Four Stars

Best for:
People who enjoy novels that constantly move through time.

In a nutshell:
Emily didn’t die on 9/11, but everyone thinks she did.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
BBC just turned it into a radio play, and when I heard the description of the book I knew I had to read it. It took awhile to find a copy, but I think it was worth it.

What it left me feeling:
Conflicted.

Review:
This book jumps back and forth through time, starting a week after 9/11, when Emily is leaving New York City. But we don’t get the full story of what happened that week until nearly the end of the book, which is a credit to Hooper’s ability to weave a story. We go back to when she meets the husband she eventually ‘widows’ in 2001, and forward to raising her daughter. In the present day, where her daughter is 13, we learn Emily might have breast cancer.

Author Hooper does a great job of creating a character who does a lot of extremely unlikeable things. She should be generally unsympathetic. However, I sort of get her, and was rooting for her. I don’t think I’d make any of the same decisions she does, and I don’t even necessarily think the decisions make sense. In fact, I think outside this book, if these actions were described I would be deeply concerned about the individual who took them.

I sped through this book. I cared about Emily even though she made some deeply disconcerting choices. I wanted good things for her and her daughter. But I also appreciate that Hooper didn’t just make her completely sympathetic, subject to fate. She’s not a victim; she makes choices. She finds herself in some shitty situations, but she makes choices. And they aren’t ones most people would agree with. But they make for excellent reading.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Recommend to a Friend

Three Stars

Best for:
Those who like their science fiction without a ton of world-building

In a nutshell:
The Silo is a 130+ story underground bunker, housing 10,000 people. Juliette is a mechanic there who ends up discovering more about this world than she is meant to.

Worth quoting:
(Nothing jumped out at me.)

Why I chose it:
I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Silo, which is roughly based on the first third or so of this book.

What it left me feeling:
Intrigued.

Review:
I know everyone has their own ratings, and for some, a three star review is almost like damning with faint praise. But for me, three stars is a decent book. And for me, this was a decent book. It did take me three months to finish though; I think there was just too much in it, but I understand the arc of the story that Howey wanted to tell in one go.

The premise of the book is fairly simple – in a place that may or may not be earth (and might be the US), a few thousand people live in what they call the Silo. The Silo is 130+ stories underground. There are no windows, save one projection of a small camera that shows the outside world, which is gray and bleak.

No one is allowed outside, ostensibly because the air will kill them. Which serves as a handy punishment – anyone who is said to have uttered the words “I want to go outside” is sent out to clean. Cleaning means wiping any accumulated dust from the one camera on the outside, and then basically dying from the elements.

The main focus of the story is Juliette, who is a mechanic who is asked the replace the sheriff, who was sent out to clean three years after his own wife is sent out. I can’t say more without spoiling it, but I will say that Juliette wasn’t wrong to be concerned about taking on that new world.

The broader issues of the book explore authority, class hierarchies, and knowledge. What do people deserve to know? What is reasonable for the government to hold back? Anything? And who should be trusted with power?

If you’ve seen the TV series, there are some differences in the book. I also didn’t expect the book to cover the same ground as the TV series so quickly. And because I’ve seen the show, the characters now are the actors in my mind, which is a bit limiting.

I did enjoy this, and will be reading the next book soon.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep – my partner wants to read it.

Four Stars

Best for:
Fans of the series – you should really read the first three before you read this one.

In a nutshell:
The best octogenarians out there are back to solve another crime – this one hitting closer to home.

Worth quoting:
N/A (Audio book)

Why I chose it:
I tore through the first three of these books and couldn’t wait to read what these folks are up to next.

What it left me feeling:
Content

Review:
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are back. Oh how I’ve missed them. They live in Cooper’s Chase, a retirement community in England. The book begins with the murder of Elizabeth’s husband’s friend Kuldesh, which obviously draws the team in. I won’t share more at risk of spoilers.

What I have enjoyed so much about these books is the character development, and we get even more in this one. This book has some funny moments, but also a lot of heart and some real rough moments as well. I love media that isn’t focused on people finding partners or raising children; I love books that talk about friendships, and especially friendships among older people. I’m sure I said this in my last review, but I feel like older characters are often left out of media, or are mentioned only as grandparents, not people with full and independent lives.

