Half-term mini-haul: Part 2

Half-term mini-haul: Part 1.

Starting this one today. Vaguely appropriate for the season, which is most unlike me!

If you're not careful you could get whiplash from how this book goes from seeming like some fluffy, chick lit kinda thing, albeit with some seriously grim WTF moments, to being a full-on re-do of the Bell Jar! What a journey! So cleverly written, Queenie is the ultimate unreliable narrator, breaking our hearts as she slides inexorably into a breakdown. Particularly love the inclusion of talking therapy as well as Queenie's realistic recovery.

This is beautifully written. Segal captures the unique agonies and ecstasies of having twin babies in neonatal intensive care so poetically, it really is heart rending. She explores this particular and peculiar mode of motherhood - one of separation & helplessness - with some touching & intriguing insights into what it means to be a mother, negotiating her own fears & inadequacies with grace, wit & intelligence.

Starting this one today. Am wondering...how long could I go without technology - I can't imagine how I'd get through a single day! It would be so ridiculously difficult!

I absolutely loved the whole Bagthorpe Saga as a 10 year old and still quote Daisy to this day. My 10 year old isn't quite as enamoured. Oh well, sometimes the apple falls a very, very long way away from the tree! 🍎 🌳

Had this one around for a while, today I start it!

My record for 'longest time a book is on the shelf before being read' is 20 years with Infinite Jest. A couple of years is nothing 🤣🤣🤣

The writing here is fabulous - SO readable, SO engaging. It's lively, warm, witty, incisive, kinda enveloping. The plot builds with tremendous force. And how can it all end? All these threads, all the subtle foreshadowing? As a casual reader, I was cross & dissatisfied with the ending - once I'd put my English Lit. graduate head on & cogitated further, I was left stunned. No spoilers, but it is devastating & inevitable & unexpectedly perfect.

Starting this one tonight... or maybe in the morning (it's late & it's been a loooong week!)

Another medical memoir about early motherhood/having a baby in neonatal care. This was not my personal experience, but I find myself utterly humbled by the strength of these mothers & wonder could I have coped with similar.

The start is heavy going & I thought "I hate this", but then I started thinking "No, actually, this is rather good" and by the end I loved it. The MC lives a dismal life - being exploited for a freak medical condition, making awful decisions, being horribly naive, trusting the worst people & enduring more physical violence than any living thing deserves. But this is an incredibly engaging read. There is something Hardy-esque about - cont. below ���️

Nope. Weak in many aspects. Plot was scant, but dragged out to within an inch of its life. Certain scenes are laughably unbelievable. Dialogue is ... weird - characters reacting and responding in illogical ways. Author seems obsessed with certain odours, but these repetitive descriptions don't set the scene as well as she seems to think. There is an overwrought cheesiness that is off-putting. Ending is pants.🩲🩲🩲

Currently devouring this one. It's a proper door-stop of a book, my hand aches holding it! But sometimes I like to ditch the Kindle for the feel of a tree-book (as apposed to an e-book!)

Starting this one tonight. Really striking cover.

Written with warmth & an understated passion, this is a thoroughly fascinating & engaging read. It's incredibly well researched - the author speaks of not only walking the same routes but trying to evoke & replicate the exact emotions as the original walker! The sections on each woman/walker/writer are given depth by the author's analysis of their purpose for walking - as an act of creation, defiance, escapism, self-affirmation, or ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Really nicely written with a decent plot, this is sadly a bit boring.

And is it just me or is anyone else getting fed up of the literary device of 'frames'? Especially when they're irrelevant to the actual story! To me, it just unnecessary padding - get on with the proper story and stop faffing about!

Yes, I DO seem very grouchy today, don't I?! 😠😠😠

Didn't like this. It was, well, a bit rubbish really. There's no plot, just this single very good idea that is kinda cute & fun, I guess, but it goes nowhere & does nothing. A few predictable vignettes but nothing of substance. No conflict, no progression, no point. Just overly twee padding. Nicely written but, for me, it's empty, tedious & unsatisfying. Premise promises much but delivers a novel length blurb. I need a story!!!!

Had this one for a while, and now it's finally time to read it! Love this cover!

Wobbly start, hits its stride, finishes strong - this really is a great read. The premise is solid, the writing engaging, the characters make a compelling ensemble - surely the recipe for sequels?! Please?!

