetGalley and the publisher.

The poetry is – as the title suggests – loosely focused on the theme of love and is exactly what readers have come to expect of Bilston’s poetry – clever wordplay, interesting perspectives, unexpected twists. It is perhaps a little more serious in places than some of his other poetry (and certainly more serious than the ones that are so popular on Twitter). However, it is an enjoyable read – albeit a quick one as it seemed fairly short.

As a Literature geek, I really enjoyed the poems where Bilston riffed on literature from the past, from Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ (in ‘Cleopatra’) to Wordsworth (‘Status Update: a Lonely Cloud’) to tragic lovers (‘Five clerihews for Doomed Lovers’). However, Bilston is equally comfortable playing around with Mills and Boon novels, Spoonerisms, Brexit and many other incredibly varied ideas.

This is a lively and varied poetry collection that I’d recommend to those who like their poetry humorous. It does have serious messages and will leave you with food for thought, but – above all else – it is entertaining and engaging.

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Header photo with thanks to Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash.

My 10 Bookish Surprises of 2020

I am a life-long bookworm, but 2020 marked the point at which a hobby became something so much bigger. This blog was born in July 2020 after years of writing NetGalley reviews and it has supplied the steepest learning curve of all!

Aside from the usual revelations to bloggers (the vagaries of WordPress, for example), there have been some genuine bookish surprises in this very strange year.

Here are just a few things that have given me food for thought this year…

Book Twitter is fabulous…

Many thanks to all the lovely bloggers who have crossed my path this year – I have been genuinely astounded at how lovely the bookish community is on Twitter and grateful about how I’ve been welcomed.

I have to make special mentions of the Tsundoko Squad and The Write Reads crew – you guys have been just wonderful in this otherwise pretty awful year!

…but it loves a drama

With this in mind, I’ve also been astonished at how many Twitter spats seem to happen. I get that we are an opinionated bunch of people, but I’ve been bemused by lots of arguments this year. I’m way too old for all that!

Reading non-fiction puts you in a minority

I’ve always read loads of non-fiction and assumed everyone else did too. Wrong!

Incidentally, you can read my top 10 non-fiction reads of 2020 here.

It’s sometimes fun to read outside your genres

One thing that has surprised me this year is how much I’ve enjoyed some books I really didn’t expect to! I think of myself mainly as a reader of historical and crime fiction, plus a lot of non-fiction. However, this year some of my favourite books have been odd choices for me – YA romance (‘The Great Godden’ by Meg Rosoff), vampires (‘Grave Secrets’ by Alice James) and a book about graveyards (and so much more! ‘A Tomb with a View’ by Peter Ross).

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There is always someone who has read more than you

I’ve always read loads but not on the scale of most of Book Twitter! I’ll finish this year on about 120 books and that’s just fine.

Seasonal reading is a thing

Having never read Christmas books, I honestly didn’t really register that seasonal-themed reading was a thing. Not just Christmas, but Halloween and pretty much any other holiday/season/event you can think of – there will be a corner of Book Twitter and many blogs dedicated to it. Mind blown.

I still haven’t read any Christmas books though!

Bookstagram is huge…and I still don’t get it

I’m way too old to get Instagram.

I’m seriously impressed at the dedication of those who lovingly photograph books in gorgeous settings and with fabulous lighting. It’s one of those things that is beyond my skill set, like knitting or skiing or being able to carry off wearing a hat. Carry on, everyone else!

My favourite books of the year weren’t ones I expected

I’m pretty good at choosing books for myself – it’s pretty rare that I DNF books and have enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve picked up this year.

What I’m less good at is predicting the books that I will adore – the ones I’ll be raving to everyone about forever. This year, there have been some brilliant surprises – ‘Cows Can’t Jump’ by Philip Bowne, ‘The Miseducation of Evie Epworth’ by Matson Taylor and ‘The Quickening’ by Rhiannon Ward to name just three fantastic examples.

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Buddy reading is fun

I’d always been sceptical about buddy reads and reading groups. Then I worked my way through ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier with The Write Reads bunch and I have honestly never laughed so much. I not only finished a book that I’ve failed to read on other occasions, I totally enjoyed the chat and there will be elements of it that stay with me for quite a while!

I’m not sure who book blogs are really for

I’ve loved every minute of setting up and writing my blog this year (technical issues aside – curse you, JetPack) but I’m no clearer on who it is really for. Website hits, though satisfying, aren’t massively high and feedback is limited.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll keep writing the blog for me – and if any of you want to carry on reading then GREAT!

Here’s to a 2021 that is everything that 2020 wasn’t!

WWW Wednesday – 16th December, 2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Taking on a World of Words. Anyone can take part and it is a great way of sharing what you have just finished reading, what you are currently reading and what is next on the TBR.

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What have you recently finished reading?

I’ve finished my *TOP SECRET* book for the BBNYA judging panel. Results will be out soon so I’ll be able to talk about it soon.

I’ve also finished ‘The Inverts’ by Crystal Jeans, a 1920s-set tale of two childhood friends, Bart and Bettina, who marry to hide their same-sex love interests from society. It’s bold and brash and I really enjoyed it, although some of the sensibilities felt very modern rather than authentically of the period. Still, it’s a lively read and one I’ll review fully nearer to publication date in April 2021.

I was also lucky enough to be granted access by NetGalley to Brian Bilston’s new poetry collection, ‘Alexa, what is there to know about love?’ Regular Twitter users will have probably come across Bilston’s witty and extremely clever poetry by now and this book is as lovely as I expected. The wordplay is sharp and I loved the mind-bogglingly varied inspirations for the poems; there aren’t many poets who can veer from Cleopatra to Google or Wordsworth to Mills and Boon with so much panache! A full review will follow nearer the publication date in January 2021.

What are you reading now?

As we near the end of term, I’m not reading so much because I fall asleep as soon as I pick up a book. Audiobooks are proving my salvation – I’m still listening to Sandi Toksvig’s reading of her ‘Toksvig’s Almanac 2021’ and I’ve moved on to ‘The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams (read by Stephen Fry) with the kids. Aside from a few saucy references I’d forgotten in the latter (funny but probably not wholly child-friendly), all is good.

What do you think you will read next?

I still have no real clue what I’ll read next – I decide totally on mood which is why ‘The Inverts’ was picked up this week even though it was a way down the TBR.

I do want to clear some of my NetGalley shelf before Christmas (when – no doubt – more books will arrive!) so I’m eyeing up ‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams, ‘Hyde’ by Craig Russell and ‘The Best Things’ by Mel Giedroyc. But we shall see…

With thanks to NetGalley for keeping me in books – all the mentioned books are from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, with the exception of ‘The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ which I bought from the always-excellent Audible service.

Header photo with thanks to Andreea Radu for sharing their work on Unsplash.