“On earth we’re briefly gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong

Started reading on my kindle: 6th August 2020
Finished: 8th September 2020
My score/thoughts: 7/10 

I feel conflicted in my review. This book is so beautifully written in many parts, the language is wonderful, the author is very talented, but the content/themes were often so hard to read and distressing for me that I find it hard to recommend it as although I felt moved by the writing I felt so upset by the book and did not enjoy it because of this. I will look forward to other books by this author though, hopefully with less traumatic themes. I feel this book needs trigger warnings, including animal cruelty, PTSD, intergenerational trauma, suicide, domestic abuse, war. Still having nightmares months after reading the book, yet still thought the writing itself was beautiful and powerful.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

This was one of those book purchases facilitated by being in an airport with a small amount of local currency that needed to be spent before leaving the country. It might have been on my Bali trip but I can't really remember. It has been sitting on my shelf, still in the plastic wrap for over a year, and considering the movie is coming out now and the trailers look great, I thought I'd better hurry up and read the book. 

I hadn't realised this was in the genre of Young Adult fiction when I started reading it. I love how the book is based on actual peculiar photos the author found in various collections and markets and antique shops and that he built such an imaginative story around them. There are some really incredible photos included throughout the story, some of which must have been 'faked' in some way by the original photographer, and others that just manage to capture a creepy or peculiar expression on a child or a strange scene. Although creative and interesting, the story itself is a bit childish/teenager-ish in many ways (which is understandable now I know it is meant to be YA fiction) yet it also has elements of horror and supernatural magic throughout. I really liked it as it was unique and interesting and especially since the photos are 'real' photos it adds another layer to the story for me. I would really like to see the movie now. And will be keeping my eyes open for unusual photos at markets and second-hand shops from now on! At the end of the book it mentioned there is a sequel "Hollow City" which I will see if my local library can get in for me to read at some stage.

Started reading: 23 September 2016
Finished: 2nd October 2016
My score: 7/10
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Supernatural, Horror 

"Shut Up and Run" by Robin Arzon

I first became aware of Robin Arzon when I listened to her being interviewed on the Rich Roll podcast - and I instantly felt inspired by her positivity and attitude to life and running. Originally a corporate lawyer, Robin has now created a completely new life for herself as an Ultra marathon runner (even with Type I Diabetes), Peleton cycle instructor and a fitness ambassador - among other things. As soon as I heard she was releasing this book I got Dymocks to order it in for me. It's an interesting book, part inspirational messages and stories, part autobiography, and full of colourful pictures of running through NYC. It celebrates Robin's mottoes of "Shut Up & Run" and "Sweat with Swagger" perfectly. It also includes training schedules, tips and advice (for beginner runners up to people contemplating ultra marathons). I might not have appreciated the book so much if I hadn't heard Robin's interviews first, but because I had heard her conversations with Rich Roll I could just hear her infectious laughter and attitude coming off the page as I devoured the book. Enjoyed it thoroughly. 

I really do recommend you listen to some of the conversations with Robin, she's a really unique woman, full of character!

Rich Roll Podcast #230 - Robin Arzon - Shut Up & Run 

Rich Roll Podcast #137 - Robin Arzon - Do Epic Sh*t!

Rich Roll Podcast #99 - Robin Arzon - How to Undo Ordinary

Started reading: 29/06/2016
Finished: 09/07/2016
My score: 9/10 if you like running :-)

"Finding Ultra" by Rich Roll

I've been loving listening to a lot of the Rich Roll podcasts lately, so I decided to read his book. It's a story about an unfit middle-aged lawyer who turns his life around by eating a plant-based diet and running ultra marathons and insane Ironman races. He now hosts podcasts where he interviews really fascinating people on all different topics from science, nutrition, athleticism, meditation, sleep, motivation etc.
I'm no where near as hardcore as this guy, but stories like his inspire me! It strengthens my belief that someone like me (who couldn't run even a few 100m without stopping a year or so ago) might be able to manage to run marathons or ultramarathons if I really want to do it and work towards it. On a personal note, I am currently training to run my first half marathon (21km) in August 2016!!

Started reading on my kindle 28th April 2016.
Finished: 14th May 2016
My score: 7.5/10

"Brooklyn" by Colm Toibin

I bought this book second-hand in New York in December at the Housing Works Bookshop & Cafe. I asked the staff if they could recommend some novels set in New York that were better than "Catcher in the Rye" which I had not enjoyed at all. One of the books they recommended to me was "Brooklyn" by Colm Toibin - apparently it is also being made into a movie coming out soon, so I thought I would read it now before I go to see the film at the cinema.

