A story that is part coming of age, part murder mystery, part romance, and a large part a love letter to the natural world. The book is set over a number of years in a a Marsh in North Carolina; a community and part of America that is often overlooked in literature. I read this because of the rave reviews last year and in anticipation of the film adaptation releasing this year. I was initially put off by the blurb and wouldn't usually read this genre, but I'm glad I did. 

It took me a while to go into. I initially liked the back and forth narrative across times and I actually quite liked the long descriptions of the nature constituting the Marsh. I found it quite relaxing, maybe because I listened to it as an audiobook before bed. I found the storyline predictive in parts, sad in others, and underwhelming and unsatisfying at the end - but I still can't place why. Maybe it seemed rushed compared to the plodding pace of the majority of the book. 

I grew attached to Kaya (the protagonist), but equally attached to her home and substitute family, the Marsh. What I think the book does really well is to paint a picture of the importance of the natural world, and why we should respect and appreciate nature. It highlights all the minute ways we've become detached from our environment, and why that's not a good thing for us as individuals, society, or ecologically. It's a beautiful study of all the shades of loneliness. For me this is a book about connections to our human community and our natural environment. 

A quick read. I'm not a 'poetry person' so it's rare for me to find a poet or poem that really resonates with me. I naturally found Kaur's work way back on Instagram years ago, but this is my first time reading her debut collection in full.

I liked the overall structure of the collection being in four parts. However, I found the overly simplified stanza structure and lack of grammar often led me to misread the intonation of the poems and I had to start again.

There were a few stand out lines and ideas that I could definitely relate to. I also spotted some phrases that have gained universal quotability across the Internet, supporting the idea that her work is widely relatable. Despite these striking lines, (maybe ruthlessly highlighted because of these striking lines) the rest of the poetry felt flat and overly simplified. The poet advocates for authenticity, but her poems seem devoid of deeper personal insight. It also focused almost exclusively on sexual love, ignoring literally all other forms of intimacy, violence, and healing. 

Bonus: I enjoyed the drawings. 

I have no idea why this book is so highly rated. I wonder if it would have the same reviews if Ishiguro's name wasn't slapped across the cover in huge font.

There are several themes and aspects that I thought were interesting and deserved more attention and development. E.g. AF (artificial friend) and artificial intelligence, individual and societal ethics of genetically 'lifting' humans, and pollution and the climate crisis. Really, I just wanted more world building. Like, why do AFs even exist? Though the book is told from Klara's (AF) relatively restricted point of view, it is possible to introduce these concepts. When it was done, it was poorly executed and slowly introduced. The result was that up until around 86% of the way through the book, I didn't have a grasp on even the vaguest important aspects of the 'dystopia' the story is set in.

The story is character focused rather than plot. What storyline that does exist, is dragged out for most of the book then wrapped up too quickly to be satisfying. I did enjoy becoming familiar with Klara. I think her characterisation as an artificial intelligence was well done, highlighting both her strengths and deficiencies. I did feel for her throughout, framed as an object/robot/servant in relation to humans. Though I don't think the moral status of 'being' or 'consciousness' was sufficiently explored. Klara's relationship with the Sun is clearly representative of superstition and religion, but I don't think the author adds any meaningful insight to these topics. The story telling and relationships towards Klara gave me more 'Toy Story' vibes than 'I-Robot' or 'AI'. 

It feels crass to rate this book. How can anyone give a score hearing a person's experience of the Holocaust, and detailing their own psychiatric field of work? I have expertise and lived experience in neither. However, I have given this 5 stars nonetheless.

The book was recommended by my mental health counsellor, highlighting Frankl's finding and assertion that the only thing a person has control over, is their attitude to their circumstances. This aspect has certainly helped me in my own mental health work.

Unlike some of the other reviews, I enjoyed the second part of the book as much as the first. (I read the 80's edition). This may be because of my medical science background and interest in psychiatry. I found Frankl's way of describing his personal experiences almost objectively, quite comforting and appealed to my natural way of thinking. Although the field has developed since his writing, I found it very interesting learning about logotherapy and found it complemented my interest in existentialism. I do think some of the observations he makes are still very relevant today, especially his comments relating to existential boredom.

The first part of the book where he describes his experiences in concentration camps was, of course, difficult to read. However this is the first time I've 'enjoyed' (for lack of a better word) reading about the Holocaust. Previous historical iterations from secondary sources always had the whiff of political war propaganda to me. Frankl's lived experience retelling has no such endorsement of war. What was significant for me, was he not only described his and other's various suffering, but attempted to explain it too. E.g. Why the prisoners and guards reacted in the ways they did. How their psychology and identity was affected as well as their physical health. Frankl goes through each stage of the prisoner's psychological response to his trauma. 

Overall, a harrowing, but important read. I think it has the potential to help many people. Maybe be more compassionate to others, maybe employ some logotherapy principles to their own life, maybe become more consciously opposed to war. 

