“It was one of those morning when the winds breaths the scent of cut grass and the sea winkles like an old man’s hand. When you can see nearly all the islands dozing for miles around in the clear light.”

I originally read this on audible but loved it so much I picked up a hardcopy today so I can reread it.

The premise is based on a true story. In 1627 Barbary Pirates abducted 400 people from a remote island in Christian Iceland and sold them into slavery in Muslim Algiers. This is the imagined story of one of the slaves, Ásta, a pastors wife, who must raise her children alone in a dry, hot Muslim world so different from her remote island home. All she has of her homeland are her Icelandic legends and stories.

This novel is about family separation, immigration, what makes a land your home, how and why we love and the importance of stories in our lives.

Recommended to people who enjoyed historical fictions such as [b:Burial Rites|17333319|Burial Rites|Hannah Kent|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1384207446s/17333319.jpg|21943144] and [b:The Snow Child|33597976|The Snow Child|Eowyn Ivey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1482781736s/33597976.jpg|16176521]

“Do you really believe that shit you’re saying?” he asked. “Do you believe in some better place?”
I didn’t. I shook my head. Not reflexively. But wilfully.
“There is no evidence of a better place. I was just programmed to say that”


The end of the world is tough even for humanity destroying, flamethrower-wielding, b*tch of a robot. This is a well-written tale about robots searching for the meaning of existence in a post-apocalyptic world of their own making.


“People gave us a purpose. Something to do all day, every day. At the end, I suppose, you spend a lot of time thinking about that. It's harder to get by when getting by is all there is.”


There are some fantastic deeply flawed but believable characters in this one. I mean I really shouldn’t have been rooting for a robot that had slaughtered human children but I was.

Recommended to anyone who likes dark gritty tales.

This is about the Summer and Autumn of 2017; about Brexit, Trump, floods, fires, Twitter, Nuclear bomb testing, sumptuous parties, inane conversations, hangovers from hell.

“2017 was turning into a bumper year, a real doozy, everything arse about tit.’

This is a story about 40-year-old Kathy (an amalgam of a deceased author Kathy Acker and Olivia Laing herself) who is getting married and is just about as messed up as 2017. But unlike 2017, which let’s face it led to the travesty that is 2018, can Kathy find happiness and salvation in her marriage? Or will she be compelled to always buy and sell new apartments?

There is little or no plot to the novel it is instead about the inner life and anxieties of a modern woman in contemporary times. So not for everyone but a reading experience all the same.

What can I say about such a short novella? More of a long short story really? Not sure what the definitions are?

Please do not read the synopsis at the beginning of the book. The novella/short story is simply too short and its a bit of a spoiler really.

Let’s just say that in this one Scott is losing weight, this is not the other book written by SK, Thinner, Scott is simply losing weight. He isn’t getting on too well with his neighbour Deirdre. Deirdre, in turn, is having a hard time as Castlerock (yes we are back folks!) is not very accepting of her and her wife (it is Castlerock after all). More than that is a spoiler.

We could have done with a bit more Character development between Scott and Deidre otherwise well worth a very short read. This is recommended to fans of Stephen King’s short stories.

I say pretty much the same here https://youtu.be/HWdtoTuTem8 on my channel but with bad lighting :)