I've fallen off this thread a bit, ( I last posted on 8th Feb) but it's not been a bad reading month really.
Anyway, I'm updating my list here, and will try to stay more active:
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Tall Tales and Wee Stories by Billy Connelly
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It's Your Time You're Wasting by Frank Chalk
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The Familiars by Stacy Halls
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Hidden Figures by Margaret Lee Shetterly
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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
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Cyffession Seasnes Yng Nghymru by Sarah Reynolds
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The Secret River by Kate Grenville
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American Gods by Neil Gaiman
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My Sister the Serial Killer by by Oyinkan Braithwaite
A darkly funny book about nurse Korede whose younger sister Ayoola has killed three of her boyfriends and Korede helps her dispose of the bodies. Korede is in love with one of the doctor in the hospital where she works, but he falls in love with Ayoola, and it would seem that Korede is going to have to decide whether to try and save him by warning him about Ayoola black widow habit or continue to help her out of deep holes.
It was a quick read, quite enjoyable, and certainly some interesting characters. It could probably been longer.
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Born Lippy by Jo Brand
Jo Brand is one of my favourite comedians. I think when I picked this up, I thought it was more of an autobiography, but it is mostly her thoughts on life in general and for women in particular. There are several anecdotes about her early life, especially from her early days on the comedy circuit and her work as a psychiatric nurse.
It is honest rambling about feminism, parenting, family life and keeping happy and healthy in the complex modern world, not preachy at all, and have to admit found myself nodding with her several times.
A quick easy read, it's not going to change the world but enjoyable enough.
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Down Under by Bill Bryson
Typical Bryson travel ponderings, this time around Australia, the usual mix of personal anecdotes, interesting nuggets of history, travel frustrations and individual characters he meets along the way.
He makes his way round all the major landmarks and cities in Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, as well as all the major tourist attractions, such as the massively hyped and artificial Gold Coast, all the way to Darwin and Uluru in the Northern Territory, and a lot of lonely roads in between.
Nothing surprising in the format, but this is what makes Bryson a comfort read for me, I like his turn of phrase, his observations and his philosophy on life in general.
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Prisoners by Geography by Tim Marshall
This was an interesting read about how the geography of different regions of the world has contributed to wars and invasions (or lack of them) and why areas of the world are always going to be more successful than others, regardless of politics, aid and leadership - it is all down to geography. For example, Africa is always going to have the odds stacked against them thanks to its geography, few natural deep harbours, deserts in inconvenient places, and rivers that don't join up, compared to Europe with it's temperate climate, deep navigable rivers and harbours and lots of flat, fertile land.
Each chapter talks about a region and its challenges and advantages, but the main message is that politicians will always come and go, but real power is swayed by favourable geography, and power seekers should always remember that - remember Napoleon? Defeated ultimately by Russian geography. Hitler didn't learn from history and made the same mistakes.
With around 30 pages on each region, it barely scratched the surface of some issues, but a very interesting read.
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The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burke
Fast moving YA story of a girl who has been partially blinded in an accident discovers that she can read people's feelings by touching their clothes. She feels disconnected from her divorced parents so travels to Norway to visit her maternal grandmother, who she has not seen since her accident.
When she arrives at her grandmother's cabin in the shadow of an ancient tree, her grandmother isn't there and there is a mysterious boy making himself at home.
It becomes quite dark quite quickly and is a decent story linked to Norse legend and the underworld.
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Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
I was a bit disappointed by this to be honest. It is one of those books I have been meaning to read forever, and finally got around to it.
It is semi-autobiographical, the story of a young girl and her adoptive family. They are members of a strict church in Lancashire and her mother is determined she is going be a missionary. As she gets older, she realises she is a lesbian, which is not going to sit well with the church or her mother.
It is mixture of a coming of age, an observation of life in small town Lancashire, life is a restrictive religious community and it frequently goes off on tangents into mythology and parables, especially towards the end. It is an awful lot to pack into 240 pages, so to me it was a bit "thin" and lacking in depth. It stopped very abruptly as well, it could have done with being another 200 pages or so, to allow the story and characters to develop a bit more.