I was doing well for most of November but got a bit depressed towards the end of the month for a number of reasons and my reading suffered as a result, couldn't focus on anything. Still ended up with a good number though it feels like I haven't finished a book in ages!
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (3/10) Lesbian, POC Nishat’s class is assigned with a business competition, which becomes the plot vehicle for her describing everything that (she thinks) is wrong with her life. Good premise but horrendous execution, seemed like the author thought that because of the diversity represented in the main character she could get away with anything!
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult (7/10) There is a face-off at an abortion centre as a gunman, intentions originally unknown, holds patients and staff hostage. Emotions run deep as the story is told in a reverse timeline, which I found a bit confusing because we were going back an hour each time, but once again Picoult has done well with a book centred around a contentious topic.
The Hike by Lucy Clarke (9/10) Four friends head out on their annual holiday together, a tradition that they’ve kept up despite their lives diverging significantly since they went to school together. A creepy story set in the Norwegian mountains, not quite as good as Clarke’s other that I’ve read but kept me very engaged throughout regardless.
Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver (7/10) Alcoholic murdress Maeve sets up a group “Psychopaths Anonymous”, as the counterpart to the more widely-known AA. A dark story about twisted logic, though I thought it lacked a plot – we spent ages going round and round in Maeve’s thoughts and not nearly enough time actually moving the story along.
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (10/10) A woman plans her own funeral, then doesn’t even make it home. Hawthorne is sent to investigate, alongside Horowitz whom he’s engaged to write a story about his detectiving. I loved the concept of Horowitz writing himself in as a character in his own novel, they were such cute mirror images of Holmes and Watson. I think this is the quickest I’ve ever finished an audiobook, and it’s not even the shortest one I’ve listened to!
Black Chalk by Christopher Yates (4/10) Six students at Oxford University engage in a game, which leaves one of them dead. Twenty years later, the game comes back to life and we find out in flashback what happened back then. I liked the premise and initially the style of this one (author is a lawyer), but after awhile got irritated by the vagueness of the storytelling, seemed like lazy storytelling of saying-something-without-saying-anything.
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (10/10) Second run-around with Hawthorne and Horowitz, this time investigating the suspicious death of two men related by an incident that happened a long time ago in the past. I loved my second adventure with this pair and can’t wait for more.
Christmas on the Little Cornish Isles by Phillippa Ashley (6/10) After some personal tragedy, Maisie Samson moves back to the island of Scilly where her parents run an inn and a pub, which is under threat from a huge property developer who wants to take over the island. A nice enough chick-lit, but I wasn’t sufficiently engrossed into the universe for my original plan of reading the trilogy back-to-back.
The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan (9/10) Erica, Anna and Claudia go away once a year for a book club holiday, and are good friends despite their very different personalities (and taste in books). Sarah Morgan always finds a way to make a fluffy romance cut just that bit deeper, and this was no different. My only real gripe being how little the book club actually featured given the title.
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins-Reid (8/10) Shortly after their wedding, Ben dies in a tragic car accident leaving Elsie widowed. Told in alternate between now and a year ago when the two met, we find out more about their circumstances in the past and how Elsie learns to get along with Ben’s mother in the present. I love TJR for the plots that she comes up with and this was no different, but it is her debut novel where her writing isn’t quite as polished as it is in her newer books.
Wishing on a Star by Mandy Baggot (6/10) Listened to this Christmas audio about an American football star running away from a life-changing diagnosis and ending up in Richmond where he finds love and a will to live again. It was alright but I never really bought into the romance, they seemed like friends all the way through.
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan (5/10) Out of a job when the store she works in closes down, Carmen moves in with her older sister, whom she perceives as perfection all around, in Scotland and takes a job of saving an old bookshop from ruin. I normally love Jenny Colgan, and this has such a good setup, but there were way too many plotlines juggled here that she wasn’t able to really expand on any of them.
The Night Before Christmas by Alex Pine (8/10) Revisiting Cumbria for the annual crime investigation led by DI James Walker in the latest edition of a series that’s fast becoming a must-read for me during the Christmas season. Four hunters/hikers are missing in the start of this one, and it’s grislier than its predecessors though I found the story just as well-told.
Small Change by Dan Ariely & Jeff Kreisler (7/10) A book about human irrationality, using money-related examples. I’m a great fan of Dan Ariely’s work and his first book Predictably Irrational, this one was a useful periodic reminder but was not really as good or as comprehensive.
