The Lost Story - Meg Shaffer

 70%

25.11.24

This was delightful - in fact, not just full of delight but brimming over with many and varied delights. The worldbuilding, the humorous dialogue, the nods to other fairy tales all just worked, and at no time did phrasing make me cringe, which is unusual, frankly. Was it too saccharine? Maybe. Did it end too abruptly? Certainly. But what fun!

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty

 70%

17.11.24

All the buckles were swashed in this well-written, well-researched feminist adventure. With its vivid historical and fantasy world building, interesting characterisation and enough humour to balance out the violence and grit, it makes other books seem rather lame. I mean, what's the point of a novel unless it stars a badass female pirate?

My Murder - Katie Williams

 70%

12.09.23

The idea of a clone trying to solve their own murder isn't new but I really enjoyed this take on the theme. It's strikingly well written on both a sentence and chapter level, the characters are interesting, the worldbuilding is clever and the issues of identity, parenthood, death and the ethical use of technology are well explored. What spoilt it was the annoying ending that exposed various plot holes and didn't address its own implications. But the first 90% - fantastic!

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

 70%

04.02.23

It's been so long since I've read a book that actually lived up to the hype that this was like a long, refreshing drink. The characters weren't particularly likable, the style was a little leaden, something unlikely happened two-thirds through in order to inject some energy into the story... but somehow it all worked. Smart, complex, full of pop culture and high culture references - what relief to read a really good contemporary novel!

The Kingdoms - Natasha Pulley

 70%

08.10.21

This was extraordinary. Flawed and confusing but still, overall, extraordinary in a good way. Pulley's engaging writing style and the complex, well-researched plot unexpectedly combine to produce a refreshing take on that hoary old genre: time-travelling historical speculative fiction.

Creeping Jenny - Jeff Noon

70%

09.03.21

This was terrifically well written, entertainingly inventive and very, very weird. It's probably one of those 'love it or hate it books' - it is, after all, a silly satire on folk horror - but, as outrageous speculative fiction goes, I'm definitely inclining towards the love it.

The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

70%
22.06.20

I'd been putting off reading this, partly because I wasn't all that keen on Perry's previous book, After Me Comes the Flood. But this was very different - rich and complex in all sorts of ways, with unusually detailed characterisation and an unusually modern take on Victorian Britain. I even liked the way it didn't wrap everything up neatly at the end (spoiler!).

Rubbernecker - Belinda Bauer

70%
20.05.20

This was an easy yet clever read, both quirky and thought-provoking, funny and dark. And set, in part, at Cardiff Uni, where I spent some time many years ago. I even knew a dental student who dissected heads in the very anatomy lab described in the story. I'll definitely search out more by this author (overlooking the slightly scrappy character-driven narrative structure).

The Mermaid's Sister - Carrie Anne Noble

70%
09.05.20

A whimsical, lyrical book that's, ironically, steeped in the grief and loss of the long, lingering death of a loved one. It's a really lovely, well-written read - a little awkward in parts, perhaps, and with a plot that doesn't bear too much examination - but certainly fantastic in many senses.

Emma - Jane Austen

70%
28.03.20

Inspired by the latest, and very lovely, film adaptation, I gave this a re-read and (spoiler!) it's really rather good. The humour and reactions are still recognisable, and it's a masterclass in characterisation that modern authors would do well to study.

Note that I didn't like it much when I last read it, 15 years ago, and, in fact, have no recollection of reading it then at all. The 'anti-feminism' I objected to doesn't bother me as much these days - it's a product of its time, and Emma (as a character) interestingly pushes the boundaries of what a woman in her circumstances was free to do, but is simultaneously trapped by her own snobbery and prejudices.

(It's had some off-putting covers over the years but I think this engaging example captures the spirit of the story.)

Uprooted - Naomi Novik

70%
29.01.17

At last - a shining shaft of sunlight in the recent fog of mediocrity. Novik's Temeraire novels are evocative but, freed from that very male context to write a sometimes dark, always female-centred fairytale, she writes like a, well, dream (as long as we ignore the mushy middle). Who can I lend it to?

The Slaves of Solitude - Patrick Hamilton

70%
30.06.14

Sarah Waters recommended this 1947 classic so of course it was good. Its influence on her work is clear in its merciless dissection of daily life, the carefully chosen words, the nuances of communication, the well-drawn characters who may - or may not - get what's coming to them. And, as a chronicle of the tedium and deprivation of the war years, it is unusually vivid.

The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

70%
16/01/14

I don't think I've ever read an Australian comic novel before - well, this was a good one to start with. From laughing out loud to grappling blindly for a tissue to staying up rather late to find out what happens next, it brightened my January. As long as I don't analyse it too much (it's that Curious Incident discomfort again).

Beautiful Ruins - Jess Walter

70%
11.10.13

With its flashbacking plot, and numerous narrative styles, stories and voices, this could have been a disaster. But, although it did strain at the seams at times, the quality of the writing saved it from, well, ruin, and made it a good, meaty read. Thanks to my librarian friend Andrew for recommending it. Fabulous cover, too.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

70%
06.06.13

The first 55% of this (you can be that specific on a Kindle) is an exhilarating, far-fetched thriller of the 'just-10-more-minutes-just-15-is-it-3am-already?' variety, clever and complex and surprising. And then, when most of the aces have been played, it starts to lose focus and meanders to a fuzzy ending. It's still a good read but it could have been spectacular.

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

70%
20.03.12

I skipped much of this when I read it for the first time, 15 years or so ago. It seemed too dense, too tense, too darn improbable to bother wading through. Reading it now, with a little more life experience, I found the first half of the book raw and painfully gripping, considering that the narrator spends much of her time staring at the wall (or, given the nature of her predicament, the ceiling). Feminist writing is rarely as accomplished as this - other than, of course in Atwood's other novels. And yet... it runs out of steam towards the end, tries to build a weak plot, ends ambiguously and then shoots itself in the head with an ill-advised explanatory epilogue. That's the part I should have skipped this time round.

Affinity - Sarah Waters

70%
18.10.11

A rich, compelling story with vivid characters and a devastating ending - just what you'd expect from Sarah Waters. It's a shame she's often categorised as a "gay" writer as, while that element is usually integral, it implies that the novelty of literary lesbianism is the reason for her popularity. It probably does sell more books, but the fact that she's one of Britain's best living novelists helps too.

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

70%
15.11.09

I've come rather late to this current bestseller - everyone I speak to has already read it, the bookshops are full of vampire spinoffs, and the second film of the series is imminent. So is it worth the hype? Clumsily written, poorly structured, unsympathetic characters, transparent reference to what was then a hypothetical movie version... and utterly compelling. It's been a very long time since I stayed up late, reaing furtively. There's always room for a little escapism via teenage wish fulfilment, even in one's 30s. Now, who can lend me the sequel?

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson

70%
27.10.08

I was looking for something light and literary, which is usually a contradiction but not in this case. 'Delightful' is the best summary of this joyful, wish-fulfilment fable, which can also be read as a commentary on identity and self-expression. But wonderful for its own sake.

Beyond Black - Hilary Mantel

02.01.06
70%




An unrelentingly pessimistic view of life - and the afterlife - and in need of editing down, but still compelling and clever, always creating uncertainty as to the nature of reality. Unusually vivid characters and painful satire.