My Top Ten Books of 2020

 In no particular order, they are:

1) Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd

2) Surge, Jay Bernard

3) Second Sister, Chan Ho-Kei

4) The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, Eva Rice

5) Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (Akala)

6)) Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams

7) On The Come Up, Angie Thomas

8) The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead

9) Saving Mona Lisa, Gerri Chanel

10) The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern

I hope you'll be able to check these out if you haven't already! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Becky :)

My Books of 2020

I've been lucky enough to read a great amount of books this year. A lot have been reviews by request, and the rest either I've wanted to read for ages or recommendations I've had from Twitter and Instagram. In a first for me, there are more non-fiction books on the list for this year than all my previous years of reviewing put together.

As close to chronological order of my reading them, they are below:

 

1) The Other You, S. J. Monroe

2) The Widows' Club, Amanda Brooke

3) Carbon Game, Miles Montague

4) Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd

5) The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Ken Liu

6) Surge, Jay Bernard (poetry)

7) The Treadstone Resurrection, Joshua Hood

8) Second Sister, Chan Ho-Kei

9) LOT Stories, Bryan Washington

10) Everything Is Going To Be K.O, Kaiya Stone

11) Vagabonds, Hao Jingfang (Translated into English by Ken Liu)

12) The Queen's Choice, Anne O'Brien

13) Before I die, Jenny Downham

14) The Amber Keeper, Freda Lightfoot

15) The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, Eva Rice

16) The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Cristy Lefteri

17) The Sideman, Caro Ramsay

18) The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

19) Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race, Renni Eddo-Lodge

20) White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo

21) Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, Akala

22) How To Be An Antiracist, Dr Ibram X. Kendi

23) Brit(Ish), Afua Hirsch

24) Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo

25) Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams

26) On This Day In History, Dan Snow

27) Life On The Refrigerator Door, Alice Kuipers

28) Christmas Cakes & Mistletoe Nights, Carole Matthews

29) Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal

30) Sepulchre, Kate Mosse

31) Skincare, Caroline Hirons

32) The Hen Who Believed She Could Fly, Sun-Mi Hwang

33) Another Time, W. H. Auden

34) On Writing, Stephen King

35) The Call Of The Wild, Jack London

36) The Happy Prince and Other Stories, Oscar Wilde

37) The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum

38) Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories, Washington Irving

39) Alice In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

40) Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

41) Normal People, Sally Rooney

42) The Railway Children, E. Nesbit

43) Robinson Crusoe, William Defoe

44) The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

45) The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas

46) A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett

47) The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

48) Hurting Distance, Sophie Hannah

49) On The Come Up, Angie Thomas

50) Playdate, Alex Dahl

51) The Englishman, David Gilman

52) The Puritan Princess, Miranda Malins

53) Set My Heart To Five, Simon Stephenson

54) CrimeDotCom, Geoff White

55) Son of Escobar, Roberto Sendoya Escobar

56) The Interpreter from Java, Alfred Birney

57) Even If We Break, Marieke Nijkamp

58) The Marriage of Innis Wilkson, Lauren H. Brandenburg

59) Psychiatrist In The Chair, Brendan Kelly and Muiris Houston

60) Number 10, C. J. Daugherty

61) Saving The World, Paola Diana

62) The Salt Path, Raynor Winn

63) My Sister’s Bones, Nuala Ellwood

64) The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead

65) A God In Every Stone, Kamila Shamsie

66) Black and British, David Olusaga

67) Saving Mona Lisa, Gerri Chanel

68) Last Flight To Stalingrad, Graham Hurley

69) The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern

70) Kiss Me At Christmas, Susan Mallery

 

 Lockdown and being on maternity leave has certainly helped with giving me lots of time to read! See the next blog post for my top ten. 

Review: Saving The World by Paola Diana

 This book almost breathes fire with how passionate it is. It’s a fantastic and fascinating exploration of gender equality that draws a line throughout history to show how the status of women has changed and somewhat progressed over time. However, as Paola explains, there is still a long way to go. 

The brevity of this book and its whistle stop tour of different facets of the status of women and feminism make it a perfect introduction and primer for those interest in feminism and its history. The author presents her research and her opinions clearly and passionately and, while I didn’t agree with all of her opinions, it certainly gave me food for thought about why I hold the positions I do and how I can progress in my learning in this area. 

One thing, however, seems for sure - if all women were respected and valued as powerful white men, the world would be in a much better position than it currently is. 

Review: Number 10 by C. J. Daugherty

 Number 10 is a great crossover of genres between YA and thrillers, set in the seat of U.K. politics without taking a particular stance. 

Gray, the protagonist, is the daughter of the Prime Minister, and as such is of great interest to the press. The fact that she is a teenager doesn’t give paparazzi a moment’s pause in their pursuit of her. 

After she gets photographed leaving a party horrendously drunk, Gray’s mother grounds her for two weeks. However, it’s not long before Gray finds out there’s more at work.

She explores tunnels and corridors in the No 10 complex and, one night, ends up finding herself in the Houses of Parliament, during the time when her mother is leading an important debate. Cornered in an office, she hides and hears important members of the government plotting to kill her mother. Gray teams up with an unlikely ally - the son of the leader of the opposition. 

This is definitely YA genre I can get behind. I feel like I’ve read so much YA fantasy and dystopia, so the thriller sub genre feels fresh and different. The story is pacy and layered, with twists, turns, and unlikely betrayals.

My only question is this: will there be a sequel? A) because I have a lot of questions and B) there’s too much I don’t know that I feel I should at the end. 

Overall, a very enjoyable and quick read that I highly recommend for YA readers. 

Psychiatrist in the Chair, by Brendan Kelly and Muiris Houston

 This fascinating biography dives into the life and work of renowned psychiatrist, Anthony Clare. 

Growing up in Ireland, Clare had two paths expected of him by his parents: law or medicine. Clare didn’t want to do law so went down the medical route, even though he would have excelled at journalism. 

Having specialised in psychiatry, Clare sought to turn the world on its head. From research into mental health and illness, and the need for more community based support, to studying symptoms of PMS in women, Clare’s research was as wide as it was deep. 

Most known for hosting the show, In the Psychiatrist’s chair”, he became praised for interviews that were deft, deep, and insightful.

The authors have done a huge justice to Anthony Clare. I didn’t know who he was but having read this book, I can immediately see both the narrow and wider impact Clare had on the world of psychiatry, both with individual patients, students, and research and writing that still remains essential to this day. 

It’s a fascinating read with interesting surprises about a man who sought to, and did achieve, so much, 

Review: The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson by Lauren H. Brandenburg

 This novel is the sequel to The Death of Mungo Blackwell, one of my favourite books that I read last year, so I jumped at the chance to read its sequel. 

The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson did not disappoint. Although reading Mungo Blackwell would be helpful for context, it’s not necessary as this novel works well as a stand-alone. 

Anyway. Margarette Toft and Roy Blackwell are engaged to be married. The only problem is the whole Romeo and Juliet situation they’ve found themselves in. Their feuding families are deeply unhappy with the match and keep giving subtle and not so subtle hints to call it off. Will Margarette and Roy make it to their vows? No spoilers here! 

I love Lauren’s writing and the world she has created. I think it’s set in America but it could so easily be a small quintessential English village. The characters are quirky and endearing, the setting idyllic, and the mystery and comedy mix together well. It’s a story that is fun, uplifting and ultimately heartwarming. It feels like a good cup of tea and chocolate biscuit while huddled under a blanket on a rainy evening. 

