Book Review – Celestial Navigation by Anne Tyler

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Normally, Agatha Christie is my most-read author almost every year but it’s been a while since I picked up one of her books. So, it’s possible that Anne Tyler could take the title this year. I’ve been reading a few of her novels recently and would be very happy to read more over December. Unfortunately, I think I’ve exhausted my library’s supply of them. Or nearly. There’s still A Spool of Blue Thread but that feels to epic an undertaking for this late in the year. Maybe it’s a 2023 kind of book? I’ve been contemplating spending most of next year tackling some of the longer books that I’ve been putting off, so that would work. Of course, as most of my reads have tended to be around 250 pages then longer doesn’t really mean long. I need to get back into the habit of reading books of over 300 pages because I’m so bad at it. At least I have audiobooks to help me, which is how I listened to my latest Anne Tyler novel.

Book Review – Nightmares & Daydreams by Dominic J. Anton

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to read a copy of this book before it was published. Not only was I really honoured to get the chance to do it but I was excited to read it. The premise just sounded so good. I’d also read Dominic J. Anton’s poetry collection Intuition before, so I was excited to read his prose. The book was released in October and I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the finished work. I couldn’t wait to get back in and read the final edition. So, I started reading it as soon as possible.

Book Review – Let Down Your Hair by Bryony Gordon

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m terrible at sticking to a TBR. This is why I don’t really set one each month. The closest that I get is possibly aiming to read a certain book. The less I commit the more likely it is that I’ll do it. Any hint of pressure and I lose all interest to pick the book up. This is one of the books that I should have got to earlier. It was meant to be a September read because that was Alopecia awareness in the UK. This is the first novel not aimed at children with alopecia representation, so I was interested to read it.

Book Review – Solitaire by Alice Oseman

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Am I the only one who didn’t know that Spotify had audiobooks? It’s a revelation. I stumbled upon this book the other day and I obviously thought it was something sketchy. I have since discovered that it’s a thing. I’m not sure how many there are on the platform but I intend to find out. Especially now I’ve paused my Audible account. If I get access to some audiobooks for free then why not listen to them. Even if I had no intention of reading them.

Book Review – You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I’m slowly getting through all of my ARCs and it’s such a relief. I’m definitely going to have to take a break from requesting them because it’s too stressful. I have so many books that I haven’t read yet that I paid for, so ignoring them in favour of ones that I got free seems stupid. Especially as the ones that I’ve read recently haven’t exactly been great. Why am I wasting my time reading disappointing ARCs when I have books I’m genuinely looking forward to reading? My latest is a genre that I normally wouldn’t have picked up but the story intrigued me. Would it break my streak?

Book Review – The Fell by Sarah Moss

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Short books are great for getting your reading count up but sometimes their length can be deceiving. What should only take a few hours to read could end up taking a couple of days because of the emotional toil. I definitely think that’s what happened with this one. I’m not sure that I was ready for this book. We’re still very much in the Coronavirus pandemic and, as a clinically extremely vulnerable person, I don’t feel as though my life will get back to normal for a while. So, maybe it wasn’t the right time to be reading this? However, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to resist seeing what Sarah Moss had in store for me.

Book Review – Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet

books, reviews

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I had to Google the Booker Prize shortlist that saw Graeme Macrae Burnet’s novel His Bloody Project competing for the prize. It was way back in 2016, which is crazy. It feels as though I only read that a couple of years ago. I definitely wanted Burnet to win but that’s mostly because it was the only one that I’d read. That doesn’t mean it didn’t deserve it. His Bloody Project was an absolute masterpiece in the way that it blended fact and fiction. I knew that this was a writer that I wanted to read in the future. So, I ordered a copy of his next book as soon as it was possible. I knew that it was going to be something big. But could it possibly be as good as his last book?

Book Review – Sunset by Jessie Cave

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

After struggling to finish Beautiful World, Where Are You, I definitely needed something to get me back in the reading spirit. So, I guess a book that promised something pretty distressing wasn’t the most likely choice but I felt like this would be a good tonic to Sally Rooney’s latest dense tome. Considering I got through it in a couple of days means that I was correct in my assessment. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Sunset but I’m glad that I finally got round to reading it. I was definitely fooled by the colourful cover. I don’t know what it is but I never expect pink books to be heavy-duty. I thought they were meant to be light and fluffy. This was anything but.

Book Review – Yellow by Janni Visman

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

In order to complete my Spell the Month Challenge for February, I knew that I’d have to find a book title that started with Y. After reading Yes Please last month, I wasn’t sure that I’d have anything already on my shelves. So. I ended up buying something to fit the bill. Unfortunately there aren’t an awful lot of inspiring books beginning with Y. Or at least not that I was able to get in time. I’ve for a bit of time before I’ll need my next one, so I’ll have to do some proper research. For this month, my Y pick was I book I randomly found on Amazon. It sounded interesting enough and, most importantly, was quick. Meaning that, even if it ended up being terrible, I wouldn’t have to push on through a really long novel.

TBT Review – A Long Way Down (2014)

films, reviews, TBT

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Yesterday, I posted my review of Nick Hornby’s novel A Long Way Down. As it was the first book that I finished this year, it only felt right that I also watch the film adaptation for today’s post. The fact that it also stars Pierce Brosnan was just a wonderful benefit. Although, I’m always up for watching Bronhom is anything and there’s a brief scene of him dancing in this one. Yep, even after the first Mamma Mia! film he still thought it was perfectly acceptable for him to dance on screen. Say what you will about his acting but, boy, does he have a great of confidence for a man born without rhythm. I must say that I’m incredibly jealous. I’m also a terrible dancer despite all my best efforts. I wish I was able to give as few fucks does about what I look like on the dance floor and just went for it.