24/10/2018 0 Comments Review: A Spark of Light
My Review: Wow! What a book.
Forgive my ignorance for not knowing the global landscape on abortion laws – this Wikipedia page helped show different laws and attitudes around the world. What timing for this exceptional book. At a time where women's reproductive rights are going through a huge change (Ireland's referendum to repeal the 8th) and the US seeming het up about overturning Roe vs Wade (read here for what a overturning could automatically set off in respective US states). Ms Picoult's highly-skilled storytelling is a wonder to behold. The story starts in a women's health centre, and a gunman has taken staff and patients hostage. The hostage negotiator discovers his own sister and daughter are amongst those held. As the hostages struggle to stay alive, we hear the interwoven backgrounds and fateful journeys of how every character including the gunman made it to be present at the health centre that ill-fated day. The time lines and the characters stories are changed regularly, which could be confusing but offers detailed glimpse at each of their own respective histories. The book was very engaging and I found myself trying to sneak another page wherever I could between my nightly bedtime reading. (In the queue at the bank, whilst being put on hold, waiting for the kettle to boil). There is an excerpt from A Spark of Light on Jodi Picoult's website – get stuck in! https://www.jodipicoult.com/a-spark-of-light.html VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review.
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17/10/2018 0 Comments Review: Hippie
My Review: I really enjoyed Paula Coelho's The Alchemist and I jumped at the opportunity of reading Hippie. I shopped short of reading Mr Coelho's Wikipedia page for fear of giving any of his story away.
Hippie starts: The stories that follow come from my personal experiences. I've altered the order, names, and details of the people here, I was forced to condense some scenes, but everything that follows truly happened to me. I've used the third person because this allowed me to give characters unique voices with which to describe their lives. With the above in mind, there are elements that are unbelievable – but as they say – truth is stranger than fiction! It was a quick read, but it still checked in at over 300 pages. In the first chapter I felt I had time-travelled to the seventies and I was reminded of the importance of travel and exploration for the body and mind. What I was expecting; a memoir of hippie-esque travels of free-love and discovery was anything but. It really did contain the bricks and mortar, good and bad experiences (woah, one really bad experience!), which maketh the man. I've not visited South America or Istanbul, nor even Amsterdam. The vivid descriptions of these exotic sounding far-flung lands incited wanderlust. A beautiful, if unexpected, book about love and self-discovery. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 4/10/2018 0 Comments Review: How to Stop Time
My Review: This book has been out since July 2017, and it passed me by. And all of a sudden it was everywhere and a classic and I had a deep feeling of missing out. The story cuts to different times and locations around the world, there is a magical feeling of travelling through time with Tom, seeing what he has seen. The isolation of not being able to grow close to someone is strongly felt. Together with the realisation that is near-eternal life can feel like a curse rather than a gift. The writing is beautiful and the story is sublime.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Having finished the book, I have discovered that Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast to play Tom – I'm so glad that a film and all the Cumberpeople* will bring more audiences to this deserving book. *Cumberbitches: Cumberbatch expressed objections to this term, referring to the female fans who've adopted the moniker as "Cumberwomen" or "Cumbergirls" instead. He explained: "It's not even politeness. I won't allow [these fans] to be my bitches. I think it sets feminism back so many notches. You are… Cumberpeople."
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24/7/2018 0 Comments Review: How Not To Be a Boy
My Review: I don't read many autobiographies and I'm reminded of a quote from PD James “All fiction is largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction.”
I enjoy Robert Webb's work on television and an ardent fan of everything Mitchell & Webb. I was interested in reading this book but not chomping at the bit. As I started it a few months ago, and then got distracted with something else and only just returned to it having forgotten what I had read and had to start from the beginning again. This book is so gorgeous, it's raw and honest, and warm and sweet, and it goes without saying – funny, but it's deeper than that – it's as if we're allowed into his inner neurosis, the small voice we keep hidden from others, helped along through excruciating teenage diary entries. There is a feeling that the young Robert Webb that is portrayed is genuine. It is also such a brilliant account of how confusing it must be to be a modern man with expectations of such dense masculinity. I am in awe of his writing and wonder if there is a budding novelist in Webb about to be unleashed – something I would heartily welcome. And it's changed my mind about reading autobiographies. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
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