What I'm reading ...

I have started Becoming by Michelle Obama. We saw the documentary about her book tour recently, which was interesting and emotional. I have always been impressed by her [and her hubby!] and enjoy a good biography. Here’s the blurb:

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America - the first African-American to serve in that role - she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.

Normal People - by Sally Rooney

Someone told me that this book was a “romance”. I have concluded that this description is not wrong, but is incomplete. I think that the real message of the book is that there is no such thing as “normal” people. But I think I knew that. The story, at a certain level, describes various people, who can appear normal and then you find out about their quirks. Overall, I found it an enjoyable read.
I was confused about some of the language usage. There is a reference to a “windshield”, which is not British English - is it the Irish English word stolen from American perhaps? Later in the book Marianne gets some money in Euros, but Connell says that he needs “10 quid”. Even if people used to call the Irish Pound a quid, these characters would be too young to have that slang, unless that is universal in Ireland [for Euro].
Another aspect of the book troubled me: none of the dialogue has quotation marks around it. This feels wrong, though I never actually found it confusing. So, maybe quotes aren’t really needed. As I subscribe to the view that the apostrophe should be abolished, I should be comfortable with this.
Lastly, the ending of the book felt a little weak to me. Short of killing off a key character, it is hard to know how to finish such a story.

What I'm reading ...

I have started Normal People by Sally Rooney. I read a glowing review of the TV adaptation of this book and thought that it might be interesting to read. Then I discovered that we had a copy and two family members had read it. They were unimpressed, but I will try to have an open mind. Here’s the blurb:

Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In school, Connell is popular and well-liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation - awkward but electrifying - something life-changing begins.
Normal People is a story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find they can't.

Shakespeare: The World as a Stage - by Bill Bryson

I had high expectations of this book, as I always enjoy Bryson’s writing and know that his research is thorough. I was not disappointed. This was a very enjoyable and informative read. It was disconcerting, near the beginning, when he mentions that there is a problem: we actually know very little about Shakespeare’s life, despite his significance in history and literature. The book describes what is known and discusses numerous claims about the Bard’s life, that have been refuted or clearly do not fit with the facts. He also describes a lot of detail about life in England in the late 1500s and early 1600s, which I enjoyed. I wish this book had been available when I was learning about Shakespeare and that historical period at school ...

What I'm reading ...

I have started Shakespeare: The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson. Time for non-fiction again. Bryson is one of my favourite authors - certainly in top three - so I look forward to gaining some interesting insights while being entertained. Here’s the blurb:

International bestseller Bill Bryson brings us this brilliantly readable biography of the world’s greatest playwright, William Shakespeare.
Join Bill as he takes you on a journey through Elizabethan England, tackling the myths, half-truths and downright lies to make sense of the man behind the masterpieces.

The Atlantis Gene - by A.G. Riddle

This book turned out to be an odd coincidence in a couple fo ways. Firstly, there was part of the story that hinged on brain plasticity - the subject of a recent that book I read. The other is that the story includes some narrative from the time of the Spanish ‘flu pandemic and the contemporaneous timeline introduces a new pandemic. None of this topicality was obvious from the blurb.
Overall, it was a good read, with lots of short chapters, which is a great way to coax me further - just one more chapter … I did find some of the geography and the multiple characters with aliases slightly confusing towards the end. There are a fair number of twists in the plot, which is good. I found the ending [at least there is one!] a little weak.

What I'm reading ...

I have started The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle. I thought that it was time for fiction again, contemporaneous sci fi would fit the bill and this has been sitting around for a while. Here’s the blurb:

70,000 years ago, the human race almost went extinct.
We survived, but no one knows how.
Until now.
The countdown to the next stage of human evolution is about to begin, and humanity might not survive this time.
The Immari are good at keeping secrets. For 2,000 years, they've hidden the truth about human evolution. They've also searched for an ancient enemy--a threat that could wipe out the human race. Now the search is over.
Off the coast of Antarctica, a research vessel discovers a mysterious structure buried deep in an iceberg. It has been there for thousands of years, and something is guarding it. As the Immari rush to execute their plan, a brilliant geneticist makes a discovery that could change everything.
Dr. Kate Warner moved to Jakarta, Indonesia to escape her past. She hasn't recovered from what happened to her, but she has made an incredible breakthrough: a cure for autism. Or so she thinks. What she has found is far more dangerous--for her and the entire human race. Her work could be the key to the next stage of human evolution. In the hands of the Immari, it would mean the end of humanity as we know it.
Agent David Vale has spent ten years trying to stop the Immari. Now he's out of time. His informant is dead. His organization has been infiltrated. His enemy is hunting him. But when David receives a coded message related to the Immari attack, he risks everything to save the one person that can help him solve it: Dr. Kate Warner.
Together, Kate and David must race to unravel a global conspiracy and learn the truth about the Atlantis Gene... and human origins. Their journey takes them to the far corners of the globe and into the secrets of their pasts. The Immari are close on their heels and will stop at nothing to obtain Kate's research and force the next stage of human evolution--even if it means killing 99.9% of the world's population. David and Kate can stop them... if they can trust each other. And stay alive.

A Beautiful Broken Dream: A Trail Journal in Search of the Myth of America - by Steve Bonham

This was an enjoyable enough read, but I ultimately found it unsatisfying. It was reasonably well written and kept me turning the pages, but I was looking forward to getting a glimpse of bit of America [or even Americana] that were new to me. I did get some such glimpses, but they were mixed in with a lot of the writer’s thoughts and philosophy. Although this was not uninteresting, it was not what I was expecting in the book.