Colin Marks's Blog, page 16
June 11, 2017
Review: Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World
Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World by Mitch Prinstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
Mitch Prinstein’s Popular is an interesting read. It addresses all aspects of popularity – why it’s important, how it evolved, and where it can lead. I did enjoy it, and many of his conclusions are thought provoking, but at times it did feel like he was shoe-horning populism into unrelated areas. Many of the sections are driven by anecdotes,...
May 23, 2017
Review: The One
The One by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The concept behind The One is interesting – match.com with DNA profiling. I was expecting a book that would explore whether likability or sexual attraction could be predetermined by something so scientific as a double helix. Some of the themes could’ve tackled the viability and ethicalness of such a solution, or social equality or religious considerations, heavy themes that would make you think.
Instead, John Marrs, the author, went down a diffe...
May 12, 2017
Review: Option B
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
I remember reading about the death of David Goldberg when it happened. He was holidaying in Mexico with his wife, Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook), and suffered some form of heart attack in the hotel’s gym. They found him lying on the floor, bloodied, near a cross trainer. The story resonated with me – we’re about the same age, with the same age children, and the same age wife – so I was in...
May 1, 2017
Review: How to Stop Time
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
I’ve read a few books recently where the tone or the style changes partway through, and typically when this happens, those changes aren’t for the better. Matt Haig’s How To Stop Time falls into this category.
The first two-thirds were excellent. The story, a historical romance with a science-fiction twist, was written so perfectly that everything was credible. The writing was crisp, the di...
April 22, 2017
Review: The Dollmaker
The Dollmaker by Harriette Simpson Arnow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
Harriette Arnow’s The Dollmaker, first published in 1954, was set during the last months of the second world war. With the current rise of economic migration, this story about the clash of cultures is as relevant now as it was seven decades ago. The Nevels, ‘hillbillies’ from rural Kentucky, struggle to ‘adapt’ and make sense of the industrial and cultural tensions of Detroit’s...
March 13, 2017
Review: The Giant Jumperee
The Giant Jumperee by Julia Donaldson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
This is a typical Julia Donaldson, and that’s a good thing. The story is short, well written and with a twist that the kids love! There’s no Axel Scheffler and there’s less rhyming than her other books, but the story is sweet with enough characters to keep the reader busy voicing them all!
February 14, 2017
Review: The Best of Adam Sharp
The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
I loved this book, it’s like Nick Hornby for a maturer audience. Maybe because I’m more or less the same age as Dooglas, or maybe because I’ve had some of the same experiences, but something in the writing and the characters resonated. Adam’s thoughts are passionately and eloquently expressed, and the whole book had a very believable feel. I was worried at the start that the con...
February 3, 2017
Review: John Wayne’s Revenge
John Wayne’s Revenge by James Scott Bell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Nice short story from James Scott Bell.
January 29, 2017
Review: The Best of Adam Sharp
The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion
My rating: 0 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
I loved this book, it’s like Nick Hornby for a maturer audience. Maybe because I’m more or less the same age as Dooglas, or maybe because I’ve had some of the same experiences, but something in the writing and the characters resonated. Adam’s thoughts are passionately and eloquently expressed, and the whole book had a very believable feel. I was worried at the start that the con...
January 9, 2017
Review: Behind Her Eyes
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
I was really enjoying this book. The writing had the urgency and passion of Gone Girl, and both have a lead character whose scheming offers intrigue and suspense. Great, loved it, flying through the pages, dying to know more.
Then I hit Part 3.
Christopher Castellani, in his excellent book ‘The Art of Perspective,’ says that the first few pages of a novel serve as a contract between...
