I didn't feel as if I'd done much reading recently but was well behind on reviews since the last thread so perhaps it's just the last week or so when I've been struggling to concentrate.
Real Tigers by Mick Herron
Dead Lions by Mick Herron
More from the Slough House crew – I read these in tandem with the Slow Horses TV show which is AMAZING. And liked them more as a result – I find the storytelling in these books occasionally bewildering (I probably am guilty of not paying enough attention and find the long complicated descriptions of action and fighting hard to follow) – so it’s helpful to have it brought to life on screen even though the plot diverges in places. I’ve got book 4 lined up from the library for this weekend, so will have to see how I get on without it. Whether or not I follow the plot in all its complexity, I’m there for Jackson Lamb who is the anti-hero for all time, smelly, rude and unrepentant in his awfulness.
Lilith by Nikki Marmery
Now that all the Greek myths have been retold from the female perspective (hard stare at Natalie Haynes and Pat Barker), it was inevitable that the Bible would be the next source of fiction of that type. Lilith is an interesting character in the Bible but who has a place in Jewish folklore as Adam’s first wife and has ended up with arguably an even worse reputation than Eve. This book leans heavily into the alternative view of Lilith as a source of female power, and tracks her through the centuries after she is cast out of Eden. Plot wise it’s a bit of a mess with some weird nonsensical stuff I couldn’t really be bothered to untangle, but I quite liked the anti-patriarchal vibe.
The Cancelling of the American Mind by Greg Lukiannoff and Riki Schlott
Somewhat tedious and smug discussion of why cancel culture has taken hold in the US and in particular in universities. I know they spent a lot of time trying to be balanced and show it’s a problem on both the left and the right and I’m sure there’s a good book waiting to be written about this issue, but this wasn’t it.
Airhead by Emily Maitlis
Entertaining romp through a variety of extraordinary interviews and encounters, from a pre-Presidential Donald Trump to Simon Cowell and Alan Partridge, as well as stories about big news events and how they are covered. This would be a great introduction to anyone interested in broadcast journalism. Maitlis is honest towards the end about her experiences with the stalker who has dogged her for years and the impact this has had, but doesn’t dwell on it elsewhere. She comes across as thoroughly likeable and good company. This suffers somewhat – through no fault of Emily’s – from the fact it doesn’t include details of the only Maitlis interview anyone really wants to know about which is the infamous Prince Andrew discussion.
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
If this doesn’t make it onto my top five fiction books of the year then it will have been a really epic reading year. This is – though I had never heard of it – a Canadian classic, and apparently still widely read and studied in Canada. I mentioned it to a Canadian friend who was really surprised I’d never heard of it. Hagar is old, ill and dependent on her son and his wife. She’s irascible, difficult and absolutely bloody mindedly awesome in her refusal to let ageing get the better of her. As she fights against her family’s attempt to send her to a home, she looks back on her life, the people she loved and lost, and her experiences and regrets. This is funny and bitter and absolutely devastating. Hagar is a heroine for the ages, even though she’s an absolute pain in the ass and clearly has made a lot of her own troubles for her. I think that this is not a book for the young, though Laurence was only in her thirties when she wrote it, which is incredible. It’s insightful and compassionate and so well observed.
If I’d read this when I was younger, I’d have a very different view of this book, I think. I’m far from old, but have a lot more sympathy with ageing experience than would have been the case a couple of decades ago.
Rizzio by Denise Mina
So many of you read and recommended this, and thank you because I’d never have found it otherwise. Taut and tense account of the murder of Mary, Queen of Scot’s friend and adviser. Really good.
Fire Weather by John Vaillant
I think someone else reviewed this recently, and I agree that the strongest sections were those dealing with the huge fire that destroyed the Canadian town of Fort McMurray. I don’t know who the climate change sections were aimed at (though I did think perhaps the people running and working on the Alberta tar sands may have been the target for that - come for a well told tale of your recent trauma and stay for the sections where you learn how your job is literally causing the planet to burn!). The only "new" bit for me there was just how close the oil and gas industry came in the 1960s to alerting the world to climate change and its risks. How different things could be now if they'd chosen a different path.
Poor Things by Alistair Gray
Bella Baxter is a small child in the body of a young woman. Her mentor and creator lets her loose in the world to find her path, while she leaves a train of devastated men in her wake. This was a Frankenstein/Pygmalion mash up (DD’s words) with a healthy dose of Victorian grotesque thrown in. Really entertaining and thought provoking; it is very good on female agency, so much so that I had to keep reminding myself it was written by a man. I’ve not seen the film, which I believe only takes half the narrative. And dials up the sex which is only really alluded to here.