American Dirt – Jeanine Cummings – (BOOKGROUP) – 27.09.20

This was the novel chosen by my book group for our next (zoom) meeting, and I probably wouldn’t have read it otherwise. It’s about a mother, Lydia, trying to escape from violent drug cartels in Mexico with her young son, Luca, after every other member of her family was brutally murdered. The positive I took from the book is that it made me think about and look up on wikipedia the issues of poverty and violence in Central and South America which drive so many people to the perilous journey of attempting to get into North America as refugees/illegal immigrants.

I’m afraid that for me this is where the positive reaction ends. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the book because it was written by a privileged white middle class American woman (apparently she has discovered some small percentage of south/central American ancestry in her family tree since promoting this book….) who had very little if any first hand experience of the struggles her characters go through. I’m not saying that writers shouldn’t be able to write about things they haven’t experienced, because that would remove about 90% of all fiction (!) but the point has been raised that there are many fabulous Central/South American writers who have written books on the same topics but without the huge publicity budget and payments from publishers that Ms Cummings’ book received. Coming from Belfast, I know it can be jarring if writers set books here with the backdrop of ‘the troubles’ with no real understanding of things that are as natural as breathing to the people who actually live here.

Setting this controversy aside, though, I thought the book was just not very well written. It was like the author did lots of research, and had lots of anecdotes of terrible things that real people had suffered and just wanted to get them all into the book with little thought as to artistry, originality, or beauty in the storytelling. I may not even have bothered finishing it if it weren’t my book group read (saying that, from the chat in the book group whatsApp, I think I’m in the minority and the other members seem to have really enjoyed the book).

I’ve just started listening to the audiobook of Apeirogon by the Irish author, Colum McCann (I’ll review it here properly when I’ve finished), which is set in Palestine following two fathers, one Muslim and one Jewish who both lose daughters in the violence there. To me, this is the opposite end of the extremes and I’m already loving it. The book is a piece of art, with poetry and beauty and skill in the art of storytelling making the experience of getting to know these men and the things that shape them a much more compelling and effecting experience. It just highlights to me how bland and pedestrian the storytelling in American Dirt was.

Troubled Blood (Cormoran Strike 5) – Robert Galbraith (AUDIOBOOK) – 25.09.20

I just watched all the BBC adaptations of the previous Cormoran Strike novels, which I very much enjoyed and I couldn’t wait to get this new installment. I bought it as an audiobook, as this was the cheapest way for me to get it (using my monthly credit) and it was a long listen, over thirty hours which consumed my life for about a week! Initially, I found the narrator’s West Country accent for Strike really off putting, I was so used to the gorgeous Tom Burke’s portrayal of the tortured but nobel Strike, that the accent, which was to my ears like the lovechild of Sam Gamgee and Worzel Gummidge was just wrong. I got used to it though, and I realise that it is fitting for Strike to talk this way as he was raised in Cornwall (his backstory is explored more in this novel which is partially set in his childhood home).

I really love this series, Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) manages to capture the array of human foibles and personalities with all the good, bad and in between in a way that is totally believable and relatable. The mystery is complex and interesting, covering black magic, astrology, medicine, crime gang lords, genetic illness and more. The subplots of ongoing investigations being carried out by Strike and Robin’s agency give both light relief from, and additional insight to, the main plot.

For me, having a will-they-won’t-they romantic relationship thing going on between the male and female detectives in a whodunnit is usually an annoying cliche too far that would put me off reading a series. I have to admit though, that I’m totally sold on the whole Robin/Cormoran love vibe, and it’s resolution, or at least acknowledgment is if anything, more important to me than the mystery aspect of the plot. There are some very frustrating, and also some very sweet moments between the two protagonists, and I thought this aspect of the book was handled perfectly!

When I got to the end, I was sad it was over, and wished I also had it on Kindle so I could read it again (I guess I could listen on audiobook again, but it’s so long, and I have other things I want to listen to….). If the kindle book gets cheaper, I’ll defo buy it and read it.

