Beth

This book will haunt me deeply for a long time. This book in equal measures disgusted and fascinated me. The descriptions of scent in this novel were so intoxicating and visceral and I loved the originality of using the sense of smell as the frame through which to feed through the story. I loved how when reading this book it had elements of Lolita and Frankenstein, both books I really enjoyed! This book is dark and at times unnerving but I loved the skill of Suskind's writing that he could evoke uneasiness and morbid fascination from his readers. I hungrily devoured this book within two days and found it such an easy and gripping read. I can understand how people might have found the ending a slightly exaggerated ending and the beginning rather slow. However I felt the book was a really well fleshed out story that explained the character and motives of Grenouille properly. A perfectly filled in plot that defies a genre. A guilty yet indulgent read for me. I would highly recommend!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Considering I am not usually a YA fan, I didn't really expect much from this book. But I have to admit I really enjoyed reading this. The book was very easy to get into and was a fast paced read. I really like in the book the discussion of race and identity in America shown through the lens of Starr, a teenage African American girl. There were a few times this book made me cringe but it was mainly the scene of the girls at prom as I felt it was rather juvenile but that's just because I don't have a taste for the YA writing style. I found the plot as a whole very relevant, contemporary and believable. I think it's fantastic that this book can help a future generation of young African American children and other minorities in America feel they have something to relate to and a way to understand the world they live in better through this book. I think Angie Thomas is a great advocate and it was a solid YA novel. This is a book most readers will enjoy and connect with regardless of race, sexuality or gender and it is a book I would happily recommend to all readers. A 4 and a half star read.

This book is one wild ride! I love that in around 300 pages this book can keep surprising you with twists and turns. I enjoyed the dark dystopian backdrop to this novel and I loved the use of language and memory as weapons of suppression. I really enjoyed the complex relationship between Julia and Winston and I felt it allowed the story to have a deeper layer of narrative. The only point in the book that I dragged myself through was the bit in the middle of the book when Winston is reading Goldsteins Book and the few pages of that is rather academic and stuffy and could have been condensed or revised in my opinion. Also the ending was slightly dragged out for me but I am not sure whether that's because I read the book fragmentarily throughout the week. Overall though I really loved the book. I think it has so much to say about the modern world we live in and I think it deserves multiple reads in one lifetime to fully glean out Orwell's genius. For now I am content giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

I enjoyed the reading experience of this short collection as much as Homegoing and that's why I would also rate this collection a 4 and a half star read. This collection is an intoxicatingly dark and compelling series of magical realism short stories. Jen Campbell is a talented writer that creates characters that seem to get under your skin and creates stories that leave you with many questions and much to muse upon long after you've finished the collection. This collection was so easy to read I pretty much finished it in one evening. This collection has restored my faith in the short story genre as well as magical realism. A pleasure to read and I am so excited to see what fiction Jen Campbell will write in the future!!

I am so impressed by the solid structure and fantastic character development within this novel. This book is an intricate look at individual members of two half sister's family trees and how their individual stories lead to travel across Africa, America and across communities. I can only applaud Yaa Gyasi for creating characters that have strong individual stories while also allowing these characters to play a part in the wider narrative. Each character and each individual story was written beautifully and emotively so that each new focused chapter, you were still able to connect with new characters. I really liked the ending when Marcus and Marjorie reconnected back with their African roots and with each other. I think it was a subtlety satisfying ending to a fantastically constructed narrative. A strong 4 and a half star read for me!!

Admittedly, in certain parts of the novel Frankenstein can ramble a little repetitively and sometimes the story is oppressed with an overly melodramatic tone but over all I really enjoyed this story. Unlike the Hollywood counterpart this story is very different. Frankenstein (the creator not the monster) is found and saved by adventurer Robert Walton and through this framed narrative we learn of Frankenstein's creation and the horrible fate that envelopes Frankenstein in the consequences of such a creation. I love the conflicted nature of the narrative and how at the end of the book you are conflicted about who the monster really was. I loved the depth given to the character of the monster and the strong themes within the novel of Religion, Philosophy and Science as well as Revenge and Ownership. This book was dark but utterly enthralling and intoxicating. This book certainly deserves a re read in the future to glean the most from Shelley's impressive storytelling! A pleasant surprise to read. A 4 and a half star read!

