Ian McEwan is one of my favourite authors of adult fiction. His last, The Children Act, was just brilliant. Needless to say, when I heard he had another book out, I was rushing to NetGalley to request it. His diversity of subject matter and characters is just incredible. In this book, the narrator is an unborn baby. Very original.
Trudy and John Cairncross are separated. Trudy is living in a large old house left to John by his grandparents. It's in dire need of refurbishment - it is squalid, rotting, dilapidated and full of decay. Much like Trudy and John's marriage. Trudy is having an affair with John's brother, Claude, who lives in the house with her. She is 9 months pregnant with John's baby, the aforementioned narrator of the story. We learn nothing of baby from any conversation between the adults of the story, they do not mention him at all. None of them appear to want him to exist. The only way we know baby is a boy is because he finds it out for himself in the womb.
Through baby's running commentary, we find out much about Trudy, Claude and John, the most important fact being that the large house is worth 6 million pounds, and the only way Trudy and Claude can get their greedy hands on that money, is by getting rid of John. A plan is hatched and we follow baby's emotional journey while he is torn between love and hate for his mother, hatred and admiration for his uncle Claude, and love and pity for his father the poet John.
Do not assume that baby speaks only in baby talk. He is a highly intellectual being - he knows all the news and politics of the day by listening to all the radio channels and factual programmes that his mother listens to. He is also a connoisseur of wine - he becomes drunk with Trudy and suffers hangovers too. He is not yet born but he has the same worries as an adult in modern day - "In my confinement, I had other concerns: my drink problem, family worries, an uncertain future....."
Ian McEwan, while delivering an excellent essay on modern day life, is a great thriller writer. I was hooked throughout, staying up till the small hours to find out what would happen next.
Jason lives with his wife Daniela and teenage son Charlie in Chicago. They're a happy family. They might have regrets at some life choices they made, just like any other couple, but they've lived with their choices and happy with the outcome. One evening Jason makes the choice to go for a drink with his friend Ryan, promising his wife and son to buy ice cream on the way home. He never makes it home, and he may never see his wife and son again. He is kidnapped and drugged, and when he comes around, he is lying on the floor of a hangar with a man who seemingly knows him, but who Jason has never met in his life. So begins a horrifying journey for Jason who slowly realises he is living in a nightmare world which he recognises, but which he doesn't belong in. As he learns the truth about where he is and how he's got here, he has the almost impossible task of trying to get back to his real life with his wife and son.
This is a thrilling and suspenseful story about choices in life, a muli-dimensional existence, the paths we take, and the decisions we make. This is not the first time I have read this subject matter in a book, but Blake Crouch pulls you in, and carries you through to the end on a terrifying but thought provoking ride.
Living in Cornwall, I'm surrounded by beautiful beaches and crazy surfers, and I love a story that features that adrenalin-fuelled sport. I've already read and loved Blue by Lisa Glass, a story about surfing set in Newquay, so I was looking forward to reading Kook, also set in Cornwall.
The author, Chris Vick, works for a whale and dolphin conservation charity and is a keen surfer, and that truly comes through in his first novel. The word 'kook' is surfer slang for a learner or a wannabe. In the book, 16 year old Sam is exactly that. He's just moved back to Cornwall with his mum and little sister - they used to live there when he was younger, but his father drowned and his mother couldn't bear to live there with the memories. Now they're back to be near Sam's grandma - she has cancer and may not have long to live. Next door to Sam lives Jade, with her dad. They both go to the same school, so slowly Sam gets to know Jade and her friends - all super keen surfers. Not wanting to be left out, Sam teaches himself to surf, all the while doing research on a giant wave that no-one has yet ridden, called the Devil Horns - a wave that could prove disaster for anyone who attempts it.
I quite enjoyed the book, but unfortunately there were a couple of things which spoiled it for me - the profanity, and the drug use. There was a huge amount of both in this book, and it came across that there was nothing wrong with it. I know teenagers these days use bad language fairly often, but you don't want to have to read it on every page of a book. And as for taking drugs, the characters again did it on such a regular basis, it was made to seem that it was ok to do it.
As a bookseller, I have to be very careful when recommending books to certain ages. Because of the content of Kook, I will have to make sure I don't recommend it to anyone under the age of 15, which surely cuts out a huge audience for the author. I always think it's such a shame that a certain aged-audience may be denied a book purely because of bad language or other bad content. It's not necessary in a story, people don't like hearing it or reading it, so why write it?
The last few chapters were very emotional - weirdly, the chapters I enjoyed the most. If Jade was a bit nicer, and there was less bad content in the book, I may have enjoyed it more.
Alice Oseman is a truly remarkable young author. At age 18 she had her first book published by Harper Collins, 'Solitaire'. As you can see from my review of that book, I loved it and thought Alice just wonderful (she's also lovely in person - she came along to Waterstones Truro for a signing of Solitaire, and she spoke to our Teen reading group, who were inspired by her).
