Tom Rachman strikes again. I loved this just as much as The Imperfectionists. Rachman is just so damn good at writing completely believable charactersTom Rachman strikes again. I loved this just as much as The Imperfectionists. Rachman is just so damn good at writing completely believable characters, those I love and those I hate. I listened to this read by Sam Alexander (who read it exceptionally well), and I loved it so much I'm going to have to buy the physical book. It is the life of Charles (Pinch) Bavinsky, and we first meet him when he is five in his father's painting studio in Rome in 1960. Bear Bavinsky is a famous, philandering, egotistical, larger-than-life painter and Pinch is both terrified of him and in awe to him, and really remains so for the whole of his life. And yet although everyone crumples in the path of Bear - his several wives, his many children and so on - Pinch has the last laugh, although it's still not funny. For the most part Pinch's life is a sad one (the cover might say this book has some dark humour, but I didn't find it), solitary, unfulfilled, dissatisfied, but so real. I wanted to shake him. I loved him. ...more
There was lots to love (and be devastated by) in this debut by Louise Kennedy. Twenty-four-year-old Cushla is a teacher in a school in a town near BelThere was lots to love (and be devastated by) in this debut by Louise Kennedy. Twenty-four-year-old Cushla is a teacher in a school in a town near Belfast in the 1970s. Every day the children in her class have to say what's happened in 'the news' and it is mostly a terrifying litany of The Troubles. Cushla, a Catholic starts an affair with Michael, a married Protestant in his fifties. The love (and lust) between them is very well written: the secrecy, the excitement, the difficulties. Of course it is not going to end well. I really enjoyed the setting, the characters, the love story, and for the most part, the writing - although Kennedy makes some interesting decisions. If you're a writer, you'll know this, but writers are continually making decisions on the micro level about what to include and what to leave out. There is no need to describe for example, someone walking across a room to pick up the phone unless there is a good reason. Or say hello and goodbye, or hundreds if not thousands of tiny actions that readers simply take for granted are happening. But sometimes, as I found with Trespasses, the author leaves out too many of these incidental actions which mean each time, I am pulled out of the story. In Trespasses for example, Cushla is having a meal with her mother when she decides she needs to get a camera film developed, so we see her picking it up and leaving. And I'm left thinking, but what does her mother think of that with no explanation of why she's leaving the table, or where she's going? Is she just sitting there open mouthed? That certainly isn't the intention. Is this just my brain straining to catch up, or does anyone else sometimes have problems like this? And without giving any spoilers, I wasn't too sure about some plot choices Kennedy makes at the end of the novel. I felt an editor might have told her it needed a happy ending. If this sounds like I'm being negative, it's only because I think this is an excellent debut and there was much to think about both in terms of plot and writing style. I'd recommend it. ...more
I really enjoyed this, more than I thought I would. The unease built and built and it was interesting to see how King did it. The only point where I wI really enjoyed this, more than I thought I would. The unease built and built and it was interesting to see how King did it. The only point where I was actually frightened (I was able to read it late at night before going to sleep without any problem) was when Louis is in his garage, alone, feeling his way forward in the dark and he imagines reaching out and touching someone's hand. Louis moves with his wife Rachel, daughter Ellie and son, Gage to a house in Maine when he gets a new job as a doctor of a nearby college. He befriends his elderly neighbour, Jud, who takes the family to visit the 'pet sematary' in the woods behind their house. When Rachel, Ellie and Gage are visiting Louis' parents-in-law Ellie's beloved cat is run over on the busy road outside their house. Jud lets Louis in on a old country secret, and takes him and the dead cat to another cemetery beyond the one they visited, where things that are dead and buried can come back to life. Rachel could have been more developed, but the section where the family is grieving is exceptionally written. Tell me, should I watch the first film? (I started the second one, but it was too rubbish to continue.)...more
This might be my perfect kind of book. I LOVE true stories of physical danger and survival, and have read many. But this non-fiction account of how MaThis might be my perfect kind of book. I LOVE true stories of physical danger and survival, and have read many. But this non-fiction account of how Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's boat capsized and how they survived in the Pacific for four months in a raft and a dinghy, goes beyond that (fascinating) story, to what happened immediately afterwards and in the rest of their lives. It is a love story, and yes, there was a moment when I cried. In 1973 M&M set sail from England, heading for New Zealand, but in the pacific their boat is hit by a whale and sinks. They manage to grab a few provisions and scramble into the life-raft. They survive for 118 days floating in the Pacific, catching fish and birds and sharks, and eating them raw. When they are finally rescued they are given celebrity status. Elmhirst writes their story in wonderfully clear and precise prose, without melodrama and with exactly the right amount of detail. I listened to it, read beautifully by Florence Howard. This will certainly be in my top books of the year. ...more
524 pages, but this zipped by, beguiling and relentless in its grip. Not my usual reading choice, but the premise of a boy who disappears in the Adiro524 pages, but this zipped by, beguiling and relentless in its grip. Not my usual reading choice, but the premise of a boy who disappears in the Adirondack mountains, and fifteen years later the disappearance of his sister and the police's search for her has me intrigued. Fast-paced and satisfying. Thanks to Harper Collins for the proof. ...more
