Predynastic Egypt
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The Last Line: My Autobiography
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Irish national hero, a Celtic great and their most-capped player, Patrick 'Packie' Bonner is a...
Foxtrot in Kandahar: A Memoir of a CIA Officer in Afghanistan at the Inception of America's Longest War
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Kandahar. An ancient desert crossroads, and as of fall of 2001, ground zero for the Taliban and...
Nell and the Girls
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'Goodbye! There's my good girl.' The German got hold of Papa's arm roughly and said, 'Come on!' They...
The Secret Life of Twickenham: The Story of Rugby Union's Iconic Fortress, the Players, Staff and Fans
Chris Jones and Lawrence Dallaglio
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Twickenham Stadium is rightly venerated as the home of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). While it may...
Karina Longworth recommended Kitty Foyle (1940) in Movies (curated)
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated One to Watch in Books
Nov 12, 2020
"Life isn’t often a fairy tale, even on a show that aims to create one.”
I've never seen "The Bachelor" (Main Squeeze's equivalent) before in my life, but I found this book fascinating. (Probably more enjoyable than the actual show, ha.) It's frothy and entertaining but also tackles serious topics like body issues and racism. Once on the show, Bea meets a host of men: some truly awful, some quite lovely. It's quite the ride to watch her have her choice of eligible and handsome men.
I found Bea a little frustrating in her absolute unwillingness to open up, leading her to wallow in self-pity and a complete inability to even consider love. But, she had her reasons. The body positivity in the book was excellent and frequent. Bea is fearful of opening up and revealing herself and her body after being hurt. But she's also a successful and strong businesswoman (and now a celebrity!). The book draws you in to the episodes of Main Squeeze--it's honestly quite addictive. It sprinkles in excepts from Twitter, chats, publications, and more to tell the story--a very effective format. And there's true humor, romance, and heartbreak involved as well.
Overall, this was probably 3.75 stars for me--bumping up due to its strong coverage of serious and important topics. Oh and for Bea's stepdad! I loved him so much. Worth a read, for sure.
ClareR (5674 KP) rated The Rules of Revelation in Books
May 30, 2021
I really like stories set around bands or singers - and this does have something extra to that storyline. The side character really made this novel interesting. I loved Maureen, the mother of the local big drug baron. She really doesn’t care what anyone feels or thinks about her, and isn’t frightened by her son one bit - unlike most of Cork.
Georgie is an ex sex-worker who wants what she thinks is fair - and that’s to make sure that Ryan Cusak’s band, Lord Urchin, get what they deserve. Nothing. I can’t help but think that a lot of her problems come from the fact that she is so easily taken advantage of: in her past as well as by the journalist in her present.
And then there’s the love story of Ryan and Karine. How much more complicated could they make it for one another? On top of that, is Ryan’s battle to make his art accessible to others, to sell an album or play to an audience, but his past is constantly putting a spanner in the works. He wants to improve his life from his poor, deprived upbringing, and put his drug-dealing past firmly behind him.
And all of this set in a time of great change in Ireland. Maureen should see some positives in the new Ireland. She talks about Cork being a city for men, but Ireland has just passed laws for marriage equality and abortion rights.
There’s a lot going on in this novel, I’d never get through all of it here, and I wouldn’t want to. You should just read it. I loved it, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
ClareR (5674 KP) rated A Thousand Ships in Books
Sep 13, 2020
I’ve always loved reading Greek myths and legends, and I’m really enjoying the resurgence of these tales. Told with a modern eye, they can tell us something about ourselves today. We still experience war and loss (there has clearly been no learning experience over the time span between Troy and the modern era), and women are still the ones who shoulder the worst outcomes during and after a war.
It was fascinating to learn about these women, and I particularly liked Penelope’s letters to her husband Odysseus, relaying information about his unbelievable voyage and rather circuitous route home: all information gleaned from bards and their songs. A sensible person would want to know how the singer got the information to write the songs!
The Trojan women sections were really where the true heroes were. These were the women who had lived through a ten year siege, lost their husbands, brothers, sons and families, and were shared as slaves amongst the conquering Greeks. And that includes the poorest as well as the richest of women - Hecabe, Queen of Troy, amongst them.
This book was on the shortlist for the Women’s Prize 2020, and it deserved to be there. I loved reading this, and I now need to read the book written before this (The Children of Jocasta - it has sat patiently waiting on my bookshelf!) to get ready for Haynes’ book about Pandora and her jar!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Our Little Cruelties in Books
Dec 17, 2020
"All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral. But only one of them was in the coffin."
I made a lot of mistakes with this book. First, I thought I loved Liz Nugent, but then I realized I had her confused with another writer, and that I've never read any of her books. Next, I thought this would be more of a true, suspenseful mystery. It is not.
I feel bad, but this book was not for me. It started out slowly and just never got better. The plot drags on and on. While it is somewhat a mystery about a dead brother (which Drumm has died?), it's mostly a character-driven tale about three awful brothers. Because these three men are terrible and despicable, and I found it nearly impossible to become interested in them or their stories.
The book is told in chunks--from the perspective of each brother. Within their parts, their stories go back and forth in time. It's hard to keep track of the passing of time, especially as the book progresses.
This novel could provide in-depth perspective on mental illness and the impact our parents can have on our lives, but so much of that nuance gets lost in our characters and their abject hatefulness. There is little redemption to be had here. I had twinges of sympathies for the brothers, but, at times, I wasn't sure I would care if they were dead. They are truly evil sometimes.
Overall, this book just didn't work for me. I wasn't interested in the characters, and I wanted this to be a different type of story. Many others found this much more captivating and enjoyed the character driven style, so it may work better for you. 2 stars.