Thanks so much to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this advance copy of the Incredible Adventures of Casper the Cat Who Got Lost in Africa by Jennifer Thanks so much to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this advance copy of the Incredible Adventures of Casper the Cat Who Got Lost in Africa by Jennifer Ussi.
Well, the title alone is an obvious five stars, and the content is pretty jolly and something I would have loved as a kid. Having visited a safari, I always feel a sense of ease reading about animals. This story, the second in the collection, relates to Casper (the aforementioned cat), who needs to get home but needs a little help from his (newfound) friends. Having not read the first, I'm unsure why he is in Africa. Still, we meet two elephants called Bugle and Hannah, who are happy to help Casper understand the circle of life (in this case, the importance of elephant waste in the ecosystem). Breezy in tone, with some excellent facts at the back, likely collated by the author for parents, this is a worthy addition to any young reader's collection....more
I was given a copy of After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell by NetGalley and Tinder Press in exchange for an honest review.
Around a 2.5 rounded down.
GeI was given a copy of After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell by NetGalley and Tinder Press in exchange for an honest review.
Around a 2.5 rounded down.
Gee, what a confusing read.
I read Instructions for a Summer Heatwave because of the idea (the summer heatwave of '76) and was slightly indifferent to it. However, this book had an interesting concept and I was ready to try another of her books.
I felt it was quite good in parts. However, it had a few elements that really ticked me off. Firstly, the book is divided into three unequal parts (non-lower, which confused me) and, therefore, has a messy structure, with the second part being extensive and with no real breaks; it's just a mass of text with line breaks. Second, it is also non-linear and multi-narrative (plus a combination between first and third person). Third, I did not find the protagonist enchanting; I found her brash and unrestrained. People like her exist, but I wasn't sure if she was strong enough to keep the story going.
This book could have been a lot shorter as its central mystery weaves in and out. The secondary stories, I don't think, landed particularly well. I guess it was like a light family saga. The scene in the restaurant was excellent nearing the end of part 2 was superb. In general, the book largely improved, although based on the themes, it was a depressing read.
I feel uncertain about giving this book two stars as O'Farrell can write, but I feel I'm just not her target audience, especially considering how loved this book is. However, with time, I'd try a third book from her. ...more
Years ago, when I was in Greece, I saw and read a Danielle Steel novel with the express intention of writing to you and requesting mail.
Many, many autYears ago, when I was in Greece, I saw and read a Danielle Steel novel with the express intention of writing to you and requesting mail.
Many, many authors ignored me, but Steel didn't, so having an Audible trial, I decided to listen to another of her books and this, scaling well over 4, felt like a safe bet.
I can understand the appeal somewhat and why she's sold X number of books. This is a book of very simple sentences, very simple concepts and plenty of telling, almost no showing.
We follow Meredith White, a famous actress, who - a bit like in Ransom, has a summary of her life up until this moment. She's a famous actress who has embraced seclusion due to a bad marital breakdown and a disaster that caused her to become depressed and withdrawn.
Jake and Debbie are her household managers. They're abusing Meredith's confidence by stealing from her and planning to skim X amount of money from her before absconding. Neither character was remotely realistic in action or dialogue.
We then go into Steel style, I imagine. We meet several of the neighbours, cue the title of the book to form an ensemble novel. There's an earthquake, which forces Meredith to embrace a new sense of responsibility.
The book weaved along, but I can't say I found the dialogue captivating. The narrative also was very repetitive. Characters were painted as good, sad, bad, or honest without any deep psychological offerings about their motivations. Someone wondered if the author was on drugs or alcohol or suffering from Covid when writing this. Another suggested this was one of the first novels written entirely by AI.
I was given a copy of Dave Ainsworth's When the Carry On Stopped from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Carry Ons are fast becoming part I was given a copy of Dave Ainsworth's When the Carry On Stopped from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Carry Ons are fast becoming part of the historical past. Although one or two stars remain, they fundamentally were of their time. This book, lovingly written by the witty Ainsworth, explores the lives of the ensemble cast in quite some detail. It's nostalgic and historic and about the tears of the clown mentality that so many of the Carry On cast suffered; only his love for them makes this a fitting tribute to one and all.
The first two chapters are excellent; they have great info and a wonderful zeitgeist of the Carry On stars in their daily lives. The following chapters focus a little too much on the receipts for the Carry On producers and why Carry On Screaming was a big moment for the series (the following films - Don't Lose Your Head and Follow That Camel were Carry On-less, sort of like being semi-naked really).
The writing is very zesty and showcases how Ainsworth is evidently a true fan of the series. He uses ! excessively to indicate to the reader that the Carry On universe, with its eccentric actors, petty squabbles, and trivia, is one of mirth and, at times, biting British wit. There could have been some slight edits along the way. It is UNFORGIVEABLE that he fails to mention Carry On Abroad, my absolute favourite, as he decides that in the mid-sixties, the series, as intelligent in its own absurd way, was dead forever after Carry on Doctor.
Still, there's a lot of joy to this book and I do recommend it for those intrigued by the Carry On world....more
My second Mary Wesley - and again, a bonkers read.
I'm not sure how I found out about the Camomile Lawn, but I did and, when I did, managed to snare a My second Mary Wesley - and again, a bonkers read.
I'm not sure how I found out about the Camomile Lawn, but I did and, when I did, managed to snare a copy, knowing full well that it was a wild ride into the upper-class misbehaving, sort of a More Sex, Please, We're British kind of mindset. For such a short book, it had a wild plot and a unique, unusual authorial tone. Unlike, say a, Jilly Cooper, this was a jaded voice who had too much beauty, too much of everything and reflected this in her characters.
