andrewspink's reviews
553 reviews

The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.5

This was classic space opera. A huge canvas, great imagination, big themes. It has the classic plot of a loner on a quest, helped and hindered by various aliens. The aliens, as usual, different morphology but human personalities. Large time scales are invoked. 
It also felt rather dated. The women were minor, flatter, characters. War is something to be trivialised. 
Nevertheless it was fun to read and i was through its nearly 700 pages in no time.

You Are Here by David Nicholls

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

This must be the most English book ever. Walking across the moors. Difficulty expressing emotions. Grotty pubs. Rain. Nice pubs and B&Bs (though I've never seen one with complimentary shortbread). The North - South divide. All very nostalgic.

The book is very funny in parts. There are lots of great lines like, 'Marnie had not attended an orgy though she had copy-edited many'. It reminded me of One man and his bog by Barry Pilton about walking the Pennine Way in the 80s. It was surprisingly literary, with all sorts of references to famous books, and even some which I didn't have to look up, and also using words like petrichor without feeling the need to explain. 

For a lot of the book, they are walking through places that I know (or knew) well, like the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. Northallerton gets several mentions; I lived there until age nine.  And I love Wainwright's books. That all certainly added an extra dimension. 

There was one rather strange aspect. The central characters are about 40 years old and they are repeatedly referred to as old. I was astonished to see that the author is about my age (born in 1966). Does he feel ancient? I'm sure that when I was 40, I didn't think that I was old. Was this humour?

Bottom line, a great read. A pity it was so short. Recommended.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-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

White Teeth is a famous book which I had been wanting to read for ages. I was not disappointed. It is amazing for a debut novel, richly layered, interesting insights into London's multi-cultural society, thoughts about the interaction of family, personal and country history. She also portrays how young men can get radicalised and at the same time rather ridicules the process in an amusing way. In general she pokes gentle fun at religions. Methodists (my background) even get several mentions. The plot is intricately intertwined and I'm sure I missed a lot of subtleties on a first read. 
It is nicely written. The book is long, over 500 pages, but it was such fun reading that it was no problem to read to the end. Normally, when authors try to put dialect into print, it is horrible and difficult to read. Zadie Smith did a nice job portraying Jamaican accents. 

Als het zaterdag wordt by Nicci French

adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

Quite a chunk of the book is taken up with characters from a previous book, up to something which makes little sense if you haven't read those books. Which isn't much fun. But aside from that, I enjoyed reading it. 

De uitvinder van de natuur: het avontuurlijke leven van Alexander von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf

adventurous informative slow-paced

3.5

In the beginning, the book was a bit heavy going, but after a while the narrative took over and I read it with pleasure. Humbolt was clearly an interesting and important man and having worked as a field ecologist, I could certainly relate to a lot of his exploits. In parts the book verges on an hagiography, with a stream of superlatives about how wonderful he was, and that was a sometimes a bit much. But, to be fair, Andrea Wulf also points out some of his shortcomings, like being disorganised and liking the sound of his own voice too much. 
She is at pains to point to his active opposition to slavery (which was by no means normal at that time) but rather skates over the effect that he and his fellow naturalists had on preparing the ground for colonial exploitation. The treatment of Native Americans (bizarrely called 'Indiaanen' in my version, the Dutch translation) is condemned, but Wulf still presents it as obviously within the colonists' rights to conquer their land. 
There are a huge number of footnotes, but (fortunately or otherwise) they are missing in my e-book. Also the publisher has not taken care that the photos are properly presented in the e-book, they are so small as to be almost useless, which is a pity. 
I was not so sure about the last two chapters. It is good to see that he also influenced people after his death, but I did get the impression that it was wandering off topic and the relationship between e.g. Walden and Humbolt was perhaps less direct than Wulf implies. The book is very long, it might have been better to have stopped with Humbolt's death. 
When I was a student, studying botany and ecology, I think Humbolt might have been mentioned in passing, but no more than that. This book does a great job in showing what a contribution he made and how it important it is to remember that. In many ways he was a very modern thinker and Wulf has done us a favour by reminding us of his life and work. 

