Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga

A novel about a small colony in the Congo inhabited by employees of a French rubber company who direct the natives in the extraction of rubber from the jungle. The book is about the relationship between the local tribes and their French employers as well as the political wranglings between the French for control of the encampment. The writing is good but the characters are very difficult to engage with as they are portrayed in a very two dimensional way. I also found the plot quite dry and at times almost boring. The more interesting characters, such as the camps champion marksman, were disappointingly underdeveloped and similarly the more interesting plot lines, such as the love affair between a French lieutenant and a local girl, were simply dropped without any exploration. This novel is not bad and the writing in particular is enjoyable but it does not live up to its potential and could have been a lot better.

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh

An enjoyable book about a young man's expulsion from Oxford and his subsequent career as a school master. The novel is often humorous but contains a very powerfully portrayed message about the difference between the social standing of the rich and poor regardless of their education or ability. I enjoyed this book very much.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

This is a very unusual book about imaginary friends. The main character, Max, who apparently has undiagnosed autism, has invented a friend, Budo, to help him through school. The book describes their relationship and envisages a separate independent identity for the creations of our imaginations. Whilst this is an interesting idea the framework of the plot and the writing made it a difficult concept to accept, perhaps because there was no acknowledgement that the novel involved a fantastical element so instead of feeling drawn in to a new world the reader feels almost as though they're being made a fool of.
Having said that, the writing is very good and the characters excellently developed.  There are some very touching moments, particularly between Max and his parents. The second half of the book is a lot more exciting and easier to engage with than the first half as the plot picks up pace and the writing improves. I did definitely enjoy this book but there was something about the way the whole concept was portrayed which I found difficult to swallow.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The third and final hunger games novel, this book is about Katniss' participation in a revolution against the Capitol.  It is an exciting end to the trilogy but not as gripping as the previous two novels nor as well written. Of all the hunger games books this is most obviously a young adult book. Whilst it is an enjoyable end to the story, this book would not stand alone as both the plot and the writing are weaker than the previous books.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Very slow start but after the halfway point this gets better.  It is a thriller about a couple who are struggling with their relationship when the wife disappears under suspicious circumstances.  There is a twist about half way through and it is after that that the book hugely improves – the plot becomes a lot more interesting and the characters more complex (albeit not especially realistic).   A fairly good thriller but on balance it is not worth the slog through the first half.

Life! Death! Prizes! by Stephen May

I really enjoyed this unusual, thought provoking and well written novel.  It is about a young man who's finds himself responsible for his younger brother following the tragic death of their mother.  The book is a clever and sometimes amusing look at grief and adult responsibilities.  I thought the main character was very well drawn and likeable which made this book easy to engage with and enjoyable to read.  The novel is fairly dark but not depressing - worth a read.

Merivel by Rose Tremain

Seemingly neverending.  But end it did and I suggest we move on.

Snake Ropes by Jess Richards

This novel is honestly one of the most bizarre books I have ever read.   It is about a remote island community whose only link to the mainland is when traders visit monthly to exchange goods with them.  As boys start to go missing from the island, the women seek their own form of justice.  There are shades of traditional fairy tales, psychology and magic which do not always blend together particularly well and which sometimes lead to a slightly confusing read.   I am really not sure if I loved it or hated it.  I loved the idea but hated the way it often became too surreal, particularly as this made it harder to identify with the characters.  Overall, this is a dark fairy tale which is excellent conceptually but is let down slightly by the execution which, whilst good, is not a match for the complexity of what the novel is trying to achieve.

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

As you may know, I have an unbreakable moral code which prevents me from abandoning a novel in favour of an alternative.  I've made my bed, I'll lie in it.   50 pages into this book, my code chaffing at my heels, I realise I have met my nemesis.  I cannot finish this book and look myself in a mirror.  I faced down the only remaining option -  I must give up reading altogether.   So be it.   I drafted a list of a few substitute hobbies, I investigated evening classes, I bought some knitting needles, contemplating a possible social event I even went so far as to have a conversation with a colleague.   But deep down I always knew that the cocktail of hatred, depression and cynicism which makes up my personality is not conducive to any activity involving other humans.   I picked up this book, took a deep breath and counselled myself – "they are merely words" – as I forced this down in instalments which I can only hope were not large enough to do permanent damage.   I survived this but the consequences are written all over my face and I urge you to back away, screaming.

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

I love this.  Second in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series which is clearly for adolescents but I don’t care.  This is true escapism – with angels, monsters and fighting but without the dark angst of some other teenage novels.  The characters are fun, easy to like and engage with and the plot is exciting and fast paced.  The writing is basic but by no means weak and at the end of the day this is about a fun read not a literary challenge.  This series would be a great Christmas present for fans of Twilight or Hunger Games.

A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks

A collection of 5 short stories with a tenuous link.  As with any book of short stories, some were more enjoyable than others but in this collection none were outstanding.  I didn't find any of the plots gripping enough to sustain interest in the relevant characters and the writing was definitely average.  Not up to the standard of any of his other books.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Second in the Hunger Games series.  Fun and exciting, the plot is far from predictable which keeps you engrossed in this enjoyable guilty pleasure.

Ours are the Streets by Sunjeev Sahota

This is an interesting novel about a young Muslim who goes to Afghanistan to visit relatives and comes back committed to a much more extreme interpretation of his faith.  The main character is complex and portrays his own internal struggle between his ancestral culture and his UK upbringing very well.  However, he was not as well drawn as I would have liked and this did detract slightly from the power of the book.   The writing is very good and I particularly enjoyed the dialogue which is convincing and very cleverly done.  The book addresses a lot of difficult issues raised by the integration of Muslim immigrants into UK life so is not an easy read but is very thought provoking.

The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling

This book is about a small village just outside a much larger town. There is a decrepit social housing estate sitting between the village and the town, and the central plot concept of the book out of which all the other events flow, is the ongoing dispute as to whether the parish boundaries should be drawn so as to include the estate in the village or the town. The estate is essentially a political pawn and sparks passionate and personal disputes between the inhabitants of the village.

It is very difficult to read this without being acutely aware of the identity of the author. I found the character development minimal, the plot uninterestingly simple and the writing bland. It is easy to draw comparisons with a book for young adults. There are too many characters for any of them to be truly identifiable as realistic people - they remain characters, and in the main they are portrayed as clearly good or clearly bad.