Review: Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

 You know shit's about to go down when five teenagers head off to a cabin in the woods for the weekend. The question is: what, and how?

For Finn, Ever, Carter, Liva, and Maddy, disparate in their everyday lives but bound together by their love of LARPing, this weekend represents a chance of redemption and to mend the fractures between them. Ever, creator of the game, is the most emotionally invested due to their bleak short term prospects compared to the rest of the group. Liva, the rich girl in all typical ways except her unlikely love of the game, gifts the use of the cabin for the weekend - it's a perfect setting and truly an escape. Finn, who was attacked a few weeks back due to homophobia, never wanted to come but wanted to do it for Ever. Maddy, a girl with Autism and PTSD from a car accident, is there because she wants to be but it's more effort for her than everyone else. And Carter, obligated to prove himself to his family, sees it as a welcome escape from his burdens. 

However, as we can guess from the genre, things begin to unravel quickly. Liva had already told them about ghost stories from the mountains, involving bloody hands, a music box, and tiny figurines left behind, and these signs soon present themselves along with others. The fire blazes out of control. Doors lock automatically, with no way of unlocking or smashing them. Notes pertaining to everyone's dark secrets present themselves. And, before long, it escalates to murder. 

Members of the group are picked off one by one. Liva, whose character dies in the game, goes missing. Maddy is tempted by her darkest vice. Carter is picked off in the dark by a familiar voice. And then this someone comes for Finn and Ever. 

Marieke Nijkamp pulls no punches in her prose. From page one, things begin to fall apart figuratively and literally within the group. The mountain setting, though typical, is used to good effect. The use of the game is a particularly interesting and clever device as the actions of the game's characters mirror and magnify the tensions between the real life group members. 

The only thing I was left confused by was the reveal. The person responsible makes sense, but their motives seem a bit disproportionate, but perhaps a second read will help me make more sense of it. 

All in all, this is a cracking thriller read with a dash of good old-fashioned fantasy thrown in within the context of the game. 

  

Review: The Interpreter from Java by Alfred Birney

 With the legacy of the British Empire being all encompassing, it's sometimes easy to forget that there were other European countries building empires and committing atrocities in those countries. This novel explores periods during the Second World War and the post-war period in Indonesia, then known as the Dutch East Indies. 

Alan Nolan discovers his father's memoirs about his service during the war and post-war period - and the atrocities he committed. Though his official title was 'interpreter', his role included the interrogation and murder of Indonesian freedom fighters, desirous to throw off Dutch colonial rule after the Japanese were expelled from Indonesia. 

The first half of the novel mainly deals with Alan and his siblings, and the physical and psychological abuse they suffered at the hands of their father, an escapee to Holland from the brutal reprisals of the Indonesians against the Dutch and those who fought with them. They lived under their father's reign of terror until the eldest boys were thirteen, at which point all of the siblings were transferred to a children's home for their own safety. When Alan became an adult, he discovered his father's memoirs and, reading them, he started to see how his monster of a father got created.

This novel is blunt, brutal, and unsparing in its unpacking of the post-war period in Indonesia and the legacy it created on a wider level but, most importantly, in the individuals involved. Had Arto, the father, not been part of the service on the side of the Dutch, committing brutal acts, would he have gotten to the point where he was so plagued with his deeds that he became abusive towards his own children? How much of his abuse was from him and how much was because of his clear PTSD, not just from the war and after but from the abuse he himself endured as a child?

This novel is searing and brilliantly written but I would advise that if descriptions of abuse are triggering for you, that you steer clear. 

New Review: Son Of Escobar, First Born by Roberto Sendoya Escobar

 Before I write my actual review of this book, for transparency's sake I will explain that I got tagged in a tweet by a journalist for the inews, Etan Smallman, who did an in-depth article countering claims that the author of "Son of Escobar" made. The link, if you're interested, is here: https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/pablo-escobar-son-phillip-witcomb-book-friends-claims-doubts-fiction-612281

This book is written by Pablo Escobar's eldest son, Roberto, who writes that he was found in a safe house after a deadly shoot-out. He was adopted by an MI6 agent, Phillip Witcomb, and his wife, who stayed in Colombia. The cover was working with a business called De La Rue, while covertly working with gangs, such as Escobar's, in order to keep track of the rise and fall of smuggling and money-laundering in the country. 

Roberto describes the rise and rise of Pablo Escobar, whose name is recognised worldwide. One of the most notorious drug lords to have ever existed, the book describes how his rise happened partly because of the facilitation of American and British governments, rather than in spite of their intervention. Roberto describes how he never knew he was adopted until the day he was dropped off at boarding school in England, (as a soon-to-be adoptive parent myself, I can tell you that that is categorically one of the worst ways you can tell your child you adopted them), and never knew he was Pablo's son until he was an adult. 

The book reads almost like a blockbuster movie. It's extremely compelling, suspenseful, and nail-biting in places. Whatever the disputes over the claims made in the book, it's definitely worth the read due to its brilliant telling. Maybe just take it with a pinch of salt. 

New review: CrimeDotCom by Geoff White

The internet and the World Wide Web are two of the most profound inventions in the history of the world. They have impacted the world in myriad ways an for as many advantages as they bring, they have also unfortunately brought ever more complex problems to solve.  The million dollar question is, can we truly ever be safe online? By that I mean a few things; can our data be stored safely, can we retain digital privacy, and an we trust the companies who promise those things?

Geoff White's explosive new book shows that there may never be an end to this conflict. For as the web keeps improving and expanding, there will always be those with a drive to find and exploit holes, whether for monetary gain or just for the challenge. 

Geoff White's book takes us on a whistlestop ride of some of the most major crimes and hacks to have affected the digital world that have had very tragic consequences. From credit card fraud - a so-called victimless crime, a myth which Geoff White thoroughly debunks - and the hacking of the NHS, to hugely ambitious nation-state attempted hacks, such as a time when Ukraine's entire power grid was switched off. 

Each chapter reads like some sort of heist or hacking movie plot. It's hard to believe, for those like myself wholly unacquainted with the world of tech apart from the very basics needed to go about my daily life, that such things are not fiction. But the world of cybercrime, state sponsored digital warfare, and geopolitics are becoming frighteningly ever more intertwined. And none is more worrying than the chapter that deals with hacking the vote. Those whom have followed the excellent work of Carole Cadwalladr will be familiar with the Cambridge Analytica story that Geoff White talks about in this book. The internet and world wide web seems to have begun as a great egalitarian project, or even just a more efficient way of working, but with the rise of big tech and power concentrated in the hands of a very few, very flawed (as it turns out) people, we have to be more stringent than ever to protect ourselves online. 

I thought that I wouldn't understand a lot of the terminology used in this book, but I needn't have worried. Geoff White explains terms like end-to-end encryption, concepts like Bitcoin, and the Dark Web, in very easy-to-understand terms without ever feeling condescending. His passion for the world of cybersecurity and the human stories behind it is palpable. It also feels a bit like being able to arm oneself against so many of the run-of-the mill crimes that are being attempted by individual or low level hackers throughout the world. 

The internet isn't going away. Companies are coming up with more sophisticated ways of preventing hacking and theft of things most precious to us, even if we aren't aware of their value as we should be. But, as the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed so I highly recommend this book. Not just because it's a thoroughly interesting read, but because it will give you a good foundation of what it means, as a human, to be online and how to navigate that space while protecting and guarding ourselves on it. 

