Charming. Can any of us make a difference to the great events which determine our fate? That is the question Alexander McCall Smith explores in La’s Orchestra Saves the World. The story is set in Britain and told through the eyes of a young woman named Lavender (all her friends call her La).
An ominous premonition. In The Olive Readers, Christine Aziz hits the fast forward button and places the reader in a dystopian future world where corporations rule the Earth. This story of a world gone wrong is told through the eyes and plight of a young woman named Jephzat. Jephzat lives in the federation state responsible for producing olives in the new world order. The corporations control all information.
Disappointing. I try to start each of my reviews with one word that sums up my feelings about the book, and unfortunately in this case that word is not a positive one. If Marsden’s goal was simply to retell the original Hamlet in language more accessible to young adults, he has achieved that. However in my opinion Marsden did not deviate far enough from the original Hamlet to make this retelling that worthwhile.
BOOK REVIEW: Exquisite minimalism. I’ve always been a believer that good things come in small packages and this novel by Ogawa is a perfect example. The characters, a mathematics professor with special needs, his housekeeper and her son, are developed in an understated manner, through their actions. The mathematical concepts are explained with artful simplicity and woven into the telling of the story to great effect. I found Ogawa’s writing style refreshing – words are not squandered but chosen carefully to extract maximum value
BOOK RATING: The Story 5 / 5 ; The Writing 5 / 5 BOOK REVIEW Exceptional. Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career truly deserves all the accolades it has received over the last century. It was a ground-breaking novel when it was published…
BOOK RATING: Story 4 / 5 ; Writing/Narration 5 / 5 BOOK REVIEW: This was my first experience with both an audiobook and Alexander McCall Smith’s writing, and I was very impressed on both accounts. What a great story framework, setting and group…
BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5 BOOK REVIEW: Intricate and compelling. This is the first Mary Higgins Clark that I’ve read and I’ve found her to be a skilled story crafter. The subjects…
The Unicorn Road Synopsis An old Englishman sits by a harbour in Spain, hoping each day to hear what might have happened to the son he last saw as a child, many years before. He cannot die in peace until…
BOOK REVIEW: Compelling. Tusa’s debut novel Dirty Little Angels is gritty, and really something out of the ordinary. I usually find myself propelled through a book because I can empathise with the characters or find some parallel to my own…
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is the bestselling, iconic love story that moved a generation of readers. Read my review. The Time Traveler’s Wife Book Synopsis This extraordinary, magical novel is the story of Clare and Henry who have…
Suite Francaise Synopsis In 1941, Irene Nemirovsky sat down to write a book that would convey the magnitude of what she was living through by evoking the domestic lives and personal trials of the ordinary citizens of France. Nemirovsky’s death…
BOOK REVIEW : Now I know this won the Booker Prize and it received rave reviews, but I was really disappointed by it – perhaps I’d expected too much. It was as many said, compelling, emotive and deeply complex, but…
BOOK REVIEW : In Specimen Days Michael Cunningham has created a masterpiece. Okay, I’ll admit I just love novels and movies with multiple stories all woven together, the ones that really make you think. The story framework is similar to one…
