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  Published: 2021, W W Norton and Company Genre: Fiction Themes: Autism, single parenthood, astronomy, ecology My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤❤ Richard Powers is such a clever man that his intelligence practically bristles off him like electrified hair reaching up to tightly packed thought bubbles.  As well as being a Pulitzer Prize winning author, he is also a Professor of English and has more than a passing acquaintance with physics and computer programming. All this knowledge allows him to write about an astrobiologist, whose work involves modeling scenarios of possible life-forms that could exist in the diverse range of atmospheres to be found in space.  In contrast, the book also presents the idea that while we are so interested in finding life on planets too far away to see, we happily look the other way as our own non-human species of flora and fauna are being driven to extinction. In the book, Theo Byrne is a single parent trying to juggle his scientific career wi...

Published: 2021, Penguin Random House Genre: Biography/Self Help Themes: Will Smith My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤ I don't usually write a synopsis as part of my book reviews but I think I'll make an exception here because it won't take long.   Synopsis:  I am the greatest thing on two legs and whatever you do you will not be better than me. I really enjoy watching Will Smith's films, and as you can see from the photograph above, our family has contributed to his fortunes over the years.  The problem I had with his memoir is that it comes across as the latest marketing exercise for the Will Smith brand.  I felt that the whole project has been devised to move him across from his reputation for goal orientated high achievement to the new zeitgeist of emotional intelligence and vulnerability. Of course Oprah Winfrey is the undisputed queen of this new world, so even the mighty Will Smith had to obtain her stamp of approval before moving forward.  There wa...

  Published: 2020, Tinder Press Genre: Fiction Themes: Elizabethan England, birth, death, women My rating (out of5): ❤❤❤❤❤ When the first Queen Elizabeth ruled our land, women were the gatekeepers of life.  They pushed and pulled life into the world and it fell to them to wash the dead in preparation for burial.  In the years between, they did what they could to bring children to maturity and offer comfort to the old and ailing as they neared the end of their time.  Women understood the fragility of life and those with a special gift for healing passed down remedies from mother to daughter. The book title is the name of a small boy, but what we really learn about is the life of women.  Women from young to old, rich to poor and no matter what their position, the greatest threat to their lives was childbirth.  Nothing more natural but every delivery was a contest between life and death and only the strong would win through. Maggie O'Farrell has captured ...

  Published: 2020, Simon and Schuster Genre: Fiction Themes: Witchcraft in the 17th Century, trials of witches, herbal remedies My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤ In this book we have a good old fashioned story.  Something you could read aloud to your Nana without having to skim over a single word.  Hurrah! Set in the 1600s, this book is the prequal to Hoffman's previous novel, Practical Magic, but it stands up very well on its own and it is not necessary to read the books in the order they were written.  The story begins with a new-born baby girl abandoned by her mother on a cold and frosty night.  She is found and taken in by a good woman who lives alone in a remote house and it isn't long before the baby begins to demonstrate special powers that mark her out as an extraordinary child and probably a witch. Witchcraft is the theme running through three generations in the book and the family story moves from Essex in England, over to the Netherlands, and ends up in...

Published:  2019, Tin House Books Genre: Fiction Themes: American South, taxidermy, bereavement, grief My rating (out of 5):  ❤❤ I didn't enjoy reading this. I found it hard to settle down and concentrate on the story as the writing style is way too 'honest' and 'real' for me and I found my tolerance for such things stretched to breaking point.  Imagine the expression on a baby's face when someone gives them a slice of lemon to suck on - well that expression, right there, would have been seen on my face at certain points while reading this book. The story is about a family who owns a taxidermy business and the father takes his own life after struggling to cope with his diagnosis and treatment for cancer.  Everyone in the family deals with their loss differently, but the only thing that helps mum work through her grief is creating pornographic diorama of the stuffed merchandise and leaving them in the shop window for her daughter to find. Well, I could cope with ...

  Published: 2019, Penguin Random House Genre: Fiction Themes:  American families, mental health, alcoholism, careers My rating (out of 5):  ❤❤❤❤   'You are what you appear to be'. That's a phrase I picked up years ago while attending a management training course and that concept of keeping up appearances sits at the core of this novel. It's a family saga that starts in 1973 with two young rookie cops setting up their first homes right next door to each other.  Nobody would have had to tell them that appearances matter back then because that was drummed into everyone right from the day they were born.  Mothers would exclaim; 'What would people think!' every time a child made too much noise, had a hole in their sock or made slurping noises when they drank their orange squash.  (You can tell I've been there can't you?) This kind of concern for appearances was considered a good thing but it also had it's darker side.  Much bigger issues such as ...

  Published: 2020, John Murray Genre: Fiction Themes: rural Ireland, the Troubles, autism, community My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤ I began reading this book in a state of slightly revolted fascination, but after I got over myself a bit, I found I liked the eponymous Big Girl, Majellah, and even admired her for her courage in protecting what is hers.  This book is variously described as 'bawdy' and 'honest' but it is not something I would EVER offer to read for an audiobook. That may be my problem, but Jane Austen it isn't! Majellah works six evenings a week in the chip shop in the small rural town of Aghybogey and every customer is greeted with her opening question:     ' What can ah get chew? ' Her dad suddenly disappeared about ten years ago after he struggled to cope with the death of his brother Bobby.  Bobby was right in the middle of setting an incendiary bomb when the detonator went off prematurely, and in the town his death is considered to be:  ...