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Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka. Pantheon “Chronicle from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth” is a scathing satire of a fictionalised modern Nigeria. There is a plot to this lengthy work but it takes quite a while before we have any understanding of it. The writer takes us on a journey into scenes from a variety of characters, from Papa Davina, a modern-day charlatan of a religious leader, to Sir Goddie, a prime minister whose main objective is to make sure he’s elected for another term, to Dr. Menka and Duyole Pitan-Payne, two members of a gang of four from…
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Call of the Penguins
Call of the Penguins by Hazel Prior. Random House UK Veronica McCreedy is 87 years old and can claim the joy of having visited and come to know the adelie penguins when she visited the Antarctic. One might think that would be enough for her but then she is invited to present some segments of a wildlife documentary on penguins by a famous conservationist. This requires travel to both Australia and the Falkland Islands to perform her duties. During the course of this experience, she learns a lot more about humans as she continues to focus on her love of penguins. Along for the ride are grandson Patrick, nine-year-old cancer…
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Neanderthal
Neanderthal by Avery Flynn. Entangled Publishing Kinsey has graduated and is off to Harbour City to start her dream job as a junior research chemist for a perfume maker. It just happens that she’s been an online friend to Morgan for years and guess where Morgan lives? Anyway, due to a lack of suitable affordable apartments, Morgan invites Kinsey to be her roommate. And that’s how she meets Morgan’s brother Griff, a bit of a silent type who mostly communicates in grunts. By the way, Griff is head of research and development at the competition to her new company. Nothing can go wrong there, right? The setup is pretty good…
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The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niefenegger. I’ve been hearing about this book for years and saw the audiobook and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, this one just doesn’t work for me and I stopped pretty early on in the story. I found it didn’t make a lot of sense a lot of the time and I didn’t warm to the characters at all. There is also an incidence of cheating that comes up quite early that turned me against Henry’s character. The narrators were okay, I think. I wasn’t that keen on the female voice but I imagine I might have become accustomed to it further along.…
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The Bookbinder’s Daughter
The Bookbinder’s Daughter by Jessica Thorne. Bookouture Audio Sophie is an accomplished bookbinder, taught by her father, also a bookbinder. It happens that her mother was also one too. Once upon a time, they lived at Ayredale and life was good. But then, some trauma occurred where Sophie’s mother disappears and Sophie forgets most of the details of her life before the trauma. Since then, Sophie has never been back to Ayredale, mostly due to her father’s wishes. But after her father dies, Sophie is contacted by her uncle Edward, brother to her mother, and offered a job at what is called the Special Collection. There are a few aspects…
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The Island of Missing Trees
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. Viking Teenager Ada has the worst day ever at school when she stands up and screams in front of her class. Life has been tough for her after her mum dies and her father is left heartbroken. Then her mother’s sister arrives and it feels like it’s all getting worse. Why didn’t her aunt show up at her mum’s funeral? But this book isn’t so much about Ada as about her parents, how they met, how two people from Cyprus ended up in London, and about a fig tree. This book is one that shifts from the present to the past and…
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He’s Cancelled
He’s Cancelled by Sophie Ranald. Bookouture Natalie and Archie have been going out for a year now and then Archie proposes, launching the wedding preparation process. While Natalie is from a single-parent family with limited funds, Archie’s family is reasonably well-to-do and has offered to pay for the whole shebang. Archie’s sister gets involved along with his mum and the planning takes off in ways neither Natalie nor Archie could imagine. They really just wanted a simple and small wedding with a “do” at the local pub afterwards. At the heart of the story is a couple with family taking over plans and leaving them with little control. I found…
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Aggie the Horrible vs. Max the Pompous Ass
Aggie the Horrible vs. Max the Pompous Ass by Lisa Wells. Entangled Publishing In the last eighteen months, Aggie has had numerous jobs and hasn’t stuck to even one of them. Meemaw, her grandmother, has raised her from a young age and she still lives with her. Max owns his own business and has a bet with his father, with whom he constantly butts heads, to win. It just happens his grandmother, his closest family ally, makes the acquaintance of Meemaw, and soon they hatch a plan to get their grandchildren together. Because they are sure Aggie and Max are perfect for each other. Their plan starts out with getting…
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How to Talk to a Goddess
How to Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker. Semrland Books Four years ago I read the first book in this series and fell in love with it. Since then I’ve reread it a few times and still go back and read passages I particularly enjoyed. As the book had been released four years earlier, I think it’s fortunate I didn’t have to wait quite so long as the first readers to find out the next part of the story. Earlier this year the audiobook was released and I managed to get a review copy of it. But being new to audiobooks, I…
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Would I Lie to You?
Would I Lie to You by Aliya Ali-Afzal Head of Zeus Faiza Saunders is a British woman of Pakistani heritage who has been married to Tom, a white British man for twenty years. They have three children and she’s a stay-at-home mum. They’re a happy family and the pair are still very much in love. Then Tom loses his job and wants Faiza to move some money from the emergency fund to the main account so they don’t end up in arrears. The problem is Faiza has been sneaking money from that account for years and it’s essentially empty. Faiza panics and the lies start coming more and more frequently as…