Review: Set My Heart To Five by Simon Stephenson

It is the year 2054. A few decades previously, humans got collectively locked out of the internet and chaos. A few decades later and society was reimagined, with bots (a combination of human DNA and software engineering) living among humans. The main bot of this story is a dentist called Jared who is living a pleasant life until one day when a strange number appears. He realises it is the number of teeth he will see for the remainder of his bot life. He consults his human doctor friend who, after some questions, diagnoses him with depression. Jared thinks this can’t be true because he is a bot and can’t feel things.

Eventually he discovers that his friend was right and sets out to make a difference in his life. The only problem is that if he does that, he will be tracked by the Bureau of Robotics and his memory will be wiped.

He flees across America to Los Angeles where he sets out to write a movie. He also meets a woman who he falls in love with before realising that time is running out for him.

This novel is charming and quirky with a huge depth of feeling that builds as we discover with Jared what it means to be human. As Jared is a bot, he presents to us the inconsistencies and illogical instances that happen as a result of being human, which don’t always mean negative results but can nevertheless be nonsensical.

Set My Heart To Five is published soon and set to be a major motion picture.

Review: The Puritan Princess by Miranda Malins

Say the name “Oliver Cromwell” and most people will immediately think of a few choice words or events. Villain, tyrant, ruthless, Ireland. The Pogues even wrote a song about him, hoping he would rot in hell! 

As the person who led the Parliamentarians to victory against Charles I, he eventually became Lord Protector of England rather than king. Several long-standing myths about him exist: he banned Christmas, music, art - basically anything fun. 

This novel will put paid to a lot of those myths for we find a very different Cromwell. 

The Puritan Princess tells the story of the Cromwell from the pov of his daughters. The family see their fortunes change dramatically, from run of the mill gentleman farmer and relatives to the first family in England, living like a royal family in all but name.

I didn’t know much about the interregnum period, but it’s a lot more conflict driven than I thought. The factions and political games are worthy of the Tudors. The court is a lot more lavish than one would have expected given their criticisms of Charles I, and the music and art scene just as dynamic. 

I loved the micro and macro dramas in the book, both on the family level and the national level. One section of the book, I won’t say which, had me weeping. Malins has breathed life into this family who are not universally talked about, particularly in school, which seems shortsighted given their significance. It is so well researched and dramatised historical fiction and I would have seriously enjoyed spin offs about each member of the family. Fans of historical fiction will really love this book. 

Review: The Englishman by David Gilman

Events and conflict on the border of Mali and Algeria connect to a brutal kidnapping in London. A London police officer sends one of his team to track down an elusive ex-French Foreign legionnaire in the middle of nowhere.

All of these events have connections delicate as spider webs, with one man in the middle connecting them. And Dan Raglan needs to find him, fast.

The Englishman is part thriller, part action, part mystery ‘whodunnit’ in equal measures. The action is well-paced, the plot well crafted, and satisfying as a popcorn-page-turner: From deserts in Africa to back-ends of London, to the freezing middle of nowhere Russia, Dan Raglan faces his fears and his foes, never doubting he will succeed but mindful of the cost along the way.

If you’re a fan of Bourne-like action stories, then The Englishman will definitely be worth a read.

Review: Playdate by Alex Dahl

"Have you seen Lucia Blix?

Lucia went home from school for a playdate with her new friend Josie. Later that evening, Lucia's mother Elisa dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight. That was the last time she saw her daughter. The next morning, when Lucia's dad arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia.  In Playdate, Alex Dahl puts a microscope on a seemingly average, seemingly happy family plunged into a life-altering situation. Who has taken their daughter, and why?"

I hadn't read a thriller for quite a while, so when I got an invitation to review "Playdate" by Alex Dahl, I jumped at the chance.

Elisa Blix, a married mother of two children, is working as a flight attendant. Busy, stressed, and constantly preoccupied, she nevertheless is reluctant to agree to a playdate between her daughter Lucia and another little girl she's never met before. The mother wins her over - Line is cool, sophisticated, and friendly, and Elisa ultimately decides no harm will be done. The playdate extends to a sleepover, Lucia's first, and Elisa thinks nothing of it. 

It's not until she's on a work flight back home the next day that she realises what a terrible mistake she's made. 

Playdate hits the ground running and doesn't stop. The narrative is divided between Elisa, Lucia a journalist called Selma, Jacqueline who tries to convince Lucia that she is her real mother, and Marcus, a prisoner doing time for manslaughter. The changes between narrators is slick and skilfully done, each devoting just the right amount of time to fill in a piece of the story without giving too much away. Elisa, particularly, is a well-drawn out character. A loving, devoted mother, but with a flawed past that makes you question that although the reader is rooting for her to get her daughter back, her actions make her much less sympathetic. Jacqueline, too - although she is literally a child abductor, reading about her reasons why makes you question whether she or not she deserves a sliver of sympathy for what happened to her. Elisa's and Jacqueline's stories, after all, are deeply interconnected as we find out towards the end. 

It's a fast-paced, carefully and meticulously crafted story, suspense dangling all the way through until a satisfying conclusion that leaves the reader to wonder what will happen to these characters after the close of the novel. Questions are left unanswered that leaves the characters running off with a life of their own. It's  not a black-and-white good-and-bad people story, it challenges the reader to question where their sympathies lie. 

If you're a fan of novelists like Sophie Hannah, then I urge you to give this novel your time. 

Review: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

This Booker Prize winning novel almost needs no more reviews adding to the hundreds of glowing ones it has received so far, but it is such an incredible piece of work that I couldn't not write about it.

The novel follows twelve women from different walks of life. The first four of the chapters are grouped into three characters, and these three characters are either friends or family. However, the whole cast of characters are linked together in some way, some links being looser than others.

The stories cover a great many things but at the heart of it all is what it means to be a Black woman in the U.K. There are lots of intersections to these experiences - sexuality, gender identity, relationships, immigration status, class, engaging with so called 'meritocracy'. The experiences of the collective span decades, and we see how differently the older ones live than the younger ones according to attitudes of the time.

The novel is almost as much poetry as prose. Not a full stop to be seen anywhere but the prose runs freely and lyrically as if it were balancing the tightrope between conventional sentences and blank verse. The effect glues your eyes to the page, not wanting to be interrupted until the end of a character's story or chapter to understand just what happened, why these women fit together.

Too often in the media, films and TV, Black people are treated as one of two stereotypes: the thug/gangsta, or someone extraordinary. The latter is as much damaging, in my opinion, as the former. It's often said that Black people have to work twice as hard to get half as much as a White person. In all of these cases, what seems to happen is that Black people are seen as Black first, human second, and this doesn't happen with White people. This book celebrates and shines a light on the experience of Black women, in all their humanity and, yes, their Blackness. It is a stunning, invigorating read that challenges us to do away with the stereotypes of Black women and just see their stories in their richness and vibrancy.

Review: Brit(Ish) by Afua Hirsch

Growing up White, there were many things I didn't have to think about: being the only person with my skin colour at school; having a 'foreign' sounding name; people saying strange things to me, like, "Don't worry, Becky, we don't see you as White". I never had trouble figuring out my identity and how I fit into society because I just did. England, Britain, is my home and that was never questioned, either by me or by strangers.

So, why isn't this same courtesy extended to all British people, rather than just those with White skin?

