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Jude Machin

@judesbookworms

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Let’s talk about books ❤️ CR: Land by Maggie O’Farrell 🎧 The End of Everything by M.John Harrison

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Final Booker shortlisted novel read. It’s under 200 pages and I managed to skim read it in a weekend. I’m not usually a fan of speed reading but this science-fiction story set in a dystopian near-futuristic Kent coast was depressing and quite difficult to follow in places. It’s a short tale of survival in a society that has broken down following the invasion of some kind of alien life force that is described as variously a cloud or gelatinous shape or atmospheric being called the iGhetti. For some reason this has led to the destabilisation of life and society as most people know it.. it’s hard to work out how bad things have become though, because there are moments where people are trying to go on holiday as normal on the beach and yet the city of London is described as a war zone and people are living in shanty towns on the beach. It’s shockingly violent at times too and without much emotion. One of the alien beings attaches itself to the two main characters Marnie and Phillip after he rescues it from the sea and seems to take on some kind of AI personality, learning from them and knowing everything in a childlike way. It’s quite bizarre and not the kind of thing I would normally pick up. I found it hard to engage with the characters. It was very much a train of thought at times. And in the the current political and social climate I yearn for something slightly more hopeful and heartwarming. by @judesbookworms

My 5th of the 6 Booker shortlist. Described as “a warped campus novel, an investigation into the crisis of masculinity and an off-kilter love story” all in one. This just was not for me. It’s about an out of work actor who takes work for a psychology professor at an unnamed university. He must wear nothing but a black leather bag in lectures and seminars and around campus and see what reactions it provokes in the students. Overtime he finds comfort and refuge by wearing the black bag when he’s not working and hiding behind a different personality when he’s wearing it. His friend Claudio see ways to make more money out of the situation selling nonfungible tokens and investment into whatever Black Bag symbolises to eager buyers. Add to that a rather unusual sexual relationship that develops and it’s all just the wrong side of quirky for me. It reminded me of some of the 1960s books I had to read at university like The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. The narrator breaks the fourth wall occasionally and has conversations with his parent’s dog and there really is a lot about what it is like to be a man who struggles with who they are and their role in the world. My least favourite on the list so far. by @judesbookworms

Another Booker shortlist and one of my favourites. It’s a lovely short book that blends a contemporary story with historical fiction in a unique way. The narrator has a job going to stately homes and former castles reconstructing scenes in dining rooms and kitchens with replica table settings, produce, food and drink to set the scene for visitors. The descriptions of these items alone are fantastic. You never know the gender or the name of the narrator. They get a short term job at an unnamed castle in England, where they meet the castle’s archivist to decide which King’s life from the castle’s history they will choose to re-create. Looking through the archives together, our narrator chooses one King in particular. And it is this tragic King’s story that tells the rest of the book. He’s a fictional character - I couldn’t work out if it was meant to be somebody real but I certainly couldn’t find any monarch resembling this one. It’s also left a bit vague about in which era this King ruled but I felt it was late Middle Ages/Early Tudor. He feels the weight of his responsibility very heavily from the start of his reign. You get to know his story and how he struggles to cope with the pressure of making decisions he feels ill equipped to make whilst his advisor urge him to be more “regal” and toughen up. His wife and her relationship with our own lover is also under scrutiny by the watchful court. When his cousin’s vibrant wife arrives from overseas it adds fuel to the fire.. you would wonder what this has to do with an archivist and someone who recreates historical settings, but it works so well. I was gripped. It really makes you think about the real lives and emotions of people from the past. I loved the fact there is a relationship between the archivist and the narrator that is not quite clear and you never know what gender either of them are. It’s just left for you to work it out and enjoy. by @judesbookworms

I’m way behind on my book reviews because I’ve been working my way through this year’s excellent Booker Prize shortlist. Some of the books are LONG like this devastating one by Marlon James. 613 pages that rip out your heart at times. I have never read anything like this. It will shock some readers and contains some really brutal violence and graphic sex scenes so will not be for everyone but I cannot stop thinking about it. A group of gay men meet to rehearse a “gay” prison play in Kingston, Jamaica in 1988. They all bring their own experiences of homophobic bullying and abuse but a bloody attack by a mob one evening leaves one of them dead and the others carrying mental and physical scars forever. It’s told from different perspectives - characters with their own reactions to what happened to them. When two of the men seem to disappear, two others Eddy and Jordan start looking for them and the story is mostly about that search and how they cannot move on. Stunning, shocking, visceral. by @judesbookworms

