The true account of a young boy's six(?) Year journey to safety. It's so beautiful. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Wonderful. Wistful, absurdist isn't the right word. Listed as children's and probably accessible to confident younger readers, but at no point did this feel like a children's story despite the fact that a literate gorilla is the protagonist. Even better is that a literate gorilla isn't a normal thing in the story's world but is matter of factly accepted because there's no other option. Just read it and love it. Because you will.

Steve's writing is accessible, thought-provoking, amusing, wistful and pining but rooted in the reality of typical, believable human behaviour.

An incredibly impressive debut novel from this poet, playwright, novelist, writer of all sorts really. Compelling in such an emotionally connected to really normal everyday things kind of way. Jut read it. Top top top.

Loved the characters, story, humour and occasional Fourth Wall... not quite breaks but cracks.
I think it might be YA because it's about teenagers but the observations about people and how we work are more sophisticated than YA so I really did enjoy Steve's 2nd novel, I think.

"I often look at the world and just think fuck it, why bother, but I know that's how we are supposed to feel, that's why the corruption is so naked and freely visible - to wear down people who have the conviction that things could be better."

Fantastic. A troubling, but fascinating story, based on the lives of real people in pre-abolition Charleston. I was suprised at how different it was to The Secret Life of Bees, which I liked more for its immediacy & connection to the characters but that isn't a criticism of this book, which does a more complicated and difficult job very well indeed. The Author's notes at the end outlining how much is truth/fiction are also fascinating.

Enjoying another by Monk Kidd after enjoying ...Bees so much a few years back. I was struck by this quote.
The paragraph leading up gives it power but... "You do your rebellions any way you can."

Read with my 9-year-old. Good fun, amusing characters and easy enough for my girl to take turns on the reading.

Reading with my daughter, who loved it. Not sure I ever actually fully read it as a kid. I wasn't great at finishing stories if I knew the ending already! Now to locate a copy of the rest of them!

Read this a few weeks ago. Really enjoyed it. I'd heard it was good for Harry Potter fans, but glad I checked it before reading to my daughter! It's for mid-teens at the earliest. Loved the interplay between the found photos and the story line. Gives some good creepiness but their trick-photography nature limits it nicely.

So far so good. I do love this absurdist storytelling

This book is just perfect. I love Gaiman's descriptions - so vivid and really accessible for my daughter to get her head round unusual similes "and it scurried down the hallway like a little patch of night" was a favourite of hers.

Introduced my daughter to this classic last week in half term and we smashed through it then watched the movie. I'd forgotten how moving it is as well as very entertaining.

Read this with my daughter a couple of weeks ago. I'd read it with students at school but it's better when you can enjoy it properly AND the Julian Chapter on the end of this copy really is worth reading. Great to show that there's a backstory to the "baddie" too.

I rarely enjoy dual/multiple narratives, especially when one is historical, gradually building the backstory that will unite with the present day narrative. I just attach more to one than the other and then feel impatient that I'm not getting to continue the story I was absorbed in moments before the chapter ended. It doesn't stop me liking the book completely - I just enjoy it less!

3 weeks since I've been on litsy, or pretty much any social media - all my spare minutes have been spent blitzing through books 5, 6 and 7. I thought the first third of this book was frustrating and occasionally boring but finally it got going and was more than worth the wait. Great conclusion and I especially enjoyed the prologue.

Another great one in the series. I knew the targedies of this one were coming and I'm glad I'm making my 9 year old daughter waut a few more years before she reads book 5-7.

Started reading the series with my daughter but had to read on by myself rather than wait for her to be old enough to read the later books. Loved this one.

It gets dark.

So far so good. I saw the film about 10 years ago but hadn't read the book. Now doing so with my daughter. Only trouble is, I don't want to wait until bed time to read a measly one chapter per day! Am occupying myself with other reading but really I just want to crack on with the series at my pace!