There is one character, Krystal, who is better drawn than the others and to be fair the ending does redeem this book slightly. But for me this book is an average book piggy backing on the success of Harry Potter.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

An unusual book about the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and the consequential migration, of all those who could, to America. The narrator, Oscar, is an overweight geeky Dominican who is struggling to keep up with the social demands of his new life in America. I really enjoyed the historical context of this novel and it was fascinating to learn about Trujillo's regime.  The writing is very good and Oscar is a realistic character who is easy to like. I can really appreciate the wonderful talent behind this book, and I am glad I read it but personally I cannot say I enjoyed the book.  There was something in the frequent references to comic books, fantasy games and science fiction which made this book difficult to engage with and prevented me becoming really gripped by it.  If you're into that stuff though, definitely read this book.

Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

An enjoyable book about two sisters and the effect on their relationship following the AIDS related death of their uncle. The (slightly clunkily delivered) message behind this book is - wonderful consequences can come from tragedy, and without sadness we cannot experience joy. Quite uplifting in it's own way.

This book is definitely readable and has some nice phrasing but isn't particularly memorable, perhaps because the characters (although pleasant and appealing) are not especially realistic.

The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa

A light hearted read on the surface this book is about India's social hierarchy and how constraining this can be for those who strive to break free of it. The main character, Ramchand, is a young orphan who works in a prestigious sari shop and is forced to witness the discrepancy in the fortunes and reputations of the privileged and the poverty stricken. The writing is a little average but the message is well delivered and the plot engaging. I did enjoy this book but it is not what I would describe as truly literary.

Indignation by Philip Roth

I very much enjoyed this excellently written and thought provoking book about a gifted young undergraduate student, Marcus, in 1950s America, trying to find his identity outside of his small, Jewish family. The reader discovers early on that Marcus is dead and seemingly stuck in endless remuneration over his short life. This ensures that the plot, while engrossing, leaves space to really explore the character development. Marcus is a complex and sometimes uncomfortable character who it is easy to be intrigued by but hard to really understand. Ultimately this book is about the randomness of tragedy and that does make it quite dark, but it is still a very good book.

Salvage The Bones by Jesmyn Ward

This novel is about a young family in America who are struggling to cope emotionally and financially with the death of their mother.  Set in the run up to hurricane Katrina the book highlights the extreme poverty of this Southern American community and their lack of resources to cope with natural disasters.  The characters in this book are immediate and realistic which makes it easy to engage with them and become truly engrossed in the story.  I very much enjoyed the style of writing which is simple but poignant with really believable dialogue.  The story is often sad but in a very touching way which stops this book being depressing. Definitely recommended for an unusual, powerful read.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

An exciting, if totally ridiculous book about a secret, magical division of the metropolitan police force.  This is the first part of a trilogy following Peter Grant, a new recruit to a wizard inspector, who is learning magic as he embarks on his policing career.  This is excellent escapism as the plot is humerous, believable (within the confines of a magical universe) and easy to read.  The writing is never going to be the attraction to this book but at the same time it is light, often illuminating and certainly never jarring.  Very readable, very good fun and enjoyable.

Keeper of the Light by Diane Chamberlain

Life is too short for many things - exactly pairing up similar looking black socks, making your own stock, keeping receipts, travelling on the circle & district line, conversations about mobile phone tariffs, anything to do with model railways.  And reading this book.  Or indeed, writing a review of this book.

NW by Zadie Smith

This is an excellently well written book about two girls, Leah and Keisha, who grow up on a Council estate in Kilburn.   I enjoyed the style of writing very much and it is worth a read to appreciate the language and the observational social commentary.  However, I was disappointed with the two main characters who are difficult to engage with and for me that unfortunately detracted from my enjoyment this book.  There was something about both characters which made them a little indistinct - and it was too evident that they were vehicles for the message behind the book rather than realistic representations of people.   In my opinion, this lack of identification with the characters prevented this book from being truly absorbing but it is still an enjoyable novel by a very talented writer.

A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge

This is an unusual book written from the point of view of a young man struggling to keep his small family afloat after the death of his mother.  The main character, Lee, is a trainee undertaker at a local funeral parlour who takes care of his rebellious, deaf younger brother.

The writing is a little difficult to get into because it is written like a dialogue or internal monologue, but once you get into it it is excellent and becomes much easier to read.  Lee is likeable and it is easy to sympathise with his situation, which despite being tragic is portrayed in a surprisingly humorous way.  This is not a plot heavy book but it is very poignant, interesting and well written and I really enjoyed it.

The Misremembered Man by Christine McKenna

This novel is set in 1970s Ireland and is about 2 lonely hearts who meet and fall in love. With dialogue like "Deed ye might-a been", the author seems to have got the Irish dialect muddled up with 16th century farming slang. Unfortunately, the plot does not redeem the clumsy dialogue, as it is achingly predictable and dreadfully stereotypical.

Reading this is like walking down a very long, straight road (I am imagining one of those tarmac-ed 2 lane roads somewhere in middle America with little scenery and on which you could film a mediocre One Direction music video without inconveniencing a single passing vehicle) - you can see your destination clearly the whole time but the trudge seemingly takes your whole life.

The Dinner by Herman Koch

This novel is about two couples who go for dinner in an exclusive Dutch restaurant to discuss a disturbing event which involved both their children.

 The narrator is Paul, an ex-teacher who has not worked for 10 years due to an undisclosed mental illness. The language is very simple and the way the narrative is told means the event and its consequences are revealed slowly and subtly. The commentary on social behaviour is often very amusing and I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of all the pomp which goes with a dinner at an up market restaurant.

 Ultimately this book raises some very interesting moral questions but in a gently unassuming way resulting in a powerful, sometimes disturbing book which is surprisingly easy and enjoyable to read.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catheriynne M Valente

I was recommended this novel because I loved Daughter Of Smoke & Bone. Daughter Of Smoke & Bone is much, much better - read that twice instead.

 If you're twelve (or under), this novel is awesome. If you're over twelve, it's a bit boring.

 There are some novels that are written for 12 year olds that adults can enjoy without thinking - 'my God this book is much too young for me - people must think I'm retarded or something for even reading it - can anyone see the cover? Oh, thank God for kindles. What shall I read next? What shall I have for dinner? Ooh look there's an advert for a new mortgage rate. Perhaps I should look into that." This book is not one of those

Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding

A novel set in Romania during the late 1930s and World War II, this book follows Safia a young aristocratic girl and Augustin, a deaf servant boy.