Barry effortlessly constructs a beautiful epic war narrative in Days Without End. The harsh and destructive nature of war is beautifully interwoven with glimmers of camaraderie and humanity. The peppering of the beautiful relationship between John Coles and Thomas McNulty is subtle and adds to the complexity of the war narrative and war trauma on the human psyche. This novel seems to me to have glimmers of Steinbeck's great American narrative within it. I felt a connection with the characters and a connection to the wider narrative. I really enjoyed Barry's Irish dialogue in the novel. I loved the depth of the novel and the conflicted characters of McNulty and Cole. I respected the true and harsh depictions of Americans brutality to the native Indian community at this time as well as the truthful depiction of the American civil war. A very strong and impressive war narrative. Upon reflection a now 5 star read. A must read for fans of war narratives and deep books that conflict and move you. Not a book for the faint hearted.

As Toni Morrison proudly states on the cover of this book: this really is required reading! Coates talks so articulately and exquisitely about black identity in America. He has a frank and honest look at how American society historically has been constructed from the exploitation of the black body. This piece of text is addressed to his 15 year old son and it is brimming with Coates inner conflict between teaching his son the facts of life and sheltering him from the constant fear of knowing his black body is constantly under threat. This is such a poignant and heartfelt piece and it was so interesting to understand from the perspective of Coates himself how black spaces like ‘the streets' are a construct formulated by the dreamers (white people) to keep themselves protected from the real world. It is such a fascinating read and I cannot express all the interesting and valid points that Coates makes within this piece in this review. I will be discussing it in my February wrap up in more detail but to summarise. This is required reading for everyone so we can begin to understand that even race itself is a social construct and how we can all begin to take culpability for our inner histories regardless of where we were born or what skin colour we were born . It's a phenomenal read so please go and read it!

I finished Autumn last night but I needed to sleep on my feelings to write an accurate review of this book. I think this book was a phenomenally crafted book. Ali smith can write dream sequences and dialogue and mundane human experience with such a sharp wit and vitality that I haven't seen in any other literature I have read. I love the character of mr Gluck and his relationship with Elisabeth. I loved the peppering of historical women within the text (Christine Keeler and Pauline Boty). I loved the description of the seasons and some of the disjointed elements of this book. I would rate this book a high 4.5 as I enjoyed all the characters I encountered in this novel. The only reason it misses out on a full 5 stars it that it took me a quite a while to connect with the book overall as I was only dipping into it here and there when I had any time so the first dream sequence took me a bit to get my head around. I loved the modern and relevant elements of the book around immigrant, asylum seekers, multiculturalism and Brexit. Those bits felt so current and important. Overall I really did enjoy the book and I am happy to continue on with Ali smiths seasonal collection and the other books of hers I haven't read!

This collection of poetry deals with some relevant and important topics and themes including: grief, mental health, feminism, self-abandonment, honouring ones culture and roots and empowering oneself. The poet Rupi Kaur, whose poems are usually simplistic in tone is also responsible for encouraging a new generation of readers to try out poetry which is really encouraging and positive. However, I agree with the general consensus that Rupi Kaur's collections tend to stray on the side of over simplistic. Both of her collections are extremely similar in style, tone and structure and are both separated into four separate themes. I didn't enjoy that the collection wasn't particularly literary and that unfortunately for me the poetry wasn't very profound or original. The poetry towards the end became very repetitive and similar and I felt much of the content of the collection came from the urge to write about what is popular rather than a heartfelt collection. Unfortunately, for that reason the highest I can rate this collection is 3.5 stars.