This question forms the basis of Afua Hirsch's book. Born to a White, Jewish father and Ghanaian mother, she grew up in Wimbledon, the most quintessential English place one could think of, and had a privileged childhood thanks to her parents making huge sacrifices for it. But that wasn't the whole story. As a teenager, she wasn't allowed in a certain shop because she looked like a criminal (spoiler alert: because of her skin). Her friends told her, "Don't worry, we don't really see you as Black". She lived in a White community and had no idea how to access her culture. And this all just compounded at Oxford, the epitome of the intersections of Whiteness and elitism.

The book, Brit(ish), gives Afua the space to explore the struggles she faced in her own identity as well as the journey on an international scale which meant that millions of Black or mixed-race people in Britain had this identity crisis, or struggle to belong. It questions how Britain has not really come to terms with its history of the Empire, of immigration, and treatment of Black people, and how this helps precisely no one. There are also some stark facts about the slave trade here, too. When Britain passed the Abolition Act, there were 800,000 slaves in the British-held Caribbean islands. Their 'value' was £47 million. The British government agreed to pay £20m in compensation to the slave OWNERS, not the enslaved. To boot, the enslaved had to work FOR FREE for another FOUR YEARS to pay the rest of the debt!

It's these kinds of things that are just not taught in schools (I will certainly be making the change in my own educational setting) and if they were, it would make so much more of a difference than simply sweeping it under a carpet and hoping it never comes up.

Afua Hirsch looks at many things - class, spaces, bodies, and more - and what the Black experience has been in those different ways thanks to the construction of racism. Bodies, in particular, are fetishized or reviled. White people are too defensive to have a conversation about it because they feel personally attacked or accused of racism, when actually we just need to be open minded about the system we live in and are unconsciously complicit in.

 

"How To Be An Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi

Since the death of George Floyd sparked a global outcry, building to what will hopefully continue to grow into a movement, lots of people (particularly White) have been asking what they can do to help. As part of my commitment to being part of this movement, I've been reading into what it means not just to be "not racist" but "anti-racist", denoting action rather than the passivity of being "not racist".

Ibram X. Kendi has written a powerful book with just that title. The main thing I've learned from this book is that being an anti-racist is a choice that we must make every day, requiring continual reflection on our thoughts and perceptions of people of other racialised groups. Separating his book into different themes, such as sexuality, gender, and culture, Kendi has researched and explored what racism means at each of these different levels rather than just a macro, nationwide or global level. He explains the history of racism - that it, how it was created by the Portuguese in order to begin the transatlantic slave trade - and how it has seeped into every part of society.

Each chapter begins with what it means to be a racist and an anti-racist for that particular area. For example, ethnic racism is about racist policies that lead to inequalities between racialised ethnic groups (e.g. mixed-race or biracial people vs Black people with darker skin) vs ethnic antiracism which is about antiracist policies that lead to equity between racialised ethnic groups. By dividing the book this way, and using his own experiences and beliefs growing up, Kendi creates a roadmap of definitions and intersections that are vital for one to think about. For example, we can't just think about the experience of Black people vs White people. We need to think about the experience of the poor Black people vs the poor White people, or White women compared to Black women.

One of the biggest realisations that Kendi comes to in the book is that changing people's minds will not necessarily lead to policy change. Policy change, however, will lead to changing people's minds. This is because that racism was not created because of ideology and moral values. It was created for economic self-interest, and the ideology followed as a way of justifying it.

Racism is far more than just calling someone the n-word. Racism is believing that Black communities are poor because of their own faults rather than the policies which make those communities poor. Racism is having a bias to Black people with lighter skin rather than dark skin. Racism is calling Black women "welfare queens" when the biggest recipients of welfare in the United States are White people.

We need to remember that we are not living in a post-racial society because of the election of Obama. (The Trump administration has done away with that fantasy). We are not going to solve racism overnight, because the Western world was built on it. However, we all have the power to demand change from our elected representatives, in order to pursue policy change that leads to not just equality but equity between different racialised groups. We should not see just treatment of Black and ethnic minority people as a threat to our White privilege. That is a fear created by powerful elites in order to preserve their own power. Racism was created by the elites, for the elites. It's up to us to demand its dismantling.

"Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire" by Akala

Akala brings powerful questioning of the British and its Empire's historical record to bear along with his personal investment in said history. Using the lens of his own experiences growing up as a mixed-race, but for all intents and purposes, a racially black young man, he explains and analyses the intents and effects of white supremacy in the most fascinating, insightful, and truly awful (meaning the actions of white supremacy) manner I've ever read.

There are so many incredible and useful things I learned in this book, so I'll just relate a few here. Firstly, that each of us have a label of White, Black, Asian etc, but Akala describes these terms in a different way. For example, I am a 'racially White' woman, or, I have been racialised as 'White'. What that means is that I have been brought into and up in the world in a way that benefits from a system created by and for white people. E.g. I have never been stopped by the police. I have never had random strangers touch my hair (as happens particularly to Black women all too often). I have never had a teacher underestimate my intelligence because of the colour of my skin. I'm not subject to microaggressions and I've certainly never been asked to 'tone down' my 'Whiteness' or been worried about sharing my opinion in case I'm seen as an "Angry White Woman" (indeed, maybe some think I'm too fond of sharing my opinion!)

Secondly, the 'Black' community is something that was created, again by White people, in order to build a system of 'us' vs 'them'. If you were to lump in all White people together as the 'White community' and expect them to carry the same traits and characteristics ... well, just ask a Brexiteer Englishman how they like being called 'basically the same' as the French or Germans. Africa, it has to be said (and I'm saying this all too often to my students) is a continent, not a country, with a huge and rich and diverse history as different between countries as England is from Greece. This is particularly important when it comes to looking at the transatlantic slave trade. We're taught as if Africans were selling their own people when, in fact, they weren't. Think about it in reverse, would we say that French people selling Belgian people into slavery was White people selling their own? No, because we understand France and Belgium as two distinct countries and all that comes with that.

And finally, the British record on its own history. Much has been made of in the last week of 'erasing history' by pulling down statues of slave traders. And yet, post-war British governments were terrified of the public finding out some of the most egregious acts of the British Empire that they literally burned, buried, and secretly kept hundreds of thousands of documents relating to what would likely now be perceived as crimes against humanity. Talk about erasing history, eh? Far from erasing history, the British education system (in my opinion) has been far too quick to write history in its own terms (as one would expect) that it simply does not do enough to explain why Black British people are not on structurally equal terms with their White peers. The racial and class divides that we see today are not just as a result of the racist systems this country has created, but a deliberate lack of work to bridge those divides in order to keep those at the top in power. We don't have to feel guilty - and there's no point in it - of what happened in the past. However, what we do have to do is act on those wrongs. It would take a political and social revolution of gigantic proportions to start to redress the imbalance, but if we truly do see ourselves in Britain as free, liberal, tolerant, and promoters of democracy, then it is our duty to make every single person in Britain feel that way. After all - we colonised a quarter of the world and proclaimed Britain to be the shining example that every country should follow. We can't blame the people we oppressed and colonised for challenging us to make good on that boast.

I could go on and on for ages but I'll finish by saying that, whatever side of the statue debate you're on, PLEASE READ THIS BOOK.

Review: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

This will not be a comfortable book for white people to read, but that's the point. The premise is basically getting white people to get to grips with the fact that even if they think they're not racist, they are part of the system, the 'white collective' so to speak that perpetuates racism is subtle, non-obvious ways, and then get really defensive when called out on it. Obviously, not many people, particularly white progressives and liberals, want to be accused of racism or think themselves as racist in any way, and the beauty of this book is that it breaks down what it means to be racist and how to view our past behaviours in order to show how we can make it better.

