Since 2010
Bridget Collins
★★★★★
Fourth read. I still love it. It’s a great story but the way it’s told is really special.
Gregory Maguire
Abandoned
I saw the musical years ago and didn’t enjoy it, but I’m going to see it again next week because the husband loves it. So I thought I’d read the book in advance, assuming I’d like it because the rest of the world seems to, and so next week’s show would make more sense and be more enjoyable. Wrong! I don’t like the genre and I hated the writing style.
Still, always nice to have an evening at the theatre…
Andrea Mara
★★★☆☆
An easy enough read and an unpredictable final act. No loose ends, which makes me happy, even if some of those final knots were a bit forced.
Tom Patterson
Abandoned
Gave up roughly a third of the way in. I have no idea what the hell I was supposed to be taking away from this meandering unorganised shite. It was a Kindle Daily Deal - when will I learn?!
Ross Greenwood
★★★☆☆
I enjoyed this. A bit of a muddled ending. Good twist in the final act that could only work in a book. Nice to read a book that isn’t trying to get turned into a movie actually!
Dean Koontz
★☆☆☆☆
This was hovering between 3 and 4 stars until 6 chapters from the end, where it became clear the conclusion was going to be hilariously, embarrassingly ridiculous.
Casey McQuiston
★★★★★
I wanted to re-read this before the movie is released, because as soon as I watch that it will be all I’ll be able to see in my mind’s eye when reading the book. Retains all 5 stars from my first read - it’s fun and funny and lovely in equal measures.
Andy Weir
★★★★★
I think this is my fourth read. It’s such a clever story. It’s science fiction, obviously, but not ridiculous: everything has been carefully thought about and is described in a way that sounds perfectly reasonable. Love it.
Richard de Crespigny
★★★★☆
Good stuff. There were a few repetitive bits in the middle that could have been cut. Other than that an astonishing story well told.
Jim Eames
★★★★☆
Covered a whole range of Boeing 747 and Qantas related topics. Suitably nerdy!
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
★☆☆☆☆
Loud farting noise. I hung in there way longer than I should have, and I completely skipped the last 20 pages when it became clear the ending wasn’t going to be any more satisfying than the rest of the thing. It was 100% about people - they didn’t go anywhere, they didn’t interact with anything except other people. Not my kind of story at all. The author’s a playwright apparently which certainly explains the setting and dialogue.
Nikki Stamp
★★★☆☆
Fascinating and alarming. Could have been a few chapters shorter.
Phil Stamper
★★☆☆☆
Another one where I’m about 20 years older than the target audience. It makes me happy that novels like this exist in such abundance now though.
John Grisham
★★☆☆☆
Similar review to my last Grisham: way too many characters for me to keep a track of, and a conclusion that didn’t seem big enough for the amount of set up. I’ll see if I can find the movie - maybe I’ll enjoy that more.
Douglas Stuart
★★★★☆
Long book! No gimmicks, gotchas or unnecessary threads, just a really well told story from a time and a place that are both very familiar and yet difficult to remember. Also, I’m Scottish and I still had to look up some of the language used! Good on the author for not watering it down.
Craig Silvey
★★★★☆
Beautiful story. I really got wrapped up in this one, and then… it just ended. Might have gotten 5 stars if some of the many loose ends got tied up.
Ray Bradbury
Abandoned
I have got to stop attempting to read “classic” novels.
Dava Sobel
★★★★☆
As always, it was more about the people than the technology than I’d like, but this provided a gentle little history lesson. I wonder what those first clockmakers would say about our cheap and unfathomably accurate clocks today.
Alice Oseman
★★★☆☆
I read the original Heartstopper books and have similar thoughts to this sequel novella thing: I’m about twice the age of the target audience, but the story is sweet and the illustrations are brilliant.
Alexander McCall Smith
★★☆☆☆
Nope, not for me. Nothing happened, and just when it seemed like something was about to happen, the bloody thing ended. Didn’t enjoy the way the main characters constantly tried to intellectually one-up each other either - felt like the author was trying to do that with me as the reader.
Andy Weir
★★★★★
Thought I’d start the year with an old friend.