Code to Zero by Ken Follett

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

Entertaining thriller. Unsurprising ending.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

You would imagine that a book about the problems of the publishing industry would not be so interesting, like when journalists start interviewing each other because they are standing around waiting for some momentous event and absolutely nothing is happening. But to my surprise, this book was great fun to read. Not only that, but it tackles themes like plagiarism, cultural appropriation and racism in a nuanced and entertaining way. I don't know if I will ever watch an author being interviewed in quite the same way again.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

"Perhaps he'll die this time" is a great first line. Although the title might give the impression that this is a run-of-the-mill science fiction story, there is a lot more to it than that. It tackles big issues like refugees, racism, multi-cultural societies, English identity, and even the sense of freedom that riding a bike gives you. There are also elements of a thriller with a nice building of suspense and some completely unexpected plot twists. I am inclined to agree with those who say that the ending is a bit weak. 
For those who like literary science-fiction, this is a must-read and for those who are not sci-fi fans but like a good story, I would also recommend it.

Terugkeer by Harlan Coben

emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

 

Harlan Coben (1962) is een Amerikaanse schrijver van bijna 40 spannende boeken en heeft ook veel prijzen gewonnen. Kenmerken van zijn boeken zijn de snelle actie, korte leesbare zinnen en onverwachte plotwendingen — en Terugkeer is niet anders. 

Het verhaal gaat over een seriemoordenaar die onopgemerkt blijft door altijd iemand anders erin te luizen. De moordenaar neemt een stuk DNA of andere sporen van iemand met een sterke motivatie om het slachtoffer daarna dood te maken. Vervolgens plaatst hij of zij het DNA zorgvuldig op de plaats delict. 

Myron Bolitar is de hoofdpersoon. Hij is jurist en zakelijk vertegenwoordiger van Greg Downing, die jaren geleden overleden is. Echter het DNA van Greg is op een plaats delict gevonden. Hoe kan dat? Als Myron dat probeert te ontdekken, brengt hij zichzelf in gevaar. En het gevaar komt niet alleen van de kant van de moordenaar... Er zijn veel onverwachte veranderingen in de verhaallijn en dat geeft een echt spannende leeservaring. 

Veel van het boek is vanuit een alwetende verteller geschreven. Een paar hoofdstukken zijn vanuit het perspectief van de moordenaar verteld maar dan in de tweede persoon (‘je pakt het pistool’). Dit extra perspectief werkt goed, maar ik vroeg me regelmatig af waarom Harlan Coben de vreemde je-vorm heeft gekozen. Helemaal op het eind wordt dat duidelijk en toen dacht ik terug aan die hoofdstukken en snapte ik dat er meer in zat dan op eerste gezicht duidelijk was. Leuk dat er meer diepte in dit boek is dan je van een thriller zou verwachten. 

Het boek is door twee mensen (Jan Pott en Annemarie Lodewijk) vertaald en ze hebben dat goed gedaan. Er is een Amerikaanse sfeer, maar de oorspronkelijke Engelse tekst is niet zichtbaar aanwezig.  Soms lees ik vertalingen van boeken uit het Engels (mijn eigen eerste taal) die   tenenkrommend letterlijk vertaald zijn of waar de vertaler gewoon het Engels niet begrepen heeft. Gelukkig was deze vertaling anders. 

Vaak zijn dit soort boeken vrij seksistisch met hulpeloos vrouwelijke slachtoffers en veel geweld tegen vrouwen. Alhoewel er wel wat geweld is, viel dat ook wel mee en de vrouwelijke personages zijn net zo sterk en complex als de mannen. 

Als je van spannende verhalen houdt, zou ik dit boek zeker aanbevelen. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

What a strange book! It tackles big themes, which is interesting,  but I found it hard to relate to or understand the characters.  Perhaps that is my problem,  not that of the book.