Similarly to examples put forward in "Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race", racist acts don't always manifest in obvious ways, such as using the 'n' word. It can be about black people constantly being passed over for jobs or promotions, despite being as or more qualified than white counterparts. It can be about making 'jokes' about black women's hair. It can be playing into the stereotypes of the angry black person. And for white women, it can be about the weaponisation of their tears, something which has horrible, historical and current associations for black people, (Emmett Till and Amy Cooper being two past and present examples).

When responding to accusations of racism, white people can invariably say things like, "I don't see colour", "that's not what I meant, you're just taking it the wrong way", "I have black friends/wife/husband" etc. But the book, written by a sociologist and 'diversity trainer' who works in predominantly white work places, completely counters that. She says that countless times during sessions, white people want to learn about racism in the abstract, general sense, but get defensive and shut down (sometimes the women cry, completely invalidating the point of the exercise and the Black person who is trying to explain their very real experience), when challenged personally.

The key to being anti-racist and actually helping Black people and PoC is not to pretend racism is not an issue, or insist on your non-racist credentials, but to actually honestly examine past behaviour and how that has affected colleagues/family/friends. In the past, I'm pretty sure I'll have said stuff along the lines of 'I don't see colour' or 'I have a black relative' etc instead of thinking, do I have negative perceptions of X black person and why? Why did I assume the mixed race boy in the room chose my subject because he had to rather than because he wanted to and was actually really good at it?

Actually listening to Black people and PoC, understanding why what you said is problematic and how you can do better, and knowing that being anti-racist is a lifelong journey, is so much more helpful and can help the white collective make much more meaningful 'cross-racial' relationships.

So, like I said, not a comfortable or easy read but go into this with an open mind and be prepared to have honest words with yourself, and I promise the work will be worth it.

"Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race" Reni Eddo-Lodge

This is less of a review and more of a 'what I've learned' from this book. A review denotes an opinion on how 'good' or 'bad' a book is and it seems wrong on a few different levels to do that here. The reason I read the book in the first place is to learn more about what it means to be black, particularly in Britain, and the systems that keep justice and equality at bay.

At the beginning of the book, Reni talks about a blog post she wrote in 2014 about stopping conversations with white people about race because they just didn't get it or understand it, at best, and gaslighting her and question her lived experiences at worst. The book gained momentum and she turned the original post into a book that would educate and inform white people about her experiences and experiences for black people in wider society.

Throughout the rest of the book, she tackles several huge, structural issues such as the place and intersections of race, feminism, and class. She explains structural racism in a way that shows that even though white people may not actively participate in racism, we benefit from its set up. This may seem painful and at odds with white people who live in poverty or who have struggled in their lives, but Reni is not saying white people have never suffered. It's more about that white people have fewer struggles based on their whiteness - e.g. stop and search disproportionately affecting black people; people with white sounding names will be more likely offered job interviews than people with 'black' sounding names etc.

If you are a white person and want to read this book, then please do so with an open mind. It may feel like an attack but it's not. It's a conversation and it's about opening our eyes to our experience versus the experience of black people. For me, I found it an uncomfortable but liberating read. And when one is not defending their experience, but learning from someone else's, it's so much more productive and energy-giving.

Review: The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

Blurb from the novel:

Romance, glamour and adventure in the skies: an enthralling debut inspired by female pilots in World War Two.  166 women signed up to fly Spitfires and bombers from factories to airfields across England. It was an adventure that would cost many their lives.

New Year's Eve, 1940: Evie Chase, the beautiful debutante daughter of an adoring RAF commander, gazes out at the sky as swing music drifts from the ballroom. With bombs falling nightly in London, she resolves that the coming year will bring more than just dances and tennis matches. She is determined to do her bit for the war effort.

2nd January, 1941:  Evie curses her fashionable heels as they skid on the frozen ground of her local airfield. She is here to volunteer for 'The Beauty Chorus', the female pilots who fly much-needed planes to bases across the country. Soon, she is billeted in a tiny country cottage, sharing with an anxious young mother and a naive teenager.

Thrown together by war, these three very different women soon become friends, confidantes and fellow adventuresses. But as they take to the skies, they will also face hardship, prejudice and tragedy. Can their new-found bond survive their darkest hours?

This was the perfect novel to read in the lead up to VE Day. I had no idea that the ATA existed - so much is made of the battles in Europe and aspects of the Home Front, and rightly so, but even as a History teacher I had never heard of the ATA. The Air Transport Auxiliary was used to take planes in between different factories and maintenance units to have repairs done and guns installed. It was a vital job that freed combat pilots up for more military missions. It was also notably dangerous as the planes without guns could be more easily targeted by the Luftwaffe.

Kate Lord Brown has written such a wonderful tribute to the women of the ATA in the novel. Although the characters are, of course, fictional, the backdrop of the novel is steeped in research. The main three women of the novel are Evie, Megan, and Stella, from completely different backgrounds but with a common desire to serve their country in the ways that they can. There's romance aplenty, mystery and intrigue, as well as tragedy that befalls each of the characters in different ways (I won't give away details here but the tragedies were rendered even more sad by the fact that these are stories that well could have happened in real life). 

I highly recommend this novel to readers of historical fiction, romance, and both. It's a very human and empathetic story at its heart, which we definitely need more of these days. 

Review: The Sideman by Caro Ramsay

Crime fiction is a relatively new genre that I've been reading over the past couple of years, and The Sideman is one of the most complex, detailed, and page-turning examples I've read.

This is the latest in Ramsay's Anderson and Costello series, and I enjoyed it so much I really want to read the back catalogue.

Note: if you read this book, I encourage you to pay attention to the character list at the beginning. I skimmed it but later found I needed to refer to it several times so I could keep track!

The novel begins with an explosive, controversial resignation letter from Costello. She was appalled at the handling of a case that led to the murder of a young boy and his mother and thinks the police wanted too much to believe in George, the husband, to investigate him properly. He has a rock solid alibi but Costello has a hunch that there was more to it, and presumably wants to leave the force so she can investigate vigilante style.

The following 300+ pages has everything you want from a good crime novel. Crosses and double crosses; mysterious characters turning up out of nowhere but who become essential to the story; and an extremely satisfying unraveling and reveal at the end.

Each character is given a good backstory, even the secondary ones. It would be too easy to make characters in a crime novel simply there to serve the plot, sticking out like a giant neon sign, but Ramsay incorporates everyone she needs to in a way that is authentic and serving the plot while not sacrificing characters for the sake of it.

I read this book in about three days - quite a feat considering I have a four year old and a baby (it did involve a couple late nights!). It is the kind of novel that a reader can be occupied by for hours.

Review: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Many thanks to my friend Abigail, who bought this book for me to enjoy when on adoption leave.

I hope this book marks the start of more stories to come out of Syria. The civil war there has been waging for so long it's easy to forget that there are still millions displaced and suffering, whether in Syria or in refugee camps across the Middle East and Europe. Although this book is a work of fiction, it is based on true stories that the author learned while volunteering at a refugee centre in Athens.

Nuri, a beekeeper, and his artist wife, Afra, had a wonderful life in Aleppo, Syria, until the war started. They held on and on until tragedy and threats to their lives struck, at which point they decided to leave. They want to make it to England, where Mustafa - Nuri's cousin - already is with his family.