Unusual, delightful, gem of a book. I discovered it through reading 'The Arts of the working class' newspaper. It's a book about the rejected designs for the European Union Flag. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in flags (Vexillology), The European Union, history of Art, or looking to improve their English, German, or French. All written text is provided in all three languages throughout the book and contains colourful pictures of the flag designs. I wish more books were published this way. 

I read the book in German first, then in English as part of my foreign language challenge. It was a good choice for many reasons:

Overall, I found the book the right level to be challenging for my German comprehsion. I found the subject matter interesting, the only downside to me was Marie Rotkopf's essay. At first I thought it was just beyond my level of understanding, until I read the English translation which confirmed my suspicions... Whereas Jonas Von Lenthe's essay is measured and informative as well as critical, Rotkopf's borders on the unsubstantiated polemic. I'm not convinced it complements the rest of the book.  

Top line summary: feminist, sci-fi, dystopian, hard hitting deliciousness. This book takes a hard look at the current power structures of the world through a gendered lens, then unravels what could happen if that gendered power was inverted, and to a lesser extent subverted. It reminded me of that quote "be grateful women only want equality, not revenge". Although clearly a feminist book, the failures of the human condition irrespective of gender are also highlighted. The end 'chapters' (an email exchange outside of the main story narrative) were particularly satisfying in this respect. It's also important to highlight that this book, while excellent in my opinion, is a little dated in its feminism. There's no great care exploring sex vs gender (biologically or socially), no clear attempt to include intersectionalism, and no mention of non binary or trans people.

I've quoted ryanjaydavidson's review below because I largely agree with it and think it's an apt summary:

"The concept of this book is brilliant, and there are a multitude of allegories, symbolism and inversions that hit you like a tonne of bricks throughout. However, while it starts strong and the action is consistently ferocious, it’s clumsily executed as a whole piece and scuppers momentum at various key stages of the narrative. A lot of comparisons have been made to the speculative fiction of Margaret Atwood, but for me it lacks the rumbling sense of dread that is so prevalent in Atwood’s work."

Despite its flaws, I'm still giving this 5 stars because it caught my interest and compelled me to keep reading. The violence in, althoughddifficult to read, never felt gratuitous. I was completely hooked and invested. This is a wonderful book to start conversations about many different aspects of feminism, sexism, and misogyny. 

I've given comments on each of the individual poets and my favourite poems of theirs (in this collection) below. Overall, I must admit that this classic anthology didn't capture my interest at all, despite having personal connections to Liverpool. Upon research I discovered that the Liverpool Poets' aim was to make poetry more culturally accessible and relevant. In that respect I think they were successful. The poetry is unpretentious and undeniably more relatable to the average 60's Scouser. But therein lies its problem too. Whereas some poetry, no matter when it's written, can feel timeless, all three of these poets feel very much of their time. The free wheeling verses and references are undeniably and specifically of the 60s and feel dated. Themes of sexual freedom (plus outdated language implying homophobia, sexism and racism), superheros, Pop culture e.g. The Beatles, youth, urbanness, and even Woolworths (I'm only 28 and Woolies closed down in my childhood). Reading in 2022, it felt like a very superficial painting of that era and even made Liverpool feel two dimensional which I was disappointed with.

Adrian Henri
Um, he mentions young girls and school girls an awful lot. It was jarring, in a bad way. (Not the creepiest example by far, but the clearest example of this theme/fixation on youth and young girls is in 'Mrs Albion you've got a lovely daughter' I'm imagining inspired by William Blake's 'Visions of the Daughters of Albion'. I just get creepy vibes from him and it took me right out of the poem. I only appreciated the urban references, e.g. 'plastic daffodils', vs 'lily of the valley'. I don't understand what makes him so celebrated tbh. 'Favorites', or least bad poems are:

- Love Poem/Colour Supplement
- Country song
- The blazing hat, Part II
- Pictures from an exhibition
- Where'er you walk
- The new 'Our Times'

Roger McGough
He uses the word woman instead of girl, thank God. Big focus of sex, but in a better, tiny more grown up, way than Henri. Uses surrealism more cleverly imo. 'Favourites':

- come close and sleep now
- the fallen birdman
- at lunchtime a story of love
- why patriots are a bit nuts in the head
- sad aunt madge
- goodbat nightman (actually liked this one)
- what you are
- vinegar
- M.66
- dreampoem
- mother the wardrobe is full of infantry men


Brian patten
His work is notably darker than the other two. Still had sex in it. Not quite as surrealist, focused on real experiences. He's also the only one who clearly attempted to tackle some political issues (White Smethwick). 

- party piece
- a green sportscar 
- after breakfast 
- seascape
- somewhere between heaven and woolworths, a song
- I'm dreaming of a white Smethwick 
- maud, 1965
- room
- schoolboy - quotable bits
- delicate John 
- a talk with a wood
- in a new kind of dawn
- the beast 

Angela Saini is a treasure to the intersectional feminism world. Long may her research continue. 'Superior' is her next book following 'Inferior' and largely achieves the same outcome. Saini comprehensively debunks racism's core lie, just as she roundly debunked sexism's core lie previously. She methodically, logically, dissects the racism used within science. She explains how it begun, how and why it survives today, and how it has influenced society. Saini draws from a range of sources, notably anthropologists, historians, sociologists, molecular biologists, and geneticists. I personally found one of the later chapters examining clinical trials very interesting. Despite all this academic research, this is not a dry book. Siani is an experienced journalist and weaves personal narratives and dialogue into the text.

