The Undoing Of Arlo Knott (Heather Child): This novel, by a local Bristol author tells the story of a boy, Arlo Knott, who discovers he can reverse his last action, undo any mistake. In some ways, it felt that the book was the outcome of a bizarre conversation amongst friends (over several glasses of wine!), when someone would ask: “so, if there was one thing you could change in your life, what would it be?”. A perfectly reasonable subject to speculate upon… but an entire 436 page novel based on a single premise? Really? ‘Goodreads’ is apparently full of 5-star book reviews… but I’m afraid it just didn’t ‘do it’ for me. Within a couple of chapters, I felt I knew how the story was likely to end (*no spoilers!*)… it all felt very predictable. The book is written in the first person from Arlo’s perspective and I never warmed to him as a character throughout the entire novel. The words ‘arrogant’, ‘immature’ and ‘clichéd’ come to mind. Although I found the book readily readable (and bits of it intriguing), I thought it was far too ‘drawn out’ (it could have been drastically reduced in length, to my mind) and that the ‘plot’ contained too many strands. A perfectly acceptable ‘holiday read’, but it really didn’t hold my attention – and it won’t feature as one of my ‘books of the year’.
Through the Artist’s Window (Maggie Smith): This book is written by our lovely friend Mags. Our families lived just round the corner from each other in Thame, Oxfordshire and she and her husband Jez moved down to South Hams at about the same time we moved to Bristol (and we still meet up very regularly). She’s a successful painter and printmaker and this brilliantly illustrated book, featuring her work and her photographs, is rather special. She has a beautiful studio, set behind their house, where she works and teaches small workshops. The range of her work is hugely impressive – pen+ink, watercolours, acrylics, mixed-media, drypoint, monoprints, etchings, woodcuts and collagraphs to name just a few (I particularly love her woodcuts, monoprints and acrylics). Yes, it’s a truly inspiring book from an artistic perspective - examining the wealth of work she has produced over recent years – but one of the most impressive things I liked about the book was Mags simply telling her story and how she works. About the times when ideas don’t flow easily; about her routines; about her need to walk, write, read and reflect; about the different seasons; about needing to be quiet… or to sing… or dance; about working in the garden and feeding the hens; about getting into the right mindset; about making mistakes; and also about trying to have some fun! Really stimulating, encouraging… and beautiful.
The Immortalists (Chloe Benjamin): Another book being read by our lovely Storysmith book group. If you knew the day you were going to die, how would you live your life? This is the intriguing question on the novel’s cover. The story starts in 1969, in a grimy tenement building in New York’s Lower East Side. There’s a rumour that a travelling psychic is claiming to be able to tell anyone the date they will die. Four (very) young siblings (aged 13, 11, 9 and 7) decide to seek her out. The novel is in four parts, one for each of the siblings in order of their predicted deaths. It’s only some nine years later that they even talk to each other about what they’d individually been told. How WILL they live their lives? Indeed! Each of the siblings reacts in different ways… but, don’t worry, *no spoilers* here! Although I had reservations on one or two of the book’s storylines, I thought it was an absolutely compelling, brilliantly-written, well-researched novel that draws you in to experiences of youthful high spirits, wildness, grief, anger, frustration and fear… and one that I found becoming more absorbing as I worked my way through it – one of those books that will continue to haunt me (in a good way!) over the coming days. An excellent book for a book group discussion!
Blacklight Blue (Peter May): I’m a great admirer of Peter May’s books. This is the second “Enzo Macleod Investigation” I’ve read (it’s the third book in the series of six – I’ve previously read the fourth… I never seem to read stuff in the correct order!). Scott Enzo Macleod is a forensics expert who has taken on a bet to solve seven ‘cold cases’… but he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness and is running out of time. His daughter is nearly killed, he is mugged (and then arrested). Someone is out to destroy his character… and framing him for murder. Another very clever book – although I did feel that some aspects were a little far-fetched. Nevertheless, intense, threatening and ‘unputdownable’(!).
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