Category Archives: 3

February 4, 2025 · 5:29 pm

A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson

I was looking for something to listen to in my husband’s audible library and came across this. I missed the bit about it being a rough guide to science. Which is not a problem – I have a science degree, so I still found it fascinating.

Here’s the blurb …

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can’t contain his curiosity about the world around him. “A Short History of Nearly Everything” is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilisation – how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. The ultimate eye-opening journey through time and space, revealing the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.

This is very entertaining and informative – I enjoyed Bryson’s writing style. And I feel more informed on geology, chemistry, biology, anthropology, etc. Although, it seems the more we know the less we understand. I found the narrator to be annoying (and his Australian accent was terrible) not to mention the way her pronounces Himalayas.

It is probably a little bit dated after Covid and the current state of climate change.

A review.

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February 2, 2025 · 4:06 pm

My Inconvenient Duke – Loretta Chase

My Inconvenient Duke – Loretta Chase

I was very keen to read this novel (I pre-ordered it) I enjoyed the first two books in the series (A Duke in Shining Armour and Ten Things I Hate about the Duke). In these books Alice and Blackwood are estranged (or appear to be so) and I wanted to know their story.

Here’s the blurb …

Of all the dukes in all the world, why does it have to be him?

Lady Alice Ancaster needs a husband, and fast, because her reckless brother is going to get himself killed, leaving the dukedom—and her future—in their repellent cousin’s clutches.

The Duke of Blackwood has known Alice since childhood, and they’ve always had a special connection. But years ago he broke it, when he chose a riotous life with his two best friends instead of a reasonable one with her.

The trouble is, the tall, dark, sardonic rogue keeps turning up exactly when needed, and ready—though he sometimes needs a push—to play the hero, if only for as long as it takes.

Being irresistibly drawn to the Wrong Man is not convenient, but when events come to a crisis, Alice has to make a choice. The question is, can she live with it?

This is not the novel I was expecting (which is not a bad thing). The first two thirds are before the first two novels and it shows the start of their relationship and their marriage. The last third shows that they were never really estranged they were both just busy with other duties that took them away from each other.

It’s witty, well-written, and well-researched. If you’re not familiar with the first two novels, then I think you will enjoy this one, but I was hoping for a book about a relationship that had gone sour being re-ignited.

A review.

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January 12, 2025 · 5:11 pm

Love Letters – Katie Fforde

Love Letters – Katie Fforde

I always like Katie Fforde’s novels. I found this one at the library.

Here’s the blurb …

With the bookshop where she works about to close, hopeless romantic Laura Horsley, in a moment of uncharacteristic recklessness, finds herself agreeing to help organize a literary festival deep in the heart of the English countryside. But her initial excitement is rapidly followed by a mounting sense of panic when reality sinks in and she realizes just how much work is involved – especially when an innocent mistake leads the festival committee to mistakenly believe that Laura is a personal friend of the author at the top of their wish-list. Laura might have been secretly infatuated with the infamous Dermot Flynn ever since she studied him at university, but travelling to Ireland to persuade the notorious recluse to come out of hiding is another matter.

Determined to rise to the challenge she sets off to meet her literary hero. But all too soon she’s confronted with more than she bargained for – Dermot. The man is maddening, temperamental and up to his ears in a nasty case of writer’s block. But he’s also infuriatingly attractive – and, apparently, out to add Laura to his list of conquests .

This was good – it had witty dialogue, lovely characters, and who doesn’t like a book about books? The reason why the hero and heroine couldn’t be together was a bit light – an evil other woman.

A review.

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December 23, 2024 · 3:17 pm

The Bright Book of Life – Harold Bloom

The Bright Book of Life – Harold Bloom

I always like books about books. I did cheat with this one, I just read the chapters on books that I have read.

Here’s the blurb …

In his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction, America’s most original and controversial literary critic and legendary Yale professor writes trenchantly about fifty-two masterworks spanning the Western tradition.

Perhaps no other literary critic but Harold Bloom could–or would–undertake a project of this immensity. And certainly no other critic could bring to it the extraordinary knowledge, understanding, and insight that are the hallmark of Bloom’s every book. Ranging across centuries and continents, this final book of his career, gives us the inimitable critic on Don Quixote and Book of Numbers; Wuthering Heights and Absalom, Absalom; Les Miserables and Blood Meridian; Vanity Fair and Invisible Man; The Captain’s Daughter and The Reef. He writes about works byAusten, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Wolff, Le Guin, Sebald, and many more. Whether you have already read these books, or intend to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom serves as an unparalleled guide through the pages of these 52 masterpieces of the genre.

I think Harold Bloom is of his time and I don’t necessarily agree with all of his critiques. But what I did enjoy was his personal approach to the novels. I liked to read about when he first read the novels, what his friends thought of the novel, etc.

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October 24, 2024 · 2:40 pm

The House in the Cerulean Sea – T J Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea – T J Klune

The theme for my book club this month is joy and when I googled joyful books this one came up.