Why We Eat (Too Much): The New Science of Appetite – Andrew Jenkinson – 15.09.20

This book was the Kindle 99p deal one day, so I bought it, as I’m struggling to maintain my weight loss and it seemed to be a fairly rigorous scientific approach to obesity by a doctor who is an experienced obesity surgeon. The author himself admits that the title is a little misleading, as the book really addresses why some people get fat who eat the same amount of calories and have the same levels of activity as others who stay thin. Having studied genetics at university myself, and having read up on this subject already, I had already reached many of the conclusions that he states (It’s always nice to be told you’re right by someone highly qualified) but I got a little frustrated as the overly simplified and repetitive way he made his points (again, and again, and again…). I already knew that the most significant factor in being obese is your genetic makeup, which in our current environment predisposes a lot of people to being overweight. The changes in the environment which caused the rises in obesity levels seem to be initially the availability of processed sugar, and more recently (and even more significantly) the change from animal fats (butter, lard etc) for cooking and baking to vegetable fats that are produced in such a way that they are full of super unhealthy trans-fats. Most (or possibly all) of the processed foods we can buy are made with trans fats and processed sugar. The takeaway from the book for me is to change from using (what I thought was healthy) vegetable oil for cooking, to either extra virgin olive oil, or peanut oil, and avoiding wherever possible sugar, simple carbs and processed food. (The sugar one is going to be tough – who doesn’t love cakes and biscuits??)

The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman – (AUDIOBOOK) – 15.09.20

I was pretty excited waiting for this book to come out, I pre-ordered it as an audiobook as this worked out as the cheapest way for me to buy it. I like Richard Osman, he seems like a nice and intelligent chap, and I guess I was expecting a more cerebral book than The Thursday Murder Club turned out to be. It’s not deep. Set in a retirement village in Kent, the cast of characters are a group of old people who have set up a club looking at old unsolved crimes to try to work out whodunnit (the Thursday Murder Club of the title), two police officers, and a small gang of shady characters including the owner of the retirement village. When members of the shady gang start to be killed, and old bones are discovered, the Thursday Murder Club decide to solve these crimes. I liked how the book had a very positive world view, with most people being basically good and kind and well meaning, and I liked the gentle humour and the relatable conversations between characters about things like which shops make the best cakes and biscuits. There are some very touching moments as the subjects of bereavement and dementia are never far away from the inhabitants of an old people’s home. I got a bit bored in the middle, and found my attention wandering as I listened (although many books, in fact, probably the majority, dip in the middle) but I got back into it towards the end. The audiobook has an interview with Richard Osman by the Irish Author Marian Keyes (which is sick makingly sycophantic) in which he admits that he didn’t do any planning but just made things up as he went along, which is (I’m afraid) fairly obvious from the meandering and not well structured way the plot plays out. Saying that, I think I will buy and read the next book in the series when it’s released, as I did, overall enjoy reading this gentle ‘cosy mystery’ story.

Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk and Antonia Lloyd-Jones – 13.09.20

I found this book strangely atmospheric and very readable. Written in Polish by Olga Tokarczuk and translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, it’s the story of an older woman, Janina, who is one of only a small number of people who live all year round in what is normally a Summer cabin in a forested region near the Polish border with the Czech Republic. Her job is to maintain the empty cabins as well as teaching English part-time in the local school. She is passionately concerned with animal rights, and vehemently opposed to the active hunting tradition in the forest near her home. When prominent local men start to die in suspicious circumstances, Janina is convinced their deaths are somehow brought about by the animals seeking revenge for the acts of animal cruelty carried out by these men. I thought the language was very poetic and beautiful, with frequent references to Blake, who’s works Janina is translating with a former pupil. I liked how Janina lives in harmony with the harsh natural climate and l loved the dark humour with which she views the world.

Howard’s End – EM Forster – (AUDIOBOOK) – 10.09.20

Howards End was written in 1910 and set in that contemporary era. It’s a novel that made thoughts boil over in my head as I listened – about the English class system and imperialism and sexism – at times I was so angry with the characters, and not sure whether the writer was sympathetic with one group or another (having just finished I’ve been reading the Spark Notes summaries of the chapters and even they admit that Forsters betrayal of the rights and wrongs of the issues raised are ‘nuanced’). The book follows three families – the Wilcox family: for the most part (in my mind anyway) hateful, arrogant, hypocritical, unimaginative, all round awful upper class prats that typify all that’s wrong with the entitled gentry classes that unfortunately still exist today. The Schlegel family – two young lady daughters and a teenaged son being raised by an aunt, also comfortably well off, but with a much more poetic and thoughtful outlook on life – they want to explore and if possible help with the injustices raised by the class system, while at the same time being pragmatic and realising that they only have the freedom to enjoy art and philosophy because they never need worry about having enough money to get by. And Leonard and Jacky Bast, a married couple from the working classes. Leonard Bast aspires to better himself by reading and visiting cultural events, but at the same time is suspicious and resentful of the very types he is trying to emulate. These three families become entangled in what is (according to the Spark Notes!) a metaphor for the time of upheaval between the old England of rural communities ruled over by landed gentry, and the changing times of industrialisation and more urban living and is a treatise on what effect this may have on the class system. Perhaps because of my modern sensibilities, I found it impossible to see why Margaret Schlegel would agree to marry Henry Wilcox when he was such a hateful chauvinist and she had to hide her greater intelligence in order not to upset his world view of ladies being dim but nice (if a little hysterical). It’s certainly an interesting read (or listen) and I loved the voice of the narrator (Edward Petherbridge) who is terrible posh (which usually puts me off a narrator) but who read with great sensitivity and, I though, gave perfect portrayals of the different characters’ voices, which made the experience very enjoyable.