One woman's fascinating investigation into the East Area Rapist who terrorised Californians in the 1970s and 80s. McNamara renames him the Gold State One woman's fascinating investigation into the East Area Rapist who terrorised Californians in the 1970s and 80s. McNamara renames him the Gold State Killer. The book wasn't finished before McNamara died and so it was completed by other amateur investigators, her husband, and editor. It's a little difficult to listen to because it was easy to forget which sections were written by McNamara and which were pieced together from her notes, and so it was a little disjointed, but very well read. McNamara was obsessed with trying to find this man (who was caught two years after she died and after the book was published), and the attention she paid to every clue makes for pretty grisly reading, but still stuff I couldn't drag my ears away from. ...more
With punchy prose and a harrowing story of staggering resilience and fortitude, Fagan's memoir should be required reading. Many years in the writing, With punchy prose and a harrowing story of staggering resilience and fortitude, Fagan's memoir should be required reading. Many years in the writing, this memoir details Fagan's time growing up in care in Scotland. It's difficult reading at times, but so worth it. ...more
It doesn't feel fair to rate this book. I picked it up for research for the novel I'm writing now, and it was extremely useful for that. I felt for HeIt doesn't feel fair to rate this book. I picked it up for research for the novel I'm writing now, and it was extremely useful for that. I felt for Hewitt and everything he'd been through, but the book wasn't very well written, and could have done with a much more thorough line edit. Interesting how similar his childhood was to Lemn Sissay's: 10 or so years with a foster family, and then rejected; teenage years in two or more children's homes, stealing and some general bad teenage behaviour. ...more
Lessons is the story of the life of Roland Baines, cash poor, house rich, part-time bar pianist, looking back to when he was eleven and went to boardiLessons is the story of the life of Roland Baines, cash poor, house rich, part-time bar pianist, looking back to when he was eleven and went to boarding school, moving forward into his seventies, and sometimes sideways into other people's lives. And throughout there is comment on the times Roland is living through. The novel is ambitious, sweeping, and wonderful. Roland and all the people who come and go in his life have filled my head for several days as I read voraciously during any spare moment. I hope they will stay for longer. Roland has three significant women in his life: his piano teacher, Miriam, his ex-wife Alissa, and his second wife, Daphne. There is a reckoning to be done with all of them, although the last is really not her fault (there is a brilliant scene where he fights over her ashes with a junior minister on a bridge in Yorkshire and loses). Miriam seduces Roland when he is only fourteen and changes the course of his life. Alissa walks out on him and their eight month old baby, and becomes a famous and successful novelist. McEwan clearly draws much on his own life with this novel (North Africa, boarding school, discovered brother) but has Alissa says, everything is fair game. I liked how McEwan plays with this, and I also love the questions he raises around a woman leaving a husband and baby in order to create a masterpiece. It doesn't happen often, is it worth it? Will certainly be in my top ten reads of the year. ...more
I have always loved Vashti Bunyan's music - ethereal, unselfconscious, unpretentious - and the only part of her story that I knew was that she was theI have always loved Vashti Bunyan's music - ethereal, unselfconscious, unpretentious - and the only part of her story that I knew was that she was the sixties musician who gave it all up and went to Scotland on a horse and cart. Of course that was only part of the story and not quite true anyway. So, it was fascinating to read about what really happened with Bunyan's musical career and that journey north. And I was delighted that the style of her prose is so like the style of her lyrics - unpretentious. Very enjoyable. ...more
Neaera and William are two lonely people who have never met. She is a children's writer facing writers' block, and William works in a bookshop. They bNeaera and William are two lonely people who have never met. She is a children's writer facing writers' block, and William works in a bookshop. They both happen to go to the zoo one day and both - separately - decide that it's not right that the three fully-grown turtles should be kept in a small tank. They happen to meet and make a plan to set the turtles free. But it's not so much a book about that escapade but about them looking at their own lives and how they might be changed. It's a quirky one, but I really enjoyed it. I've never read any Hoban before - not even his famous Ridley Walker. I can't remember how I came across this, but the idea of releasing the turtles chimes nicely with what happens in The Memory of Animals. Plus, Turtle Diary starts with William setting out to see an octopus in the zoo, but there isn't one there......more
Goodness, I LOVED this. Set in 1974 and first published in 1986, this book is about to be reissued on 26th January in the UK. I've been wanting to reaGoodness, I LOVED this. Set in 1974 and first published in 1986, this book is about to be reissued on 26th January in the UK. I've been wanting to read it for a long time, after I read Miller's 11th novel, Monogamy a year or so ago, and happily my #librarianhusband tracked down a copy for me for Christmas from the US. Anna is the mother of Molly, living in Boston, newly divorced and tending her wounds from that relationship. The divorce has been fairly amicable, and Anna gets a job in a lab to supplement her piano teaching work. Then she meets Leo, a bohemian artist and they fall in love. He gets on well with Molly, and Molly enjoys his company. Anna starts having great sex with Leo. Everything is wonderful and then she gets a phone call from her ex-husband while Molly is staying with him, with a terrible accusation. Miller writes about human emotion with such precision, such detail - a turn of the head will say so much. I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put it down and yet I didn't want it to end. Wonderful and highly recommended. ...more