The novel starts with Nuri and Afra having made it to England. They are staying in a B&B while waiting for an interview process that will tell them if they have been granted asylum. Nuri is broken while not admitting to it. Afra is blind (the result of a bomb) but still perceives more than she sometimes lets on. They make friends with other asylum seekers in the B&B, including a character called the Moroccan Man (we never learn his name) who becomes somewhat of a rock for Nuri.

Nuri, we discover, is suffering from PTSD. He talks to a ghost of a boy called Mohammed he met in Turkey, but these hallucinations lead him unwittingly into trouble. Whenever he has these hallucinations, we are led into a flashback of Nuri's and Afra's journey out of Syria, which is truly harrowing. Whether it's driving through bombed out cities, mere shells of their beautiful former selves (search up pictures of Syria before the war. It truly was stuning), traversing dangerous seas in smuggling boats, or dealing with the danger and desperation of refugee camps, these parts of the novel puts faces on the suffering of those who have gone through unspeakable tragedy.

These refugees are not just refugees. This is something I tell my students all the time - refugees are people who don't want to leave their countries. They have homes, families, lives there. I try to get them to understand how bad things have to be to make one think that one has to leave their country with pretty much nothing but the clothes on their backs. No one would do that unless they were truly desperate.

I think this novel is essential reading for this time. COVID-19 has obviously put the world on hold but it wasn't so long ago that people with relatively safe and stable existences in European countries were complaining (at best) about refugees wanting to find safety in our country and elsewhere in Europe. I would be surprised to find anyone who isn't moved, challenged, and brought to compassion by this novel.

Review: The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

Reader, I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved this book. I honestly think it's one of the most brilliant books I've ever read.

It was chosen for a lockdown book club that one of my friends started and I'm so glad, as I'd never heard of it, thus never would have had the pleasure of reading it. One Goodreads reader described it as the literary equivalent of eating a big slice of chocolate cake, and I have to agree.

Penelope, the main character, is accosted by a girl called Charlotte at a bus station and carted off to her Aunt's for tea. There, she meets Charlotte's cousin, Harry, who is pining for his ex-girlfriend, who is now engaged to a rich member of the gentry. Penelope willingly gets caught up in this family drama, as she's keen to avoid her own. Penelope, her younger brother Indigo, and her mother live in a huge estate they can no longer afford to maintain. They are all still grieving the death of their father during WW2.

Charlotte offers Penelope a window into high society, which offers enough thrills and fizz to keep Penelope from worrying about her own problems. Charlotte is fun and charming, Harry (who engages Penelope to make his ex jealous in exchange for front row seats of Penelope's favourite artist, Johnnie Ray), is sardonic, cutting but deeply feeling (I could imagine Timothee Chalamet playing him) and Penelope allows herself to get caught up in everything, despite her own feelings for Harry becoming more complex.

WW2 is over, rationing has come to an end, and the new dawn of the happier, more prosperous, and almost YOLO living is the order of the day.

This story is sweet, uplifting, heartbreaking, hopeful, and perfectly escapist. Reading it during lockdown will definitely help with your mood, I promise.

Review: The Amber Keeper, by Freda Lightfoot

This story is an epic family saga that spans generations and vastly different eras that in reality are just decades apart.

In the 1960s, a young woman called Abbie returns home to the Lake District with her six year old daughter, Aimee. Abbie has left her partner and intends to stay in England. However, the main reason she has returned is a lot more tragic. Her mother has committed suicide and the family blame Abbie for it, having run away with her lover seven years earlier.

Upon beginning to talk to her grandmother Millie, however, Abbie realises there must be far more to the story. She persuades Millie to tell her about her life story, including how Kate (Abbie's mother) came to be adopted by Millie.

Millie has an extraordinary tale to tell. Beginning in service in a great house in England, she is offered a position by a Russian Countess called Olga, to take care of her two children when they return to Russia. Eager for the adventure, Millie immediately accepts. What she doesn't reckon with, however, is the Countess' cruelty, pettiness, and jealousy. Despite this, Millie makes friends and allies enough to still enjoy her life in Russia.

It gets more difficult, though. War breaks out and, as the war drags on, revolution fills the air. The Countess gives birth to an illegitimate child and forces Millie to pass it off as her own. Millie is stuck in a country not her own, in the midst of a revolution, with no way to get home. All seems hopeless until friends bribe the right people to help Millie get home.

This novel is richly imagined and carried off well between the two timelines. Millie is an extraordinary woman, whose experience is based on the story of a real life English governess who spent six years in the service of a Russian aristocrat. There are plot twists aplenty, a dash of romance, family feuds and reconciliations, and endearing characters. I would definitely recommend it as a lockdown read.

Review: Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Fun fact: I found this book abandoned on a train on the way back from London in February. (Remember trains? Remember travelling? That was nice).

It was published 13 years ago, the year I started university, in fact! With plenty of accolades on the back and inside cover I knew I just had to give it a go, despite the not so cheery title or blurb.

It’s about a young woman called Tessa who has leukaemia and knows she’s going to die, but before that happens she wants to accomplish ten things. Her loyal friend, Zoey, helps her with the list.
I didn’t cry at this book, which is surprising for me as it doesn’t take a lot to set me off, but I was deeply affected by it. In movies, books, and media, the image of people with cancer is that they’re heroes, inspirations, always doing stuff like raising money for charity. For the vast majority, though, it’s not like that.

Tessa does not live very well with cancer. She’s angry, selfish, scared, insecure, but also loving and affectionate. In other words, she’s a normal teenager facing a hugely frightening time.
Supported by her long suffering dad, her brother Cal, her neighbour (and eventual lover) Adam, and of course her best friend, Tessa does her best to live when she knows she will die. Jenny Downham has written so brilliantly and faithfully to the teenage experience, being truthful and accurate without slipping into saccharine cliche.

Probably not the best book to read in lockdown, or maybe it is? It certainly readjusted my perspective.

Review: The Queen’s Choice by Anne O’Brien

A completely enthralling read about the Duchess of Brittany who became Queen Joanna when she married Henry IV (the father of the famous Henry V who won the Battle of Agincourt). Having won the crown through booting Richard II off the throne, Henry IV spends most of his reign trying to hold on to his own crown. Life in England isn’t what Joanna expected, having ruled alongside her first husband in Brittany and then in her own right as regent. The English view her with suspicion and resentment. She never lets go of, or hides, her intellect and experience. A great lesson in knowing your worth and owning it despite the opposition around you. I’ll definitely read more of Anne O’Brien’s books.

Review: Vagabonds, by Hao Jingfang (English translation by Ken Liu)

Wow, what an epic read this was! And I mean that both in scope and investment of time. It's not a quick read (clocking in at 600 pages for the hardback version) but it's definitely worth the time.

The novel is set in the 23rd Century. One hundred years previously, the people of Mars have declared their independence from the Terrans (Earth) who had set up mankind on Mars. Conflict and separation became hallmarks of the time until one of the founders of the Mars Republic opened up diplomatic channels between the two planets. Five years before the novel begins, a group of teenagers from Mars were sent to Earth, age 13, to act as ambassadors. Upon their return, they are accompanied by a delegation of Terrans to establish further trade and diplomatic ties.

The peace between the two worlds is a fragile one. After viewing each other with suspicion, and even hatred, for a relatively long period of time, something simple could shatter the hard-won peace.

