This is the second novel in the Phoenix Court series of novels, but other than being set in the same area as Marked for Life, with a few minor appearances from its characters, it’s essentially a completely standalone piece of writing. Just like the first novel, it’s just about the lives of some ordinary working class people, with some great LGBT+ representation, and just a hint of magic realism.

I don’t want to spoil any twists in the storyline, but one of my favourite things about this novel is its very sympathetic representation of a trans character. Written almost 30 years ago, this is a novel that would be dismissed as ‘woke’ if it were published today, but it’s a reminder that the idea of respecting trans people is nothing new. In the novel, the character in question passes as cisgender, and most people don’t know that they are trans. While some characters do use certain words which would not be used today, that is how people would have spoken back then, so it doesn’t really bother me in the slightest – meanwhile, the third-person narrator always uses the correct pronouns for them, and never deadnames them… far ahead of certain people today.

There’s a gay romance at the heart of the novel two, between a young teacher named Vince and a man he’s had an on-again off-again relationship with throughout his life. It felt like it had a lot of depth to it, in that the character reflect on why they want to be together, and the different aspects that drew them back to each other. It’s very introspective and quite difference to any other ‘romance’ that I’ve read before.

Really, there’s not any character in this novel that I wasn’t interested in. The appeal of his writing doesn’t lie in any huge over-arching plot, but merely in the different ways that realistic human characters cross paths with one another. Essentially the story here is that a woman named Liv and her daughter Penny move into Phoenix Court and then this is the story of the friends they make and how they get caught up in the small dramas of those who live there, making friends along the way. I can imagine that some people might find it a bit dull, but I find it fascinating.

As for the magic realism element, there’s a lot less of it in this book than there was in the first one. Notably, Iris Wildthyme is barely in this novel (just two tiny cameos) and it’s a pity, because I adored her in Marked for Life. Of course, there’s not really any way that she could easily be incorporated after what happened in the first book, but I did miss her. Here, the magical stuff is mostly in the background, though it pops up in at least a medium sized way right at the end. It’s done in a fairly strange way too, where nothing is really explained properly. I can see this disappointing some readers too.

Overall though, I think there’s a lot to admire in this book. Paul Magrs gets people and his ability to create characters is fantastic. I think I probably slightly preferred the first book, but I admired this as a progressive piece of writing that was able to switch between comedic and dramatic from chapter to chapter, keeping me engrossed throughout.

Rating: 8.6/10

Based on the title, I expected this to be something like A Short History of the World by H. G. Wells, which offers a complete world history in a piece of writing the length of a novel. Though I was disappointed that this isn’t what this is, I was equally pleased by what it actually was – which is a history of science. It goes into many areas of scientific knowledge, and does so in such a way that somebody with next to no knowledge can appreciate and understand what’s being explained.

My favourite parts dealt with the creation of the Earth in space, and the creation of the universe before it. Bill Bryson talks about the Creationist theories from a couple of hundred years ago, and explained how they slowly evolved into current ideas of evolution, and offers examples of different historic beliefs, such as the person who was sure that the Earth was created in late October, some several thousand years B. C. and that the even happened around midday.

As much as it is fascinating to learn about what we now know about the early days of the universe and of our planet, I found it even more interesting to learn about what we don’t know – which is a lot. The universe is a very mysterious place, and this book does a wonderful job of highlighting that.

The universe is also a very bleak place, which this book also highlights well. If you are quite an anxious person, then you might want to avoid reading this, because the author goes over several ways in which our species, or at very least our civilisation, could be wiped out relatively easily. He also really highlights how miniscule we are in occupying such a tiny amount of space and time. I could imagine somebody becoming quite low-spirited after read those parts.

On the flip-side of that, it’s quite a funny book sometimes. It goes into a lot of detail about things that scientists just happened to name after their home town, or people they know, that we take for granted as the name for certain scientific terms. It also explains many of the petty rivalries and disputes that they had which each other throughout history, with many of these scientists having eccentric personalities. The human drama element was often quite entertaining.

So if you’ve ever wanted to know more about the history of science, to find out what we know so far, and where that knowledge came from, I definitely recommend this book. Bill Bryson’s light and conversational tone is highly accessible and I think most people will learn a thing or two from it.

Rating: 8.8/10

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This is a novel about young love, and how obsessive, and even dangerous, it can be. It tells the tale of a young woman (Emily) who died suddenly – seemingly as the result of a suicide pact that she had with her boyfriend (Chris), though he is alive and (for the most part) well. It’s an emotionally intense piece of literature, and one that gives a look into the hearts and minds of lots of well developed characters.