A fantastic classic. I was throughly invested in the story and the character development of both gentle Watson and eccentric Holmes. A great start to the world of Sherlock which I am sure I will continue with. Also high praise to Stephen Fry's narrator of the book and the Sherlock Holmes collection on audible as he really helps create the atmosphere and phenomenal storytelling tone apt for a Holmes novel. A throughly indulgent and pleasurable read. A high 4 star read for me. It didn't rock my world enough to be a 5 star read but i throughly enjoyed it and I raced through it. A classic I am happy I have ticked of the list and I will be continuing with.

A very deserved classic. I was very impressed with Nabokov's lyrical command of the English language and his poetic way of describing nature and the American landscape. While some elements of this novel are graphic and could be disturbing to a sensitive reader, I was intrigued and fascinated by the multifaceted and complicated characters of both Humbert and Lolita. The book is deeply layered and delicately composed. While some literary references and the repetitive use of expansive French went over my head. I appreciated and enjoyed Nabokov's romantic deliverance, style and composition within this novel. This book is a solid 4.5/5 out of 5 star read for me and I openly encourage others to go ahead and read it, it might just surprise you!

This book was simply fascinating. Rather academic in tone and listening to it on audible did mean I was limited in what I could digest and comprehend. Nevertheless this book (recommended to me from glen Washington's 10 part podcast on heavens gate) gave me a rich and academic history of the infamous cult. This book is a staple text on this cult and it deeply descriptive on the culture and social background of the group, the use of technology by the group and the context and explanation for the eventual suicide and demise of the group in 1997. This book gives serious food for thought on this cult, on their mass suicide and on their humanity and beliefs. While I couldn't give this book 5 stars as in audible form this book was too dense to digest. I am hoping to acquire it in physical copy and see if my rating goes up when I have more time to comprehend Zeller's interesting perspective. Overall a very informative and fascinating book.

What a book. Wow. This book was beautifully and exquisitely written. Eugenides has a real talent for writing some incredible sentences and passages that have stayed with me long after finishing the story. This book is a story that is fundamentally deeply disturbing and morbid and I rather guiltily devoured it. It was intense and left me fascinated and enamoured by it. The Lisbon girls have an enrapturing quality that left me transfixed and obsessed with them just like the boys within the plot. I felt the story was so intriguing that it's still stayed with me. This book beautifully and painfully exposes familial suicide in 1970s Michigan. It's a phenomenal story that I simply adored.

What a phenomenal story! I adore all the themes and characters within. I loved the intrigue, suspense, passion, romance, gothic horror and mystery that is saturated within the text. The book is brimming with complex characters and a beautifully executed suspenseful thriller plot line. Characters such as Frank, Mrs Danvers, the unnamed heroine, Maxim and of course Rebecca are deeply layered and possess such conflicting humanity that makes the story so intoxicating and striking. I loved the nod to bronte literature within the pages of Rebecca and Du Mauriers writing style was so compelling and enjoyable that I hungrily devoured the story from the first page to the last. I loved the ambiguity of the ending and the ambiguity of maxim and his second wives future. I just adored this book and it is a brand new favourite classic of mine. I cannot wait to re-read this book alongside the Bronte classics and I also cannot wait to devour all of Du Mauriers other works very soon. A must read for fans of classic gothic horror and those in search of a suspenseful treat of a book!

