wtb_michael's reviews
2165 reviews

Matrix by Lauren Groff

funny hopeful reflective

3.75

Eminently readable, filled with queer nuns and 12th century intrigue, not quite adding up to more than the sum of its parts 

Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon

adventurous challenging funny mysterious medium-paced

4.0

My favourite Pynchon - paranoia, terrible puns, ridiculous character names, random songs, all layered on a conspiratorial tech-crime plot 

Homesickness by Janine Mikosza

dark emotional slow-paced

2.75

Where We Swim by Ingrid Horrocks

informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

Thoughtful essays, ostensibly connected via swimming, but family and place shine through strongly 

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

4.0

Less wild than Arnott's earlier books, but rich with landscape and family and feeling 

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami

dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.75

Tense, multi-perspective novel about race and belonging in America. Skillfully done, but it occasionally drifts into being didactic 

Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson

challenging informative medium-paced

3.0

Freewheeling blend of criticism and memoir, whose key reference points were a bit outside my cultural knowledge 

Free Love by Tessa Hadley

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Brilliant, timeless - feels like something that would turn up on Backlisted as a forgotten 70s classic 

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

dark funny fast-paced

4.25

Wild, smart, funny and odd - this is a dazzling ride, especially once the titular family arrive on the scene. Ty 

@lamitchell__

 for the treat 

Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi

dark emotional

4.25

 Harrowing portrait of poverty, corruption and sexual violence in the slums of Mauritius