A catch-all
The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The setting, an Ireland in the whitewater of the economic meltdown, was good, but I didn’t quite click with the Frenchman and his desperately empty life (so empty he latches on to a dodgy writer’s suggestions for plot developments in it) or the feckless writer in the story.
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a fun thriller of a read that went pretty quickly.
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the sort of book that makes you want to run out and buy anything else she’s ever written, from a grocery list to a 17th century period drama. I thought this book was excellent, one of my favorite reads of the year. Her characters, the voices, the stories, all of it was brilliant.
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. He pulls off the fake nonfiction book pretty well and even the sandpaper-like central character of Jack Sparks works to the book’s advantage, both elements I expected to disappoint from reading the jacket copy but took a flyer on anyway. I’m glad I did.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. This was a decent enough book to keep me company over a few walks and commutes from Stillorgan to Dalkey. I’m not 100% sure where I fall on the line of “Ishiguro hates fantasy” vs. “Ishiguro does the genre justice,” but, as a fantasy, it certainly pushed me up to my limits with what I can stomach, from a fantasy point of view.
I could have done without Axl referring to his wife as Princess as many times as he did, but there are passages where Ishiguro shows off how well he can write that would make me want to pick up something else of his, even though I didn’t necessarily love this one.
Dead Man Talking by Roddy Doyle
My rating: 0 of 5 stars
I found this one in the Dalkey library as part of Vintage’s new Quick Reads program to introduce you to new writers… knowing I’d get some good dialogue, at least. And that I did… Doyle’s been on fire with his Facebook friends series and his ear of speech is shown off in this little story. It was an entertaining hour or two read, anyway, if the story wasn’t particularly deep or anything. Each time the story is told he paints on another layer of understanding, but I’m not so sure the suspense built up exactly the way he’d hoped.
The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This one wasn’t as good as Fool or Sacre Bleu, but I liked it better than A Dirty Job.
Red Ribbons by Louise Phillips
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was an enjoyable read, though I could have done without the insight into the mind of the killer, himself. I just didn’t like the style as much in those chapters, but overall this was a fun read with enough tension for a good crime thriller.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another cracker from JK, good story, a nice quick read.
All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh man oh man oh man! What a book. I got an early reader copy of this from NetGalley and oh boy am I lucky I ever did. I wish I had a time machine so I could back to the beginning and read it all again from the start, conveniently erasing my earlier reading from my memories so I could relive it all over again fresh.
I loved the tone and voice of Tom, the predominant narrator, loved the style, the telling, the twists and turns. Goddamn it’s enough to make a fellow time travel writer jealous. This is an excellent book with some fun wrinkles in the time travel genre, a lovable bumbler of a main character, and is just a great read.