This is a superb and intriguing novel. The concepts and musings around the preservation of the written word in the face of a dystopian world in which books are destroyed is fascinatingly and incitefull . This book packs a lot of punch in such a short space of time and therefore I believe I can only adequately glean the best out of this book after a re-read. I love the premise and the idea of this dystopian world. I loved the description of fire and the poetic beauty of literature. I loved the character of Clarissa and wish there had been more of her brilliance sprinkled within the narrative. I loved the faulted and conflicted character of Gus. I was blown away by Bradbury's predictions around headphones and television technology. I loved the influence of history and historical repression of the written world in Stalin's Russia and Hitlers Germany. The only reason this novel isn't gifted the 5 stars I believe Bradbury deserves for this beautiful and haunting novel is that I felt I missed an utter connection with this book at the time of reading. This may be due to reading this book in instalments or the fact I wasn't fully immersed in the story but I lacked the gut reaction of adoration for this novel that I felt reading slaughterhouse 5 and brave new world. I hope and wish however that upon re reading this book I can glean the 5 star beauty of this book. It's an incredible story and I am so happy I have finally got round to reading it! A 4/ 4.5 star read for me.

A 4.5 star read! This book was a pleasure and joy to read. Lawrence is an effortlessly talented story writer. Hagar Shipley is a character that is deeply faulted and human yet honest and truthful. Hagar is deplorable at times as well as frustrating yet she adequately represents the women we have encountered in our youth and old age but also within ourselves. Mistakes we make as women. Regrets we have as women. Identity crises that occur within women over being wives, mothers and individual human beings. Lawrence's social commentary on the ageing process is beautifully written about within this novel as well. She makes this novel appear a simplistic novel about Hagar Shipley's life. Yet this book has been perfectly woven to include much richer content on women's experiences. A truly talented writer and her writing style is beautiful. I will re read this book happily and aim to read more of her works in the new year!

A very tedious and drawn out reading experience. This book is really repetitive in style. The main protagonist is Harry August who keeps repeating his life from birth to death over centuries. The descriptions of Harry's alternative lives were rather anecdotal and pointless and made the book far too long. Arguably this book could have lost 200 pages and it wouldn't have effected the narrative. The structure of Harry's storyline is rather flimsy and loose. The relationship between Harry and his frenemy Vincent is also rather odd and the suggestion of a homoerotic tension between the two was rather off the mark for me. I really didn't enjoy the reading experience of this book and found finishing this book a chore. I was rather relieved to finally see the back of this book. A disappointing 1.5/2 out of 5 stars.

What a delight! A children's classic I am glad I got round to reading finally. This book was light relief after a busy working week. Anne was a delightful and lovable character and reading about her adventures was such blissful escapism! The descriptions of the Canadian seasons was exquisite and Anne's story of growing up in green gables and making friends is both beautiful and heartwarming. A new classic I feel deeply in love with. If I had read this in my early teens I am sure it would have been a 5 star read but still a strong 4 star read from me.

A 3.5 star read. Interesting but unfortunately unremarkable. Munro leads you down a certain path in each story to end her stories on a different note leaving you to contemplate different perspectives of life loss love and death. However many stories in this collection were repetitive in structure and not many characters were memorable in the end. I enjoyed the first few stories but as the collection progressed I slowly lost interest in the individual stories. As a collection the stories complement the theme of everyday life and the collection has a good mix of male and female protagonists. However the collection became stagnant for me as the subtle ending of the stories and the repetitive feel of the characters left me unimpressed and slightly disinterested. I like Alice Munro's writing style but I wanted to feel a more passionate reaction one way or another to the collection but I felt it ended up coming across for me as a bit of a damp squib. I would like to read more of Munro's work to see how it would compare to this collection as I am not well read when it comes to short story collection and maybe that's why this collection didn't enrapture me.

I've literally just finished this book and I am completely enamoured by it. My brain is a wash with so many thoughts and feelings about this collection of short stories. First and foremost each story packs an emotional punch. The stories are unique. They are raw. They each tackle characters who are struggling with difficult home environments. With psychotic or mentally disturbed family members who impede on their development or who are responsible for psychological damage to the main protagonists. Each of the stories are dark and harrowing. But the characters within each are completely fascinating . The first two stories and the last I would have loved more development of those individual stories and for the third story I feel that plot could of been condescended down more. However the writing style, the suspense and the characters were fantastically constructed. The book is intoxicating. You become drawn into each dark story. These characters and plots will haunt you and stay with you long after the final page. And I feel for myself I need to re read these stories again to gleen out even more of the wonders of Eden Robinson's storytelling. An effortless 4.8/5 out of 5 stars. Such a fascinating and enthralling short story collection. Please go read it!