This has the same indescribable quality as some of my favourite stories from my childhood - that blend of magic, danger, suspense, and adventure that is just exciting, compelling, escapist, and FUN!

It's won awards & everyone is raving about it - so it was fairly obvious I wouldn't rate it! (Seriously, why IS it always me?!) The Irish voice is irritating, a gratuitous gimmick for the sake of novelty, a cheap "unique selling point". Lampo is initially such an unpleasant character it's hard to warm to him during his redemption. I found the writing stodgy & the pace draggy. It wasn't as witty as it thought it was. It gets better at the end.

Tonight's read. Need to wind down as today has been a very exciting day (as any Ferrari fans will know!)

Reading this one right now. Picked purely for the gorgeous bright cover! Currently unsure about the contents but it's early day.

Wyl Menmuir's writing is just so gorgeously restful, it lulls me into a state of contemplative calm. So thoughtful & expressive, if he wrote a history of paint drying, I'd read it. His style is so perfectly aligned with his subject, they enrich one another in a glorious exchange of loveliness. And what a fascinating, enchanting subject it is. Trees and humans and our relationships. Oh, it really is just a joy to read this. It is utterly soothing.

Started this one last night. Initial thoughts - intriguing but writing is patchy, veering into cheesy YA-ishness at times. But I'll stick with it.

Getting stuck into this one. First few pages didn't hook me immediately, but I'm warming to it

A mid-level Pick, this is beautifully written & has some really nice Magical Realism elements - a sentient house, a shape-shifting djinn & the ghost of the MC's sister. It has a busy, sometimes a little messy, plot, but the dual time line is engaging & the characters are vivid & amusing. There is a poignancy that is really lovely, some quite gorgeous passages, and the ending is Just Right (a rare thing) An enjoyable summer read.

So this guy had it kinda rough - in fact, his was an absolute stinker of a childhood, no wonder he was going off the rails! But he survived & thrived when some of his peers crashed and burned. I found it fascinating to learn just how profound the effects of a suboptimal childhood can be - and what a privilege having a 'normal', happy upbringing actually is. Upsetting at times, but also inspiring.

Another classic I was so familiar with that I honestly thought I'd read it already - turns out that, the familiar tropes & ubiquitous opening line aside, Rebecca had a fair few surprises in stores for me! I really did enjoy this one! I am still thinking about it a few weeks later - who really was the villain of the piece here? Who was the victim? The writing is exquisite, the mood vaguely ominous, a darkness hovering just out of sight. Fabulous.

A strong So-So. I'm not a huge medical memoir fan, but I did enjoy this one. It's tastefully done - if these things get a little sensationalised & gratuitous, I get the ick & bail. This manages to be discreet, yet informative, engaging without too much detail (gory or dry - both unpleasant) and has some compelling patient stories. And while not ignoring the bad outcomes, it is largely positive, highlighting the incredible work of ICUs.

As a huge fan of F1 and one that's always been slightly mesmerised by the spectacle that is the Monaco GP & the glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo, I loved this. The details, the anecdotes, the first hand memories of some of the greats of the sport, the extraordinary moments, the drama - it's all here. And during the time I was reading this, my boy Charles Leclerc, a Monegasque no less, goes & wins the thing! A moment of pure joy! Forza Ferrari! ❤️

Seem to be having a little run of medical memoirs at the moment. If you'd have asked me, I'd have said "nah, not really my thing." But I've actually really enjoyed them all! Just goes to show that I really don't know myself at all ?

And I've just noticed who wrote the blurb at the top ... really hope he's found safe and sound.

First read of Capote & have to say his writing is 🔥 - hilarious, bitchy & so natural (his description of Rusty Trawler is just wicked!) Did NOT know plot of BaT, just the cultural references (Audrey Hepburn in a little black dress etc) so initially I didn't know what I was supposed to feel about HG - and I really didn't know how I did feel...was so not expecting Lulamae! Thus, BaT acquired layers...cont. in comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Scraping into the So-So category, there is quite a lot I don't like about this. The structure, for example, is annoying & the writing is also, well, annoying e.g a page of right aligned, very short sentences means it's a Profound Bit. Plus, large stretches of it are quite dull. The alternate storyline only serves to increase the predictability of the thing & the cheesy/highly unlikely moments defused any emotional resonance.

Overwhelmingly meh.

