andrewspink's reviews
553 reviews

A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a strong narrative about inequalities in Nigeran society, the role of chance in how our lives turn out and how sometimes there is no escaping the role that is destined by belonging to the class and society that we are born into. The book gives interesting (and I hope exaggerated) insights into Nigerian society, but what it says about human nature is universal. 

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

For some reason, I've read several books about slavery in America recently. This one was somewhat easier to read, I got through its many pages in no time at all, and although the horrors are portrayed plainly enough, it is not quite so heart-rending as some other books I have read. Nevertheless, to read that  'by law, a slave was three-fifths of a person' and that to speak out against slavery was an imprisonable offence was quite striking.
What is also a bit different is that there are two protagonists, an enslaved woman and a woman who becomes an abolitionist. Both are based on historical figures - I wish I had known that before I started. The abolitionist is the more important character in the book, which I guess would not be the case if the book was written now. 
Of course, reading that book now, in the time when such books are being banned in the US and the Trump administration is doing what it can to rewrite history, gives it an added edge. Near the beginning, someone says to Sarah, 'This is our way of life, make your peace with it.'  You could imagine the white supremacists in the White House coming out with a similar utterance today.

77 puntjes op de i: perfect Nederlands voor anderstaligen by Emily Palmer

informative slow-paced

4.0

This book is just right for someone who has been living here for a long time and speaks understandable Dutch, but still makes grammatical mistakes. Just like me, in fact. I learnt a lot using it and the exercises were good. 

Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene by Donna J. Haraway

informative mysterious slow-paced

3.0

Five for it's interesting ideas and one for the writing! Even though the book is quite short, it was a struggle to read due to rhe dense flowery language. She makes up words like naturalcultural with no explanation. I can guess a little what she means but don't really know. A glossary would have been great, not only for those words, but also for the many technical terms used. She persists is using 'critters' for animals (and apparently sometimes for other things like machines) which (not being American) I found a little irritating.  Alongside that folksy word, she prefers the Latin Terra for earth for no apparent reason. By contrast, concept that everyone knows,  like sms and gps, are explained.
Sometimes there are whole sentences which I cannot make head nor tail of. I have no idea what she means by "corals align with octopuses" for example.
There are a few errors. Arabidopsis is not mustard. The flowers of orchids like Ophrys don't just look like the genitals of insects, but the whole (female) animal. In general she sells plants a little short. For example, "plants are animals's lifelines to communicate with the abiotic world" places plants in a hierarchy below animals, which seems to run against the spirit of the rest of the book.
So, it was a difficult,  frustrating read. But nevertheless,  the attempt to see evolutionary relationships as more cooperative than competitive, and from a feminist viewpoint did make the struggle worthwhile. 

The Regolith Temple by Roxana Arama

adventurous reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The book is based around the concept that we are both body and mind - and what might thi  mean for the idea of uploading our minds into a computer.  It also explores a number of other concepts like the role of organised religion and the (im)possibility of establishing a colony on Mars (the 'awful planet'). That is precisely what good science fiction should do - explore societal themes by means of a story, or even literature.  
There were some elements which I particularly liked. One of the characters was a 'retired botanist with a passion for technology', which could sort of describe me, except I dislike the over used term 'passion' about ones work. I really like the idea of a 'gossip tense' in a local language.  
I was worried that it was going to be the start of a series with a cliff hanger but thankfully it had a proper ending. 

Mania by Lionel Shriver

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is a funny satire, which I enjoyed. On the face of it, it is about anti-intellectualism, which is indeed a great problem in society and needs a good poke. I do get annoyed at news items where 'the man in the street ' gets as much air time as the professor who knows what they are talking about. 
With all the recent stuff about how it is forbidden in the US to use perfectly normal words like 'gender', and all the book bans, it is also very timely.
What I am less happy about is that the book could also be taken to be 'anti-woke' with 'the N word' not being 'allowed' and parts could be perceived (as it were) to be an attack on US positive discrimination policies.
Nevertheless,  the book is both entertaining and thought-provoking and you can't ask for more than that. 