I greatly appreciate the thoroughness of Saini's investigations, and her attempt to report neutrally whilst simultaneously recognising her own experiences, limitations, and biases AND the inclusion of an impressive references list. From one scientist to another, THANK YOU. We love sources. We love peer reviewed research. We love substantiating our claims. This 1) gives weight to her analyses and credibility, and 2) gives us the readers the power to read further, critically assess for ourselves, and have an ammo list to hand when some devil's-advocate-troll demands a reference for your claim.

The reason this doesn't quite pip 5 stars is because at times the narrative repeated itself and felt a little wandering. It could benefit from a tiny bit of trimming and reformatting so that the key points and evidence cited in each chapter stand out more clearly.

Overall, this is a critical book for anyone interested in learning about racism and/or committed to becoming anti-racist. There were several moments in the book that prompted me to question my own internalised thoughts about race. I would highly recommend. 

It's taken me a while to cobble this review together. It is an easy read but not as easy to fully grasp the intensity and messages conveyed. This is the first work by Vonnegut that I've read and I was flummoxed for the first few chapters... In a good way! This is a new writing style for me. I think the top line summary would be: Satirical absurdist literature on the futility of war. It's partly a shotgun biography, partly an exploration of philosophy (existentialism, fatalism, ethics, suffering), and always a polemic against war and violence. It's important to appreciate the book's full title: "Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death".

It is clear that the Vonnegut's lived experience of being a prisoner of war during the Dresden Bombings give the book's criticisms serious weight. I believe Vonnegut has used science fiction here in a sort of anti-escapist way. He's used science fiction (aliens, time portals) to highlight the realism of war rather than escape from it or glorify it. The passive acceptance of the characters must not be misinterpreted as promoting fatalism, I believe it is deliberately written both as a reflection on the weariness conflict brings upon a person, and a reflection of 'the bigger picture'. This is even mentioned specifically in the text when Billy (the protagonist) says that the young soldiers are just pawns of bigger powers.

Our Billy, in his ridiculous silver shoes, is most likely dealing with PTSD/psychosis induced by his experience of war. He is not stable in any form; he loses sense of time and sense itself. The themes of time and mortality are interesting in how Vonnegut frames it as all happening at once and has always happened and will always happen. The structure/device of time hopping throughout the book works to the reader's advantage I think.

Although there's quite a bit of comedy in the story, (I chuckled out loud several times) Vonnegut doesn't depict war as farcical or trivial. I think his use of humour, irony, and absurdism can actually help people connect to his subject matter. 

On a related note, I've read in several places that readers dislike the 'overuse' of the famous phrase “So it goes”. I strongly disagree. In the text, "So it goes" is used ONLY and ALWAYS used when there is a comment about death, no matter how 'trivial'. The use of it everytime to mark a death, forces us to recognise the volume of death that is occurring. Others have called this annoying, or not additive to the story, I firmly believe it is essential to understanding the story's message. Death is happening frequently. Death is affecting many people. Death is happening whether you really want to acknowledge it or not. “So it goes” is not a way of accepting the shit of life but, rather, of facing death. I think this phrase is incredibly important and its critics have missed the point. 

There is a lot packed into this little book, and I found it ultimately, surprisingly beautiful to read. This is the only fictional book about war and suffering I've found bearable to engage with. 

I am a big fan of short stories. Kathryn Scanlan’s short, experimental fictions decontextualize, shock, and remain linguistically inventive. They were consistently unsettling in a way I've not experienced in short stories before. Maybe because they're so visceral. The descriptive technique used is bare bones, essential, truthful, and unsweetened. To give one clear example Scanlan used 'burned' instead of 'cremated'. The language is intentionally jarring and forced me to question the situation I was interpreting. The stories are very short, only a couple of pages each on average.

There are clear themes of the animal self (humanity vs barbarism), the nature of animals other to humans, compassion, or lack of it, and animal cruelty. Yes I'm vegan and abhor animal cruelty, but these stories were much easier to stomach than Moby Dick. I think because the language used isn't morally loaded in any way, it's merely descriptive. The moral implications are left to the reader to interpret.

I'm also absolutely delighted to see that this shot stories collection is being sold at the  Francis Bacon exhibition "Man and Beast" at the Royal Academy of Arts 2022. I think it's a perfect pairing. Scanlan’s visceral artwork perfectly reflects that of Bacon's. 

My favourites of the Dominant Animal collection:

The candidate
Power tools
Small pink female
Shh
The imprecation 
Dear sirs 
BJ
Salad days
Design for a carpet
Vagrants 
Now this 
The rescued man 
Lemons