I'm starting this one today and am desperately trying to manifest a win this weekend for my boy Charles Leclerc. Forza Ferrari! 🏁❤️🏁❤️🏁

This is a little bit weird, kind of a jumble of things going on, but it actually really works. Pace & tension combine to make a creepy & vaguely menacing air that grows as the story unravels. The wood is atmospheric & eldritch with mysterious glimpses of ... ghosts? Fae? It has a tortured Victorian author & his uncanny novel at the heart of the plot & has some nice ideas about the concept of 'story'. Great story-telling.

This just didn't work for me - it's one of those books that is fairly enjoyable to read, but at the end seems less than the sum of its parts. I didn't buy the relationship between the two MCs and neither character seemed to develop during the course of the novel. In fact, the whole thing didn't really go anywhere & the ending had no meaningful or satisfying resolutions. Disappointing.

Starting this one today. Second hand copy - it's a little on the grotty side!

Having 2 literature degrees, I'm always embarrassed by how much classic/modern classic literature I HAVEN'T read! So I'm trying to rectify this by reading at least one glaring omission a month!

Starting this one today.

This was just fascinating. And incredibly moving in parts. And also so scary (possibly not to be read while pregnant 😳). It's part memoir, part history/ overview of neonatal care & the relatively new field of fetal medicine. The author's experience of having a premature baby in long-term intensive care is just so heartbreaking, yet ultimately this is an uplifting story with a happy ending. A really good read, fantastic writing.

Wow, what to say? The writing is exquisite, rich, dense & precise. Waugh's ability to conjure atmosphere, emotion, mood, even quality of light so deftly & without being flowery or stuffy is extraordinary. I loved the Oxford section, loved Anthony Blanche's rant at Charles about Sebastian, loved Brideshead itself. It does drag a little in places & I wish Sebastian's story had a more certain resolution. Continued in comments ⬇️⬇️��️

This was a premise about which I was initially slightly skeptical, but I eschewed my cynicism & read on. And I was pleasantly surprised not just by the fact that the premise worked really well, but also by how much I enjoyed this book! It really did totally grab me. Moving & surprisingly thought provoking with a cracking redemption arc for the bad guy & a really satisfying ending. And dogs. What more could you want really? 🐕��🐕

Starting this one today from my ever-expanding NetGalley list.

The gorgeousness of this cover raises this one from a So-So to a Pick - how very superficial of me!

Well researched & interesting, just not particularly charming - I found the writing a little dry & prosaic, the author's obvious passion for his subject not entirely coming through his writing. Plenty of earnest enthusiasm, but no hooks for the imagination. The point is, however, hedges are an important habitat for biodiversity.

Objectively, I understand this is well written. Subjectively, it wasn't really that great for me. I love the metaphorical Crow in theory, on the page the strings of words left me unmoved & I remained at a distance throughout. The disjointed nature of the piece decreased any developing depth or sense of engagement & it wasn't until the near end that a few well crafted sentences created a brief emotional connection. Didn't particularly enjoy it.

What a ridiculous, glorious, hilarious sentence!

Everything a quality non-fiction book should be - informative, accessible, absorbing, well researched and absolutely fascinating! The writing is highly engaging, never getting bogged down in dry details, and has warmth & humour. The subject matter is more complex & intriguing than I thought possible! Researching this must've been an absolute joy for the author & that joy most definitely comes across! Impeccably referenced, a fabulous read.

Starting this #NetGalley title today. Love a bit of nature writing 🐞🪻🌳🐦‍⬛

Starting this one today. Tissues on standby 😭

I have been thinking about one of my idols a lot recently - Michael Schumacher - how he's gone but not gone and how difficult it must be for his family. It's been 10 years now, and I still get so upset about what happened to him.

I've read a fair bit of apoc-fic recently & some of the tropes are starting to feel a little stale. And the premise of this one is also far from original - last person left alive, doing what needs to be done to survive. It's the relationship between Mother & Monster that kept me intrigued. The dual narrative didn't work well, Monster's POV being less engaging, the character being less developed. And some of the events were less than convincing.

What a delightful treat this is! Writing that has that easy-breezy lightness of touch that makes your eyes just gobble it up, characters that are hilarious, ludicrous, sometimes hideous, events so ridiculous but also poignant, insightful, devastatingly real - just an utter joy to read! The satire is deliciously arch, the mocking merciless but affectionate & it feels so fresh! Such a rich reading experience - the perfect blend of funny & sad.