Luoying, the main character, is the granddaughter of the Consul of Mars. However, upon her return she discovers that she was sent in someone else's place. This is the tip of the iceberg, however, in terms of the secrets she discovers in the greater politics of Mars, and even in her own family.

Feeling constantly torn between Mars and Earth, she wonders if she can even have a place of either world, any more, and feel at peace there. Her friends, fellow Mercury Group ambassadors (the group who went to Earth) speak increasingly of revolution as they see the system on Mars being more restrictive than egalitarian.

On a macro level, the two worlds seem to be examinations of extreme capitalism (Earth) and socialism (Mars). The novel concludes that neither system is far from perfect, and despite the pros and cons of both, changes to either system would bring more problems. This seems pessimistic, but it is realistic as well. With Mars having such finite resources, it was understandable how they had to develop the system they did.

Both in breadth and depth, this novel is highly impressive. Hao Jingfang writes about this world on Mars so convincingly one could easily believe it was real, or at least could be a possibility in the future. Despite the length, it doesn't get dull. In fact, each chapter brings a new revelation, a new and interesting understanding of life on Mars and its complex relationship with Earth.

The characters are completely endearing, too. Although Luoying seems passive and indecisive at times, it's understandable given her dilemma between having to choose between the worlds. Throughout the novel, though, she grows into herself, becoming more adventurous, taking risks, and even stopping a potentially fatal insurgence towards the end.

I have to give a shout-out to the translator, Ken Liu, as well. He has done a superb job of translating tricky concepts and lots of technical know-how in the book that I hope the author would be thrilled with. The result is a very moving, thought-provoking and, on many occasions, beautiful read.

Review: Everything is going to be K.O. by Kaiya Stone.

Kaiya Stone has written a brilliantly funny, witty, and moving memoir about her journey through education, culminating in studying Classics at Oxford University, where she was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. For the whole of her education before this, her neuro-divergence had simply slipped people's notice - even for the few that did notice, because she was 'coping' they didn't pursue it.

Kaiya has seen almost every kind of educational setting - a Montessori school in South Africa; the American school system with enough resources to help get her the 1-1 help she needed; overcrowded primary school classes; and private school. Most of these places told Kaiya the same thing - that she verbally could do very well, but was hopeless on paper. Unfortunately, that's what matters most in many school systems worldwide. Had it not been for Kaiya's tutor at Oxford, her SpLD would have gone unnoticed still, and she would not have been able to fulfil her potential.

Kaiya's experiences really give a much-needed insight into the kind of disabilities we don't always see at school. As a teacher, I know I've been guilty in the past of just assuming that some children will just get on with it, while they may internally be screaming for help. Our education is only fit for a very small group of students. How much potential are we missing out on because of this? I've had my fair share of ranting about why the education system isn't fit for purpose, but that's an opinion from someone who benefited from the system as it is. I am part of a minority, and I'm aware of that. Our system needs a radical overhaul if we want children to thrive and not have school or education be some of the worst memories of their lives.

If we can learn so much from just this one memoir about someone who had to learn to cope in a world that was not built for them, how much more should we be seeking stories and experiences from people who are not neurotypical or able-bodied? We all know the repercussions and legacy of isms and phobias such as racism, sexism, homophobia, etc, but we pay far less attention - to our societal detriment - of ableism (discrimination against disabled people). We need to level the playing field (sometimes literally) and this needs to be done from the bottom up.

Review: LOT stories by Bryan Washington.

NB: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

LOT stories centres on the (unnamed until the end) son of a Black mother and Latino father living in Houston, Texas. Their often chaotic life revolves around a restaurant that the father persuaded the mother to partner in when they first got together, not knowing how it would change their lives.

Most days, the main character works in the restaurant and tries to avoid his older brother, while resenting his older sister for her absence. The family see the father walk in and out of their lives on a regular basis, and the children chastise their mother for letting him push her around, until he finally leaves for good.

However, LOT is not just about this family. It's about the entire neighbourhood. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey; a cleverly constructed story about a young baseball team and their fortunes as they grew up; a drug dealer who takes a Guatemalan teenager under his wing; and a group of male prostitutes and the house they live in.

Longing, desire, desperation for more, and the sense of ride-or-die community pervades through this novel. The neighbourhood is a place where many thrive, but more simply have to survive. They face increasing gentrification and the loss of their identity; poverty; gang and drug culture; but, as the boy communicates throughout the novel, it's not just a place that one can easily leave.

The style of the writing puts the reader right in the rooms and streets of the people whose lives are on display. The reader is up close and personal, to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of living in this community. It shows the struggles, the tenderness, the heart, and the longing of the people in the neighbourhood for something that is personal to them, but mostly it is just 'more'. What more is there to this life, or do they have to settle?

It's summed up well by an exchange the boy (now grown up) has with a white man he dates. The man said he was living in this neighbourhood for his job because it was the 'real Houston' whereas the boy says if someone gave him an out, there wouldn't be time to finish the sentence.

Considering this is Washington's debut, he seems to have the lived and writing experience of someone already many years into their career. It is one of the most gut-wrenching and compassionate novels I have ever read and I can't wait to see what he does next.

  

Review: Second Sister by Chan Ho-Kei

NB: I received a copy of this novel in exchange for a review.

Nga-Yee, a librarian who lives with her school-age younger sister after the death of their parents, arrives home one day to find her sister has committed suicide. Unable to believe that her sister would do this, she vows to track down the people responsible and make them pay.

Months earlier, Nga-Yee's sister, Siu-Man, had been sexually assaulted on a busy train. With the help of onlookers, she identified the man responsible and he was sent to jail. However, shortly after, a social media post - claiming to be from the man's nephew - smeared Siu-Man, calling her a liar. Weeks of cyber-bullying followed, pushing Siu-Man to her death.

Nga-Yee tries the normal private detective route but the one she finds explains this task will be impossible for him. He, instead, puts her in touch with a hacker who, for a hefty price, takes on her case.

The scale and scope of this novel is impressive and Chan Ho-Kei sensitively handles the distressing nature of the subject material. He shows how cyber-bullying has many elements to it and there are many more players than first appear. The plot and pace tick along without a dull moment, with enough twists and turns to keep even the most savvy reader guessing. Even when one thinks all the mysteries have been revealed, more questions and answers appear.

The teenage experience is examined well here, especially with the concern to always perform well on social media, knowing that one can get digitally crucified with even a small misstep. It exposes the dark side of the internet, the uneasy knowledge that none of our digitally-stored information can be kept truly secure, and how important it is to always be aware of what we put online.

This is a brilliantly written novel, and its themes and questions will leave the reader more aware of the importance of keep not just their physical selves save, but their digital ones, too.

Review: The Treadstone Resurrection, Joshua Hood.

The main character, Adam Hayes, is an ex- CIA Treadstone operative who is trying to make a new life for himself, and convince his ex-wife that he can still be a good father to their son. However, this all gets turned upside down when assassins turn up to a house he is working on and Hayes narrowly escapes with his life. 

The cause of this is that Adam has received an email from an old colleague that would, if exposed, lead to hugely significant consequences for American foreign policy in South America and send shockwaves throughout the U.S. government. 

For a while, Adam has no idea who he is investigating or running away from; all he knows is that he needs to survive. Bringing all of his old skills to bear, the result is a high-octane reader's experience that gives Bourne fans exactly what they love but in a new way. The action hardly ever lets up - in some cases, it becomes implausible but that stands to reason within this universe. The plot is well executed with more than a few twists and turns that will leave its readers satisfied at its conclusion. 