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by J. J. Sutherland, Jeff Sutherland

informative fast-paced

3.0

On the one hand, this was an easy read, with lots of anecdotes carrying you along. One the other hand, the ego of the writer was an enormous hinderance. How many times did we have to hear that he used to be a fighter pilot (apparently something to be proud of)? All his projects were a huge success, and every time that someone used Scrum it worked like a dream. Except of course we all know that in real life that isnt the case and there was clearly some serious cherry picking going on. The method certainly has advantages, but the hysteria of the book was rather over the top.  

Het laatste voorjaar by Minke Douwesz

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sometimes you read a book to learn about a different culture (or situation, or time, or whatever) than your own and sometimes it is nice to read a book which you can relate to. I thought this book would be the former, but actually it was more of the latter. A feest van herkenning. For a start, the book is based on a long cycle ride by the main protagonist. Then various scenes are in places I know well. When they walk from Sonsbeek Park in Arnhem, they must have gone within a hundred meters of my daughter's house. Her mother taught botany (which I studied as a student) - fancy that being a separate school subject previously!
Sometimes when a book references other books it is to ones that I have never read, but in this case there were a lot that I have read and enjoyed.  Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk gets a few mentions, and I had great fun reading that.
The book was readable, but I did have to look up more words than usual (including krols, snaaks, dralen, versjteerde and hovaardij). I was happy to be reading an e-book where the dictionary is just a click away.
For much of the long cycle ride. Ese is thinking about various things. That gives the author scope to not only develop the plot as to what lead up to her decision to go on this ride and so on, but also to ponder various issues. For instance, what is the use of learning the names of plants and animals? 'Names, different words for each separate thing, sharpen your observations, the ability to tell things apart'. So true! Also the discussion on whether domestic cats should be kept indoors. Surely the availability of food and habitat determines their population size, not predation pressure? 'It is convenient for the agricultural organisations and project developers to suddenly give cats the blame'.
Tomorrow we discuss the book in our book club. I am lloking forward to hearing what the others thought of it.

Sneeuwblind by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 Een typische Scandinavische thriller met leuke plotwendingen, duistere karakters en sneeuw. Ik las het boek met veel plezier en hoe meer ik las hoe meer was ik meegezogen door het verhaal. Precies wat je wil in een thriller. 

Al de IJslands namen waren wel apart. Het was leuk up op te zoeken hoe je moest ð uitspreken (blijkbaar, net as een Engels 'th'). Ik vond wel dat Heiðar, Hörður en Hafdís lijkten te veel op elkaar en was ik af en toe daarover wat in de war. Maar dat is in ieder geval beter dan (zoals met Harry Potter) alle karakters stomme Nederlandse namen geven. Het boek wisselde tussen 'nu' en het verleden, maar gelukkig was dat duidelijk per hoofdstuk aangegeven en daar was het goed te volgen.  Het samen vlooien van de twee verhaallijnen is goed gedaan; soms weet je als lezer ietsje meer dan de politie in het heden, soms minder. 

Op één punt was ik minder tevreden. Het is moeilijk om over de plot van een thriller te schrijven zonder spoilers. Maar ik wil zeggen dat het leuk is om te proberen uit te vogelen wie de moordenaar is en in dit boek is dat onmogelijk tot een laat stadium.

Maar dat hebben gezegd, ik zou 'Sneeuwblind' zeker aanbevelen aan liefhebbers van Scandinavische thrillers, of inderdaad thrillers in het algemeen.  

Gliff by Ali Smith

challenging funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very entertaining,  laughing-out-loud funny in places and you just want to keep on reading. I was half way through before I even realised that there were no speech marks. Apparently they are not necessary. 
The author uses what turns out to be a very clever device. The book is written from the point of view of a boy. That means that he doesn't understand what is going on and just accepts completely preposterous things as  normal. As he gradually sees what the world is really like, so we too discover the truth. Normally books with children protagonists are for children,  but this is very much not so.
Not only a gripping read, but also thought-provoking.