The character I felt most strongly for throughout this was Emily. While she dies right at the start of the novel, you afterwards get to see her life up until that point through a series of flashbacks. Although the ultimate reason for her death felt a bit off to me (for reasons not fully addressed), what I admired about her story was that it perfectly highlights the risk of not having the right support network in place for somebody. The lack of respect and understanding for her needs from everyone in her life felt so true to things I’ve seen happen to people I know.

Chris, meanwhile, is a typical teenage boy – and I don’t mean that he’s a negative stereotype of a teenage boy, but that he feels very believable. He’s a well-intentioned person and I felt very sorry for him because of the situation he’s been thrust into – but equally, I sometimes got very frustrated with him. Like most teenagers, he doesn’t make the right decisions in emotionally intense situations and he’s far too driven by sex. By the end of it, I wasn’t sure what to think of him, but I could totally believe him as a character.

Though those two characters are the ones at the heart of the novel, there’s also Chris’s mother, Gus, who I loved for being so endlessly devoted to her son, Emily’s father, Michael, who has a kind and thoughtful sort of nature, even after the loss of his daughter, and Jordan McAfee, Chris’s no-nonsense lawyer. There are others too, but these were my favourites, and one of the big strengths of this novel was that it is essentially built upon the interactions between lots of very interesting and likeable characters.

It did have its issues, for sure, and while the ending was very thought-provoking, my interpretation of events was never really properly acknowledged – I don’t know if it was an interpretation that the author intended, or if I’m just reading it in a strange way, but I would have liked to have seen that (and I can’t say more without spoiling it). Though I felt one aspect of the backstory could have been handled a little better, I was still very impressed overall, and recommended it to anyone who likes very human dramas that deal with very complex situations.

Rating: 9.2/10

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This is a delightfully cosy novel about a boy named Copper growing up in 1930s Japan (which is when the book was written). The chapters switch between Copper’s life and the situations he gets into with his friends, and letters written to him by his uncle, who offers many sage insights for his nephew.

Story-wise, there’s no overly-dramatic tension in Copper’s life – the things that happen to him are very much the kind of things that would happen to an ordinary boy. He hangs out with his friends, deals with bullies, has falling out with friends, has fun with his friends, and wonders about how different things in the world work. He always means well, but he doesn’t always do the right thing. He’s an endearing character – especially right at the end.

Meanwhile, his uncle is trying to teach Copper different things in his letters – not only does he try to instil in him good values (and there are some pretty good messages in this book about being a decent human being and respecting others) but he also tries to teach him about science, history, and philosophy too. It’s a progressive piece of work, especially for the time and place it was written, with criticisms of society that remain relevant to this day.

Beyond the morals of the story, it is also a pretty educational book. His uncle writes a lot about the life of Napoleon (which I found interesting as someone with only a rough idea of his life), about the work of Copernicus (after whom Copper gets his nickname), about Buddhism, and much more. In the intro by Neil Gaiman, it says that it is similar to Moby Dick in that regard, but unlike Moby Dick (which is filled with a bunch of outdated whale biology and a bunch of dodgy moral stances), this book is filled with some genuinely insightful stuff.

Overall, though it is a short book, it’s one that left quite an impact on me. The opening in particular, which has Copper looking out on a city from on top of a tall building, and pondering the inter-connected nature of life, was really beautiful – and there’s a lot of beauty contained within this pages. I’m glad I read it. (Though annoyingly, the translator isn’t credited in my edition, so I don’t know who did it).

Rating: 9.1/10

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I have a complicated relationship with this book, which is fitting, because the author seems to love to write about complicated relationships. On the one hand, it was very much one of those books that had me saying “just one more chapter” because the story was told across lots of shorter chapters (ideal) and they always seemed to end on some kind of cliff hanger or revelation. On the other hand, every character was just so nasty and toxic, that I just found myself getting quite worked up about it sometimes.

The story follows two close friends named Ivy and Zara who are extremely close with one another. I liked this. I’m always pleased when stories show platonic relationships as just as deep and as meaningful and romantic ones – though at the same time, it’s just as toxic as a lot of romantic ones too. Ivy is often very mean and controlling with Zara, and at times I wondered why the two of them were even friends, but it seemed to be born out of Zara’s deep-rooted insecurity.

Something that was frustrating, but also very realistic, was the way that Zara seems convinced that just about everybody is against her. People say thing to her that seem perfectly normal and ordinary, and she’ll have an inner monologue about how it was a disguised slight, and how she’s really upset as a consequence. They’ll then inevitably end up falling out. I know there are a lot of people who do think like that, and it is sad, but it’s stressful to read and you just want to say to her “not everyone is out to get you!”