How many pages do you read before you give up on a book? For me - especially if it's a proof that I haven't requested - it might be as few as one or tHow many pages do you read before you give up on a book? For me - especially if it's a proof that I haven't requested - it might be as few as one or two. I might have given up on The Namesake if I wasn't reading it for my book group and thought that I should press on. And I'm so glad I did - when I was just past page 100 I was hooked. Up until then I felt that it didn't stop and examine any one thing closely enough - it was just this happened, and then this happened, and then this. Something seemed to change with Gogol the main character finds his first serious girlfriend, and everything slowed and became much more enjoyable. Really very enjoyable. It's the story of Gogol's life (and before - his parents' lives) - the first child of Bengalis who have emigrated to American, and how he is torn between his heritage and parents' culture, and his American life. ...more
I knew little about Barbara Pym and now I know much more - how ahead of her time she was (and then regarded as behind the times), how funny she was, hI knew little about Barbara Pym and now I know much more - how ahead of her time she was (and then regarded as behind the times), how funny she was, how sharp, how she fell for unavailable men. Perhaps you have to have read at least some of her books to fully appreciate this biography (I'd recommend the wonderful Excellent Women) but it was also great to get a sense of the times she lived through - Oxford in the 30s, Germany in the late 30s, London through the subsequent decades. My only niggle was Byrne's choice to preface each short chapter with a picaresque heading: 'In which Barbara....' does something or other. Byrne explains why she's done this, but I don't want to be told what's going to happen in a chapter before it happens. ...more
Charming and moving and very well written, this memoir by the actress (and musician) Minnie Driver is a series of ten essays which start in childhood Charming and moving and very well written, this memoir by the actress (and musician) Minnie Driver is a series of ten essays which start in childhood when she is an unhappy boarder at her school in Hampshire (not too far from where I live), and finish with the poignant and wise (without being sentimental) essay about the death of her mother. In between are her first break into acting, the end of a significant relationship, and the birth of her son. Don't expect a celebrity tell-all, this is so much more. I'm looking forward to see what she writes next. I listened to it as an audio book, read by the author, which has a bonus interview at the end, but sadly (of course) not the photograph of Driver's mother which is included at the end of the other editions. I would have loved to see Gaynor, standing with her hands on her hips. ...more
Hmm, well, not one I'd recommend. Written as a true story, this reads like a six hour news piece rather than a novel. And in fact Anson wrote it from Hmm, well, not one I'd recommend. Written as a true story, this reads like a six hour news piece rather than a novel. And in fact Anson wrote it from 45 hours of recordings he received from the Lutz's - the couple who lived at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville. He didn't ever speak to them directly. And perhaps because it is supposedly based on actual events there is no build or suspense to the story. Kathy and George Lutz and their three children live for about a month in the house they've just bought in Amityville and leave it because of the horrific supernatural events that occur. It was really just lets bung in everything scary we can think of and not worry about the quality of the writing. Horror rating = 1 ghost. ...more
What a joy this book is. A literary romance. Aged about 19 Kath meets a bohemian family with six children and falls in love with them, and especially What a joy this book is. A literary romance. Aged about 19 Kath meets a bohemian family with six children and falls in love with them, and especially the eldest son, Roger. And I fell in love with them. After the end of that first love affair, Kath moves to Rome, and it is ten years before she catches up with the Goldmans again, when she falls in love with another one of them. It's a coming-of-age story about whether in the late 70s in England women can actually get a family and a career. On the front Meg Mason says, it's 'utterly ageless'. And in some ways it is - an ageless subject - but in others it's a wonderful period piece full of phrases I forgotten like, 'something chronic'. (Only the middle section in Italy stopped me from giving it five stars, really because it was too slight and too quickly dealt with.)...more
I really enjoyed the writing but I wasn't completely convinced by the story or the way it was told. It wasn't until I got to the end and learned that I really enjoyed the writing but I wasn't completely convinced by the story or the way it was told. It wasn't until I got to the end and learned that it was based on the life of the author Sue Kaufman that the way Cambridge chose to tell this story made some kind of sense. A real life doesn't hold together so well, unlike fiction. There were lots of incidental deaths in the protagonist's life and I expected the story to come back and provide some answers or conclusion to them, but of course it wasn't able to do that. Instead it rather skittered around in time and sometimes point of view without really settling, and without much sense of place. I'd still be interested in reading whatever Cambridge writes next, because she was very convincing as an English woman writing about an American. (I listened to the audio book and it was beautifully read.)...more
Family Pictures is topped and tailed by the first person voice of Nina looking back on her childhood and adolescence in a family with six siblings andFamily Pictures is topped and tailed by the first person voice of Nina looking back on her childhood and adolescence in a family with six siblings and two parents. One of the siblings is severely autistic and this has repercusions for everyone. The middle sections of the book is told from the POV of various members of the family in third person (including Nina). It doesn't really have a strong narrative thread but doesn't suffer from that lack. I absolutely loved it and was fully immersed in this family and their lives. ...more
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