Bless those of you asking after my reviews. You'll be sorry you did by the time I've finished.
I am still vaguely around, but I've been trying very hard to limit screen time this year. This thread is on my “allowed” list, but I've been trying to be better in general. I've spent the last few months trying to prioritise my health and wellbeing and developing some new habits. Still a way to go with many goals, but I'm a stone and a half lighter for it and a lot more active so far.
I do miss participating properly, but it's overwhelming in January which kept me away a little.
Please bear in mind that I've slept since I read the ones also nominated for last year's Booker
The ones I've read recently first.
All Fours - Miranda July
A slightly famous artist takes a short break from her family, during which she is supposed to be road tripping from LA to NYC. She pulls into a motel 30 mins from home instead and stays there while keeping up the pretence she's driving cross country. She soul searches about what she wants from life while embarking on an affair.
This had me hooked. I found it really compelling, but not in a good way. It was like rubbernecking a car crash, you know you shouldn't, but can't help looking. I wasn't mad keen on some of the very graphic sex and the “non-binary child” felt contrived. The protagonist has a young child who has they/them pronouns throughout, but there's a slip up in the editing in a few places which makes me think it was shoehorned in after the fact to tick some boxes / meet some criteria, which the cynic in me was annoyed by. It didn't add anything to the plot / narrative so was a completely pointless thing. It's meant to be about a middle aged woman questioning her life and exploring what it is to be a woman, but just came across as a quite juvenile and overly provocative attempt to be edgy. Guaranteed to be shortlisted as a result. Definitely not on mine.
The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley
A civil servant is offered a top secret role babysitting someone brought from the past via time travel. Her role is to acquaint him with modern life. Her charge is a WW1 veteran / polar explorer who went missing on expedition. There is a group of people brought from various different periods of history who struggle to come to terms with a completely different society and mindset.
I generally liked this in a mindless / silly sort of way, but I can't fathom for the life of me what makes it prizeworthy. It's something light for a brain break and not really anything of substance.
Nesting - Roisin O’Donnell
A woman pregnant with her third child, takes her two daughters and walks out on her controlling husband. Struggling with no money, she is at the mercy of a broken social housing system and family court as she tries to get back on her feet and maintain custody of her children.
This was so raw in places I had a physical reaction to it. Absolutely brilliant writing. So far this is my winner. It was really tense and I'm feeling stressed just remembering it.
Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
An introspective exploration of four very different forty-something women’s experiences of the pandemic and beyond. Each looks at her life choices and circumstances while they try to reconcile their achievements and failings against society's expectations.
There's some beautiful writing and some searing observations, but this felt like a real slog. There's a difference in the quality between the sections and I was willing it to end. I feel like I need to reread this at some point as I think there's more to it than I took away, but I was so over it a long way from the end. You can tell the author has woven a lot of herself into this.
Somewhere Else - Jenni Daiches
Multi-generational exploration of self and identity when displaced from one's own culture. Starting in the early 1900s this follows a young Jewish Polish girl who survives a pogrom and is sent to Scotland to be adopted. She is befriended by the children next door and the book then follows the families of the two homes and their descendants against the backdrop of a changing world through wars, the creation of Israel and the fall of the Berlin wall.
Interesting but quite unbalanced. The book spends a lot more time on the early part, so the people at the end feel very rushed. It's quite ambitious in scope and I feel it may have been better if the author hadn't tried to cram so much history and so many people in. It jumped around a lot and at one point I was wondering - who the F is Susan? Worth a read, but not on my personal shortlist.
The Dream Hotel - Laila Lalami
Set in the near future, a new mother returns from a conference abroad, but is stopped at passport control by The Risk Assessment Administration, who inform her her dreams show she is a danger to her husband and she is being detained for his safety. Moved to a retention centre, she and the other inmates try to prove their innocence of crimes they haven't committed. Any behaviour infractions of ever changing rules add time to their sentences so the women are stuck in a never ending cycle of failed hearings and attempts to modify their behaviour. As time goes on it becomes clear that following the rules doesn't help, so what happens if they don't?
This was so engaging. Great characters and quickly establishes the world in which it's set. It's an exploration of what happens if we engage with new technology and blindly give away our data without understanding what it could be used for with an authoritarian government. It's very plausible and really bloody scary. I loved this. Definitely shortlist material. It would also be a worthy winner.
Good Girl - Aria Aber
Teenage daughter of Afghan immigrants embarks on a journey of self destruction after her mother's death in early 2000s Germany. Frequenting techno clubs in a haze of drugs, she is groomed by an older man. She experiences social inequality and racism while struggling with her own identity in a country struggling with a complicated past.
Pretentious coming of age without the substance to back it up. Quite hard work for the reader. Undeveloped unlikeable characters, unrelentingly grim. The author is a poet which does show in some of the writing as the one redeeming feature. Essentially Sally Rooney on methamphetamine. Another one I feel is destined for the official shortlist, but definitely won't be on mine.
A Little Trickerie - Rosanna Pike
Set in Tudor England. A simple minded young vagabond struggles to survive after the death of her mother. She falls in with a troupe of wandering players. In an attempt to escape some trouble they attempt a religious hoax which has an overzealous clergy determined to catch them out.
This is entertaining with a unique protagonist. Her simpleton status does get a bit wearing after time, but overall it's a fun read. It's another one I wouldn't have said was prizeworthy, but would still recommend it as something a bit different. Serious historical fiction it is not.
Fundamentally - Nussaibah Younis
A lesbian academic reeling from a breakup finds herself leading a UN deradicalisation programme for ISIS brides in Iraq. Dropped in way over her head, she befriends a British teen who followed her friend into extremism. She’s forced to confront her own Muslim identity and her estrangement from her mother as she tries to navigate the politics and red tape of a hostile environment.
This is an irreverent poke at the politics of NGOs, while dealing with some quite serious questions of identity and belonging. It isn't the book I was expecting at all. I found it quite funny and really enjoyed it, but I think it will be a really marmite book.
Those I read ages ago.
Tell Me Everything - Elizabeth Strout
Strout doing what she does well. I like her writing and her observations.
Crooked Seeds - Karen Jennings
I remember very little about this and didn't bother to give it a star rating on GR which means I didn't think much of it at the time.
The Safekeep - Yael van der Wouden
I liked but didn't love this.
I've still got 4 to go, but don't know if I'll make it given the window is 3 weeks shorter this year and I can't get all of them on audio.
I'm only 4 deep into the non-fiction list, but they'll have to wait for another time.