 This book is a very interesting take on World War II and the interpretation which a deaf boy places on it. I enjoyed the gentle but sometimes dark plot very much. Telling the story through the eyes of Augustin is a clever way of highlighting the sometimes incomprehensible politics of war.

 The writing is unremarkable but that doesn't detract from this book which is primarily about the story not the language. An enjoyable and different book about the experiences of residents in occupied countries during the war.

The Most Beautiful Thing by Fiona Robyn

I very much enjoyed this book. The first part is about a young teenager, Joe, who goes to visit is aunt in Amsterdam over the long summer holiday whilst his mother is suffering from depression. The second part sees Joe returning 14 years later for another visit to try and recover from his own mental health issues. The subject matter of this novel is moving but dealt with very sensitively and through some likeable, well developed characters. I did find the dialogue a little stilted at times but overall the writing is good and the plot compelling. This book is not an in depth study of mental health so don't expect any overwhelming insights but it is an unusually light book about depression.

Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville

Frankly, I found this a bit boring. It's a novel about a young white Australian girl (Sarah) who falls in love with a half Aboriginal boy (Jack), but they are separated for reasons which Sarah slowly discovers.

The plot is obviously intended to challenge racism and explore the morality of the violent dominance of early white settlers. However, the focus is very much on Sarah and Jack's relationship which in my view results in an average book about falling in love, and any serious message is lost. In particular, the last journey of Jack and Sarah is incongruous and overly romanticised.

This is the last in a trilogy and you do get the impression that the author's material has been stretched to its absolute maximum. This book is definitely readable and doesn't require much concentration, but it is nowhere near as powerful as it could have been, given the subject matter.

Umbrella by Will Self

An unusual book, more of a stream of consciousness, about a psychiatrist at a Frien Barnet hospital and one of his longstanding patients.

 This novel has no chapters, no immediately identifiable plot and no clear distinction between one character's narrative and another's. Usually, this would be irritating and pretentious but although this book is often challenging to read, it is surprisingly natural and enjoyable. The writing is excellent and incredibly intelligent but does not appear forced, so it avoids being smug or superior. Often, I admit I felt a little lost in this book - the only time I confidently knew what he was talking about was when he was describing a bus journey and I thought to myself, showing great intellectual insight, "ah, he's on the number 43" - but the writing itself is worth it even if the plot is barely discernible.

 You need to take your time reading this book, and I am sure that the longer you take the more you're rewarded. I will drink my entire nail varnish collection if this doesn't win the booker. I'd conservatively estimate this would amount to about 5 pints.

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

An enjoyable novel about a young publicist trying to deal with his grief after his wife unexpectedly dies in an unusual accident. The main character is likeable but takes some time to get to know and is occasionally a little irritating. The writing is good and I enjoyed the style, which is refreshing and written entirely from the main character's point of view. Definitely a readable, and at times humorous, book about overcoming grief.

Communion Town by Sam Thompson

I found this a real struggle. It is a collection of short stories following various different characters in a futuristic city. Some of the stories were better than others but none of them were very gripping and the novel suffered for a lack of any narrative thread. The writing was difficult to engage with or follow so overall this is a very hard book to read.

The Secrets Between Us by Louise Douglas

A readable, gripping thriller which is good fun while it lasts but won't stand up to much literary analysis.

Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil

A novel about opium drug dens in India and the people who inhabit them. I really enjoyed this book, which is excellently written and more about language than plot. The characters are diverse and interesting but the power in this novel is in its wonderful descriptions and emotional analysis. This is definitely a book which would bear a second reading.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

A book about two cousins and their complex relationship between each other and their families. It's readable but almost instantly forgettable.

The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

A short, powerful book about a young man who goes on a walking holiday in Germany following the break up of his marriage. The book is very simple in both plot and writing but it contains a powerful message about loneliness and relationships. This novel is hard to enjoy but you can't deny the strength of the impact.

The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman

Set in early 1930s Berlin, an interesting and unusual novel about a theatrical set designer who becomes obsessed with a young girl and follows her around the globe, oblivious to the political dangers of the time. The writing is excellent and the dialogue very natural. The plot is engrossing and fun and I really enjoyed this book.

Swimming Home by Deborah Levy

A short novel about depression and mental illness, this book is well written and wonderfully descriptive but not very uplifting.  Two English families are on holiday in a French villa when a booking mix up results in a young unstable girl turning up on their doorstep.  They invite her to stay and this triggers the unravelling of relationships within and between the families.   I did enjoy this but it is dark and quite unsettling.

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Yes this is a sequel to Wolf Hall. It continues where that left off, seamlessly.

There is one difference. Many critics of Wolf Hall commented that they could not always follow who was speaking - 'who is "he"?' was the universal cry. Hilary Mantell has, wonderfully sarcastically, taken this 100% on board. Now every pronoun is followed by the relevant characters name: "He, Thomas Cromwell..." etcetera. You can almost hear the footnote - "in your face, you ignorant ****s, I trust this is now clear enough for you".

Apart from that amusing aside please reference my Wolf Hall review.

As I shut the book, I realise - Good God she's only on wife number 2.

Philida by Andre Brink

 A book about slavery in the wine regions of South Africa just before emancipation.  The novel is narrated by Philida, a slave who has a relationship with her owner, and this makes it a very immediate read.  Philida is a very well developed character and it is easy to engage with her, which makes this book very readable.  The language is simple but very well crafted and enjoyable to read.  The plot does move quite slowly in parts but it is still an engrossing story.  I enjoyed this book and would recommend it, but it is not a light read.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

This novel is set in Malaysia post World War II.  A Japanese gardener settles in the Malaysian hills alongside an Englishman's tea estate to work on a formal Japanese garden.  Yun Ling, a young Chinese woman, comes to visit the estate and becomes engrossed in the process of Japanese gardening whilst struggling with memories of her violent World War II experiences.  A very deep, complex novel which is not an easy read but is definitely rewarding.  The plot is quite slow so this is not a gripping page turner, but the language is evocative and it is worth persevering.

