Book Reviews
I write extra-short book reviews on Instagram. They were 19 words long in 2019, 20 words in 2020, and… well, you get the idea.
Book 9
Social media narcissist. Errant mother. Failing friendships. Side-splitting lines, acerbic millennial put-downs, grief, betrayal. Erratic structure, patchy characterisation, but extremely readable.
Book 6
Black identical runaway twins. One returns. One starts afresh as white. Engrossing, page-turning, if characters touch under-explored. Identity, self-presentation, shadeism, ‘truth’.
Book 3
Wrongly incarcerated man. Will his wife wait? Prison’s effects felt everywhere. Loyalty, helplessness, love. Powerful, tragically commonplace story of racial injustice.
Book 17
Self discovery memoir. Fleeting moments of interest. Repetitive, new-agey, grating. Jumping narrative spoils plot. Just a bit… basic. Inexplicable hype.
Book 14
Homeschooled fundamentalist Mormon fights to escape abusive family for higher education.
Page-turning memoir about self-preservation, hope, change, privilege of knowledge.
Book 11
Homeless, dying, older couple walk South West coast. Tribute to scenic Cornwall saves memoir. Bit repetitive and 2D (unlike backdrop).
Book 8
Young black woman in peak mid-20s crisis. Politicised Bridget Jones 2.0. Very readable, smile-inducing, endearing, relatable. More flippant than expected.
Book 5
White privilege, intersectional feminism, class and race - articulately, painstakingly dissected. Deeply, necessarily uncomfortable. A responsibility not a choice to read this.
Book 2
Three generations experience the GDR. Oppression, fear, resistance, blind devotion. Jumpy narrative flits between biography and autobiography. Ultimately poignant, dreamlike.
Book 18
Young American Indian War soldiers fall in love, adopt kidnapped girl. Enduring endless hardship, only love keeps them alive.
Book 15
The roaring, excessive, frivolous 20s. Much overdue read. Full of yearning, unfulfilled dreams. As ever, only the rich survive.
Book 12
Bursting with pride for the inimitable @melanie.cantor. Woman has days to live, scores to settle. Funny, hopeful, twists aplenty.
Book 9
‘Lifelong friends. We sometimes wait a lifetime for them’. Utterly beautiful, funny, choking. On finding common ground in difference.
Book 6
Short, funny, excruciating demise of Hackney 30-something father-to-be during London riots. Wry insights on being white, middle class, unremarkable.
Book 3
Surprisingly (800+) page-turning, lyrical epic during NZ goldrush. Richly drawn characters and wild plot twists mapped against astrological chart.
Book 8
The internet. Pierced by tragedy IRL. Fragmented, poetic anti-narrative captures the WTF of online. Hilarious, heartbreaking, astonishing. Unlike anything I’ve read.
Book 5
Angst of Neapolitan teenage girl discovering sex, infidelity, allegiances. Hard work but picks up. Aims to be profound, insightful but… disappointing.
Book 2
Shakespeare’s son dies. Like hurtling towards tragedy in slow-motion. William, but a secondary player. Motherhood, intuition, divine bargaining. Breathtaking, devastating, masterful.
Book 16
Black babysitter accused of kidnapping white child. Astute, searing, funny, page-turning. Deftly tackles race, patriarchy, class, lesions of hurt, ambition.
Book 13
Man starts walking to save long-lost friend. Heartfelt characterisation, gentle people grappling with life’s enormities. Charming, poignant, life-affirming. Loved it.
Book 10
Three hetero relationships: desire, sex, power. Loved the painful accuracy of feeling. The self-sabotage. The crumbs we accept in desperation.
Book 7
Love letter to trees, cry for help to humankind. Gentle yet urgent, value-changing. Richest world lies below ground, not above.
Book 4
12 flights, 12 passengers’ fleeting stories interweave. Very enjoyable whistlestop read. Shame not longer - character depth aches to be explored.
Book 1
12 women’s lives, interconnected. Navigating blackness, womanhood, SE London, lesbianism, family. Vivid characterisation, hilariously observed, heartbreaking, tone-of-voice masterclass. Love it.
Book 17
Boy loses mother in gallery terrorism. Haunted by painting, PTSD, addiction. Slow-starting, eventually page-turning. LONG. Didn’t quite get hype.
Book 14
Real neurosurgeon becomes terminal cancer patient. Breathtakingly beautiful, grappling with unimaginable. Profoundly moving after my dad’s stroke and Cormac.
Book 11
Black man reinstates slavery and racial segregation in defunct hometown. Bitingly satirical, provocative, so quick-witted - hard to keep up.
Book 8
Missionaries in 1960s Congo. Story told by the family’s women. Slow-starting, but ultimately soaring epic of guilt, redemption, love.
Book 5
Loved reading this. Packed with subplots, funny and desperately sad. Son seeks answers from suddenly infamous and estranged mother.
Book 2
Chronically late to the party. Snort out loud, sniffle in the corner, storm the streets brilliant. Devour it immediately.
Book 7
Young black woman embroiled in rich white family. Dry, bitingly funny. Chaotic, lonely, self-aware protagonist craves meaning, being seen. Immensely readable.
Book 4
Generations breeze through their suburban family home over decades. Dysfunction, miscommunication, duty. Amusing and poignant. Everything yet nothing happens. Devoured it.
Book 1
Two couples stop connecting, lost in long-term abyss. Initially struggled but then gripped. Described as ‘entertaining’ but found it wistful, nostalgic.
Book 15
Funny, quirky, autobiographical essays flitting around Sedaris’ family and his seaside retreat. Relationships, neuroses, life ponderings, depression. Instantly likeable voice.
Book 12
12 short stories, mainly voiced by Nigerian women. On disappointment, displacement, and America’s empty dream. Everything Adichie writes is golden.
Book 9
Spurned pregnant woman pines, intoxicated by love. Almost obscurely poetic. Linguistically beautiful, self-indulgently so. Reminded me of ‘Days of Abandonment’.
Book 6
Relationship psychotherapist explores conflicts of security and freedom, discovering self within other. Previously stubbornly resisted Perel mania… she’s got me.
Book 3
A girl goes missing. A community heals over 13 years. We are passive spectators as life, gently, wistfully, goes on.
Book 19
Lovers meet in three alternate realities. Moving, beautiful observation on ‘what ifs’ and growing towards one another, not apart.
Book 16
Christmas. Estranged family. Tensions thaw as winter passes. Explores nature, kindness, perspectives. Disjointed slow-burner with ultimate warmth. Preferred Autumn.
Book 13
Man with no natural spell, unnaturally heightened sense for scents. Depravity ensues. Remarkably vivid sensory conjuring. Disturbing, but detached.
Book 10
A retelling of composer Shostakovich’s life… I think, maybe, can’t be sure. Impenetrable and self-important. Hated it. Don’t bother.
Book 7
Psychotherapist reviews 8 past patients. Rich character, human insight and story-telling fuse in non-fiction/fiction hybrid. Engrossing and reflective.
Book 4
Consumed within hours. Witty, moving, painfully raw. On sisterhood, belonging, and (often consciously) hurting those we love the most.
Book 1
Ghanaian slave trade defines family history. Each chapter’s voice is new generation. Haunting narrative: abruptly silenced characters, stories unfinished.