💐to everyone going through tough times, with reading or otherwise.
Most of my recent reads have just been very mid but I did just suffer to the end of this so here's a rant/warning to avoid:
Quarterlife - Staya Doyle Byock
Bookgroup pick and massive stinker though I do just fall within the author's projected 'quarterlifer' audience (those aged 16-36); she writes from the lofty wisdom of 40(!) I hoped this might have some redeeming sociological insights into millenials/gen Z specific struggles with traditional 'adult' milestones, but it was pure anodyne self help tripe: QLs are either of two (2) kinds: 'Meaning Types' and 'Stability Types'; for self-actualisation, follow the 'four(4) pillars' of 'Separate, Listen, Build, Integrate'.
All this is conveyed through the stories of four fictionalised composite clients from her Jungian psychotherapy practice, i.e. cardboard YA-tropebots. Spoiler: the author fixes them. Of course, author is lone pioneer who has 'discovered' this radical new life stage while also finding uncanny echoes of it in existing culture (some emblematic QLs cited included Augustine of Hippo, Cinderella and Harry Potter) - almost like the concepts of coming-of-age (and bildungsroman) already exist 🤔
Other recent DNFs:
Death Under a Little Sky - Stig Abell I find his nonfic light and readable so was surprised to find the writing in this painfully laboured, especially set against the twee content.
The Turnglass - Gareth Rubin Fun concept, dreadful prose. I started with the 1940 Hollywood half in which the author decided making every third word of the wooden dialogue 'pal' would give bona fide filmnoirspeak. Did not bother cracking the Victorian half.
Pavane - Keith Roberts Classic SF counterfactual (1960s revolutions brewing in a world in which the Spanish Armada had succeeded...) Great concept and elegant prose! ....Wait, it's interlinked short stories? And the first two had so much detail about steam trains and semaphores this ended up going back to the library when I was barely into the one about the ex-Inquisitor's self-flagellation (not literal) 😴
Finally two winners:
Lost on Me - Veronica Raimo (tr. Leah Janeczko)
Autofiction, which is not always my thing but in this case I gelled with the voice/sense of humour immediately. Short, punchy, genuinely funny in a oversharer standup way, and relatable too (as I often find Italian dysfunctional family dynamics). Essentially plotless though given coherence due to consistent interests in authenticity, narrative and self-coherence, all lightly handled but reasonably thought-provoking. Longlisted for this year's Intl. Booker, I preferred this to the 4 shortlistees I've read so far, including the winner.
Squeaky Clean - Calum McSorley
Glaswegian crime thriller, fast-paced, violent and bloody hilarious. Virtuosically sweary and reminiscent of early Chris(topher) Brookmyre. Alternating dual POV of a 40something female DI and male 20something carwash worker who get embroiled in gangster shit, both chaotic 'failures' in some ways, but decent at heart. Both absolutely nailed by the two audiobook narrators. I had a look at a paper copy and saw much of it was in eye dialect (phonetic spelling) so if you hate that I would highly recommend listening instead.
This is long enough so will add reviews of more middling reads later, including my first Stephen King.