schopflin's reviews
685 reviews

The Burglar Who Counted The Spoons by Lawrence Block

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

I really enjoyed this although it's really not about the mystery, much more about literature and obscure facts. I realise that Block has chosen to keep Bernie the same age (or he would be about 75 now) while New York ages and changes, but I am still uncomfortable with the number of college-age women he shags. 

The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

slow-paced

4.0

This is highly readable despite the complexity of some of the concepts. I have no background in neuroscience but I was able to follow these parts and understand them. From another aspect, this book is potentially life-changing. I wouldn't say my experiences were traumatic on the scale of the patients described here, but I recognised so many of the physical responses to stressful situations. Not least, the pure lack of safety I feel in relation to others. This isn't an easy read, but we'll worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Self harm, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Mrs. Ames by E.F. Benson

slow-paced

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

2.5

I was hoping to discover a new author, and Benson is clearly clever and able. His depiction of shallow, dull, self-deluding privileged people is masterful But I think you really have to be in the mood to want to spend time with them. 

The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

fast-paced

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

3.5

An enjoyable pageturner, requiring a certain amount of suspension of disbelief. 

The Benefit of Hindsight by Susan Hill

dark fast-paced

3.5

A good quality read, dark and disturbing. Good to have such a flawed character as the central detective.

I am very uncomfortable with the character of Colin Pegwell, as I think he is being coded as neuro-diverse but in a deeply negative way. It could be argued that he simply has a personality disorder but Hill risks perpetuating the myth that neuro-diverse people lack empathy and are cruel and unfeeling. I would expect better from an author of her calibre

The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

A pleasant re-read. Clara is a bit annoying but the social satire is good, as ever, and Will Belton is a hearthrob, albeit one with very poor boundaries. 

Michael Tippett: The Biography by Oliver Soden

medium-paced

4.5

A really excellent, readable, informative and quite moving biography. I actually don't know Tippett's music all that well, but it's inspired me to listen. And the fall in his popularity - I can't remember the last time I heard anything by him on Radio 3 not from Child of Our Time - is really quite fascinating. 

Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

Contrived and clever. I didn't like it very much but it certainly turned the pages. I am usually a huge Cara Hunter fan, and I am always happy to see good satire on television formats (which this is) but I actually think Janice Hallett did this kind of thing better in The Appeal. 

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

This is a re-read of what was my favourite Trollope. I still like it, but possibly for very different reasons. Twenty years ago I found the alcoholism chapters prolonged and difficult. Now I think it's one of the most powerful parts of the book. I still love it for it's amazingly mature study of the question 'What is a gentleman? What is a gentlewoman?'.

Hope to Die by Cara Hunter

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Another clever pageturner from Cara Hunter. I don't mind the fact that the characters aren't as enticing as, say, an Elly Griffith or Jane Casey. It centres the plot which is, as ever, disturbing and ingenious.