Osman does a great job not just of spinning a twisty, turning plot that one probably won’t guess but that isn’t still totally out of left field. But more than that – he gives us characters that we care about and root for. Complex, interesting characters.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
I recommend the audio book, because Fiona Shaw (who you may know from Killing Eve, or Harry Potter, but who will always be the Headmistress from the Pileforth School for Girls featured in Three Men and a Little Lady to me) does a fantastic job reading it.

Four Stars

Best for:
Runners looking for a meditation on running.

In a nutshell:
Author Murakami, better known by most for his novels, shares how running impacts his life.

Worth quoting:
“People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they’ll go to any length to live longer. But I don’t think that’s the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest.”

“I’m often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I’m running? I don’t have a clue.”

Why I chose it:
I’m a runner, and this book has come up a lot.

What it left me feeling:
Content.

Review:
This is my second running book I’ve read this year. As mentioned in my previous review, I’ve been running for many years – nearly 15 years at this point. Sometimes I’m running slow and easy, sometimes I’m pushing myself to build up some strength. On off days, I’m lifting and stretching and rolling. I’ve only taken a handful of breaks in those times – usually due to injury, and once because I just stopped, and that non-injury-related-break was definitely when I’ve felt at my lowest.

I don’t always love running, but I’m always happy that I ran, and I think Murakami captures this feeling. He says he runs to help him write. For me, I need to move regularly otherwise I am scattered and all over the place. Running helps me focus. Yes, it keeps me fit to a degree, but I think the impact on my mental health is more pronounced. And while I am active in other sports (specifically football / soccer), running is a constant for me.

Murakami focuses most of the book on a couple of seasons of running. He and I differ on our approaches – he trains by running every single day; I used to run every single day, but since I’ve gotten a running coach, it’s more like 4 times a week. He talks about runs that go well and runs that don’t. He talks about the feelings, the specific thoughts when he’s running races. He runs further than I do – he does marathons, I’m only doing half marathons – but both involve so much time alone, outside, in all kinds of weather. It’s solitary but not lonely.

One thing I especially related to was him talking about how, as he gets older, his body just doesn’t do things the same way. He’ll train the same or harder and struggle to complete races in times he previously hit with ease. At the moment I’m training in the hopes of once again running a sub-2 hour half marathon (something I have only done once out of 14 races, and about 10 years ago), but it’s hard. I’m not old, but I’m older, and things ache more. Injuries appear more often. I might reach my goal; I might not. But I’ll keep running.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Recommend to a Friend

Three Stars

Best for:
People who enjoy a mixture of history, true crime, and ethical discussions.

In a nutshell:
Author Katwala explores the creation and first two decades of the ‘lie detector’ (polygraph).

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I like books like this usually – it feels like a subject Patrick Radden Keefe might have taken on.

What it left me feeling:
Educated.

Review:
In this book, author Katwala looks at the creator of the Polygraph, John Larson, who was a medical student interested in how one’s breath and blood pressure were impacted when someone knowingly told a lie. He eventually developed a machine that could allegedly detect these changes and tell when someone was telling a falsehood.

(He also used it as a very effective dating tool. The very first person Larson used it on in an official capacity was a sorority woman nine years his younger who he ended up marrying. I know people meet at work, but that seems to be a bit out of order.)

The book is told mainly through a couple of different cases from the 1920s and 1930s where it seems like the person is guilty, but the results of their polygraph tests are not conclusive. One is a man who might have paid people to kill his wife; another is a man who might have killed someone who was informing on him to the police. The stories themselves are interesting enough; bringing the polygraph into it makes them more complex.

In the US, polygraph results are not admissible at the federal level. But we have all seen Law & Order, right? People offering themselves up to take a lie detector test so that the police will stop investigating them. Or, conversely, we’ll see suspects refuse to take one, and people start to wonder why, and question their innocence.

The story follows as the polygraph gains popularity even though it cannot be used in federal cases. At one point Larson brings in someone named Keeler who takes over the work and sells it as much more infallible than it is, and seeks to make money off it, selling it to shopkeepers to test their employees to see if they’re stealing.

Here’s the thing though – the polygraph doesn’t really work. It definitely cannot definitively detect lies. And its use is ethically questionable at best. Larson sees this and speaks up; Keeler does not, though we get a sense with one of the later cases he’s involved in (one that ultimately results in someone being put to death) that he has his own doubts.

