4 out of 5 stars
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How I discovered this book: I've been mutually retweeting with Linda Huber on Twitter for some time and had seen that her books looked popular, so thought I'd try one!
Genre: dark family drama.
A great start to this book: a man is burying a body in a garden. But who is it?
Death Wish concentrates on two families. Leo Mackie has just set up home with his unstable girlfriend, Ashley, while her wicked witch mother, Eleanor, looms in the background. Leo will do anything to keep Ashley's love, and doesn't realise a) quite how unhinged she really is, b) why, and c) what a bad move it is to accept her mother's offer of buying into his business ~ and into their lives....
The other family consists of sweet eight-year-old Joya, her father, Stu, and her it's-all-about-me, neurotic mother, Martine, who feeds her child an almost constant diet of chips, ice cream and Coke, and leaves her to her own devices much of the time; I was with Stu all the way and wanted to tell her to get a grip, too! Also in the house is Martine's invalid mother, Vee.
Linda Huber writes in such a readable way, and I read the first 40% of the book in one sitting; it was only later that I realised that almost all of it takes place in the two houses. That the families lead rather dreary, insular lives did not matter; the writing itself was of a quality that kept me turning the pages. I liked Ms Huber's decision to show much of the story from Joya's point of view; it gave a refreshing variation to the narrative, and made me remember how I used to think when I was eight years old! This story is a fine example of what goes on behind respectable closed doors. Leo was by far my favourite character, despite the decisions he makes later; he seemed the most 'real' to me.
There are no great surprises but the end comes together neatly, with a nice little twist or two in the tale that becomes almost darkly comic in places, which I liked. Within the plot are the deeper issues of Huntington's Disease, assisted suicide, teen pregnancy and adoption, and these are dealt with realistically and with sensitivity. It's a moderately-paced story, very well put together, and I think it would appeal to anyone who likes intricate family dramas ... with a dark side.
3.5 out of 5 stars
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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
Genre: SciF, Thriller
Freelance writer Brad Davis has been employed at no small cost by scientific genius Marty Fallon to write his autobiography. Fallon is the inventor of 'the Happy Chip', a device injected into the body that works alongside an app to determine which products, sensations, sights and just about everything else give the individual the most pleasure; it's the ultimate in the pursuit of happiness. In order to qualify for his big pay day, Brad must have the chip inserted himself. However, Brad is unaware that he has been given a new prototype that contains a GPS tracker, with more control afforded to NeoHappy, the company that produces the chip.
The idea of this story is most original, and also feasible; I imagine that if the Happy Chip hasn't already been invented, it soon will be - and yes, I should think that if/when it is, millions will flock to use it, never suspecting that such a development can be used to control the mindset of the population. It is so very sinister because it is plausible.
Brad is 50% a-bit-naïve-ordinary-guy and 50% sceptical investigative journalist. After only a couple of days, he
suspects he is not being given the full story, which bothers him not least of all
because he is anxious to produce a credible biograpy. He discovers that (surprise, surprise), the pleasure ratings of some products are tampered with to favour large corporations.
I was up and down about this book all the way through. It's a great premise, the plot is fairly well thought out, the pace is good, and the science/techno side is interesting and clearly well-researched, though I did feel it could do with a tighter edit. There were a bit too many happy coincidences (like Brad just happening to have interviewed a magician who showed him how to escape when one's adversary has bound one's wrists with plastic zip ties). Most characters talk in much the same way (for instance, every character prefaces sentences with 'Jesus' to denote emphasis or shock), aside from Lundgren, who is such a text book villian he practically twirls his moustache and laughs in a sinister fashion before delivering his body blows, and the cartoon-like Russian, Gregor Kalinsky. But... Brad is likable and much of it is highly readable. And I kept coming back to one thing ~ the basic story is right up my street, so I wanted to carry on reading to see what happened.
I think this would work well as a 24-type thriller series or a film, for which the viewer knows there will need to be a certain amount of belief-suspension; it didn't quite tick my personal reading boxes, but I am sure it will be enjoyed by those who love plot-centred thrillers of this type.
4 out of 5 stars
On Amazon UK
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On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
Genre: Travel memoir, non-fiction.
From the blurb:
Part guidebook on culture and
travel, part journey of self-discovery, this travelogue takes you on a
backpacking adventure through Nepal and Thailand and provides a
firsthand account of one volunteer’s experience teaching in a Nepali
school and living with a devout Brahmin family.
This is quite a short book, written in semi-diary format, partly in emails, about the author's travels in 1999. The then 26-year-old Jennifer plunges in at the deep end, living first with a Nepali family, trekking around the country, then teaching Nepali children, after which she hits the tourist trail in Thailand.
This book would be most useful as a guidebook for those hoping to travel to Nepal, as it certainly paints a realistic picture; any traveller with whimsical dreams of entering a spiritual heaven as soon as they get off the plane should read the account of Thamel, of the families who assume Westerners are fair game, and of the bloody temple sacrifices ~ the lunch of goat's blood will stay with me, I think...