I took time off from reading this Year’s Booker Long list to read Dominion, which was nominated for this year’s Women’s Prize. It’s set in the fictional town of Dominion, Mississippi in the summer of 2000. The whole book is pretty much narrated by two women, Priscilla the wife of the powerful and wealthy local preacher Sabre and mother to his five sons, and Diamond, the girlfriend of their youngest son Emanuel. The story is about Emanuel, who is also known as Wonderboy. Star player on the school football team, handsome and with the most beautiful voice in the church choir, he is seemingly perfect with a bright future. But, interspersed with the women’s voices are much darker chapters from Wonderboy’s perspective describing sexual interactions with other local girls that are violent and non-consensual. Sabre is a fire and brimstone preacher, a man who believes men hold “dominion” over women who overlooks glimpses of his son’s disturbing behaviour. Despite the fact Priscilla writes her husband’s sermons for him and puts on the appearance of a supportive wife, he treats her with no respect, having affairs with other women that lead her to fall back on drink and antidepressants. A momentary encounter between one Wonderboy and another young man one morning leads to a violent over reaction that reveals a darkness inside Wonderboy. His sense of entitlement and attitude towards women has been passed down directly from his dad and whilst you want him to take a different path, a tragic outcome seems inevitable. His mum and girlfriend come to realise the truth about the boy they love. This is a really powerful debut novel that I absolutely loved. The women, who seem controlled and frustratingly dependent on their men learn to find an inner strength they didn’t realise they had. So glad I made time to pick this up. by @judesbookworms

Every book by Elizabeth Strout is a instant favourite of mine. She’s absolutely my most-read author. If you like stories about the crazy complexities of everyday life and relationships, she’s got you. No padding, just simple books about ordinary people. Artie Dam is a new character, set outside of her usual communities in Maine that have appeared in several books. Artie is a 57 year old history teacher living with his wife in an unnamed Massachusetts coastal town. He’s depressed and lonely with suicidal thoughts but a chance meeting with a new friend brings him a closeness he can’t find with anyone else. Then he learns a devastating secret that could change everything. There’s themes of disconnection, disappointment and emotional distance as a parent and within a marriage. Communication failure where people can’t - or won’t - say what they need to say. It’s set in the run up to the 2024 Presidential election, so there’s plenty of political side notes which I liked. These fictional people live in our world. They could be us or people we know. It’s a short one at just over 200 pages. Totally gorgeous. 10/10 for the beautiful artwork too. #books #bookworm by @judesbookworms

This Booker nominee is such a treat. Sure, it’s a long book but it’s so very readable, with a plot that draws you in and keeps you hooked to the very last page. Set in the mid 90s on the Outer Hebridean island of Harris, a tightknit, isolated and insular community where everyone knows everyone, change is frowned upon and religion dominates. John Calum McLeod (Cal) a 22 year-old graduate from art college in Edinburgh has been asked by his dad to return to their remote croft on Harris to help look after his grandmother who is apparently dying. Broke and with little choice, Cal reluctantly returns home dreading the prospect of being unable to live openly as a gay man, where his life and future are tightly controlled and mapped out for him by his dad. Their relationship is almost at breaking point, his dad a senior member of the church who reads aloud from the Bible each night and Cal, lonely and desperate to leave. Living with Cal and his dad is his maternal grandmother Ella, an outspoken Glaswegian who speaks no Gaelic and feels isolated as a result. Mum Grace left the family in disgrace some years earlier and has infrequent contact with her son. The plot slowly builds as we meet characters who are rich, tragic, real and multi layered. Secrets are revealed and life changing decisions taken. It’s a rare thing that you root for every single character in a book, even those with flaws. I adored this and I would love to see it in the Booker. The audiobook is sublime too, the narrator has the most beautiful Hebridean accent. #bookworm by @judesbookworms

So this is a big one. The book that everyone is talking about. I don’t actually want to say too much about the plot because I think it works best if it is revealed slowly. The basic premise is on the dust jacket here. If you have never heard of a trad wife, I urge you to look up Ballerina farm before you start. It blew my mind. This book takes the idea of the trad wife and peels back the grubby reality of having the “perfect life” online. It rattles along at a great pace. I’d say it’s literally the definition of a page turner and I couldn’t put it down to find out what happened next. Has Natalie really gone back to the 1850s or is there something else going on? There’s a lot of emphasis on religion and right-wing politics, which feels very current and people doing questionable things “ in the name of God”. There are some definite holes in the plot and uncertain threads that I think were left slightly vague and under developed. But I know it will make an impact on everyone who reads this. It’s one to talk about! by @judesbookworms