Overall this book was interesting and well-researched, but didn’t spend as much time as I would have liked on the ethics of the polygraph. The final coda was also deeply disturbing; it discusses how countries are making use of AI to detect lies. One claimed an 88% accuracy rate. Super! Unless you’re in the 12% and are telling the truth but the machine says you are lying.

As an aside: I listened to the audio version and I found the narrator’s pronunciation choices frustrating. I think part of it is the author is British so the narrator used some British pronunciations despite the narrator having a US or Canadian accent, which doesn’t quite work but I kind of get it. However, much of this book takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I grew up, and the narrator consistently mispronounces the names of cities. That’s not hard to look up, so I’m confused as to how that got by the producers.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it

Four Stars

Best for:
Those looking for ways to process and manage fear.

In a nutshell:
Zen master Nhat Hanh shares thoughts related to processing, confronting and addressing fear.

Worth quoting:
I took so much away from this book, but some highlights:

“When we climb the hill together, we don’t need to make an effort; we enjoy every step.”

“Each of us is life without limit.”

“We cannot remove violence with hatred and anger. We can only remove violence and fear with compassion and love.

Why I chose it:
I really enjoy Nhat Hanh’s writing. Also, I can always use some help in the fear department.

What it left me feeling:
Calm.

Review:
I find reviewing books on spirituality and mindfulness a bit challenging because I think they are such personal experiences. Like most books, people will take away different things based on what they need and what they are feeling at the moment.

What I can say about this book is that I found Nhat Hanh’s stories and way of writing about fear to be beautiful and meaningful to me, and I know that the many different exercises included will be helpful on my journey.

I think his writing is accessible and easy to understand but still gets me thinking, and that’s just what I need.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep

Three Stars

Best for:
Maybe people who liked the DaVinci Code?

In a nutshell:
Clay gets a job in a bookshop in San Francisco, which turns out to be the front for something else entirely.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I love a bookstore, and I love a good mystery.

What it left me feeling:
Ambivalent.

Review:
This book was absolutely fine. I think it might be one that was better suited for the page than audio book, so if this is on your list I’m going to recommend that you pick up a hard copy (or at least an e-book version).

The premise is that Clay lives in San Francisco and has recently lost his job. He gets a job working the night shift at a 24-hour bookstore that doesn’t sell many books. The only other employees are Mr Penumbra and Oliver, each working one eight-hour shift. Right off the back the logistics confuse me – does everyone work seven days a week? Or is it closed two days a week? If so, why is it such a huge deal at one point in the book when the shop is closed? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Anyway, moving past that, Clay is a bit of a caricature of a tech bro. He lives with roommates, one of home works in practical effects. He meets a woman who works at Google. Everyone feels very SILICON VALLEY, and tech ends up playing a huge role in the book. I think I get what the author was going for, but it read almost like a TV show as opposed to a book, and I wasn’t a big fan of that.

The plot is that no one really shops at this store. Sure, people do sort of come off the street occasionally and buy some of the popular titles up front, but really the store exists to serve members who come in and demand specific titles from the back of the store. Clay wants to know – who are these people? What are they doing?

The plot develops from there, and there are some genuinely intriguing moments where I didn’t want to put the book down, but I found the last 20% of the book to be a bit of a let down. Now, without spoiling things, if you’ve read this book and are reading my review, I’m not let down in the same way that the people in the end are let down (too cryptic?) – I just didn’t enjoy how things played out. I don’t think it was bad or anything like that, I just wasn’t as taken in as I thought I might be given the topic and my interests.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it

Four Stars

Best for:
Fans of the comedian; those who enjoy witty but not overly snarky humour.

In a nutshell:
Comedian Millican shares her life experiences and what she’s learned from them in a fairly light-hearted but sincere and funny book.

Worth quoting:
I listened to this while running so while there were definitely times when I laughed out loud, I didn’t stop to write them down.

Why I chose it:
I’ve now lived in the UK for over five years, and am exposed to many more UK comedians and comics. Millican popped up in suggested books, and I figured I’d enjoy her work. I was right.

What it left me feeling:
Content

Review:
This is a fairly short book, but worth the purchase. It isn’t totally clean – there is swearing – but it was nice to listen to a memoir where I didn’t find myself blushing.

