raineachreads's reviews
44 reviews

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Hilarious, fun and an all round brilliant book! 
Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

‘Dust Child’ is a novel that examines the trauma of the Vietnam War both in the immediate but also in the long lasting ripple effects of those directly involved as well as their families and wider communities. Divided into three main story lines of a young girl who finds herself working in a bar during the war where she falls in love with an American soldier, a boy growing up as an orphan who is outcast due to having an American father and Vietnamese mother and a veteran returning to the country decades after fighting there. While the subject matter is heavy and doesn’t shy away from the realities of trauma and the different ways this is experienced and lived out, the book remains highly readable and engaging. 

Without giving away spoilers I loved how the author led the reader to believe they had worked out the conclusion only to weave the strands together to reveal something different. While trauma is without a doubt the main theme (the author has an academic background in this subject connected to the Vietnam War so does this extremely sensitivity and authentically)there are many sub- themes going on too. I don’t think you can end this book without thinking about morality, the importance of family and the messy realities of truth. While lies may be told or facts left out to try not to cause someone harm, in the long term this can have more far reaching painful consequences. What this book also did really well was to combine languages together, bringing another dimension again to the story. 

This is a book that will stay with me and continue to make me think in the days to come. 
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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

Living in Early Victorian London by MICHAEL. ALPERT

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This was a brilliant book! While there might be plenty to read about the Victorian era and what life was like during that time Alpert takes a unique angle through exploring the time with the famous Manning’s murder case as the backdrop. While the crime doesn’t take centre stage Alport explores the London they lived in, the streets they would have known, the transport that developed and what the lives of everyday people who they lived near would have been like. Using a mixture of primary sources, fiction written at the time and secondary sources the book is brimming with fascinating information and facts. While extremely informative the writing style never becomes dry and academic, instead Alport shows scenes so that the reader easily feels like they too are there witnessing it all. A fantastic book! 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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No Time Like The Past by Jodi Taylor

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

5.0

Walking With Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

You know if Jane Goodall has written an introduction to a book it’s going to be good. Having lived in Uganda and with nature writing being one of my favourite genres I also knew this would be a book I would enjoy. However despite that it completely went beyond expectations and turned out to be an inspiring, fantastic and educational read. Without a doubt my favourite book of 2023 so far. 

Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka not only defied the odds to become a vet in the first place but went onto become Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian. She became especially interested in mountain gorillas and spent time monitoring, treating and researching them near the Congolese border. What became apparent was how interconnected both animals and people are and how a community of humans can impact the lives of gorillas and vice versa. Realising how diseases could pass from humans to gorillas and also how social issues could lead to poaching Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka set up multiple initiatives and eventually an NGO that looked at addressing issues in both animal and human lives so that outcomes improved for both.

Written in a conversational style, though with plenty of evidence, references and details, this is a very easy to read book. I sat down to start reading it this morning and finished it in the same day as I wanted to know what happened next and was completely enthralled.

Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka own life is fascinating. She is a remarkable person who has faced multiple challenges but not given up. The difficulties instead made her more determined. Reading about her was inspiring and makes you want to go out and make positive changes in your own community. What really stood out for me however was her use of research methods to understand issues and then using solutions that involved the participation of communities. She explains how this makes sustainable changes and also allows communities to take the lead and ownership too. Using examples of medication, health, technology to animal welfare time and time again she shows just how successful this is as a process. While not shying away from the hardships and challenges involved this book provides a really good example of research, development work and conservation done correctly.

A brilliant book, I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time to come!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 
Magician by Raymond E. Feist

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

4.25

Read as part of the BBC’s top 100 book challenge. I’m getting nearer the end of the challenge and had been putting this one off as I didn’t think I would enjoy it. How wrong I was! This is a fast paced fantasy adventure novel that had a similar ish feel (though less wordy and complex) than Lord of the Rings. I particularly liked following the adventures of Pug. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is I was a bit disappointed by the ending, some of the problems seemed a bit too easily and conveniently solved.
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A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor

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adventurous emotional funny sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As usual Jodi Taylor gives you a book and demands payment for reading it by ripping out your heart, making you feel every emotion and then hands it back to you on the last page when you are sleep deprived from being up all night turning the pages as quickly as possible to find out what’s next. And somehow that’s truly wonderful!
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The Wild: The World's Most Spectacular Untamed Places by Claudia Martin, Claudia Martin

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adventurous informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0

‘The Wild’ is a stunning book of photographs taken on every continent. It is impossible not to look through this book and read information about all the different places and not be completely blown away by what an incredibly beautiful world we get to live in. Split by continents the book explores some of the last remaining spots of wilderness from deserts to forests, glaciers to canyons, animals to waterfalls and much more. What the book achieves very successfully is providing just the right amount of information with each photo. It’s written well and remains engaging, telling the reader what they’re looking at and often a fun snippet of information alongside this. I loved this so much I’ve read it twice today already!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.