Her characters are intelligent, bold, saucy and unashamedly upper class. This is meant to reflect Wesley's life, based on society relationships, sex and culture.
Here we have a generally weird story with a vast ensemble of characters but a protagonist, Flora. She's nine at the beginning of this book and is holidaying in France. There, she meets Cosmo (and his sisters), Hubert and Felix (and his sisters.) Her partners dislike her for entirely shallow and unbelievable reasons, so Flora must grow up as a child devoid of maternal and paternal love. As billed on the back, Flora becomes the object of affection for these three boys, who lust after her seemingly from the get-go but amp up their obsession with her at FOURTEEN. It's a genuinely odd arc for Wesley to go down. Later, her father, who is in India, is asked by his wife and the mother of Flora if he will also find her attractive and worthy with a roll in the hay, to which he replies, it'll be you who put incest in my head. Ummm, what?!
Some choice lines:
'We should have had the child adopted.' 'Denys,!' 'It's not as though she were a son. I know you feel the same.'
And later 'Don't do that,' Denys snapped. 'What about this, then,' she murmured. Presently Denys whispered, sweating, 'Where did you learn to do that?' 'I just did it. It came naturally' 'You've never done it before.' 'I have wanted to.' 'You would have made a wonderful tart,' he said. She knew the mood was over.
What odd odd writing. I think the reason I continued to the end - even though it's under 400 pages, it is a pretty long read- is just working on the mechanisms in Wesley's head.
The nearest way I can summarise this is Mamma Mia in reverse (instead of 3 lovers over a summer, three lovers over the extension of the novel.) A wild ride....more
I was given a copy of the Bookstore Keepers, written by Alice Hoffman from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I had heard of Alice Hoffman frI was given a copy of the Bookstore Keepers, written by Alice Hoffman from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I had heard of Alice Hoffman from somewhere and saw this tale was available, so I wanted to read it. It's seemingly the conclusion to a duo of books about two sisters, Isabelle and Sophie, who run from what sounds like the most twee bookshop in North America. This short story (and it is brief, it's about 20 pages) is sweet-sickly. Hoffman writes with personality, and her sensory descriptions of the earthy landscape around the characters are quite charming; however, the writing of the characters - perhaps I needed to have read the other books to see their charm - does not feel especially natural. These characters are both lightly portrayed and given these dense characters arcs of longing and desire, which was impossible to convey with such a limited page count. To explain further, we also have Johnny, Isabelle's partner and Violet, Sophie's daughter, who (not exactly a spoiler) wants to go to Paris. At the same time, her mother expects her to run the bookshop, which feels a bit too Hollywood picture for me. Johnny, in particular, did not feel natural or evolved in this, leading me to think that he was a foil for the emotional receptivity of his girlfriend/wife (I can't even remember their relationship status).
I'd read a fully fledged Hoffman novel at some point, but I am confident I wasn't the target audience for this short story. ...more
Jin Lee writes a uniquely disassociating book that covers a lot of characters, years and locations. As with one of the charaA well-fought three stars.
Jin Lee writes a uniquely disassociating book that covers a lot of characters, years and locations. As with one of the characters who adores Dickens, Jin Lee has a Dickensian eye for an ensemble cast, only this book explores too much and feels sparse at points.
Baring the first chapter (the chapters are pleasingly short and encourage you to keep going. It didn't take all long to finish this novel), which ends in a time jump, this book covers 50+ years of a family living in between (mentally and emotionally) Korea and Japan. Now, I love family sagas. When they're good, they convey the universal elements of history replaying itself. The Thorn Birds is somewhat similar in that they're fairly similar in length and timeline. Only McCullough carefully tries to keep us in the moment during the different periods. Jin Lee covers, during a selection of chapters, a fairly intimate period in each section of the book but then decides to rush through years. To the extent that you're struggling to feel a connection with the characters as we rush through the period.
Now, the story, this is a story about women and men who are subjugated. Koreans, undervalued and unappreciated as the simpering tensions of Korea and Japan play out. It's a family saga about identity and belonging, frequented by good characters with heart and fairly good dialogue. Only - and let me be clear, sex - both dialogues and the descriptions emanating from the mouths of men and women are sordid in a way that confused me. This was a sleazy read in a way in which I didn't expect. One character said to another at one point, "You have to pay for love, you bitch!"
I'm not sure if Jin Lee was trying to portray what she felt was realistic dialogue, but I beg to differ. That, the constant change in time periods and trying to fuse so many characters in a narrative overloaded, as well as jarring narrative events that were done and dusted with in a paragraph were the weak points. The rest made for a read that educated, entertained and allowed you to realise that unknown stories are the ones that can be the best to read about. ...more
I was given This Beautiful, Ridiculous City in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.
Sohini's This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is a unique experiI was given This Beautiful, Ridiculous City in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.
Sohini's This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is a unique experiment for a graphic novel, functioning as both a love letter to her family and a love letter to the city that she likely won't ever leave.
It's a sociocultural novel about the rise of India. Undoubtedly, anyone without much knowledge of Indian history will absorb a land in flux. The drawings are beautiful, although the constant text script change was sometimes problematic.
Sohini attempts to connect with New York as a beacon of renewal and explores New York from its cultural origins. Perhaps she could have brought some of the friendships she made in New York into the picture. The rhetorical writing style, especially in New York, worked but could have been slightly fine-tuned. There was a lot of passive phraseology.
Overall, I found this a pleasing journey into somebody's life, but one which I didn't feel too attached towards. It'll work beautifully as a coffee book and touch those who enjoy travel, food (lots of food descriptions!) and existential questions about life as an evolving journey....more
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