As you can imagine, I couldn't wait to read her second book 'Radio Silence'. I was just blown away. It's incredible. She pulls you right into the story, makes the characters real. This is because she writes about real situations that everyone can relate to. Alice herself is now 21 and is at university studying English. She was an excellent student at school. Guess what Frances, one of the main characters is about to do? She's an A-grade student at school and is expected/wants to go to Cambridge to study English. Alice is currently hating her course at University (just read her twitter messages). Guess what Aled, the other main character in the book, is going through? Alice is a keen user of Tumblr. A Tumblr story is a key thread in this book. I keep reading advice from other authors about writing about things you know. It's absolutely true - Alice is proof of this. Keep it real and your stories are addictive.
The one character I couldn't believe in was Aled and Carys's mother, Carol. I truly hope that Alice wasn't basing her on anybody she knows, because that is one evil character. Can a mother do such horrific things to her children to disturb them so much mentally?
This is a fantastic book about discovering your true identity, believing in yourself, following your dreams and not feeling you have to do what is expected of you. It's also about realising that not conforming is ok - just because you're different doesn't mean you're weird. You're still a human being, with feelings. And lastly it's about the strength of friendships - never give up on your friends, true friends stay together forever.
I had read a few things about this book and all were positive, there was much praise about it. I don't often read non-fiction, but I was drawn to this one, even though the subject matter is the devil itself - cancer. We have all been affected by cancer in one way or another - I've heard the most scary statistic, that one in two of us will be stricken down by it. The worst thing in the cases that I have personally been aware of, and I'm sure millions have been through this, is that you fight it, you beat it, but it's not to be kept down. It stands back up again and overcomes you. A cure for all cancers cannot come quick enough.
This book follows the journey of 37 year old Paul Kalanithi, neurosurgeon, neuroscientist, and cancer sufferer. He was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 36, and he found himself going from doctor to patient. This book is not a diary, it's a journey of a young man who is on the verge of becoming a highly revered and very successful neurosurgeon, when he suddenly has the devastating news that he is facing death much earlier than he wanted to. His chapters on his time as a junior doctor through to his being at the top of his department are absolutely fascinating. What is hard to digest is that he is writing this while battling cancer, while going through chemotherapy, while looking into a future that may not exist further than the next 6 months.
He questions everything - mortality, the meaning of life, being a doctor, being a patient. He and his wife Lucy have many things to discuss before he dies, the main one being - should we have a child, even though they know that Lucy will be bringing it up on her own, and the child may not be old enough to remember her father when he passes away.
You know it's going to be an emotional ride when you start, and boy does it have you in tears at the end, but it's written by a very brave, and very strong, individual.
Katherine's first book in this series - The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow - was a huge success and an all round bestseller. Would this second in the series be able to live up to its fame? Well the short answer is - yes. Definitely. Katherine is such a great writer - she manages to keep the pace of the story going, along with the excitement and interest in the characters. The only thing I wasn't too sure about was Mei's character and story. I loved Sophie and her friends so much in the first one, that I almost felt like a schoolgirl having to accept a new girl in the class - not too sure and slightly awkward. I must admit that I would look forward to the chapters that Sophie and her gang were in.
Storywise, Sophie is still working at Sinclair's the department store, and her fame following the first case she was involved in (the clockwork sparrow) has led to her being taken on to locate the whereabouts of a stolen brooch - the jewelled moth. Sophie and her friends find themselves entering the glittering world of high society and debutantes. But Sophie also finds herself coming face to face with an old adversary - the Baron. Will she be able to escape unscathed, and will they all be able to track down the stolen jewel?
A joy to read. I can't wait for the next in the series!
Being mainly a Children's bookseller, I have only ever read Helen Dunmore's picture books (and I do recommend them - check out 'The Islanders' and 'The Ferry Birds') and her books for teenagers, notably 'The Ingo Chronicles' series. I'd read good reviews of one of her adult books - 'The Lie' - but never got round to reading it, so when the opportunity arose to read her new book 'Exposure', I jumped at it. And I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it immensely, it is so readable, I finished it in a few days - it was a real page turner.
Set in London in 1960 it follows Giles and Simon, who both work for the Admiralty, and Simon's wife Lily and their 3 children. Giles has taken home a top secret file which he is not authorised to read, but after an accident at his home he is taken to hospital. He telephones Simon to retrieve the file and put it back in its rightful place, but Simon is suspicious and does not execute Giles' commands. What follows is a string of events involving espionage, cover-ups, lies, exposure of intimate relationships, blackmail and wrongful imprisonment. The main events are retold by Lily, who struggles to bring up 3 children on her own and is fearful of a knock on the door, and Giles, stuck in hospital with his leg in plaster but with further health complications. Lily goes from being a quiet, dutiful wife with a teaching job, to a strong fearless individual, willing to do anything for her husband, while Giles goes from being a very unlikeable bully to a rather pathetic sorrowful person, wishing to right all his wrongs.
This book does not disappoint.
Ian McEwan is one of my favourite authors of adult fiction. His last, The Children Act, was just brilliant. Needless to say, when I heard he had another book out, I was rushing to NetGalley to request it. His diversity of subject matter and characters is just incredible. In this book, the narrator is an unborn baby. Very original.
