AUGUST

 

Theft ~ Abdulrazak Gurnah

 

The South ~ Tash Aw

 

I finished this for 2 reasons :

It was very short and I loved Five Star Billionaire (and I guess because the previous two had been DNF books).

The only thing it had going for it was that it was short ...but a good edit of the rubbish in it could have made it shorter.

I guess the other good thing is that it is supposed to be the first of a set and it saved me having to buy the next ones

The Overstory ~ Richard Powers

 

I tried really hard to enjoy.

I read till I was past 50%

But then just had to admit : I do not like his writing style.

I find it superficial ... like author's notes needing to be fleshed out or made read-worthy.  His characters stay on the page for me.

He takes important-to-me issues and takes the passion out.

Murder Takes A Vacation ~ Laura Lippman

 I might give it another go.

There is "cosy crime" and there is "stifling schmaltz" ... this struck me as the latter.

The Correspondent ~ Virginia Evans

 Delightfully witty, subtle crafting of the character.

Told through letters written and received by the elderly, fusty, fiesty Sybil

JULY

 

Tilt ~ Emma Pattee

Too ludicrous. Too much suspension of belief. Too poorly developed.

A "thrilling literary debut about how we confront disaster" (gawd, there is no hope for us) and from the " hotly anticipated" list (someone must know someone)

Very (VERY) pregnant woman wandering around Portland after a massive earthquake.  Utter unfeasible rubbish.

Famous Last Words ~ Gillian McAllister

Wavering between a 3 and a 4 rating

A very enjoyable read. Not a who-dun-it but a why-did-he-dun it.

A loving husband "goes rogue", holds people hostage, shoots them and disappears.  I never quite knew where it was going or guessed the storyline.

The story is told from the point of view of the wife and the hostage negotiator.

Weyward ~ Emilia Hart

 It started as a DNF but I went back to it.  All about right time, and what you have just finished reading. In this regard it was a just-right light snack

3 story lines, 3 historical periods.

It was an enjoyable read.  The theme was a mix of female empowerment and supernatural witchy powers. Both themes were lightweight (it was heavier on the brutality of men)

The Tiger's Share ~ Keshava Guha

 I love books set in India ... but not this one.

Overly flat descriptions of suburbs of Delhi that still did't bring it to life.

Characters that were written on paper but few had life breathed into them.

Plot had such good potential ... the privileged position of males in India clashing with the achievements of modern women ... but it backed away at the end with capitulation to the male ego.

JUNE

 

Gliff ~ Ali Smith

 Speculative, dystopian.

Just not sure about it! Thought provoking take on A Brave New World

King of Ashes ~ S. A. Cosby

Jeeze, maybe I'm hard to pleeze! Read close to 50%

Couldn't care is they all became ashes. Crappy character portraits.
 

Butter ~ Asako Yuzuki

 Just didn't grab me. Might go  back to it

Isola ~ Allegra Goodman

 Based on a true story.

Took a while leading up to her being marooned and would have liked a similar section after her rescue.

A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ Khaled Hosseini

 

The Names ~ Florence Knapp

****

A sliding doors story.

A baby, named after his father, Gordon.

A baby, named by his sister, Bear

A baby, named by his mother, Julian

 

Disgrace (Dept Q #2) ~ Jussi Adler-Olsen

 

Fell down so badly in the last 10%! So rushed, so stupid, 

MAY

 

Fever Beach ~ Carl Hiaasen

 It wasn't as satirically funny as Squeeze Me.  This one was a parody centred around Proud Boys wannabes. It was overlong with too many subplots and jokes worn thin.

The Children of Eve ~ John Connolly

 Usually a new Connolly is like slipping into a comfortable pair of slippers.  This was not.

It was way too wordy with useless trivia that did not enhance the plot, did not add to the sense of place, did not bring characters to life.

This was like one of those "filler" episodes in a TV series ... just setting groundwork for what is to come.

Death of the Author ~ Nnedi Okorafor

 A great twist on a sci-fi novel

Malibu Rising ~ Taylor Jenkins Reid

 NO (make that NoNoNo)

What a load of shite writing.  Totally "tell not show". Just bland exposition storytelling, probably aiming for a tv takeup.  Shallow has too many letters in it to describe it.

Mercy (Dept Q #1) ~ Jussi Adler-Olsen

 ****

OK, so I picked the perp very close to the beginning (and felt it was a clumsy insertion) but that was easily overlooked because of the excellent writing, great fleshing out of characters, fast pace of the plot.

The Frozen River ~ Ariel Lawhon

 DNF

OMG ... this rated so well but was totally irksome.

Once I had the image of Snidely Whiplash in my head, I couldn't shake it.  The Villain was sooo bad.  The Husband was soooo good.  She is so brave and full of herself. It was all soooo sanctimonious and shallow

APRIL

 

Dream Hotel ~ Laila Lalami

A Black Mirror Dystopian story.

Heartwood ~ Amity Grange

 ****

Light but gets you in with fast pace, descriptive location, good POV characters 

Broken Country ~ Clare Leslie Hall

 

**

Eminently forgettable lightweight read

Village romance, crime coverup, cardboard characters bleh 

The Berry Pickers ~ Amanda Peters

 

Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6) ~ Martha Wells

 

Beautyland ~ Marie-Helene Bertino

 

Network Effect (Murderbot #5) ~ Martha Wells

 

MARCH

 

Wild Dark Shore ~ Charlotte McConaghy

 ****

A Wild and refreshing novel, a delight the read.

The Snow Child ~ Eowyn Ivey

 Grrr ... thought this seemed cliched ... and it was ... but also familiar because I had read it before (and wasn't impressed the first time)

Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4) ~ Martha Wells

 

Dream Count ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

Rogue Protocol (Murderbot #3) ~ Martha Wells

 

The Strange Case of Jane O ~ Karen Thompson Walker

 

Artificial Condition (Murderbot DIaries #2) ~ Martha Wells

 Like #1, a reading palate cleanser ... a quick and enjoyable read, immersive sci-fi world. Fun Murderbot

The Incarnations ~ Susan Barker

 Only just hit **OK

Really shouldn't have bothered finishing ... it was just that I so loved the previous work of hers (Old Soul).

It rated an **OK because of the snippets of Chinese history but the packaging was too long, mostly boring

FEBRUARY

 

All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries 1) ~ Martha Wells

 Rogue Robot

Enjoyable, engaging, snappy sci-fi

I was just looking for a little palate cleanser and this was perfect.  A short book, a quick read ... and have ordered the next in the series!

Let Us Descend ~ Jesmyn Ward

 This really should have been a DNF.

What was meant to pass for magic realism was more like continuing dream-sequences followed by and-then-I-woke-up

Don't know wtf I kept reading

Old Soul ~ Susan Barker

 

Homeseeking ~ Karissa Chen

 

JANUARY

 

The Wedding People ~ Alison Espach