From a Low and Quiet Sea – Donal Ryan – 08.09.20

Hmmm, what to say about this book… I have mixed feelings. It is clearly well written, with lyrical prose and a richness and depth of characters, but why are the characters all so angry and sad and broken?? My book group read The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan, and I was just looking back at my review, to see that I also found it to be beautifully and interestingly written, but depressing with angry broken characters (!). From a Low and Quiet Sea is divided into four parts. The first three seem to be unconnected novellas each following a different (sad, angry and broken) male character – a syrian refugee, a young Irish man with a broken heart and an older Irish man thinking back over all the terrible things he’s done in his life. In the fourth part the three characters come together and we see that they are in fact connected, which I liked although I see some other reviewers found this to be too forced and sudden. I think I’m glad that I read it, and I feel somewhat enriched by the experience, but I’m also glad that’s over now. (I really like the title though!).

House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones – 06.09.20

I’m still loving Diana Wynne Jones! I wish I could go back in time and introduce my childhood self to these books (not that I don’t love them as an adult, because I do!) because I feel like I should be nostalgic about them as if I did love them as a child. This third installment in the Ingary trilogy focusses on a girl who loves books and discovers she has magical talent (what’s not to love about that?!) Again there is interesting character development, humour and lots of magic and folklore. I realise that I’ve used the word ‘love’ about a million times in this review – terrible writing on my part, maybe, but I’m just saying it like it is, baby. Luckily for me, Diana Wynne Jones wrote lots of books, so I’ll be catching up on lost time and ordering oodles of them from Amazon.

Castle in the Air – Diana Wynne Jones – 04.09.20

This second book in the Ingary trilogy by Diana Wynne Jones initially felt a little different to the first book. If you’ve read C.S Lewis’s Narnia chronicles, then it was like The Horse and his Boy, in that it is set in the same world as the other books in the series, but at first none of the familiar characters seemed to be in the story. With a feel like Arabian Nights, (or Disney’s Aladdin!) the story follows a young man who comes into possession of a Genie and a magic carpet, and falls in love with a princess, but must overcome perils to rescue the object of his affection. I enjoyed the whole book, but especially the ending when the denouement makes everything make more sense! Again I loved how Diana Wynne Jones gives her characters complex personalities with both light and shade, and has a slightly wicked sense of humour!

Utopia Avenue – David Mitchell – (AUDIOBOOK) –03.09.20

Wow – this is a big book. I listened on Audiobook and it took just over 25 hours. It’s the story of a band in the 1960s and follows each of the four band members as well as their manager giving them all a rich and in depth backstory and character development journey. There are many cameo appearances from famous musicians of the era, and although I’ve read some angry reviews on Amazon from people who lived through the sixties that this young whippersnapper born in 1969 didn’t capture accurately the feel of the times or the personalities of the real people, I thought it was fun (I was also born in 1969 and I’m not an aficionado of the 60s music scene!). Each of the five characters had difficulties to overcome, and I really felt like I got to know them and lived the journey with them, and I listened with chortles, gasps and even tears. My favourite character was Jasper de Zoet who is a direct descendant of Jacob de Zoet (from David Mitchell’s novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet). Jasper is a lovely plain speaking man with high functioning autism as well as schizophrenia (or is he actually possessed??). Apparently there were lots of appearances from characters out of David Mitchell’s other novels, and although I have read and loved all of them, my memory for names is so terrible, that a lot of that was lost on me. David Mitchell has said that all of his novels fit together in one huge metanovel, with interwoven themes, plots and characters, but that each can equally be read as a stand alone with no knowledge of the others. Almost every aspect of the human experience is lived through by the characters (and therefore vicariously the reader) from mental illness, suicide attempts, drug abuse, unplanned parenthood, bereavement, family relationships, homosexuality, love, friendship, failure, success, camaraderie, etc, etc, and the cherry on the cake, for me, was the stream of magical realism. I feel like my life has been enriched by listening to this book and I really enjoyed it.