Skios by Michael Frayn

An easy to read, engaging and at times thought provoking novel about identity.  The plot follows two strangers on a plane to a Greek island who, through a series of coincidences and assumptions, unknowingly switch places.  It is a fun, if a little unlikely story, which contains (if you want it to and if you look for it) a serious message about personality and self.  The characters are easy to relate to and very likeable which adds to the light-hearted charm of this book.  Another great holiday read that you could read deeper into if you felt like it.

Whilst I am surprised this made it into the Booker long list, I very much enjoyed this book which is well written without being pompous and pitches the moral analysis just right.

The Yips by Nicola Barker

Blimey.

A long and bizarre novel.  The writing is very good and the plot is fairly engrossing but the character development is minimal and the dialogue staggeringly unrealistic.   How many teenagers who fail their A levels and find themselves working in a hotel bar pepper their banter with words like "suppurating"?

In my opinion, the lack of connection with the characters made this book a lot less engaging than it would otherwise have been.  The best novels are those that read like a conversation bringing a story to life and this novel was much too flat, almost essay like, to achieve that.  Instead, although it is easy to appreciate the language and even the unusual plot, there is something so one dimensional about this book that I frequently found myself subconciously drifting off into shopping lists and must-not-forget-to-dos.  A shame because there is a lot of quality writing here, but the dialogue lets it down.

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

I really enjoyed this book which is about a man who feels stifled by his nursing home and so goes on an adventure on his 100th birthday.  It is fun, well written and with some brilliantly eccentric characters.  It is not a realistic novel so don't try to pick holes in the plot or over analyse it - it's just a very good, light-hearted story which would be a perfect summer read.

The Gathering by Anne Enright

A very literary book which is hard to describe as enjoyable (although it is more readable than, say, Possession).  It is a novel about a large Irish family dealing with a family bereavement.  The writing is excellent but very challenging and so not easy to read.  It is the writing not the plot that is the primary focus for this book which results in a novel which is intellectually stimulating and rewarding but not much fun.  It is a very poetic novel and so a great read if you are interested in language but don't pack it with your suntan lotion.

The Red House by Mark Haddon

A book about two families who go on holiday together for a week in a countryside cottage.  The writing is very good and this is an enjoyable, if intense, read but the lack of any real character development let this down for me.  In my view, this novel suffered from too many characters and no one single, fully developed voice.  The mother of one of the families, Angela, is probably the most prominant character and so the one that it is easiest to connect with but even she is too indistinct to be powerful.  I still enjoyed this book and it is a good read but it is the writing not the characters or the plot that really elevates this novel above average.

How the Trouble Started by Robert Williams

A short, dark novel about an adolescent boy who is struggling to come to terms with a tragic accident which occured when he was eight.  This book is difficult to read because it challenges the natural assumption that the narrator is fundamentally good.  The writing is simple but very powerful.  This is a disconserting, often uncomfortable novel which is worth a read if you don't mind the darkness.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

A book about sport. American sport. Baseball. But for all that, it was quite good.

It is long and there's lots of technical bits which I did not understand (bunts, for example) but it is definitely readable even with negligible baseball knowledge (by which I mean zero baseball knowledge and moderate rounders knowledge). The writing is not particularly beautiful or challenging but inoffensive and the plot itself is suprisingly engaging. There's an intreguing sub-plot involving the balance of power in relationships which makes this less obviously a sports novel, although it is not quite developed enough to make this a non-sports novel. This is a bit frustrating but frankly to be expected if you pick up a book called The Art of Fielding with a picture of a baseball and bat on the front cover (because yes, we do all judge). Overall, this is an acceptable book about sport.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I enjoyed this book, which is in effect a retelling of the story of Achilles, with a touch of artistic licence. I imagine that if you are a serious Greek scholar you may find the artistic licence a little too libraly administered but if (like me) you know nothing about Greek gods (apart from that film with all those hot men) it just adds to the plot's interest. The relationship between Patroclus and Achilles is no doubt discussed at length by the serious Greek scholars over weak tea in the library common room, and the author is very definitely a supporter of the view that they were lovers. Bearing in mind they didn't really exist, whether or not they actually were gay strikes me as irrelevant, especially as the way their relationship develops adds significantly to the plot's interest.

The writing is good, the characters well portrayed and I found the dialogue suprisingly natural and believable. But it is still the plot which I enjoyed the most. Definitely worth a read (unless you are a serious Greek scholar in which case try the modern day legend - with a predictably philosophical title - You Only Live Once by Katie Price).

Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace

Really enjoyed this book. If I ever laughed out loud in real life I would have laughed out loud at this. At one point I involuntary approximated a smirk, which is my equivalent.

It is a novel about a man who finds himself in possession of a beautiful girl's disposable camera. He develops it and begins a quest to find her. I know it sounds horribly girly but it isn't. It is a wonderfully touching, humorous and intelligent novel about relationships.... so not girly at all.

Fifty Shades of Grey by El James

This is terrible. It has no redeeming features. It is just porn. And who wants porn that goes on for over 500 pages (volume 1)? Oh. Everyone apparently.

I suppose you have to grudgingly admire her. It can't have taken longer than 3 hours to write and, apart from the inconvenience of everyone knowing your depraved, don't know any words over 2 syllables & have seemingly never read a novel, it must have set her up for life. Maybe she can afford to buy a dictionary AND a thesaurus now.

I can only pray to every god I've ever heard of, even the weird celebrity ones, that the recent craze of turning every book ever into a film, draws a very firm, very inflexible line here.

Don't read this Mum. Don't read this anyone. But especially you Mum.

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

Have you ever met someone and thought they were on your wavelength and then really gone off them? And then of course you must swallow the perfectly-natural-but-guilt-inducing hatred you feel for them for duping you and delicately shrug them off via the phasing method. This book is like that. Kind of. Stretched metaphor acknowledged.

It is about a young man, Joe, whose father was a gangster in London. Joe tries to forge his own, legitimate way as a clockmaker but is dragged into a bizarre tangle of theft, espionage, murder and clockwork weapons of mass destruction.

I loved the first 50 pages or so but the the plot just got too confused and ridiculous. And long.

The writing is very good and there are some great characters in this odd novel but somehow it all become very boring. It is a great shame because there are some very funny, very touching and very unusual moments in this book and it could have been brilliant. It wasn't.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Exciting and fun and, of course, very easy to read. Everyone knows everything about this book so not worth summarising the unusual and gripping plot but worth noting that the writing is surprisingly good. I suppose if you really wanted to you could find something serious to discuss (undertones and shit). But really it's just a good drama.