Millican is a middle-aged woman who isn’t skinny, which means she’s a demographic that isn’t often given a lot of credit or attention in the entertainment industry. She talks about this – one very memorable chapter she compares the review of her episode of ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ (a popular UK show where they look into the genealogy of celebrities) with the review of the Paul Hollywood (of Great British Bake-Off fame) episode. Spoiler: they talk about her appearance but not his.

Millican is delightful – she’s sharp, witty, funny, but not unkind. I find her stories relateable (probably because I too am a middle-aged woman without kids who isn’t a size 6) but I don’t think one has to relate to her directly find her stories funny, insightful, and interesting.

This is not a name-dropping memoir, or a shocking one. There aren’t any hugely major twists or turns (you find out she has been through a divorce very early on); it’s just the story and humour of a woman I’d want to hang out with.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Recommend to a Friend

Three Stars

Best for:
People interested in a very comprehensive life history of a well-known character actress.

In a nutshell:
Author Margolyes shares stories of her 80 years, starting before the beginning up through the pandemic to today.

Worth quoting:
While this was an audio book, this one caught me so I had to write it down:

“When people say to me ‘oh I never talk about money, religion or politics’ I say ‘what the fuck do you talk about then? Those are the things that matte!”

Why I chose it:
It kept popping up in my audio book app. I’m familiar with Margolyes’s work in Harry Potter as well as Call the Midwife, so thought I’d have a listen.

What it left me feeling:
Surprised.

Review:
What a ride.

I can’t help but compare it to my most recent memoir read, Pageboy. Both are written by out queer actors, and both share much more about their sex lives than I’d like to know. The obvious difference is that Margolyes is more than twice as old as Page and so had many more years of stories to draw upon. Margolyes is also settled into a very long relationship with her now-wife, though that too is a bit unconventional, which is always refreshing to see.

Margolyes has a very matter-of-fact attitude, and I can’t say that she is someone who I’d enjoy being friends with as she certainly has a ‘I’m right, you’re wrong’ approach to many things, but I did enjoy much of her memoir. I think she owns her own contradictions, which is refreshing to see – for example, she identifies as quite left and socialist, but also accepted the OBE from the British royal family and shares that she quite likes Prince (now King) Charles, and states clearly she knows these two things don’t align. At the same time, I’m also not entirely clear that she understands how problematic some of her past roles were – she performed in black face, and in yellow face – as while she will throw in a ‘not politically correct these days’ comment when referring to them, the reality is those roles weren’t appropriate when she performed them, either.

Margolyes starts her memoir discussing the births and childhoods of her parents, and follows a linear time line from there. As someone who is not super familiar with her work, I greatly appreciated that. She jumps around a little bit, and references stories she will cover in future chapters, but overall she starts and the beginning and brings us up to present day.

There are so many stories in here that name-check actors, and I cannot imagine what the legal review looked like. So much of it feels like the British actor version of TMZ, but perhaps it’s the accent and the fact that she’s had such a long career that I kind of didn’t mind? Like when she shared that she worked with many of the Monte Python men when she was younger and that they were basically all assholes to her.

I like quite a lot of this book, but I did need to address a couple of things that I found frustrating. She is clear about how she feels about her fat body, and for most of the book she’s very matter of fact about it, but she does have a chapter that specifically focuses on her weight and I found it fairly anti-fat. Obviously she’s allowed to feel about her body however she wants to feel, but her comments also apply to other fat people, and they are so negative that I just find it disappointing. She also very graphically discusses her willingess to engage men in oral sex. I think she has a quite healthy perspective on sex, but as I’ve said before, I’m just not interested in the graphic details. Frankly, if I never hear the phrase ‘suck him off’ again, it’ll be too soon.

Throughout the book one common thread is her deep pride in being a Jewish woman. She is clear that she does not believe in the religious aspects of Judaism, but belongs to a synagogue and partakes in the cultural aspects of the religion. She is active in the fight against antisemitism, and is also a vocal supporter of Palestine. The latter has caused some issues for her within her community, and she has a very thoughtful chapter in her book about this. Interestingly, she repeatedly talks throughout the book about how she wants to fight injustice and will speak out whenever she sees it, but in her Harry Potter chapter she didn’t mention the anti-trans activism promoted by the author of those books, and some further googling on my own has shown that she has made some disappointing comments on the topic.

If you do choose to read this one, I recommend the audio book as she does accents for everyone when quoting them, and they are delightful and unexpected.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it