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Welcome to my book club! Maybe you want to get back into the habit of reading like me or maybe you are stuck in a rut with what to pick up next? Hopefully this will inspire you.
This month I powered through three books in different genres; autobiographical, scientific and crime fiction! It’s a good pick and mix with some of my favourite books this year.
1. Sex Robots and Vegan Meat
Genre: Educational. factual, science
Author: Jenny Kleeman
I’m not usually into factual books but the title of this captured my attention immediately!
Jenny Kleeman, a science journalist, has travelled the world over several years meeting the most extraordinary people doing the most futuristic things. All within the realms of birth, food, sex and death.
From having babies in biobags that could potentially remove the role of a woman to sex robots that can bring connection to lonely people but also sexually objectify people. And lab grown meat that will stop the killing of animals but remove our understanding of what we are eating to crowd funded death machines with no regulation.
It’s sci fi in reality. It’s terrifying and fascinating and sparks conversation. You can’t help but talk about these inventions and what it means for our society.
And this isn’t written in a boring, reminds you of High School books, kind of way. It’s written more like a novel or documentary. There’s loads of dialogue and real life interviews. It’s light, and shocking and humorous. I love how accessible this book is and think you NEED to read it.
Rating: 5/5
Don’t forget to check out my February reads!
2. Quite
Genre: Autobiography, humour
Author: Claudia Winkleman
I’m a bit of a Claudia Winkleman fan girl. She’s funny and charming and seems to be best friend material. So I thought I would give her book a go.
And her personality shines through in every word. It’s a lighthearted book full of silly musings about the big, the little and the simply mundane of life. Topics include napping, squirrels, nurses, friendships and eye liner. Kinda random but always chuckle worthy. And so relatable! It’s not an autobiography as such, but it does cover a lot of her experiences from school to strictly.
In a world where is everything is so serious, ‘Quite’ is quite possibly what everyone needs on their bedside table.
Rating: 4/5
3. Find Them Dead
Genre: Crime thriller
Author: Peter James
I have been reading the Peter James, Roy Grace series, for donkeys years. This is book 16, so I’m fully invested in the character and world that’s been created.
But I’ve only given this a 3 star review, which surprised me! I enjoyed the concept set mainly around a court case. It was fascinating to see the inner workings of this and really sinister to see how a jury can be threatened. Meg is an innocent mother who is instructed to get the verdict, ‘Not Guilty’ or she will never see her daughter who is travelling the world again. All to save an unassuming drug lord.
But there was very little of Roy Grace and he almost seemed like a side character. I feel like this was a filler book so he could re-establish himself back in Brighton after some time away on secondment. It was still a great read but I missed the thrill of a Grace chase.
Rating: 3/5
Join me next month for another chapter of recommended reads!
I hope you join along with my book club. Have you read any of these novels? What do you think I should pick next? Let me know in the comments.