Not as good as Daughter of Smoke and Bone but much better than Twilight.

Molly Fox's Birthday by Deidre Madden

Negatives: Intensely boring.

Positives: Blessedly short.

A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale

I enjoyed this book, about a small Cornish community and the secrets it keeps. The main character is the parish priest, Barnaby, who is not as morally upright as his parishioners would like to believe. The writing is excellent and the story engrossing so you can enjoy this book without engaging with the interesting underlying commentary on the assessment of morality, but it is better if you do. One of those great books that gives you as much or as little as you want.

Au Revoir Liverpool by Maureen Lee

Readable and fairly absorbing but ultimately forgettable book about a young Liverpudlian woman stuck in Paris during the war. The main focus of this novel is her love life and she manages to fall hopelessly in love with three men in unrealistically quick succession. Not a bad holiday read but nothing to put in the postcard.

Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton

A darkly comic novel about a man who loses his way amongst the pubs of Earls Court. This novel has some excellently observed dialogue and witty asides, but is ultimately a worryingly convincing book about the fragility of sanity and happiness.

The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman

A book about a young couple who live on a remote island in order to keep the lighthouse. One night, an incident and a decision changes their lives and those back on the mainland. This novel is a lot heavier than I thought it would be and pretty difficult to enjoy, but the writing is good and the characters well defined. A very well written book that's surprisingly hard to recommend.

The Contortionists Handbook by Craig Clevenger

A novel about a young man who flaunts the system by assuming new identities each time he moves. An interesting book about the meaning of identity and personality. I enjoyed the writing and the plot but this novel is a bit too philosophical and depressing for me.

Alys, Always by Harriet Lane

What a bizarre novel.  A weird hybrid between chick lit and a proper book, this novel could have been very powerful indeed but lost its confidence and ended too conventionally.

The plot follows Frances, an early 30s aspiring journalist who witnesses a tragic accident and uses that incident to hatch an elaborate plan to ensnare a husband. I am not really sure what point the author is trying to make, other than that women are highly untrustworthy and romance is dead. Both good points, of course, but not especially novel-worthy. If this book had had a different ending, it would have been refreshingly different. As it is, it is darkly realistic novel written in an incongruously romantic style which is likely to disappoint.   

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

This novel is set in 1914 and is about a group of shipwreck survivors marooned on a lifeboat awaiting rescue.  An interesting book about morality, justice and human desire to survive.  The writing is good and the main character is particularly interesting.   There is an underdeveloped theme of sexism and the roles, responses and expectations of the different sexes, which would have benefitted from more exploration.  In fact there are many underdeveloped themes, and in my view this book skims the surface of too many issues so it suffers from a surprising lack of substance given the subject matter.  Unusually, this book could have been longer.

 

Whilst this is technically an excellent book, I can't really say that I enjoyed it.  Particularly as it reminded me of those horrific ice breaker balloon debate "games" during which competing debaters battle to decide who has to jump out the hot air balloon - i.e. it is interesting in theory but after about 2 minutes you fall on your knees and beg: "Please God let it be me".   Obviously, the book is not as dreadful as my suppressed memory of that team bonding day but there is something about it which is a little lacklustre and, on occasion, predictable in its moral stance.

 

In summary, this is a very well written and theoretically interesting book but it left me a bit cold.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

Girly but fun. This novel is about two young society girls who become friends and take on the London social scene. Very easy to read and a fun beach novel.

The Story of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Forgettable. So forgettable I can't actually remember what it's about and I finished it not one hour ago, although I cannot deny that the crucial hour has been spent inhaling a rather a good red.

Oh yes - American drug company, possible fertility cure in Amazon, missing researcher/scientist (dead?), rescue mission, success! (at cost of Brazilian boy but that's largely irrelevant because the clever American man is safe!!!!).

The characters are sketchy and not easy to engage with. The writing isn't bad but the plot is boring.  On the plus side, you can polish it off in a few hours. Unlike the red, which sadly took up significantly less of my time

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I loved this. I think it might be a children's book, but who cares? There is no shame in adolescent literature these days.

The first in a series, this is a magical, fantasy novel with ridiculous monsters and parallel worlds. All of which are a lot more fun than my world.  The writing is fabulously descriptive and easy to fall into and the plot is engrossingly unreal.

Best of all - there are no vampires! So we won't have to endure the sullen what's-her-name lolling around like a stroke victim when this is eventually turned into a film. Which surely it will be. Please.

The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall by Paul Torday

A fun novel of crumbling ancestral homes and endearing but useless aristocracy. Enjoyable, easy to read and a good, light hearted holiday book.

The White Lie by Andrea Gillies

This book is loooooong. In my view, unnecessarily and unrewardingly long. It is similar to the Secrets of the Tides in its themes although the family which the novel dissects are more aristocratic.  The novel is narrated mainly by Michael, a young boy who goes missing, and who gradually reveals the various secrets and lies which surround his disappearance.  The characters are well defined, especially the troubled Ursula, and the plot is intriguing. But it's substance is insufficient to justify its length and unfortunately I don't think it's worth the slog.

The Bellweather Revivals by Benjamin Wood

In the style of A Secret History, this novel follows a young group of Cambridge students who experiment with the hypnotic, healing and anaesthetic powers of music. It all goes wrong, of course.

An interesting and excellently researched novel with very powerful themes and perfectly chosen language. There was something slightly superior about some of the dialogue which was a little hard to swallow but overall an engaging novel which is definitely worth a read. Wouldn't be surprised if this was on the Booker Longlist.

The Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell

A novel about the Tides family who are ripped apart after a tragic accident. Dora, the youngest daughter, is seeking to heal the rifts and the novel follows her journey to discover the secrets each family member is guarding. Predictable and rather depressing this book is well written but not very uplifting. A good example of a theoretically good book which is hard, in practice, to enjoy.

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

A novel about a young girl (Lynnie) with learning difficulties who is sent to an American mental hospital by her family in the 1950s. Lynnie falls in love with a fellow patient, a deaf man, who helps her run away whilst pregnant with an abusive warden's child. Although Lynnie is eventually returned to the hospital, her baby is born during the brief escape and is brought up by an elderly widow.