Here’s the blurb …

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

I would call this a ‘romantasy’. It is very warm and cozy, and the characters are charming. I don’t think I am the target audience for it, I found it a bit didactic (a bit too much respect everyone, include everyone, etc.) I think I needed a bit more conflict.

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September 11, 2024 · 11:48 am

A Song of Stone – Iain Banks

A Song of Stone – Iain Banks

I found this in Mr H’s audible library and I needed a new audio book.

Here’s the blurb …

The war is ending. perhaps ended For the castle and its occupants the troubles are just beginning Armed gangs roam a lawless land where each farm and house.. supports a column of dark smoke. Taking to the roads with the other refugees. anonymous in their raggedness. seems safer than remaining in the ancient keep. However. the lieutenant of an outlaw band has other ideas and the castle becomes the focus for a dangerous game of desire. deceit and death.Iain Banks masterly novel reveals his unique ability to combine gripping narrative with a relentlessly voyaging imagination. The narrative technique and sheer brio of A SONG OF STONE reveal a great novelist at the height of his powers.

This novel wasn’t for me – it is first person narration, and I disliked the narrator. In fact, I disliked all of the characters and didn’t care what happened to them.

I do think it is well written.

A review.

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August 27, 2024 · 1:40 pm

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong

I am continuing my epistolary reading. This is a letter from a son to his mother. I listened to it, and it was narrated by the author (I am sure that must add something to the reading).

Here’s the blurb …

his is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born. It tells of Vietnam, of the lasting impact of war, and of his family’s struggle to forge a new future. And it serves as a doorway into parts of Little Dog’s life his mother has never known – episodes of bewilderment, fear and passion – all the while moving closer to an unforgettable revelation.

This was incredibly beautiful, but also challenging. There’s trauma and generational trauma. The difficulties of making a new life in a country where you don’t speak the language. The harshness of poverty and the daily small indignities (trying to act oxtail at the super market counter). But it is also about love (all sorts of love) and family. Damaged people trying to do their best.

A review.

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July 28, 2024 · 12:15 pm

Long Island – Colm Toibin

Long Island – Colm Toibin

I really enjoyed Brooklyn, so I was keen to read this sequel.

Here’s the blurb …

Long Island is Colm Tóibín’s an exquisite, exhilarating novel that asks whether it is possible to truly return to the past and renew the great love that seemed gone forever. The sequel to Colm Tóibín’s prize-winning, bestselling novel Brooklyn.

A man with an Irish accent knocks on Eilis Fiorello’s door on Long Island and in that moment everything changes. Eilis and Tony have built a secure, happy life here since leaving Brooklyn – perhaps a little stifled by the in-laws so close, but twenty years married and with two children looking towards a good future.

And yet this stranger will reveal something that will make Eilis question the life she has created. For the first time in years she suddenly feels very far from home and the revelation will see her turn towards Ireland once again. Back to her mother. Back to the town and the people she had chosen to leave behind. Did she make the wrong choice marrying Tony all those years ago? Is it too late now to take a different path?

Once again the writing is beautiful, and it covers the anxiety people living far from home feel. Is this the right place for me?, where do I fit?, did I make the right choice? All of the main characters from Brooklyn are here and we see what has happened to them during the 20 years. When I read Brooklyn, I liked Tony, so I was very disappointed to hear what he had done. This has clouded my thoughts about this novel. I don’t like it as much as I probably should.

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July 21, 2024 · 12:54 pm

Emma of 83rd Street – Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding

Emma of 83rd Street – Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding

This is an updated re-telling of Jane Austen’s Emma.

Here’s the blurb …

In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.

I really like how the original story was updated. Moved to New York, Mr Woodhouse is obsessed by health and wellness, and Mr Knightley runs a venture capital firm. I particularly liked the relationship between Emma and Mr Knightley. If you are a fan of Emma or rom-coms, then I think you will find this novel fun.

A review.

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July 12, 2024 · 12:22 pm

Absolutely and Forever – Rose Tremain

Absolutely and Forever – Rose Tremain

I have read Tremain’s Restoration, which I enjoyed and then a friend recommended this one (very different from Restoration)

Here’s the blurb …

A piercing short novel of thwarted love and true friendship from one of our greatest living writers

Marianne Clifford, 15, only child of a peppery army colonel and his vain wife, Lal, falls helplessly and absolutely for Simon Hurst, 18, whose cleverness and physical beauty suggest that he will go forward into a successful and monied future, helped on by doting parents. But fate intervenes. Simon’s plans are blown off course, and Marianne is forced to bury her dreams of a future together.

Narrating her own story, characterising herself as ignorant and unworthy, Marianne’s telling use of irony and smart thinking gradually suggest to us that she has underestimated her own worth. We begin to believe that – in the end, supported by her courageous Scottish friend, Petronella – she will find the life she never stops craving. But what we can’t envisage is that beneath his blithe exterior, Simon Hurst has been nursing a secret which will alter everything.

This is the second novel I have read recently where a character can’t move on – the first being Good Material (It’s not my favourite plot device).

The setting – 50s and 60s England, was fabulous and I loved the relationship between Marianne and Hugo. The writing is exquisite, people are captured in a few deft sentences.

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