It's my stop on the "How We Remember" blog tour! This is certainly not a book that will leave you with a smile on your face, you won't put it down feeling warm and fuzzy. It's sad and bleak - Jo's life just seems to be one bad thing after another. That said, "How We Remember" is an interesting character study that looks at how something small can change who we are and what we become.
I didn't enjoy this collection of short stories. Each story felt unfinished and underwhelming and I found that I couldn't connect with anything I was reading. Like joining a conversation somewhere in the middle where you're not 100% what's going on, these stories seemed more like snippets from a wider story and this lack of connection meant I couldn't get into most of the stories. I didn't hate it, some stories were good, so it's 2 stars for "What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky".
"The Man I Think I Know" is a lovely story of male friendship and overcoming life's difficulties. It may be cheesy and predictable in parts, but it works and I've returned this book to the library with a smile on my face. Mike Gayle's getting 4 stars from me for this one.
Full of poignant moments, "My Name is Lucy Barton" is a story of few words but one full of meaning. Lucy is looking back at her life and the people who have helped shape it. It's realistic and it's honest. I'm scoring my first Elizabeth Strout book 4 shiny stars!
"Hotel Iris" is a novella that's opened a whole world of literature to me. Translated from Japanese, Ogawa tells a difficult story in a beautifully simply way. It may not be for everyone, and I know that this kind of book is always going to receive mixed reviews due to its tricky subject matter, but the writing style is right up my street and I personally can't wait to read more.
It's 3 stars for "The People at Number 9". It kept me entertained for a few days on the train, but I wasn't wowed by the story and felt let down by the promise of a creepy plot full of suspense when all we really got was domestic fiction.
I really felt that this book spoke to me. "Tin Man" is a beautiful story of childhood friends who fall in love. Yes, it's dreamy and it's whimsical, but don't we all need a bit of that once in a while?? 5 stars!
Here's another quick page turner from James Patterson. #13 in the series, "Private Delhi" was a lot better than "Private India" and gave me a little more encouragement to pick up another. It was slightly confusing at times but as it was fast paced this didn't matter too much, especially when I was more interested in the gore! It's 3 stars from me.