I really enjoyed the writing in this novel, which is easy to read but also very poignant ("Self pity is a worse adversary than ignorance"). The characters are complex but well portrayed so surprisingly easy to engage with. The novel is narrated by different characters but the narrative is not disjointed so the overall thread is very compelling. A well written and enjoyable novel.

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna

A novel about a British psychologist (Adrian) who travels to Sierra Leone post-civil war to work in a mental hospital in the capital. If you are interested in psychology and/or the Sierra Leone civil war this book would be an excellent read because it is very well researched and sympathetically portrayed. The novel describes the challenges Adrian faces with locals who regard psychological illnesses as normal and who are living with the scars of such recent conflict.

As well as he well researched historical context, the writing is good, the characters likeable and the plot engrossing. Personally I thought the love triangle cheapened the novel slightly but it did make for a more intriguing plot.

An interesting book which I enjoyed.

Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd

This is a novel about an actor turned soldier turned undercover agent during World War I. It is also a spy novel which I understood. Whilst this is all well and good for me, I imagine that those readers with a bit more political nous may find the simplicity of the narrative a little dull. I enjoyed the plot which I found gripping and engrossing but as I say, I am one of those people who got lost after the first 4 words of Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy.

The writing is very good, particularly the unusually natural dialogue, so this book is readable and enjoyable whatever your views on the story line. For me, the characters let this down slightly as they are a little too extreme to be truly believable. Nevertheless, a good spy thriller which is worth a read.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

A wonderful book which is excellently written and with a very moving, well told plot.  The book is set in India and is about two Hindu tailors who travel from their small village to a large seaside city to find work, and end up caught in the political and religious turmoil of the 1970s.  The characters, particularly the four main characters, are very well drawn, realistic and compelling which makes the narrative even more poignant.  Although this novel is very sad in parts it is not depressing and will stay with you well after you've finished it.  I very much enjoyed it.  Thanks Andy.

Murder on Page One by Ian Simpson

An easy to read, quite light and fairly engrossing murder mystery.  This book is good "fun" and keeps you guessing.  The writing is unobtrusive and occasionally humorous but there is nothing earth shattering about it.  I did enjoy the characters who were entertaining, if a little stereotypical.  This is a very readable crime novel and would be a good holiday read.

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris

A very enjoyable, fast paced novel with an intriguing and unusual plot which I very much enjoyed. The characters are realistic and very well drawn, particularly the complex main character - Harriet Baxter. The novel is set in the 1880s and is about a young painter and his family who are befriended by Miss Baxter, a 30 something spinster. The painter's family meet with increasingly serious mishaps until a tragic event calls them to question whether Miss Baxter is what she seems. The novel is narrated by Miss Baxter, who is writing her memoirs from a flat in 1930s London and, certainly towards the end, the opinions of the older Miss Baxter gives the narrative a more sinister slant. A thought provoking novel which is also an enjoyable read.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Is this fiction or non-fiction? No one knows.

The book follows Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, as Ernest endeavours to start out as a writer. It is interesting and the narrative is well written and fairly engrossing but it lacks sufficient drama to be properly termed a novel. It is a bit like a book version of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris - fun, surreal and easy but ultimately a bit self satisfied. In summary, I shall borrow an eloquent phrase from a sullen teenager I happened to be sitting next to on the bus this morning "s'alright".

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

Starts badly. Ends better.

The first few chapters are a bit difficult to get into as the writing style is very Southern American (i.e. there is lot of incorrect grammar and made up words – and not just in the dialogue). Once you get used to that, it becomes less like reading an adolescent's diary and more like a novel, particularly once the plot picks up. The story is interesting and the characters are likeable but it is still quite a superficial book. There is a strong religious theme and the "miracle" at the end stretches the reader's credulity rather – I don't mind a bit of mysticism but in this novel it was too incongruous to be believable (although to be fair my doctor says I have unusually high levels of natural cynicism). Entertaining but not especially memorable.

Half of the Human Race by Anthony Quinn

This book is excellent. "I couldn't put it down*!!" It is about a young suffragette whose beliefs and ambitions clash with social expectations, and her one time admirer, a young man who becomes an officer during World War I. It is interesting, well written and easy to read. The characters are perhaps a little idealised but not so as to detract from the overall believability of the narrative. I very much enjoyed this and would wholeheartedly recommend it.

* although I use this ironically it is metaphorically true.

The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas

A romantic novel about a young woman who goes on a trip to India to rediscover her family's past. Luckily, this past is more interesting than "my grandparents lived in India for a bit" (although not by much). There are some truly amazing coincidences. The young woman can hardly turn round without accidentally bumping into people who have some connection to her grandparents. Or perhaps not that amazing. India is quite small.


The characters in this novel are a little one dimensional but the writing is good and the plot, although thin, is gently flowing. Definitely a readable girly novel and would be a good beach read.


[Note to author: there is no grammatical rule which requires the words "in spite of.." to be followed by "...perhaps because of...". You're welcome.]

The Book of Crows by Sam Meekings

This book is divided into sections with two main plots interspersed with smaller, incidental stories.  This makes the whole thing too disparate to be an enjoyable or satisfying read.  The writing is good but the narrative too disjointed and each plot is too independent to amount to a cohesive whole.  What little plot thread there is (linked to the mysterious book of crows) is unrealistic, vague and spectacularly uninteresting.   It might be more gripping if you are keen on theology (I said might - don't blame me).

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

A novel about a retired man who sets out from his house in Devon to post a letter and ends up walking to Berwick-Upon-Tweed in a pair of yachting shoes. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, who were likeable and interesting, but it is the writing that I really enjoyed about this book. The language is very well chosen but not pretentious or cumbersome so whilst this is very easy to read it is also wonderfully descriptive. This is a very thought provoking novel and one I would recommend.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

A novel about a banker who is in an accident and loses the use of his limbs. His mother hires a young woman to be his carer and, predictably, they develop a relationship.


My favourite scene is when the author describes the carer's trip with the banker to a classical music concert. The carer is from a working class family and it is the first time she has been to a classical musical concert. She is worried she will be bored. But then... the music begins...she is "rapt" and starts to cry as she has never heard anything so beautiful. What an imagination. [c.f. Care of Wooden Floors which contains a wonderful and much more realistic description of an audience member at a classical musical concert]


Overall though, if you don't mind a bit of literary cheese, this is a readable, fairly well written romantic novel with a predictable (but still bearable) plot.

