Getting through the pile

Very brief reviews but here goes.

The Debutante Divorcee
by Plum Sykes
4* 
Total froth but very well written and full of name dropping of places and luxurious accessories. The women in this book lead a life so far away from mine that's it's hard to believe they exist - but I believe they do. The sort who have money literally to throw away. But fun.

The Unlikely Heroics of Sam Holloway
by Rhys Thomas
4* 
An unusual premise for a story: a young man so damaged by life that he begins to dress as a superhero and stalk the streets at night looking for wrongs to right. It's been a few weeks/books since I read it and I don't remember it that well so maybe it should be 3*. 

Funny Girl
by Nick Hornby
3/4 *
As an historical novel recording life in the 60s, and in particular, in the BBC this gets 4*. It was my era and it's a fascinating read. As the story of a young woman from Blackpool who has ambitions to become a comedienne like her hero, Lucille Ball, a not so good 3*. She's quite a flat character, with very little development so a bit of a disappointment, especially as she's the title character.



Saving the best till last.

Things My Son Needs to Know about the World
by Fredrik Backman
5*
I think Fredrik Backman has become my favourite writer. I love his novels but this is something different. It's largely an apology to his young son for all the things he's getting wrong in parenting. It's quite short but brilliant. So very real and funny. I defy you not to laugh out loud in places.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
by Matthew Sullivan
5*
A novel set in a bookstore, featuring book-lovers and down-and-outs, not to mention secret coded messages and a suicide, as well as tragic personal histories. The young man who kills himself in the first chapter leaves a series of messages for the woman who finds him. They take her back into her past and cause her to look again at things she thought she was sure of.