Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: Sharon Olds’ Balladz (poetry)

Posted on 30 July 2023 by andyq

Balladz by Sharon Olds My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think I must have discovered Sharon Olds’ book The Gold Cell in my late teens or early twenties, and then worked my way backwards as well as reading her … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem

Posted on 12 June 2023 by andyq

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu My rating: 3 of 5 stars An interesting controversy, I can see, from the reviews on Goodreads. A dear friend recommended this to me, although he said I might not like it, if I’m … Continue reading →

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Book review: Andrew Sean Greer’s Less is Lost

Posted on 17 March 2023 by andyq

Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved ‘Less’ so much that I guess four stars is a fall from five. I wasn’t opposed to a sequel to ‘Less’ but what would it … Continue reading →

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Book review: ‘A Little Life’, revisited

Posted on 23 January 2023 by andyq

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara My rating: 4 of 5 stars Spoiler alert: I assume that you have read A Little Life already and like me, are reading more about it to help you make sense of it! Please … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life

Posted on 21 January 2023 by andyq

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara My rating: 5 of 5 stars I posted this review on Goodreads in January 2016 (such a long time ago) and was surprised to see recently that I never posted it here on my … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Ian Hamilton’s The Two Sisters of Borneo

Posted on 22 December 2022 by andyq

The Two Sisters of Borneo by Ian Hamilton My rating: 3 of 5 stars My mother and brother are big fans of this series of detective novels, by Ian Fleming, with the heroine, Ava Lee, a Chinese-Canadian lesbian. And Mom … Continue reading →

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Book Review: David Leavitt’s The Page Turner

Posted on 11 December 2022 by andyq

The Page Turner by David Leavitt My rating: 3 of 5 stars Decades ago, as a young gay man and an aspiring writer, I read ‘Family Dancing’, Leavitt’s collection of short stories, and then ‘Lost Language of Cranes’. I remember … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads

Posted on 9 August 2022 by andyq

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen My rating: 2 of 5 stars I still remember reading ‘The Corrections‘ and then recommending it to everyone I knew. I found it comic, poignant, brilliant and unfortunately relatable, and I was very much swept into … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad

Posted on 19 June 2022 by andyq

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I returned for another read of this novel after reading the latest Egan, The Candy House, and thoroughly enjoying it. And I clearly didn’t review … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House

Posted on 5 June 2022 by andyq

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was disappointed with Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘To Paradise’ after I loved ‘A Little Life’ so much and felt the same with Viet Thanh Nguyen’s ‘The Committed’ after the … Continue reading →

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