Review: Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China by Jung Chang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chang's research, as always, is astonishing. In this intimate portrait of the Soong sisters, you get a real sense of who they were. I've seen one or two reviews be critical about the fact that the book focuses a fair bit on the men in sisters' lives. I can understand that - I think Chiang Kai-Shenk was given more prominence than "Big Sister" Ei-Ling.

But, all three sisters were in the positions they were because of who they were married to (or in Ei-Ling's case, who her sister May-Ling was married to). The reality was a woman would never have power without some connection to a powerful man at that time in China's history - though all three certainly played fundamental roles in helping the men in their lives gain and keep power.

Overall, an interesting read but one that was a bit of a slog at times. Possibly a good book to read on holiday when you have time to devote it.

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Review: Me: Elton John Official Autobiography

Me: Elton John Official Autobiography by Elton John
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Really good! Whether or not you're a fan of John, his autobiography has so much to offer. You get bitchy comments about celebrities (Rod Stewart and John apparently have a decades-long competition to see who can outshine the other), shocking tales of debauchery (he really was an enthusiastic user of cocaine...), and poignant tales of redemption. One of the saddest recollections is John's fraught relationship with his Mum and his Dad, particularly as he never able to really reach an understanding with either of them.

But best of all is John's self-awareness. He knows his temper tantrums are ridiculous, that his drug and alcohol problems didn't make him a nice person to be around, and that part of him will always be Reg Dwight.

I also listened to some of this on the Audible version. I can see why they got Taron Egerton to do the narration given his brilliant performance in RocketMan and he does do a great job. The problem is he's just too young. Hearing a 29-year-old man refer to something that happened "45 years ago" is a bit weird to be honest.

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Review: Doctor Who: The Women Who Lived

Doctor Who: The Women Who Lived by Christel Dee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a good 30 years too old for this but I actually found it quite fun and engaging. I've only really watched "new Who", so it was interesting to find out about some iconic female characters of "old who". Importantly, they've thrown in some villians as well as the companions/one-story heroines. If this meant as an empowering book for young girls, then the message should be that women are just as capable of making poor decisions/being selfish as men are!

Strictly for Doctor Who fans only though. A lot of things you're not going understand if you've never seen the programme!

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Review: The Wall

The Wall by John Lanchester
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The idea of the UK putting a Wall to keep "Others" out is, given Brexit, is an relevant and important one to explore. However, I was never really convinced that Kavanagh was in any real danger. The prolem with having him as the narrator is that you know that he's going to survive any situation because he's the one telling you about it!

Plus, as the book went on, I didn't think he had that much depth - he muttered about blaming his parents for the "change" happening on their watch (mainly because they acted guilty), but his relationship with them was never really explored. Would have been more interesting for Lanchester to address whether the parents (or their generation and, by extension, our generation) really were guilty etc.

I think my issue is that I'm just a bit bored wth male narrators - particularly white (I think), middle-class ones. They can come across as somewhat bland after a while.

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Review: Once Upon a River

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An absorbing read that, despite being chunky (500 pages), I managed to get through quite quickly (I finished the last 150 pages during a two-hour flight).

The underlying mystery of the book - how a child who appeared dead could come back to life and who that child is - slowly unfolds. But, the real joy of the book is the characters and how they interact. All of them, in their own ways, are at turns vulnerable and strong.

I watched the TV adaption of the 13th tale a few years ago and I regret that now. I wished I had read the book as I think I would have enjoyed it more. Mind you, the TV adaption did have Olivia Coleman (post Broadchurch but way before Oscar) and Vanessa Redgrave. So, the adaption was probably worth it for those two alone!

I might now investigate Bellman & Black (Setterfield's second novel) to see what that's about as, I think anyway, there hasn't been a TV adaptation of that!


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Review: World of the Unknown Ghosts

World of the Unknown Ghosts by Various
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So much fun to read this again.

Full knowing that most people reading this will be fans of the original, Usborne have not bothered to make any serious revisions (presumably, they took out anything racist/sexist by today's standards). Therefore, the stories and pictures are brilliantly quaint. They suggest using a notebook and pen to record any ghostly goings on because, in this World of the Unknown, mobiles aren't a thing.

Being a tad more sceptical than when I first read the book (13; I'm now 39), I realised that many of the ghost stories were very likely to be the result of bad lighting/drafty houses/someone being drunk. However, the story of the cursed WW1 Uboat seemed quite sinister - not because of the supernatural but because of the horrors of submarine life in warfare.

The book sweetly provides a list of further reading but, obvs, I have Google. And - of course - I will be Googling the history of pictures that the book claims aren't fakes immediately after finishing writing this review.



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Review: The Diary of a Bookseller

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was, at times, very funny and insightful. I've always tried to avoid Amazon but this book makes you realise just how damaging the rise of Amazon has been to the independent bookshop industry.

However, I think Bythell's acerbic observations of his customers can sometimes border on the downright mean. Plus, not sure he needed include every diary entry for the whole year as entries were repetitive etc.

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