This is a very interesting book. Now almost ten years old the overall argument of the book seems somewhat questionable. It did make me look at how we view success in a different way to how I previously had and in this respect Malcolm Gladwell's aim when writing this piece has been fulfilled by his readership. However I found the overall argument very simplistic and the style of the book read more like an undergraduate dissertation piece than a convincing psychological document. Don't get me wrong it was very easy to read. Very easy to understand and a fascinating way to turn previous assumptions about success on their heads. If you want to feel engaged in psychology without being overwhelmed by complex academic texts then this book is for you. However while I have become interested in both Malcolm Gladwell and his works as a result of this read. I fail to be convinced of his argument and so for me this novel sits at 3.5/ 3.8 read for me.

This book had such a strong start. I was already familiar with the plot line of this novel and the twist at the end as I had watched the film a good few years back. The first section of the novel that focuses on the pi the main protagonists childhood memories in India blew me away. I also liked that this section also presented pi's present life with his family in Canada. I enjoyed the bits in which the narrator interviews Pi Patel and discovers his wife and his children alongside gaining the wider story from pi of how he survived his ordeal in the Pacific. This section was beautifully written. I also really enjoyed the style and lyrical deliverance of Martel's writing within this section. Unfortunately, the rest of the novel was a continuous disappointment. The middle section which was the biggest segment of the book was a rather dry and tedious blow by blow account of pi's survival in a lifeboat stranded at sea. While it sounds insensitive, a detailed description of pi dissecting fish and turtles and building a raft don't provide the most riveting of pieces for a reader. I had to skim read through most of this section as it proved rather tiresome and repetitive. Then the endings big reveal seemed to lack the shock and horror and emotional revelation I remembered from the film. I found the revelation of the animals being symbolic of his fellow survivors and himself rather hollow and the reveal lacked the big crescendo I had anticipated. Overall Yann Martel is an incredibly talented writer and this book was an original concept and an intriguing idea . However the survival elements of this novel left me unengaged and frustrated and the reveal didn't give me the feels I really wanted. So for that reason, unfortunately this novel sits between a 3 and a 3.5 stars for me.

This book wasn't perfect. Some elements of jacks character wasn't utterly convincing of a 5 year old child whether imprisoned his whole life or not. However Emma Donoghue created a world in which you embraced and succumbed to the story and jacks journey regardless of accuracy. You followed jack along the entire story (it was all written from jacks point of view) and you wanted to believe in him. Believe in ma. Believe in hope and a brighter future for them both. I won't spoil the plot for you but I will say I found it refreshing that Donoghue didn't focus her plot entirely on the imprisonment of jack and her ma. She managed to give us a more complete story. A more realistic journey to freedom. It was also very fast paced and easy to read so I raced through this book. I reiterate it wasn't a perfect polished kind of book but it was a damn enjoyable read and I loved its imperfections and the characters of ma and jack. Although truth be told I am beyond relieved that ma finally stopped ‘giving him some' and he managed to lose that manky tooth?! Aren't you?!!

I enjoyed many elements of this collection of shorter stories connected to a wider story of the Mariposa community in Missinaba County. However after the first few jovial stories I started to lose interest and unfortunately towards the end I was trudging through the stories. I think not being as familiar with this Canadian landscape or the intricacies of the people who lived in communities like this in this time period, I was unable to connect with Leacock's famous talent for humour. Most of the characters were very intriguing, however I had little to keep me hooked in reading this novel as most of the plot was frivolous and indulgent. I enjoyed reading the book and I appreciated the talent of the writer but other than that, this novel was an average read. And that's my justification for giving this novel a very average 3 out of 5 stars.