Started reading: 8th February 2016
Finished: 22nd February 2016
My score: 7/10

"The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver

This is the 3rd book by Barbara Kingsolver that I have read, and I have enjoyed them all. This one is a lot shorter than the others I have read so far. I really enjoyed the writing style, I felt I was there observing everything and hearing the characters voices and accents rather than just reading about them. The story follows Missy who buys a dodgy old car and sets out to drive until it breaks down then start a new life there, where ever that might be. It's like escaping from this small town in Kentucky is the only way to prevent becoming just another pregnant teenager with nothing much exciting to look forward to. She changes her name and becomes Taylor, and almost ironically given she's running away from the idea of becoming pregnant, she is given an Indian child at a roadhouse along the way. It seems a bit far fetched at this point but later it becomes apparent she is helping to rescue the child from an abusive environment. Her car ends up needing new tyres in Arizona which she can't afford, and while stopping to earn enough money to replace them she ends up starting a new life, with new friends and 'Turtle' her little Indian child. The second half of the book focuses on the relationships she forms with her new friends and neighbours, issues with bringing up Turtle without being her legal parent or guardian, and touches on illegal immigration issues, with one of her new friends sheltering a Mexican couple. While the writing is great and I kept turning the pages, things seemed a bit more superficial/cliched and predicable for the last part of the book. I read somewhere that the author also grew up in Kentucky and moved to Arizona, and the way she describes the country and the people probably draws on her own experiences as they are so realistic (particularly in the first half of the book I thought).

Started reading: 29th January 2016
 Finished: 4th February 2016
My score: 7.5/10

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Started reading on my kindle: 13th December 2015.
Finished: 28th January 2016
My score: 6.5/10

I really liked some of the ideas behind this book and thought it was really imaginative, but I also found it quite dark and a bit depressing.

"The catcher in the rye" by J.D. Salinger

I started reading this book on my kindle on a long haul flight from Sydney - Dallas, USA. I chose to read it 1) because it is set in New York and I was going to be lucky enough to spend a few days in New York later that month and wanted to read a novel set in that beautiful city, and 2) because it's a classic. Even though this book is a "classic" and is often studied at school, in my personal opinion it is poorly written and boring. The main character is unlikable, the plot goes nowhere really, the language used is repetitive...when I posted on Facebook that I was reading this book, all the comments my friends made were about how much they had disliked this book too, so I definitely would not recommend anyone waste time reading it.

However, if you are also looking to read a good book set in New York, I did stop off at one of my favourite shops in New York: The Housing Works Bookstore Cafe,  and asked the staff for some recommendations. They were very helpful and friendly as always and suggested the following authors and books:

- O.Henry
- Joseph Mitchell
- Edith Wharton 'New York Stories'
- Colm Toibin "Brooklyn"

I found a copy of Colm Toibin's "Brooklyn" and bought that, but haven't read it yet. The staff told me it was coming out as a film soon too. Does anyone else have any recommendations of good novels set in New York that they would like to share?



"The catcher in the rye" by J.D. Salinger
Started: 3rd December 2015
Finished: 13th December 2015
My score: 1/10

"We are all completely beside ourselves" by Karen Joy Fowler

I really enjoyed this book, but I don't know what to say in my review about it that wont completely give away the 'twist'. One of the reasons I think I really enjoyed this book was because I was completely unaware of what the twist might be or what was coming until the author revealed it, so i really don't want to spoil that for anyone else. I googled some reviews of this book to see how other reviewers dealt with this, but they all seem to give away the mystery. The book reminded me a little of the style of Barbara Kingsolver - interesting characters/plots and well-researched with believable scientific and historic details. The subject matter also reminded me a little of a book I read by Peter Goldsworthy, but again I better not go into that or it will give away the storyline. Incidentally one of the reviews I read this afternoon was a review  that was written by Barbara Kingsolver of "We are all completely beside ourselves". If you don't care that the twist will be given away, and just want to read a review, then you could click on that link. :-)

Started reading: 5th September 2015
Finished: 12th September 2015
My score: 8.5/10

"The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver

Although this book took me nearly 3 months to finish reading it, I really did enjoy it. It was quite a thick book and didn't often fit into my work bag, and as most of the reading I've been getting time for is on the bus to and from work lately this meant it took a lot longer than it should have to read this book.

It is an historical novel (my favourite genre), set mostly in Mexico (and partly in USA) during the 1930s-1950s. Although the main character, Harrison Shepherd, is completely fictional, there are plenty of other interesting real life characters woven into the story - for example the famous artist Frida Kahlo and the exiled Bolshevik leader Trotsky. The story is mostly in the form of a series of diary notebooks written by Harrison depicting his life and his interpretation of life and politics surrounding him, from childhood to the 1950s. Harrison writes well, really capturing what is going on around him, and I was fascinated especially by the sections of the book set in Mexico. I didn't know a lot of Trotsky and his exile in Mexico, but I was a little bit familiar with some of Frida Kahlo's self portraits, and Mexico is definitely on my travel bucket list. I was less interested in a section in the second half of the story that dealt with the era of Communist hunting in USA, and the series of reviews and fan mail letters associated with the novels that Harrison writes while living in the USA. I really did enjoy the book overall though, and it did capture some interesting people, places and events in history that I didnt know a lot about. If I had been reading this on my kindle I'm sure I would have finished reading this book in less than a month. 

Started reading: 5th June 2015
Finished: 30th August 2015
My score: 8/10