Loved it. Reading the series with my daughter and watching the films alongside. I think the third book stands out as being the best so far (from the 4 I've read) but the third film stands out even more than the book because the directing is so good. Definitely enjoyable as an adult, even though I didn't read them when I was younger!

Just stayed up past my need to be asleep to finish this book that I started yesterday. (Have I ever done a 200+ pager in a day?)
Really enjoyed it. Surprised by how much, actually. I did like Turtles All the Way Down last year, but maybe this one more so.

Curiously, he felt too depressed to cry. Too hurt. It felt as if she'd taken the part of him that cried.

Re-reading this brilliant book. I find Kelman's ability to write with child-like wonder and innocence quite beautiful. I wonder if black Ghanaian migrants to London would find it too innacurate or find fault in him writing something so very different to his own lived experience but I hope not. I find this book very moving.

A sad read, but a fascinating story. I don't pause to take in artwork enough when reading some graphic novels, mkreso when it's balck and white, so I finished this quite quickly.

"Happy late Christmas" said my brother as he handed me this.
It's definitely late Christmas... but so far it's not very happy.

We enjoyed that a lot. I even got a bit emotional when Neville got his points at the end #spoilers. I think it's the most I've enjoyed reading a chapter book with my girl. More like that please!

I was just the wrong age to read these when they came out. Then, through working with children in my early adult years, I saw a few of the films, but they never inspired me to spend my time on the books. Now that my daughter is 9, and slowly getting into reading, I have the pleasure of beginning this magical adventure. We're 5 chapters in and we love it so far!

And the Mayor staggers back like he's been punched in the face by a row of houses-

So far so good. I still think the first book will have been the best and most gripping but I suspect this will be 2nd best.

So far so good. Good to see Hollie Mcnish in here alongside Shakespeare, Bronte, Yeats and Shelley.

This book keeps punching me right in the feelings.

A good read for a younger teenager. Not as engaging for an adult as her debut SMART, but I was reading this to be able to recommend it to kids at work and will definitely be doing so. It also made for a nice one-day read yesterday with my post-Christmas desire to be very still.

Nothing is okay. This collection of poems is not Okay (it is excellent). I am ready for this.

Not sure... decided about half way through that this is a pick-up-occasionally/dip-in-out book. I laughed very hard a some points early on and laughed again the next day, remembering them. However, after a while I realised it wasn't amusing me in the same way, mainly because I like to race through and Ayoade on Ayoade is too intense for high speed consumption.

I have no idea what to expect. Ayoade on Ayoade, I suppose...

Debut novel by Ted Hughes Prize winning poet. Even if she's new to this it must be worth a read.

Haven't read a book so quickly in a long time. Started it two nights ago... just finished. An absolute delight of belly laughs at a stupendous combination of bone-dry humour and absurdist storytelling. Also contains a complete(ly embellished) history of the last hundred years of intenational politics.

Just started this'n. Proper guffaws of laughter in the opening chapters led my daughter to say, "I didn't know books could be THAT funny."

Follows on very well from part 1. I found the end of book 1 frustratingly unsatisfying but this time was more keenly aware that this would not be a satisfying resolution and instead would end on basically an intro to book 3. That said, I enjoyed it thoroughly and couldn't put it down at several points.

To see the ocean once is to learn how to miss it

Good God Damn. Fascinating stuff. Despite my disagreement with one or two of his underlying assumptions, I think the questions Harari raises are not only valid and deeply challenging, but also very freeing.

Finished!
This book is the most 'current' book I have ever read for all the best reasons. I tackles what we're dealing with as a population right now and does so on both the technology-world-changing-so-fast-what-do-we-do? level and also the I-am-human-so-are-you-what-do-we-do? level.

I told you there would be drama.

Consistency is the playground of dull minds.

Apparently it's Apocalypse Now!

Finally getting around the reading this. Very glad I did.

"...through hell or high water."
"It'll probably be both."