Fleishman is in Trouble - Taffy Brodesser-Akner

 61%

25.02.26

This is archetypal lit fic, in all senses. It's introspectively character driven with very little actual plot, and the New York setting almost a character in itself. It's vividly and wittily written, just on the edge of pretentiousness. It can be read at surface level or appreciated for its clever narrative device in which the omniscient narrator is a subtly critical friend of the protagonist. And the feminist message is fascinatingly complex. It's a book that can be admired and enjoyed but, while both are true for me, I don't think I'll remember much about it in a month.

Mail Order Minotaur - Lilith Stone

 45%

13.06.24

Yes, I know. Not my normal fare but I thought it was funny that the hunky-minotaur-sex-worker-who-loves-his-family had the same name as my husband. I didn't dislike it but there wasn't much of a story or conflict - will their families accept their relationship? (Spoiler) Yes, straight away. There were hints of some intriguing world building that would have been interesting to explore. But I suppose people don't read this sort of book for its story...

Upstairs at the Party - Linda Grant

48%
09.08.20

This self-indulgent novel makes a huge metaphorical meal of an unsympathetic narrator (just for a change) and her boring friends going to university and then leading disappointing lives. I have rather less sympathy for the Boomers here than for the lost Millennials in Queenie, though neither set of characters is particularly likeable.

Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams

56%

05.08.20

The reviews say it's a hilarious award-winning tale of the misadventures of a young black woman. It's actually a depressing account of her sexual and racial abuse and the way society has disempowered not only women like her but a whole generation. As a novel, it's fine but, like the reviews, didn't know what to make of itself.

Normal People - Sally Rooney

Didn't finish

A couple with no discernible personality traits other than self-absorption have lots of sex. That's it. I was waiting for something to actually happen but in the end I couldn't be bothered to find out if anything ever did.