Then there’s Ivy who is just awful. She’s constantly making nasty comments about other people on all things from the way they look, to their choices in life. She’s so mean-spirited, and Zara always seems to go along with it, in a kind of “she’s saying what we’re all thinking” kind of way, but I think only mean people think the things that Ivy says and it made it very hard to warm to her – though I’ll admit that she has some more noble intensions later on that made me like her a bit more. I guess later it’s more that she looks better because she’s compared to an even worse person.

The third major player in it all is Henry, an arrogant CEO who starts dating Zara. The relationship between these two is just as central to the story as the relationship between Zara and Ivy. Right from the start, Henry is disrespecting boundaries and acting in a really controlling way, but Zara never sees it. This is likely intentional, but gosh, having known several people who have gotten involved with really toxic partners, it was hard to watch it happen here all while Zara is talking about how wonderful he is.

There’s a lot of very serious stuff in this book, and to be honest, I think it went a bit too far as it went on, and started to feel more like melodrama, rather than the more rooted story that it was at the start. It will be very raw for anyone who has experienced these things first or even second hand. It’s basically a book about horrible things happening to horrible people (similar to the author’s first book One Small Mistake – which, fun fact, is set in the same universe) and it makes for a very unique reading experience.

I’d definitely enjoy the book more if every single character wasn’t out to lift themselves up by pushing everybody else down. Or even if there was just one genuinely nice character in the mix, but all of them are just repugnant. I felt bad for them a lot of the time, and maybe that’s the point, to make you feel something for otherwise unsympathetic characters.

And so that’s the conundrum in me – the complicated relationship. I admire it for tackling certain aspects of sexism and misogyny, and I appreciate the realistic portrayal of really unhealthy relationships (even if it gets a little bit over the top towards the end)… but being inside the heads of these characters is genuinely a bit too stressful for me.

On another note, the author describes the ending as being a bit “marmite”. I’m not going to spoil anything, but it ends kind of abruptly. I can see why it was done that way and in my mind, what would have happened next was quite obvious, but leaving it open ended lets the reader decide, and I don’t mind that. As far as marmite goes, I guess I’m one of the people who likes it. It’s the kind of thing that would be fun to discuss with other people who have read it.

All in all, its a book that I do recommend – but only if you have a lot of patience for unkind people. I didn’t like it quite as much as One Small Mistake, which felt a bit more focused in its storyline, but while complicated, I ultimately think that I enjoyed reading it, and think it’s a good book to dissect and analyse with fellow readers.

Rating: 6.7/10

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This was a book that I’d heard was good, but I wasn’t too sure what to expect from it. I typically enjoy stories about ordinary people, rather than the lives of world leaders, so a part of me was worried that this wouldn’t be quite for me. However, I had no need to worry, because I loved this book – partially because, to my surprise, Michelle Obama’s life started out in much the same way as many ordinary people’s.

Descended from somebody who was enslaved, Michelle Obama grew up with her working place family in a place called Euclid Avenue in Chicago. I didn’t expect her to have had such humble beginnings, and it certainly helped endear me to her. As she talks about the days of her youth, you get a sense of her values and where they came from, and why she’s passionate about looking out for ordinary people.

It’s really emotional at times, especially when she writes about the death of her father. Even if she weren’t somebody who would eventually become First Lady of America, I’d have enjoyed it as a story of just one woman’s relationship with her family. Though of course, what comes later helps make it even more interesting.

I am very guilty of not thinking of world leaders as regular people sometimes. I know that they hold human flaws, but I don’t think of them leading everyday lives, and the way in which being a major public figure plays into that. The stories about how she and her family had to adapt to the changes that came when Barrack became president are really insightful, and cover many things I’d never considered before – especially the dilemmas she faced as a mother.

Meanwhile, the story of her relationship with Barrack is also fascinating to me. Again, I would never really think about the romantic lives of world leaders, so it was really interesting to me to read about Michelle Obama meeting her future husband, not initially being hugely impressed by him, and then slowly building a relationship, a life, and a family with him.

I also felt for her as she described the way in which the opposition party, and various publications, would do everything they could to try and make her and her family look bad at every turn. It highlights some of the real ugliness of the political world, and how ridiculous (and insincere) some people are when criticising those they disagree with politically.

As much as Michelle Obama will forever be associated with politics, this isn’t book about politics, or even a book with a political message (other than certain basic levels of respect which are sometimes considered political). Rather, it’s a human story about the emotions involved with being a regular person cast onto to world stage, and that was really interesting to me.

Rating: 8/10

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