Book review – Page 4 – Cristina Sanders' blog

Intermezzo – book review

Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney gives us here an almost perfect story. Five main characters, interlinked, each well rounded and complicated with their own goals and challenges, a set up which could go one of many ways, some deep subplots and an ending all tied up. Sounds a bit contrived, perhaps? There is nothing very experimental, no sweeping poetical passages, nothing clever. No ramping up the heartbeat with triggers and button pushing. It’s just a story of five people. And with that simplicity, it is exceptionally good.

The Mess of our Lives–book review

The Mess of our lives, by Mary-anne Scott

I’d never given much thought to hoarding, but after reading Mary-anne Scott’s new book I’m seeing it everywhere. In the press. A memory of an uncle’s bedroom stacked with pillars of newspapers. I passed a couple of young boys on bikes, one of them saying: ‘I’m going to grandma’s. I hate it, the place is full of stuff.’ We get close to what being ‘full of stuff’ really means in The Mess of our Lives. This is no organised collection of things. It’s just a house so full of junk a woman keeps buying that the front door barely opens and there is no access to any of the rooms other than by tunnel to her armchair and TV. A nest for a bed. A barely functioning bathroom and a kitchen with rodents. But there is more in this book than a mother’s disorder. There is the effect it has on her kids.

Sewing Moonlight – book review

Sewing Moonlight, by Kyle Mewburn

This is such a beautifully written book. So elegant, with space to breathe between the lines. I had the feeling, when I finally put the book down, of having been read to while I sat with my eyes closed.

It’s the early 1920s when our man in exile, Wilhelm, sails across the world from Germany and up the Clutha River until his progress is stopped dramatically. There are lots of ways to arrive in a town and this bizarre arrival has a strange ring of truth. He decides this is a sign he should give up the travels and put his feet on the ground here, in a place called Falter’s Mill. It’s as good a place as any to build a new life from scratch and find happiness.

Long Island – book review

Long Island, by Colm Tóibín

I didn’t read Tóibín’s Brooklyn before picking up Long Island which was a mistake, because apparently it helps a lot if you already know the characters, and people say Brooklyn is great. So there you go, don’t jump into Long Island unprepped, or you might, like me, find the story missing background depth. Like why did a woman like Eilis marry Tony (and his entire wrap-around Italian/American family) in the first place? And why was she so resigned when a stranger tells her that Tony-the-plumber had plumbed his wife, and he intended to deliver the baby to him when it was born? Interesting premise to begin a book, but what then?

Earth – book review

Earth, by John Boyne

This post has been moved to Books that don’t make the cut. Sorry, John Boyne fans (of which, sometimes, I am one).

John Boyne’s Earth follows Water which I thought was fabulous. Unfortunately in Earth, Boyne returns to the emotionally dysfunctional narrator style he used in his horrible Ladder to the Sky (again, not one of my recommendations) where charm, gorgeous looks and undeniable talent are a facade over a morally corrupt man. Good writing, but again, not characters I want to spend time with and no lessons to learn here, except to recommend to girls who are raped to never, ever, to press charges or you will suffer truly awful humiliation and the ruin of your life may be revisited on you tenfold.

Can’t recommend this as a good read.

Ripiro Beach–book review

Ripiro Beach, by Caroline Barron

There is so much to enjoy in this book. I felt immediately I was in good hands, with a writer who had the confidence to take her time describing scenes to bring me into her space and letting me settle into the surroundings before moving on to the action. We could be in a park by an Auckland motorway, in a nightclub, or at Ripiro beach, and each scene is painted with a keen sense of observational detail. Here’s a paragraph that really is worth reading twice, just for the pleasure of the writing:

Home Truths – book review

Home Truths, by Charity Norman

Home Truths is everything I expect from a Charity Norman thriller. It’s compelling and chilling. Also, and this is the frightening thing about many of Charity’s stories, it’s very close to home. It could happen to any of my friends. It could happen to me. And yes, it could happen to you.

The Bookshop Dectectives, Dead Girl Gone – Book Review

The bookshop Detectives, Dead Girl Gone, by Gareth and Louise Ward

A disclosure before I write this review. I know these guys. They are good friends and their bookshop is my local. I love the shop, I love the staff, and I love them. They are terrifically supportive of local writers. That makes writing an honest review of The Bookshop Detectives either very difficult or absolutely lovely and, (well, you can guess what is coming as I don’t review books I don’t like) this is one hundred percent the latter. It’s terrific.

Western Lane – book review

Western Lane, by Chetna Maroo

When Gopi’s mother dies our girl is eleven, her two sisters thirteen and fifteen. Pa does his best to bring them up alone, within the London Gujarati community, sure, but with an independent spirit. He’s keen on squash, and has taught his girls to play, but this now becomes obsessional. The dominating Aunt Ranjan suggests that girls need exercise and discipline and he takes this literally; his need to keep control of their adolescence is manifested on the squash court.

The Ministry of Time – book review

The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley

Yes, it’s only June, but The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley gets my book of the year so far. It’ll be a hard one to beat. Great premise, excellent characters and the hottest sex I’ve read in years. The chap in question has been dragged out of 1845 into the near future, complete with fabulous side-whiskers, a cheeky dimple, and Victorian social attitudes. Our narrator likes his nose. He had a kind of resplendent excess of feature that made him look hyperreal. She is to be his bridge.

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