I’m really behind on reviews, reading and general thread chat. Everything is really hard work at the moment and I’m not having a great few weeks. But I do still enjoy dropping in and seeing what you are all reading.
I will keep the reviews short – partly because it feels as if some of these I read a life time ago, even though it was probably only a couple of weeks.
77 My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay
This is a really powerful memoir which includes extracts from Sissay’s care records and letters. It’s sparse and angry and tells the story of how he ended up in the care system, and the consequences that had. I raced through it but it’s stuck with me – definitely an eye opener for anyone who’s not got personal experience of the care system.
78 Corregidora by Gayl Jones
As works of fiction go this is really punchy and jaw droppingly good. Ursa Corregidora escapes a violent relationship and is condemned to live with the legacy of her family’s past as slaves. It’s a really extraordinarily good novel, and I am surprised it isn’t more widely read – it feels very timely given its reflection on race and gender and power, even though it was written in 1975 and set in the 1940s. I was delighted to find a Backlisted episode after I had finished it (always the best way to do them, in my view) which showed it wasn’t just me who thought it was a great book. And to think it was written when Jones was just 26 is incredible.
79 My Last Supper by Jay Rayner
I don’t know if this was pitched as memoir, food book or reminiscences about music. Probably all three – it’s quite a strange mix as Rayner plans what he’d eat for his final meal and goes on a journey to find the best possible version of each of the elements. I enjoyed the food sections, found the memoir vaguely interesting and skimmed the musical bits. It passed the time, but I wouldn’t rush to recommend it.
80 The Dead Zone by Stephen King
Well this is a strange book. The narrative – an English teacher wakes after a long coma to find he has the gift of second sight. Meanwhile, a travelling salesman moves up the political ladder and wins a Congressional seat, and plans a run for President. Leaving aside the Trumpian horror that is Greg Stillson, this is a book of two or even three parts, I think – the story of Johnny, his suffering and his relationship with Sarah is really classic King in many ways. There’s a fairly traditional thriller plot which uses Johnny’s gift, but that just sort of grinds to a halt two thirds of the way through, then it becomes about the race to stop Stillson acceding to the Presidency. But that side of the story really doesn’t have the plot or narrative arc I’d expect from King. While there is plenty of good stuff in there, I don’t think I’d hold it up as one of his more successful works.
81 Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hessian
Didn’t someone read this and hate it? I think it was just what I needed given my mood – gentle, undemanding, quite funny. I take the point about it feeling a little like one’s mother rambling on about people you met once at an 8th birthday party, but I think I was in the mood for that. It was a lot better – in my view – than books that try to do similar things like Eleanor Oliphant or The Rosie Project. And I do think that depictions of uncomplicated male friendship are really rare in modern fiction and that it should be commended for that.