If you’re going on holiday, this is a little gem. I didn’t plan it but it was my second Claire Powell book in a row. Big fan of her style, the pace of the book and the realistic plots. I preferred this to At The Table because it gets right into the action straight away and I really loved the story. Married couple struggling to communicate following several failed IVF rounds that have left them in debt, are taken away to a luxury all-inclusive hotel for a long weekend in the Med by the wealthy, Dubai-based (flashy) big brother of the husband. Along with his younger, glamorous girlfriend and lonely, widowed dad. Over 4 days tensions build, secrets spill out and relationships change. There were some laugh out moments and I couldn’t put it down. It’s only out in hardback, as it’s quite recently published, but definitely one to download for the beach or sunbed! by @judesbookworms

First book I’ve read by Claire Powell. I think I saw this recommended somewhere online and got it through the library but then left it for ages because, honestly, I hated the cover 🫣 I think book artwork can make or break it for me. But I did eventually pick it up and enjoyed it. Highly readable story about a family shocked by their parents’ decision to separate in their sixties and the repercussions it has on everyone’s lives. It was poignant and funny. Can’t say I loved the characters hugely but they were well rounded and the story and structure were very believable. #bookworm #fiction by @judesbookworms

You know a book is good when you carry it around everywhere even though it’s a big-ass hardback. Kin completely absorbed me from the opening sentence. “My first word was ‘mother’ spoken out loud and with texture”.

Set in the segregated south of the USA between the 1940s and 60s, it’s about two motherless girls brought up by female relatives in the same small town of Honeysuckle in Louisiana.

Vernice (called Niecy) and Annie are “cradle friends” and share everything until, right before their high school graduation, Annie runs away to Memphis to trace the mother who abandoned her when she was less than a month old.

Devastated at losing Annie, Niecy’s own journey takes her to the prestigious Spellman College in Atlanta where she meets wealthy and well-connected African-American families for the first time and her life takes a turn away from her humble origins.

The book explores themes of chosen family over blood relations, grief, sexism, systemic racism and segregation, class and race politics. There are strong female voices throughout and I loved the idea that kin means more than bloodline.

It’s an era of American history I’ve always enjoyed so I was completely immersed in the fates of both women right to the final page.

This reminded me of the great novelist Toni Morrison’s work; books like Beloved, Sula, Tar Baby and Song of Solomon - but with less magical realism, although there are moments of this in Kin with just enough ghosts to feel believable. If you liked The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, you’ll enjoy this.

I read 368 pages in 4 days and can totally recommend. The audio book is sublime too. by @judesbookworms

One for all my fellow fans of historical fiction, this exceptional debut by Laurie Inglis Hall really devastated me. During World War II twins Tessa and Theo both sign up to fight. Theo joins the RAF and, unbeknownst to her family and friends, Tessa is signed up by the secretive Special Operations Executive and goes behind enemy lines to join the resistance movement in Nazi occupied France.

Only one of the twins returns.

There is confusion and no explanation as to what has happened to them for decades afterwards. The other twin spends their life trying to determine the truth. The hidden tragedy is that both twins are carrying heartache and other secrets they have always kept from one another.

The story jumps forward to the 2000s where a young PhD student, Edie, is researching the women who were recruited by the SOE and their brave stories. Her persistence helps unravel the past.

There are three narratives and Tessa, Theo and Edie all take a third of the book each. Sometimes I find this isn’t effective, as you’re just getting to know a character when the voice completely changes. However, the writing in this book is so superb. There isn’t a word wasted and you feel you know each character as as well as the other others. I adored Theo in particular.

Although the fate of one of the twins becomes pretty clear towards the last section of the book, the ending left me in tears.

I’m left wanting to know more about the SOE, and about what happened in France at the end of the war and the chaos of trying to find the missing. I also can’t believe this is a debut. It’s just the kind of well researched, brilliantly told story that I would love to write myself. Absolutely love the title as well which has so many different meanings throughout the novel. Impressive! by @judesbookworms