Tom-All-Alone's by Lynn Sheperd

I was disappointed by this book which I found rather boring. It is about an ex police detective who sets himself up as a private investigator after being dismissed from his job. As the title suggests, this is a Dickensian novel and unfortunately I found it suffered from an excess of imitation. If I wanted to read a Dickens novel, I would read a Dickens novel, not a novel which tries very hard to be reminiscent of a Dickens novel. The arrogance and stupidity of inviting comparisons with such a popular English writer irritates me. And although the writing isn't bad the plot and characters were too bland for me - particularly the insipid main character. If I were you, I'd read Bleak House and have done with it.

The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

I very much enjoyed this novel set in Victorian London about a young girl being brought up by her mother and aunt who have very different outlooks on life.  The characters are colourful and realistic and the plot is fast paced and interesting.  There is a touch of the Victorian gothic in this novel which gives it a slightly darker tone than you might expect and lends an air of mystery to some of the aspects of the plot.   The writing is unobtrusive and a little formulaic in places but this does not detract from a very readable and enjoyable novel.

On Drink by Kingsley Amis

A little book about alcohol - cynical but very enjoyable and amusing. There is a chapter on actual drinks including some recipes which are surely only to be tried by students and alcoholics - my favourite being the "Paul Fussell's Milk Punch" which involves frozen milk cubes, brandy and whiskey and is recommended in lieu of breakfast. My favourite chapter was the one on hangovers which was incredibly accurate. Good fun and worth a read if you can get your hands on it.

The Report by Jessica Francis Kane

An excellent novel about the crush at the Bethnal Green tube air raid shelter in World War II.  This book is very well written, interesting, engrossing and nowhere near as depressing as it might easily have been.  Read it.  Especially if you live in London.

You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik

The title misleads.  I curled up with my blanket and cocoa expecting to read a vicious tale of hatred and malice and was sorely disappointed.  This novel is about a love affair between a teacher and his pupil in an international school in France.   The book is split into chapters each narrated by a different character telling their own narrative of the year in which the affair takes place.  Some of these characters are bearable.  Most are not.  There are a lot of literary/quasi-philosophical debates between the students which were so terrible I am clenching my teeth even recalling them.  The plot is predictable although not formulaic, so there are some positives.  In summary, this is a slightly better than average romance novel.

Riddle of The Sands by Erskine Childers

A 1900s novel about two young Englishmen who sail around Germany and uncover a traitor advising Germany on her military tactics. I didn't understand a word of it. But they were beautiful words - my favourites being "nugatory", "adumbrated" and "casuistry".

I have taken from this book a number of interesting observations:
1. Sailors surely have more words for "rope" than Eskimos have for "snow".
2. In the 1900s there was a rather wonderful annual leave policy which enabled one to send a telegram stating:
"I will be taking another week off. If there's anything urgent, contact me at [insert name of a hotel in a different country to the one you are vacationing in] "
3. I will never understand a spy novel.

Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles

A darkly humorous novel about a man who goes to house sit his friend's flat in an undisclosed eastern European city. I enjoyed this unusual novel although the plot was a little repetitive at times. The writing is excellent - easy to read and enjoyable - and the characters easy to relate to. There are some very funny parts to this novel and I would definitely recommend it if you enjoyed the humour of Then We Came To The End.

1Q84: Book Three by Haruki Murakami

There is something very memorable about this story, and the characters in it, so I wanted to finish the trilogy even though I have no idea what this book is really about.  Don't expect to get to the end and go "of course".  This novel could benefit from a Poirot style final explanation in a handy appendix.  But whilst the sub-plot is largely incomprehensible, I enjoyed the superficial surface story about a young couple and their search to find each other in the face of ...........er........in the face of...um.... some sort of jolly troubling adversity.  If you are cleverer than me you will appreciate the hidden depths and perhaps fully understand the nature of that adversity but if not this is still an engaging, enjoyable (but long) read.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

A fanciful, slightly ridiculous but enjoyable novel about a childless middle aged couple living in Alaska who may or may not conjure up a daughter from snow. Quite.  This book is easy to read and the plot is compelling but, as my first sentence suggests, it does wander into silliness at times.   Overall I think this book just avoids the complete absurdity of other "I-would-never-have-read-this-book-if-I-knew-the-title-was-meant-to-be-taken-literally" novels (e.g. The Time Travellers Wife and The Girl With Glass Feet).  It is saved both by the plot's own uncertainty as to whether the girl is real, and by the quality of the writing, which is very good, particularly the descriptive style.   That said, I would still suggest it is avoided by the more incredulous reader.

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

An unusual book about a family of artists who create bizarre scenes in public places in order to record the reaction of the general public.  This novel is interesting and humorous but also quite a complex analysis of the influence of one's parents on one's personality and life experiences.  The characters are a little unrealistic but likeable and intriguing and the writing is very good.

 

I really enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it.   If I were a completely different person I would write "this is so good I missed my tube stop!!!!!!!" but this is an unacceptable sentence for anybody with and IQ above 45 (and to be honest I was a bit hung-over and may have missed my stop even if I had been reading The Still Point - which, as a reminder, is shit).

Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson

A novel about a family in Nigeria who are forced to move out of the city and into a compound in the country when the parents divorce.  I very much enjoyed this novel which is an excellently written exciting story about family relationships as well as the Nigerian political situation.   The characters are well drawn, believable and often humorous.  There is some violence in the book but it is not dark and is surprisingly positive.  A great read.

Pure by Andrew Miller

1880s France and a young man from the country is commissioned to clear Les Innocents cemetery in Paris.   Loosely based on historical fact this novel is dark but very enjoyable.  The writing is incredibly descriptive and whilst this is often adds to the charm of this book, it is a little cumbersome at times.  The plot is engaging and unusual although it tails off a bit towards the end. 

