Tag Archives: book review

BOOK REVIEW: Black British History: Black Influences on British Culture (1948 – 2018) by Robin Walker, Vanika Marshall, Paula Perry, Anthony Vaughan

July 28, 2020

As most of you will know, I didn’t grow up in the UK and attended school in my home country, South Africa. The history I was taught was very focused on World Wars and American history for one half of the curriculum. The other half was much about what is known as “The Struggle”, which is the history of the architecture of Apartheid and how it was dismantled. I will admit that at the time I wasn’t aware enough to be able to assess how accurate and unbiased it was. I also can’t remember a lot of the detail because I graduate high school 22 years ago.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

March 3, 2020

It’s been a while since I published a book review on here. That’s because it’s been a while since I read a book. A whole year in fact. For many years I was a voracious reader but motherhood has really taken a bite out of my time and my ability to concentrate (hence TV series’ over movies of late too). When Mrs O Senior gave me The Testaments for Christmas I decided it was time to break the drought and put some effort into reading again.

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BOOK REVIEW: Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch

November 26, 2018

This is the third book in the Peter Grant detective series set where London’s human criminal element meets its supernatural one. I really enjoyed the first two novels in this series so picking up the next one seemed like a no brainer.

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BOOK REVIEW: Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

April 12, 2018

Late last year I came across a series of novels about a London police detective and modern day Wizard in training called Peter Grant and absolutely loved the first book. After the heaviness that was reading Shantaram for three months, I decided it was time to go back to Peter and try out his second adventure.

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BOOK REVIEW: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

March 19, 2018

It probably feels like an absolute eternity since I did a book review and in fairness it has been. I have been reading the book I am about to review for three months. Before you judge me harshly, I think I need to point out that it’s over a thousand pages long and I only really get to read on the train because of small human interference and general exhaustion.

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BOOK REVIEW: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

December 15, 2017

I found this book on my Goodreads to read list. I have no idea where it came from but I did see that several of my friends had either added it or rated it highly so I decided to make it my latest read. It was definitely a good choice.

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BOOK REVIEW: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

August 3, 2017

I first found out about In Cold Blood when watching Capote, which starred the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role. It’s a great film and focuses on author, Truman Capote’s, obsession with the the Clutter murder trial and in particular accused killer, Perry Smith. I added the book to my “to-read” list but it’s taken me three and a half years to actually read it.  Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

July 13, 2017

This is the last one of the books that I mysteriously bought while Little O was days old and forgot about. Once again I really had no idea what this book was about before I started reading it. I am starting to enjoy this approach to new books more and more since it means no pre-conceived notions or expectations of what is to come.  Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: Don’t be a Dick, Pete by Stuart Heritage

June 19, 2017

I suppose I need to mention as a disclaimer to this review that I sort of know the author… or more that I sort of know his wife, which is why I knew the book existed. That has nothing to do with this review though as it is based completely on my experience of reading the book, which I bought and paid for. Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov

June 13, 2017

Every so often, I like to pick out a so-called classic to read, to try to broaden my literary knowledge but also to decide whether I think they’re actually worth the hype e.g. a resounding yes to Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and all the Sherlock Holmes outings… a resounding WTF to Moby Dick and flat no to Tess of the D’Ubervilles. This time I decided to go for Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov. Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

June 7, 2017

It’s been quite some time since I did a book review because, let’s face it, I didn’t read any actual books for about 8 months. Since I have been back at work reading has been back on the menu as I spend about two hours a day on the train and I have managed to read a few books. Unfortunately none of them have really been interesting enough – good or bad – to motivate me to actually write something, until now.

I have had Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on my to-read list for ages but after my friend, J, gave it a rave review, I decided to bump it up the list and I am glad I did. Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: A Brief History of 7 Killings by Marlon James

January 12, 2016

My book club picked A Brief History of 7 Killings as our most recent featured book mostly because it won the Man Booker Prize for 2015 and it appeared to be about Bob Marley. Initially we almost immediately regretted it and I think I am one of only two of the six of us that actually finished it. I realise that this makes it sound like this is going to be a negative review. It’s not. It is going to be a challenging one though since Marlon James’ latest novel is a very challenging book. Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: The Martian by Andy Weir

August 17, 2015

This book was recommended to me by my friend, Rob. Rob is married to Jen who is a member of my infamous book club. Along with Mr O and Tal (who is Carrie’s boyfriend) he is one of the book club BAHs (boyfriends and husbands) who all secretly wish they were allowed to join book club.

In the near future, botanist and engineer Mark Watney is a key member of the crew of a NASA mission to Mars. When a storm strikes the mission’s landing site Mark is injured and presumed dead forcing the crew to evacuate and leave him behind. Fortunately/unfortunately Mark isn’t dead but by the time he makes it back to the Hab (the crew’s Mars-based living quarters) it’s too late. Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

July 21, 2015

You would think after Moby Dick I would be avoiding books set at sea but our latest book club assignment had me right back in the ocean.

This time I was reading about Grace Winter a twenty-two year old woman who is one of a handful of survivors following the sinking of The Princess Alexandra. Grace is on trial along with two of her fellow survivors for an unspecified crime that occurred during the twenty-one days they were trapped on a lifeboat. Read more…

BOOK REVIEW: Moby Dick by Herman Melville

July 13, 2015

I have a confession to make. Before I got my Kindle I wasn’t particularly well-read. I had read an awful lot but when it came to any kind of classic literature there was a big hole in my repertoire. As most of you will know you can download books that have fallen into the public domain (i.e. out of copyright) for free. That includes a whole bunch of classic novels. So when I first got my Kindle I downloaded loads of famous works of literature, which I have been working through interspersed with assignments from book club, questionable Young Adult fiction and Game of Thrones. Some of them I absolutely fell in love with – Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice,  The Three Musketeers and absolutely everything Sherlock Holmes being among the favourites. Others have been less good and I don’t think I would recommend Madame Bovary or Tess of the D’Ubervilles to anyone. Read more...

BOOK REVIEW: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

June 11, 2015

Sometimes by book club agrees on two books, a main one and one for extra credit if we have time. As our May book was The Night Watch in honour of Terry Pratchett we decided to double up and also add Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch which he wrote with Neil Gaiman who is also a very famous fantasy author. This novel was written when Pratchett was only mildly famous and Gaiman wasn’t famous at all. Apparently they became great friends after Gaiman interviewed Pratchett and ended up writing the novel while excitedly shouting down the phone to each other. Read more…