I'm feeling a bit emperor's new clothes about this one. What in earth is there to like?

I gave it 50 pages and skipped forward a bit to see if it was more of the same, and it was. Little vignettes of not much at all happening. Maybe in another world I'd have found it all introspective and deep but I can't be doing with too much naval gazing - and if my 6 yo was half as much of a brat as this one is, I'd have left him on the island and gone somewhere else.

Hmm, I found this one a bit patchy. It started pretty slowly and by the time I was about 100 pages in had decided it probably wasn't for me but that I would keep going. It definitely picked up and I was enjoying it by the end.

Not the greatest writing but some fun characters all the same and the plot eventually got going and zipped along towards the end.

I enjoyed this but wasn't blown away. I found the dialect quite tricky to read and didn't really get used to it, but I've not read a lot of Carribbean fiction so it's out of my comfort a bit.

The voices were refreshing and I enjoyed lots of the characters. Important themes around trauma, DV and abuse are explored and handled pretty well.

It was a bit miserable and I have to say that the ending wasn't a surprise but I'm not sure it needed to be. The ending was really hopeful, which makes a change from some recent reads. I'd have been happy to read more about Alethea recovering, which I think goes some way to show an attachment to her.

A solid first novel I think!

There aren't really any concrete reasons not to enjoy this. It's light and funny and a bit of a boy's own kind of adventure. The animals are funny and well described.

But. Everyone's annoying. Sometimes it veers away from funny and is just annoying. I couldn't stand Larry, to the point he was often not funny to me. It was dull in places.

I loved mum and Roger.

It was FINE. Certainly of its time in places though.

I'm not going to rate this book, it feels inappropriate. It was a calm and rational book about mortality, and a man's journey to make meaning out of his life. It definitely has its shortcomings, but what doesn't? I had hoped for more passion and his wife says that is what is missing from this book, and something she loved about him, along with his sense of humour, which is also not here.

But there are some beautiful reflections to give pause. It's definitely, strangely - given he's a 37 yo man dying from a rarely occurring cancer - a privileged experience of dying and is a perspective not experienced by most. Does that change the experience? Or is dying the ultimate leveller?

Another fun one from Richard Osman. I really enjoy the tone of these. Feeling very heavy in head and heart and the moment and these books are a tonic. Twisty and fun, the characters are a delight and gently funny. Will continue to read these.

We have started dabbling with slightly more frightening reads with the kids! This was a success. Not sure I'll get them watching a film version but they coped with Fleshlumpeater on the page.

I'm struggling with this one. I think it's more a 3.5.

This is a redemption story really. And it frustrated me because I felt it could have been so much more. There was depth and nuance in part and then there were lazy stereotypes that felt written for a Western audience.

Obviously the main character was unlikeable, that's kind of the point of a redemption story. But that Hassan was just so pure and spotless and sacrificing was a bit much. The 'villian' was really two dimensional and not really explored fully.

I enjoyed the relationship between Amir and his father and overall I enjoyed the story but it was too neat. I guess the ending was hopeful, but bordered on the twee.

It was sad to read about the general going back after the Taliban were removed - given they are back in power again now.

I found this highly readable. New York was written with energy and sparkle. Nothing much really happened that was of great interest but the setting was alive.

I found it frustrating though because in terms of the characters I was more interested in the bits that weren't explored. The whole thing was peppered with the various diaspora that makes up New York and instead the pages were filled mostly with upper east side riches. I wanted to hear more about the Russian, the Jewish, the Jazz, the down and out.

I might try others by Towles because the writing was zippy and sparkled, despite not really being about much and this one is fine for some entertainment.

This is probably a 3.5.

Elif Shafak is an interesting person to listen to. Highly recommend her Desert Island discs episode. I've read two of her novels already and really enjoyed them both.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the last two. I found the constant moving back and forward between the 11th and 21st century jarring. I could kind of see the point, but it didn't work for me.

I enjoy reading her novels as they take me really out of my own frame of reference. I know nothing about Rumi and Shams of Tabriz and I did enjoy those parts of the tale. I know nothing about Sufism either. So I can't really judge this from a theological point of view as it's not my subject.

From a purely storytelling perspective, it leaned towards the melodramatic - as Shafak does tend to do in my limited experience. But she tells her stories beautifully. I will continue to read more of her novels; I am always interested to see where she is going to take me.