Five words from the blurb: Siamese, twins, childhood, circus, independence Just before Christmas Siamese twins were born in Brazil. I followed a series of links and ended up reading about Siamese twins for over an hour. My random reading ended on an article about Chang and Eng and I realised that I had a book of [...]
Posts under ‘2000 – 2007’
The Shadow Speaker – Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Five words from the blurb: 2070, mysticism, West Africa, survival, magical Earlier this year Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu won the World Fantasy Award for her novel, Who Fears Death. It sounded really interesting, but a few people on twitter suggested that her earlier novel, The Shadow Speaker, was even better and since it was available in my local [...]
The Sinner – Petra Hammesfahr
Translated from the German by John Brownjohn Five words from the blurb: killed, man, past, childhood, horrors The Sinner was a bestseller in Germany, staying at the top of the book charts for fifteen months. I can see why it was so popular – it is well written, intelligent, and packed with unexpected twists. It is a [...]
Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry
A Fine Balance is my favourite book and so you’d have thought I’d have gone out and read all of Mistry’s books straight away. The reality is that I was too scared to read them - I knew my expectations were far too high and didn’t want to be disappointed. I eventually built up the courage [...]
Absent – Betool Khedairi
Translated from the Arabic by Muhayman Jamil Five words from the blurb: Baghdad, apartment, bombings, arrests, honey Absent is set in a crowded Baghdad apartment building and follows the lives of the residents as they endure bombings, arrests and the international sanctions of the 1990s. The central character is Dalal, a young woman who was abandoned at birth. Living with [...]
Speed of Dark – Elizabeth Moon
I love reading books that feature autistic characters and so ordered Speed of Dark the moment Judith mentioned that it was one of her favourite books set in the future. Speed of Dark is set in the near future, at the moment they find a cure for autism. The book follows Lou, a man with autism, who [...]
