Thank you for the new thread, South. I have a bit of a whopper list to post, as have been MIA recently because of work and family holiday, so will try to keep reviews on the short side.
I've only skim-read the thread so far (sorry) but huge YYY to watching Shakespeare plays before/as well as trying to read them on the page (they were written to be acted and watched, and they work so much better in that format). Also happy to see mentions of Kavalier and Clay, one of my favourite books ever - I think Joe Kavalier remains my number one top made-up-person crush.
59. The Terranauts, TC Boyle
Based on a real life experiment in which eight scientists attempted to live in a completely sealed dome in the Arizona desert (to learn whether we might one day be able to build colonies on planets other than Earth). The experiment was reportedly the inspiration for the first Big Brother and this novel focuses on the relationships, fallings out and claustrophobia - a very human read (I'm guessing the people here who like proper science in their science fiction would hate it). The characterisation can be a bit weak, relying too often on cliche, but the descriptions of the interior of the dome are glowingly vivid. Really enjoyed this one.
60. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstein
A re-read after getting this in the summer book swap. I was rather less charmed by this on the second time of reading than I had been first time around. It struck me how YA-ish this book is, and while I think YA done well can be brilliant, this showed some of that genre's common faults: telling not showing, woo woo spooky magic-mystery stuff that doesn't make sense, and star crossed lovers who are MORE IN LOVE THAN ANYONE EVER for no particular reason except that they happened to see each other on the street somewhere. Feel a bit mean as I really enjoyed it on first read.
61. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
Widely reviewed here and elsewhere! Good bits and bad bits, and rather darker than I'd expected from its chick-litty reputation.
62. In the Days of Rain: A Daughter, A Father, A Cult, Rebecca Stott
Recommendation from here I think. Written by a woman who grew up in an Exclusive Brethren community, looking back on her own life and those of her parents and grandparents, and how their religion affected them. In order to explain what happened to them, she has to explain at some length both her family history and the history of the various arms of the Exclusive Brethren, and this does get a bit dull in places. However, it was worth it to understand the impact of the family's eventual break with the church - a fascinating, horrifying and bizarre story which you would discount as being OTT if it were fiction. Beautiful writing about her father's final illness too.
63. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
Well written and interesting if a little frothy. The story of a privileged American family (lawyer dad, journalist mum, four teens) who come up against the rather less privileged outside world, both in the shape of their tenants (single mother and teenage daughter) and through a case of the father's in which the Chinese birth mother of a child adopted by some rich white friends of the family is suing to get the baby returned to her. Lots of Judy Blume teenage angst, unrequited love, friendship issues, etc with some interesting angles on race and privilege.
64. Standard Deviation, Katherine Heiny
This was so much fun to read. A book about a married couple living in Manhattan, in which hardly anything actually happens but the writing is genuinely witty and the characters are well drawn. It was a shame that I read it straight after the Ng, as I felt that I was overdosing a little on books about rich white Americans, but this was engaging and well worth a read. Just seen above that it's been read and enjoyed by others here too :)
65. You Don't Know Me, Imran Mahmood
Another recommendation from here. Written as a long, first-person courtroom speech from a young man accused of a South London gang murder. He has chosen to sack his barrister and make his own closing argument, in which he decides to tell the whole truth about his involvement with the victim, why he had a gun, and other things that his lawyers had previously advised him not to mention. I really liked the conceit and the style of writing - my only cricism was that the story being told got over complicated and had a (maybe deliberately) hard-to-believe conclusion. I am guessing that Mahmood wants to leave you wondering if any of it was true and, if there are lies being told, if they're being told by the narrator himself or by the people who he has been dealing with. It would be a great book group read for that reason, although I think I would have preferred a more realistic, if less ambivalent, ending.
66. If Only They Didn't Speak English: Notes from Trump's America, Jon Sopel
We're just back from a holiday in America and this was a good choice to read while we were there. Apparently Sopel (BBC's North American Editor for anyone who doesn't know of him) started writing the book a couple of years ago but has updated some chapters to include the impact of Trump's election and presidency so far. It's an interesting, and fairly balanced, take on the ways in which America is surprisingly different to the UK, including religion, taxes, and guns.
67. Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We had a long and unrelaxing night flight home and I was very happy to find this audiobook available via the entertainment system on the plane. The writing is as elegant and thoughtful as you would expect from Adichie. On the surface it's a coming-of-age story, a teenage girl growing up in difficult circumstances, but as you read further (and again I would say this is typical of Adichie, and one of the reasons that I think her books are wonderful) you become more aware of the wider social and political context in which the story is set. How much choice or control do the characters really have? Who is good, and who bad? Why do we act in the way that we do? I love Adichie because she writes beautiful sentences AND she writes stories that make you want to turn the page AND she makes you think, a lot, about what she has written and about the world. This was no exception.