Jan 2023

Book Review: “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes

29th Jan 2023Leave a comment

Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon marks my fourth read of the year.

And my god did this book ruin me. I underestimated how much Charlie and Algernon’s tale would touch my soul.

Charlie, a man with severe learning difficulties, volunteers for groundbreaking surgery. Surgery that the researchers have only—thus far—performed on mice. But as the most successful mouse test subject begins to fade, all eyes turn to Charlie.

Beautiful, heartbreaking, through-provoking, profound. What can I say about Keyes’s novel that others haven’t already? If you still need to read it, I assure you it’s worth your time.

Flowers for Algernon is a classic for a reason.

Book Review: “All Systems Red” by Martha Wells

20th Jan 2023Leave a comment

Martha Wells’s All Systems Red—gifted to me by my good friend, Leander, for Christmas—is my third read of the year.

At 150 pages long, All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) is a lean book. And boy, Wells makes use of those pages.

The series’ titular Murderbot is hilarious, enigmatic, and loveable. We learn on page one that this bot has hacked its governor module, gone rogue, and dubbed itself Murderbot. Yet, Murderbot is trying to pass under the radar, so it continues working for its assigned humans. But, of course, that’s only the setup.

Wells crams so much world-building and character development in this little book. She does more than some authors achieve in three times as many pages. Thus, I can give it an emphatic recommendation.

I will check out the next instalments of the Murderbot Diaries soon.

Book Review: “Gerald’s Game” by Stephen King

15th Jan 2023Leave a comment

For my second read of the year, I took on Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game.

I read this couplet’s other half (or should that be its other dark half?), Dolores Claiborne, about a decade ago. I adored that book, and—surprise, surprise—I also loved Gerald’s Game.

The setup is fascinating. King sets the novel in a single room with a woman chained to a bed. As a writer, I’d never dare such a novel out of fear of boring the reader. After all, how much can one write about a woman lying in bed? But King is no ordinary writer, and Gerald’s Game grips the reader like anything else to which the man puts his mind.

I am a hardened horror fan, having loved the genre since I was a young boy. Yet, there are moments in Gerald’s Game that made me squirm. Fair warning, it’s not for the weak of stomach!

As I’ve always said since I picked up The Shining at the age of 13—in an almost religious mantra:

King is king.

Book Review: “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers

9th Jan 20239th Jan 2023Leave a comment

Becky Chambers’s A Psalm for the Wild-Built has the honour of being my first read of 2023.

And what it read it was.

It had all the beauty and warmth I’ve come to expect of Chambers, with so many quotable moments. I’m sure I drove my wife nuts with the number of times I interrupted her to read something cute aloud. But she knew what she was letting herself in for when she gifted me this for Christmas.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built differs from the type of book where a lot happens. Instead, it’s the type of book that fills your heart with the warmth of a good cup of tea. It’s also the type of book that makes you ponder deep, philosophical questions.

As with everything I’ve read from Chambers, I cannot recommend it enough.

I look forward to checking out A Prayer for the Crown-Shy soon.