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Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Halfway to my official target, I’m below where I thought I’d be

30/6/2021

3 Comments

 
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Reading isn’t a race, but when Goodreads invites me to set myself a target, and offers to monitor my progress, I’m happy to join in. For the past few years, I’ve aimed for 100 books, smugly confident I’ll sail across the finishing line before the trees shed their leaves. But not this year. Based on my stats so far, I’ll be lucky to reach my centenary by Christmas.
It doesn’t matter, although I wonder why it is. I’m not slowing down in other ways and I still get a thrill from discovering a fantastic read. Yes, I’ve been busier launching my own novel, but that hasn’t impacted much before. Maybe, as someone with no pre-pandemic social life, it’s all these evening webinars eating up my time.
 
Fortunately, because I’m buying more books rather than getting them from publishers, I’m relieved the pressure to read for a time-sensitive review. And, although I still enjoy sharing my detailed thoughts on most books, I’ve granted myself the freedom to write micro reviews of others. It’s not necessarily the case that I didn’t appreciate these books as much, as I hope you’ll see from the six below. I invite you to admire how I have managed to fiddle with the cold so that the cover images appear on alternate sides of the page. (Well, I was impressed!)

HamnetHamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A moving reimagining of the life and death of William Shakespeare’s son as the genesis of his famous play, Hamlet. Winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction. I found the ending particularly engaging and poignant.


ABUSED TO DEATH 1: Eight children ... murdered by those who should have protected themABUSED TO DEATH 1: Eight children ... murdered by those who should have protected them by Jessica Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These tragic stories are related with great empathy and skill. The topic is harrowing, but never sensationalised, thereby honouring these abused children's truncated lives. The fictionalised accounts read beautifully, and I was impressed with the variety of points of view and style, all of which nevertheless put the children at the heart of the story. These are well balanced with factual information on each individual case. An important book which urges us to be ever vigilant. This could be happening next door!

Independence SquareIndependence Square by A.D. Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Orange Revolution in Ukraine through the eyes of a British diplomat who prevents a massacre but loses all he holds dear. By the author of The Faithful Couple.


Our Souls at NightOur Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this quiet late-life love story as much on the second reading on publication in 2015. In the intervening years, I’d managed to forget the tragic ending when the couple succumbs to bigotry.


BelovedBeloved by Toni Morrison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In mid-19th-century Cincinnati, a woman is haunted by the daughter she murdered to save her from a living death. A lyrical magic-realism novel about motherhood, trauma and the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. Beautiful writing, but I couldn’t get into it until Beloved appeared sixty pages in.


BrotherhoodBrotherhood by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A doctor and his friends publish an underground newspaper in a fictional city under occupation by the brutal Islamic fundamentalist Brotherhood. Although this debut has won several prizes, I found the story one-dimensional and the writing flat. Translated from the French by Alexia Trigo, I received my proof copy from Europa editions.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
3 Comments
Norah Colvin
4/7/2021 11:58:27 am

I know what you mean about online webinars and conferences, Anne. They do take up a lot of time that once would have been spent doing something else, like reading. I think I've increased my reading this year, though it would still be just a fraction of yours. I've downloaded the audiobook of Elizabeth is Missing today. I'll begin it tomorrow. My most recent two audiobooks were wonderful memoirs, both of which won ALIA awards earlier this year. Neither was a disapppointment. Both exceeded expectations. The first was 'Tell Me Why?' by an Aboriginal musician who was one of the stolen generation. The second was 'The Happiest Man on Earth' by a centenarian Holocaust survivor now living in Australia. If I was writing reviews as you do, I would pair them as both decided to be happy and to be kind, and both asked the question 'why?'. Both offer us hope for humanity.
There are a few on your list I would probably read. Thanks for your brief reviews.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
4/7/2021 04:11:46 pm

I'm excited you're going to listen to Elizabeth is Missing. I hope you enjoy it. Those memoirs sund interesting too.

Reply
Norah Colvin
11/7/2021 12:14:44 pm

I'm enjoying Elizabeth so far - no too far in yet, though. :)

Reply

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    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

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    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

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    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
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