[Sundae]

Briefs Encountered
Julian Clary
A ghost-comedy-of-errors. Written by out and proud English comedian Clary, the book is full of the sharp comments and one-liners you would expect. It is also touching and slightly savage by turns. Quite frothy, but well-observed. Richard Stent, actor, buys Noel Coward’s house (which Clary lives in) only to find some things bump rather than bang in the night. Great period detail and an obvious love for the property and former owner.

The Boy Who Could See Demons
Carolyn Jess-Cooke
I’m sure I’ve reviewed this before.
Trouble is, the posts I delete by mistake tend to be the longest, and I get so furious I have to log off rather than smash my fists againt the keyboard until they bleed.
This is a marvel of a book, set in Northern Ireland, It shows the fallout of the Troubles on the second and third generation. Told in the voice of an equally prescient and naïve child, it questions what is true in memories and reality.
It’s accessible, but in turns dark and disturbing. It can also be laugh out loud funny.
It left me thinking and puzzling and assessing after I finished it. I reread it again almost immediately, to see how it panned out with what I thought I knew at the end.

The Small Hand: A Ghost Story
Susan Hill
Now I usually love Susan Hill. Her books haunt me.
Perhaps I did not give this one enough time. I just didn’t engage with it very well.
It’s not overtly spooky - Hill rarely is - so perhaps it will work on my sub-conscious until I have to read it again. Any books which feature abandoned gardens are worth a second look.

Couple of Janet Evanovitchs
Equivilant of a takeaway delivered to your house.
Convenient, filling and joyful. Forgotten next day. Nothing wrong with that.

Dare Me
Megan Abbott
Interesting book set in a stereotypical American school, focusing especially on the cheerleading squad. I say stereotypical because I have no idea whether it is real, but it is written by an American author. It’s dark; teen girl jealousy, bitching and revenge. There is a glossary, but I had to look up many cheer terms online; I was pleased I did though, added to my meagre sum of knowledge.
Probably worth a read, short and fast-paced even if it is uncomfortable in its stark representation of teens.

Apocalypse Cow
Michael Logan
Really enjoyed this. A good, honest Scots voice in the tradition of Iain Banks and Irvine Welsh, although utterly unlike them. The humour veers from bawdy and current to subtly referenced and classic. And yeah, there’s gore. The heroes (?) feel like real people faced with overwhelming odds, and are quite capable of f**k ups. Read as a horror and it will surprise you with a belly laugh.

Graceland
Christopher Abani
This book is both whimsical and unrelenting. It details the life of a young lad in Lagos, Nigeria in an uncompromising way. Drugs, alcoholism, murder, sleeping rough, rape, prostitution. But also friendship, family ties, both acceptance and denial that this is all there is, and a touch of superstition. And flashes of humour - this is not a hard book to read.