Laura reviewed Wall by John Lanchester
Fortress Britain
3 stars
An all-too-plausible near-future dystopia: borders are militarised, migrants are the enemy, and failure is severely punished. A solid - if dismal and depressing - read.
Reviews and Comments
I like literary fiction and speculative fiction.
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Laura reviewed Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
There are rules for murder mysteries. There must be a victim. A suspect. A detective. …
Murder mystery as exercise
2 stars
Lots of different ways to tell stories about murder. An interesting exercise but none of the stories are much good, so it just feels gimmicky.
Laura reviewed Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
A marvelous new novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Lowland and Interpreter …
Loneliness in translation
3 stars
Written originally in Italian and then translated into English by the author herself, this is an interesting experiment. The nameless narrator belongs and does not belong to the nameless Italian city in which she lives and which also lives around her.
Laura reviewed Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
A novel about obsession...
4 stars
...and frustration, and who has power over whom. Unusually, I liked the book even though it had no likeable characters.
Laura reviewed Companion Piece by Ali Smith
A story of life turned into something too difficult to deal with (and no mention …
Isolation and connection
4 stars
Another of Ali Smith's real time novels, following her quartet of seasons: this time about pandemic isolation and finding connections with other living things, human and animal, whether we want them or not.
Another of Ali Smith's real time novels, following her quartet of seasons: this time about pandemic isolation and finding connections with other living things, human and animal, whether we want them or not.
Laura reviewed Matrix by Lauren Groff
Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn …
Life and death in a 12th century monastery
4 stars
A novel about women, power and belief. It's historical, not fantasy, yet contains a lot of magic.
A novel about women, power and belief. It's historical, not fantasy, yet contains a lot of magic.
Laura reviewed The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
In June 2021, a senseless event upends the lives of hundreds of men and women, …
Original and a little creepy
4 stars
(I read the English translation by Adriana Hunter.)
The premise is fantastical. The novel captures quite well just how people respond to the fantastical: they get used to it and do their best to carry on.
Laura rated The Anomaly: 4 stars
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
In June 2021, a senseless event upends the lives of hundreds of men and women, all passengers on a flight …
Laura reviewed Young Mungo by Douglas K. Stuart
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently …
A grim story...
3 stars
...perhaps too grim. Very similar, to be honest, to Stuart's debut novel Shuggie Bain - with a bit of Hanya Yanagihara thrown in.
...perhaps too grim. Very similar, to be honest, to Stuart's debut novel Shuggie Bain - with a bit of Hanya Yanagihara thrown in.
Laura rated Young Mungo: 3 stars
Young Mungo by Douglas K. Stuart
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently sectarian world of Glasgow's housing …
Laura reviewed The Memory Librarian by Eve L. Ewing
In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, activist, …
Great concept...
3 stars
I'm a big fan of Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer album and I love the idea of an anthology exploring more of that world. I wish I'd liked the stories more!
I'm a big fan of Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer album and I love the idea of an anthology exploring more of that world. I wish I'd liked the stories more!
Laura rated The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: 2 stars
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous …
Laura reviewed The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
**2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state …
Dreamlike and mysterious
4 stars
A slow, eddying novel about living with change and forgetting the past. Not much happens, but i still found myself thinking a lot about this book and its quiet hopefulness.
Laura rated The Memory Police: 4 stars
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, Stephen Snyder, 小川洋子
**2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author …
Laura reviewed Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) …
A short meditation on place and belonging
5 stars
Like the previous book in the series, a short and sweet utopian novel: funny and touching and hopeful, all at the same time.