This story is written by Joshua Hood, who is a former Airborne Division Fighter. There is plenty of technical jargon in the book, especially when it comes to the weapons, so it makes sense that it's written by someone with clear, in-depth knowledge. 

The Treadstone Resurrection is an explosive new entry in the Bourne Universe that gives an action-packed, page-turning experience that will leave readers eagerly awaiting Adam Hayes' next mission - whether the character wants it or not. 

Review: Surge by Jay Bernard

NB: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This book of poetry is an extraordinary debut from Jay Bernard. It shines a light on parts of Black British history that have been forgotten or ignored, beginning with an event called the New Cross Fire in 1981. Believed to have been a racist attack, thirteen young black people were killed at a birthday party by a house fire.

Bernard moves through history, exploring memories, cultures, and injustices that have not been made right, through to the Grenfell Tower fire and some of the awful responses to it, such as the online viral burning effigy.

The first poem, Arrival, is ambiguous in time - it could easily be the slave trade or the Windrush - but its tone is clear. Black people were seen as useful tools and nothing more - no freedom to rise, or dream, or be seen as equal citizens. It very clearly sets the pattern and tone of the rest of the poems, full of rage, despair (see, Losers), helplessness (see the poem Harbour about someone trapped in a fire), and a call to action.

There are more personal moments, as well. Poems such as Pride and Peg, where Bernard explores his identity as a queer black man.

This book of poetry is talent unparalleled. It is raw, powerful, moving, and leaves you with the kind of sadness that doesn't necessarily make you cry, but it's a deep ache.

Losers, the penultimate poem, to me speaks of the division of Britain today ever since the referendum. Bernard quite rightly points out that even the winners think they are losing - no one has won, everybody seems to have lost:

"You're either or you're not. There's no middle ground"

and

"Get lost with your truth and your news which never speaks for our lot."

The overall question for me throughout was, "who does this country work for?" Because the answer is definitely not the people in these poems.

Review: The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, by Ken Liu

NB: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review. 

In this book, Ken Liu has put together a collection of truly excellent short stories. Combining science-fiction, fantasy, Chinese folklore, and speculative/futuristic concepts, this collection offers something for every kind of reader. Most startling, to me, was the accuracy of his vision in seeing not just our world as it is, but the world as it could be on our current technological trajectory and moral values. 

For example, 'The Gods Will Not Be Chained' offers a view on the melding of mind and machine, where AI companies take the brains of their most valuable workers when they are terminally ill, and upload them in order to make them make them eternal workers. 

Another story poses an interesting, existential dilemma - if you had the choice, would you upload your consciousness into a global database in which you could exist forever, albeit on a virtual platform only? Or would you choose to die with your mortal body?

Short stories seem an extremely difficult kind of writing to master, but Liu has achieved it with every story in this collection. Some of them, as you see the further you read on, are linked, but others stand out on their own. Every arc and character within each story packs a punch, whether quietly or loudly, and even within such short forms good plot twists abound. 

For all the AI jargon and futuristic concepts that Liu manages to handle so deftly and intelligently - there were a good few portions that I had to re-read to get my head around the technical concepts - he doesn't lose sight of what matters most to a lot of readers: Do I care about these characters? Or, if they're intentionally villainous, do these characters provoke strong feelings in me? The answer is yes, in every one. Try as I might, I could not find one story with a flat note or an unresolved arc or a lukewarm character. 

This collection of stories will challenge the reader and make them think about not just where we are as a world today but what it could be. Technology is racing ahead of social progression and, if left unchecked, it's not too unrealistic to think we could end up with some of the structures Liu proposes in some of these stories. 

Review: Travellers in the Third Reich, by Julia Boyd

This book is a truly exceptional piece of historical non-fiction. In painstaking, minute detail, Julia Boyd writes about a curious concept that we tend not to think about in the history of Germany post-World War One to the end of World War Two: tourists to Germany.

Beginning with the immediate aftermath of World War One, Boyd relates, using letters, diaries, and other writings from dozens of people, the trips of people who went to Germany between 1919 and 1945. Most were tourists, but some are military figures and their wives; diplomats and their families; and students from Europe and further afar. Germany's perceived crimes in the Great War matter not so much to particularly British travellers who still feel an affinity with their German brethren.

The subtitle of the book is to do with seeing creeping fascism and Nazism slowly work its way into every part of Germany. Despite the rise of authoritarianism, tourists and officials alike either close their eyes to, or embrace, the Nazi MO. Most chillingly, despite the clear rise in official anti-semitism, many of these visitors are blind to it, accept it as part of Germany's recovery, or even support it. They agree that Jews have been a problem for Germany and the Nazis are doing the right things to sort out 'the problem'. The Nazis, in their encouragement of tourism to Germany as part of a global propaganda effort, even offer excursions to labour camps as a way of showing that even with 'undesirables', the Nazis are benevolent deliverers of 'justice'.

Most surprisingly, even though tourism and students who spend time at universities in Germany slow down just before the war, they are still there. Love of Germany, either in spite of or because of the Nazis, don't stop people from flocking to its shores.

This book is really a phenomenal read. Julia Boyd uses her years of research to bring hundreds of different strands together into a coherent whole that is moving, deft, weighty, and superbly fascinating.

Review: Carbon Game, Miles Montague

NB: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for review.

Carbon Game has a smart and intriguing premise - extreme-right activists from South Africa infiltrating extreme-left activism groups in the U.K. in order to manipulate an attack that will economically benefit the very people that the "lefties" stand against.

The novel is set towards the end of the apartheid era - India are demanding harsh sanctions on South Africa, America are considering following suit (it's an election year and they have to ride the way of public opinion), but Conservative Britain are lagging behind. They tentatively support some sanctions but don't really want to be a part of it.

The Afrikaaner Resistance Party, an extreme right-wing party in South Africa, want to figure out a way in which to guard their people against, what they see, increasing black rule. They concoct a plan to essentially start a civil war so they can fight for a whites-only land in South Africa. To do this, they need arms, and money to buy said arms.

Enter Michael Cranmer. A rebellious liberal during his youth, he swings completely politically right after an attack on his family leaves his mother and sister dead. Posing as a wildlife photographer, he infiltrates a left-wing pressure group in the UK who campaign for the end of apartheid. His true purpose is to persuade the group to blow up the Diamond Trading Corporation in London, which controls 60% of the world's diamonds. With that out of commission, he will purchase diamonds stolen a few months back and sell them to buy arms.

It's a good plan - but the left wing activists don't want to play by his rules.

Plot and pace wise, this is everything you'd want from a novel of this genre. Plenty of twists and turns, mental gymnastics by the investigating agents on the case, double and triple crossing by those involve, and the right amount of tension to pull you in and let you ride along without getting frustrated.

Some of his descriptions of women in the book, however, irked me. Whether it was a context thing - the novel is set in the 1980s, so presumably Montague was showing the casual sexism of the time - or some other writing intention, it nevertheless grated on me. A prime example was when one of the characters, Robyn, while waiting for Michael, idly wondered whether she should get a boob job for him. Other incidents were contained during dialogue, which made more sense than during the non-dialogue descriptions of female characters in the book, but still unpleasant.

Despite this, I was glad that I got to read this book - it was very different than others on my reading list and set during a time that is not too often written about, and it would be valuable seeing more of it. Montague has got the right balance between action, political machinations, and the concept of the heist in this novel. I would recommend it and will be keeping an eye out for future works from him.