Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

 

I loved this debut book based on the last public execution in Iceland. 

Good points:

Beautifully written and exactingly researched

The details of life in rural 19th century 

Melancholy, atmospheric and haunting 

A book that leaves you thinking even when it has been finished. 

I really really loved this book and read it in two days - I couldn't put it down!

 

 

Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking by Susan Cain

 

Quiet is a book about being an introvert in a culture which rewards extravert’s. 

Good points:

As a book reading nerd this book makes me feel better about staying in and not going out.

I enjoyed Cain's adventures to  "life coaching" conventions.

I liked her relating her theories to real life stories and psychological studies - half way between a science book and a self-help book. 

Bad points:

Some of the arguments aren't backed up by the studies she cites.

All of the case studies she writes about are about business professionals.

Harvest by Jim Crace

 

I enjoyed this read. It is about the desire for belonging. It was a longlist nominee for the Man Booker prize

Good points:

Wonderful descriptions, often dream-like

It has a timelessness, it is very hard to place although clearly a piece of historical fiction

I enjoyed all the references to the land

Bad points:

The end itself was an anti climax. 

 

Brown Owl's Guide To Life Kate Harrison

 

Bought on a whim after middle daughter when on a brownie pack holiday. It is an easy read.

But

It didn't really have a engaging plot

I didn't like how it jumped between the 70s and now

There is a mystery in it and whilst the author concludes it it seems very brief and unsatisfactory. 

Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey

 

Good points:

The role of museums and their importance - the book reminisces, reflects on e and discovers what research is being carried out and why it is important

Once picked up it was hard to put down - I like Fortey's humour and writing style

 I love the topics

Bad points:

I would have liked more odd anecdotes about his fellow workers or events

 

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

 

 

This was a Costa novel award winner describing chances to relive your life again and again set during the early parts of the twentieth century.

 

Good parts: 

I like the mixture of happy and unhappy endings

Kate Atkinson dots in between events, returning later to fill in the details. 

I enjoyed the descriptions of everyday family life

 

Bad points

The ending was strange

During times it was confusing

 

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

 

I love love love Haruki Murakami. His books are a mixture of Alice in wonderland crossed with diskworld ... they are very strange!

It describes characters being transported into parallel world 

Good points

Even if you read the end before you should (shhh) you have no idea how the book will get there

Everything is meticulous described... there are no odd ends

The construction of the chapters is very clever - one character write one, the other the next and then back to the first - very clever

Bad points

It is long

I finished it....