The performance at the heart of The Performance is a Samuel Beckett play, Happy Days. It was Beckett’s sixth play, written in response to his wife requesting something less depressing. I'm not sure he knew how to do that though. The play revolves around a central character, Winnie, a woman in her fifties. In Act … Continue reading The Performance | Claire Thomas #AWW
Born Into This is a collection of short stories by an exciting new voice in Indigenous writing, Adam Thompson. Adam Thompson may be an emerging Pakana writer from Launceston, but there are powerful and promising things going on here. Some of his stories pack a serious punch, others creep in quietly under your skin. Either … Continue reading Born Into This | Adam Thompson #ShortStories
I suspect, like me, many of you have heard about the basic premise of this story. The book seems to be everywhere (which is partly why it was selected as our October book club book). It features a fictional town inhabited by African Americans who have light skin, 'lightness, like anything inherited at great … Continue reading The Vanishing Half | Brit Bennett #USfiction
Teen romance, The Gravity of Us never quite reached the stars it was aiming for. It took me ages to finish this cute story about budding online journalist Cal and 'astrokid', Leon. The romance was sweet, tender and funny and the stuff about NASA's astronaut program that both families were caught up in, was fascinating too, but … Continue reading The Gravity of Us | Phil Stamper #TeenFiction
I had to remind myself of the exact definition of elegy as I was reading Ayad Akhtar's latest novel, Homeland Elegies: A Novel. In a promotional video on the Little Brown publishing page, he mentioned this book was not only about that longing for the home country that his parent's generation felt, but an elegiac … Continue reading Homeland Elegies | Ayad Akhtar #USfiction
I don't know why I've been dragging my feet about writing this post. I loved this return-to-form story by Anne Tyler, one of my favourite character-driven authors. Perhaps, it's simply because I don't have a lot to say about it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved how Tyler teased out the unique behaviours of her … Continue reading Redhead By the Side of the Road | Anne Tyler #USfiction
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line attracted my attention initially thanks to the cover. That big eye seemed to follow me around everywhere I went and after a season of blue/green covers, the bright yellow stood out a mile on the bookshop bookshelf. However I made an early assumption that it was nasty crime fiction, … Continue reading Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line | Deepa Anappara #WomensPrize
I have to ask straight up - who is Norah's father? Could you work it out? I wasn't sure. There didn't seem to be any repercussions or exposition after the reveal. Was it all about the #metoo element? But since you kind of figure that out for yourself very early on, it wasn't so much … Continue reading Actress | Anne Enright #Begorrathon
I wanted to love The Forest of Wool and Steel far more than I did in the end. A coming-of-age story about a piano tuner from a remote mountain region in Hokkaido had all the right ingredients for me - one as a former (very amateur) piano enthusiast and two, as a recent visitor to Japan. It … Continue reading The Forest of Wool and Steel | Natsu Miyashita #JPNfiction
Nothing to See Here made nine of the 'best of' lists as compiled by Kate at the end of 2019, with comments like 'laughed so hard', 'a most unusual story of parental love' and 'hilarious' leaping out at me everywhere I looked.I was expecting a belly laugh or two, at least. But no. It was way … Continue reading Nothing to See Here | Kevin Wilson #USfiction
I do love the Costa Prize. It regularly throws up a new-to-me author or a book that I come to adore. The Costa folk have a happy knack of selecting engaging stories, quirky ideas and immensely readable books. There was a lot to love about the 2019 Fiction winner, Middle England.Set in Brexit England, with a … Continue reading Middle England | Jonathan Coe #UKfiction
I had no intention of reading Such A Fun Age. The premise sounded mildly appealing/interesting:When Emira is apprehended at a supermarket for 'kidnapping' the white child she's actually babysitting, it sets off an explosive chain of events. Her employer Alix, a feminist blogger with the best of intentions, resolves to make things right. But Emira herself … Continue reading Such A Fun Age | Kiley Reid #USfiction