As this is an ostensibly French novel one feels able to bring up the thorny gender issue. If I were French and in charge of that sort of thing (which surely I would be if I were French), this book would be 'le'. It is masculine. So whilst I enjoyed it, I imagine a man would enjoy it more. And this isn't sexist  - it's just French grammar.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

A novel about two girls who work as secretaries in New York in the 1930s.  The novel follows their relationship with a set of upper class debutantes and bachelors.  This book is about challenging social assumptions and prejudices but is also a straightforward, easy to read story about 1920s society.  The writing is good but the plot is a little slow at times.  I enjoyed this novel but it is not particularly memorable and for me it did not have the impact promised by a lot of the reviews (real reviews. By  actual professionals. Trust them)

My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young

A well written written but depressing novel about the aftermath of World War I.  This book is quite heavy and examines the nature of relationships as well as the impact of serious trauma on the young men fighting.  I enjoyed reading this novel because the writing is fantastic. But at the same time it is a difficult read because the plot is really quite depressing. I can appreciate that it is an excellent commentary on the effect of war but it is a tough emotional read. This book should definitely be on your reading list, but it's not going to cheer you up.

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

I will be sending a strongly worded letter to the Amazon 'recommendations' department re this novel. It is proper chick lit. The plot was boring, predictable and idealistic and the characters one dimensional and unrealistic. I could feel my brain cells dying. There's better writing in the real life section of Take A Break. Almost the only verb used was 'to grab' (showers, movies, breaks, all sorts of food and drink) and this is an actual extract:

"The extra project wasn't as much of a time suck as he'd feared."

One has to assume the inclusion of this sentence won the author a bet.

My personal morals did not allow me to give up on this book. That, and the promise I made to that effect to Brown Owl when I collected my readers badge. But if I'd been allowed one reprieve, I would have cashed it in.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Well, don't ever say I'm not open minded. A sci fi novel of all things. And I did very much enjoy it.

Formulated in the style of the Canterbury Tales, it follows seven pilgrims to the planet of Hyperion. Inevitably, I found some of the stories less enjoyable than others but overall I found this novel surprisingly accessible, readable and engrossing. The characters were well drawn and unexpectedly realistic, which made the novel a much deeper, more compelling read. I was also impressed with the writing - the language was a lot richer and more descriptive than I was expecting.

I'll admit that some of the nuances eluded me and I still don't really know what "more than 150 planetary data-spheres mingled their resources within the framework created by 6,000 omega class AIs to allow the OCS:HTN to function" means. But this did not detract from the plot which is still exciting and easy to follow even if you weren't previously aware that a möbius cube was a carbon-carbon-shell set around a zero impedance containment field folded back on itself. Which I was, of course.

The Devil All The Time by Pollock Donald Ray

I really enjoyed this book which has a very fast paced plot centered around a small town in Ohio called Meade.  There are a number of different characters all with a connection to Meade and the novel is separated into different parts, each focusing on these different characters.  It is quite a violent novel in parts so not really a girly novel but it wasn't unnecessarily gory.  The writing is fairly unobtrusive and some of the characters are unrealistically depraved but overall a good, gripping adventure/thriller novel.

There But For The by Ali Smith

This book is very thought provoking but is also easy to read and excellently written.  It is about a man who locks himself into his host's spare bedroom during a dinner party and refuses to leave for months.  There are a number of different characters who are affected by this decision and the novel describes the impact on their lives.  The language is very clever and often funny and the characters are well drawn.  There is a precocious young girl who the novel starts to focus on about half way through and she, in particular, is very compelling (although a little irritating after a while).   Although this novel does lose its way towards the end, I would recommend it and I very much enjoyed it.

At Last by Edward St Aubyn

The story in this novel takes place over about 5 hours during the main character's mother's funeral.  The funeral is attended by various friends, relatives and acquaintances from the deceased's past and the novel describes the event from many of their point's of view.  There are some quite dark recollections but the novel as a whole is intended to be an acerbically witty observation of the upper classes.  To be fair there are three quite funny bits.

 

I found this very difficult to engage with.  I kept drifting off and couldn't concentrate on the narrative.  At one point I was seriously worried that I had something wrong with me and googled "severe lack of concentration".  But then, somewhere between Moorgate and Bank it hit me like a tourist's rucksack - this book is not very good.  It was a huge relief.  But not as big a relief as when I finished this book.  I did indeed sigh, "at last".

 

As a caveat - this is the last in a trilogy and I am semi-reliably (Amazon) informed that this book is better if you have read the first two.  On your head be it.

Special Topics In Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

A novel about a young student in America who settles in a small town for her last year of high school after a long childhood of constant moving with her lecturer father.  The student, Blue, befriends Hannah a film studies teacher at her high school and becomes part of a group of students who attend Hannah's exclusive weekend dinners.  As the teacher apparently becomes more unhinged the students start to wonder if there is something deeper going on.

 

The novel is excellently written and whilst the book is easy to read there are a lot of academic references and metaphors.  I did enjoy the language, but I found the characters and the plot a little unrealistic.  In fact, the plot itself seems to be forgotten about for the middle 300 pages of this novel.  Whilst this is not a great disappointment because of the quality of the writing, it but could detract if you were looking for a gripping mystery story which the back page summary seems to suggest.

 

This is an enjoyable book, particularly the writing style, but in my view the rather slow plot lets it down somewhat, especially in the middle.

Home by Marilynne Robinson

This is one of those "proper" novels where not a huge amount happens but there's lots of words.  It is very well written and I did enjoy it but it is quite heavy.  The main character, Glory, is the single, middle aged daughter of a preacher who finds herself back at the family home looking after her elderly father and alcoholic brother.  The atmosphere throughout is very dark and although the narrative is excellently presented this is not a gripping novel as the plot is more contemplative than thrilling.  It is worth reading but when you are in the mood for some literary appreciation rather than light entertainment.

The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

This novel is told from the point of view of a family dog (I know -  but honestly it is rather good).  The dog narrates events, partly from his point of view, as his owner marries, has a child, loses his wife and then battles his in-laws for custody of his daughter.  It is very well written and gripping and I found the narrative surprisingly touching.  Quite a light book but there is something very charming about it.

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

A novel about a Jewish American man (Jonathan) who travels to Ukraine to try and discover more about what happened to his family during World War II.  This novel is touching and very well written.   Parts of the novel are written as letters from a Ukrainian boy (who was Jonathan's guide on his travels around Ukraine) to Jonathan following his return to America and I particularly enjoyed these chapters which employ a very clever use of language.  I found Jonathan's narrative a bit less compelling but it works well in the context of the novel as a whole.  Whilst this book is very powerful in places it is also accessible and humorous.  I know I am late to this but if you haven't read it yet I would recommend it.