I grew to like Jennifer more and more as the book went on (important when reading a memoir!), especially when she described the father of one of her Nepali families as 'kind of a schmuck' and the son as a 'little shit' - I have a fondness for those who dare to tell it like it is! Her youthful enthusiasm is charming - everything is 'amazing', 'gorgeous', 'incredible', etc, though now and again I felt I would have liked to read about the place as seen through more mature eyes. The most interesting parts of the book, for me, were her observations about the day to day habits and culture of the Nepalis and just little incidents that happened. Her 'characters' really jumped off the page.
On to Thailand, and Jennifer experiences the westernised tourist route of the famous Khao San Road and rejects it for more of the 'real' Thailand, though she was disappointed that the hill tribes lived not in mud huts but in shacks with corrugated tin rooves, with motorbikes and trucks parked outside, and that the caves where the Buddhist monks worked were strewn with electric cables. Generally, though, her time in Thailand sounded so wonderful it almost made me whimper with longing.
(Her description of the more westernised areas of Bangkok reminded me of something a friend told me: Amy had been travelling around South America and Indonesia for almost a year, when some friends came out to join them for a few weeks in Thailand. She said they were like the gap year backpackers, who thought that getting off their faces on exotic beaches was 'doing' Thailand, and weren't interested in seeing the actual country; they might as well have gone to Ibiza.)
I'd say that anyone who is thinking of visiting these countries, Nepal in particular, should take time to read this warts-and-all account, especially if they're thinking of signing up for the volunteer work that entails being placed with a family. Jen comes across as a very open-minded and non-egotistical sort of person; maybe why she felt like a fish out of water in the working world of Seattle, and wanted to experience different lifestyles. I'd definitely read more about her travels; I liked the conversational tone of this book very much.
There are pictures, too ~ always a plus, with a travel guide!
5 out of 5 stars
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How I discovered this book: I love Barb Taub's blog and thought her account of a few weeks in India, Do Not Wash Hands In Plates, was one of the funniest books ever, so this was a 'must buy'!
Genre: Domestic humour, non-fiction
This is a collection of articles, all with a family theme, from Barb's own childhood, about her parents and siblings, and about her own children and family life. Later, she touches upon death, and writing....they are all really, really funny. There are so many newspaper columns and would-be hilarious blogs about domestic life in which the humour seems a little forced and self-consciously 'wacky'; not these. I read a lot of PJ O'Rourke, and Barb Taub's style reminds me of his lighter, more domestically-orientated pieces. The off-the-wall snark's all there.
In LBWKLH&DDs, you can do the Super Mother quiz. And read about Barb's adventures with the possibly rabies-riddled dead bat. If you dare. BT deserves widespread reknown ~ I suggest you buy this, pronto, so you can see what I mean!
I'll leave you with some quotes:
When Barb is trying to feed her kids with wholefoods but her husband gives their small one her first ice cream cone: 'Through the chocolate, I could see her thinking, "This stuff was out there and I've been eating yams?"'
'While I bought (my children) developmental, non-gender-specific playthings, my daughters held fashion shows for the stuffed toys and dolls, and their brother built the blocks and legos into weapons of mass-doll-destruction.'
'Barb's guide to films: if the characters kiss a lot, have sex, and then kill each other, it's American. If they smoke a lot, have sex, and then kill themselves, it's foreign.'
'Sadly, the day came when we had to choose between the cat and our son, who turned out to be allergic to her. This was a difficult choice because while our son had never coughed up a hairball, he was not a very good mouser.'
4.5 out of 5 stars
On Amazon UK
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On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: I've read all or nearly all Val Poore's travel memoir books, and was looking forward to this one coming out, having adored its prequel, African Ways.
Genre: Travel Memoir: South Africa
Val Poore, the woman who can write a whole chapter about the weather, and make it interesting....
I adored the first African Ways book, about the three years in the early 1980s when Val and her family lived on a farm up a mountain in South Africa; in this she describes the time as possibly the happiest in her life, and the book reflects its magic. Now, the family have moved down the mountain to the small town of Byrne, where they can enjoy such luxuries as electricity. And snakes. Don't forget the snakes. There was me thinking how much I wanted to live there, until I read about them.
When Val's children go to school, she is faced, for the first time, with apartheid; segregation is still in place. Aside from this, there are daily reminders about how hard life can be for the natives of South Africa at this time. She doesn't write about it by way of 'raising awareness', or anything so ghastly, though; it's all very matter of fact, just her observations. This book does not pretend to be a political or sociological comment, but maybe because it doesn't, it kind of is, in the best possible way. I definitely got the feeling, though, of, as Val says, the calm before the storm of the early-mid 1980s.
Aside from this, I loved the reminders of the pre-internet life that has disappeared; her amazement at the wonder of fax machines, and the discovery of cheap LPs in her favourite shop (under 25s: ask your mum). When I read about the mountain dwellers being cleared from the land, I felt so sad. I feel nostalgic for that time on Val's behalf, and I've hardly even seen pictures of it. One of the reasons I love her books is that it is so clear that she cares more about people, experiences, living in the moment and simple joys than materialism and conforming to society's 'norms'; there aren't many of us about, at our age!
I'd definitely recommend this book if you're a dog person; I am massively not, but there is much animal stuff that will make the lovers of our four-legged friends smile.
Val deals with upheavals in her personal life in that far away country with two small children to care for, but by 1987, what with the 'gathering storm' of racial and political unrest, she decides it is time to go back to the UK. Can she return to 'normal' English life? You'll have to read this, and all her other books, to find out!
