Month: March 2025

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

This book has been on my shelf since I heard Kaliane talk about her book last year. I realise I start a lot of my blog posts about with how long the book has been on my shelf, but that is one of the many curses of being a bookworm. Although I really wanted to read this book, there was something a little intimidating about it for me. I do not know if it was all the hype it was getting, or the fact that it appeared to be a sci-fi book, which is definitely not my go-to genre. Yet I was still really fascinated by this book, so when it became the pick for a monthly buddy read, it gave me the boost I needed to pick it up.

This is such a unique idea for a book; the idea that time travel could bring characters from the past to the present for us to learn from and for the Ministry to see how well they adapt to life in the modern world – and all the moral conflict that comes with that, as ultimately they are human beings displaced for a social experiment. This does seem to reflect the modern world we are living in and creates quite a thought-provoking read as you consider all the moral questions that it raises as you read.

It is a fascinating concept and you do learn a little about the history of the characters, especially that of Commander Graham Gore, who was the original inspiration for the book. It did pique my interest in those early explorations to new worlds, as they would have been for the Victorians, but it also emphasises all the wrongs of that age of exploration. Something that has really been at the fore of current affairs.

If someone aske me to classify this book, I am not sure what you can fully classify it, as I think it could be found in many sections of a bookshop. It is a contemporary piece of fiction from a new voice, it has a very clear (but light) element of sci-fi to it, but it is also a love story. It may not be your traditional love story, but centrally it looks at love in different forms.

I enjoyed this book, although it did take some concentration, with some rather long chapters at points, which means, to me, it is a book that you have to be able to dedicate some time to, to ensure that you are taking it all in. So, I will certainly be recommending this book to people, especially as something that maybe they traditionally would not pick up to read, because of that fear of it being something very sci-fi – I admit that if I had not heard Kaliane Bradley speak about it, then I may have never picked this book up, so it proves you should never judge a book by its cover – or its genre.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

This book has been everywhere over the last few weeks, and I fell for the hype. Especially as it was shared by some of my lovely bookish friends who do not give their praise lightly to books – especially not books that are getting all the hype. So, when I was in the lovely Warwick Books at the start of the month and I spotted that they had a copy of ‘Broken Country’, I had to pick it up because the FOMO was real. And, well, let’s be honest, I would, one hundred per cent, have missed out if I had not picked this book up that day.

‘Broken Country’ kept me up past my bedtime on more than one occasion because I could not leave this world. This a beautifully written book, full of emotion from the first page, that will have you hooked from the moment you start reading. This is a story about love, in all the ways we may experience it, and how it can change our lives. It is hard not to reveal spoilers in this post, because I want to say so much about this book, but I also want people to experience this story with little knowledge of the plot – because you have to become immersed in it.

It is a skillful author who can tell a story from three different periods in a main character’s life and still make it all fit together seamlessly (and not make us reach for a piece of paper to make notes). Beth and her loving husband Frank have been living peacefully on their farm, until the return of Gabriel, Beth’s first love. The foundations of their relationship begin to be shaken and events that follow lead to devastating consequences for all involved. And, although I am not usually a fan of a story that has an affair at its centre, this book seems to be different, and I think that is down to the stunning storytelling and the wonderful characters that are brought to life for the reader. The tale also maintains its thrilling nature as we never have the full information until the very end – so we are drawing our own conclusions and trying to make our own predictions about what may have happened, or what may be going to happen.

The only final thing I am going to say about this story is that I was in tears at the end, and almost wanted to go back to the beginning and experience the story all over again. Because this is a book that you will wish you could read for the first time once you have read that final line.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

Sometimes you know it is time to read a book you should have already read. And, I decided that it was time to read ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy. I do enjoy a post-apocalyptic story – which is not something that I would have said a few years ago.

I really enjoyed this book, which always sounds like a strange phrase to say about a book that has a little darkness to it, but this is an incredibly well-constructed story. And the man and boy who you travel down the road with are two wonderful characters – and it is quite a pleasure to spend some time with these two characters, even if it is not the most perfect of situations.

It takes quite some skill to base a book pretty much only around two characters and keep you engaged from beginning to end – and I was. Following them on their journey is quite intimate, as it is them against the world. You feel their bond, their love and all their emotions as they travel along the road. When they feel heartbreak, you feel heartbreak, and when they have moments of joy, you have moments and joy, and that really adds to the reading experience. As I won’t give spoilers, I will say that there was a moment where the actions of the boy moved me to tears, the kindness he showed towards someone less fortunate than himself despite the suffering he was going through was just a beautiful moment.

This may be a book that can be viewed as a little grim, and it is certainly not a completely uplifting read. but it is a very good one. There are chinks of light in the story where you see the best in human nature, although you do see a dark world ahead of us. And we may never really know why, but my interpretation is that this is a world that has been created by man, and this book could be read as a warning to us about the damage we could be doing to the planet and its people.

There is a little bit of an open ending to this book, and I really like that maybe you can make your own decision about what happen next. And that always means that a book that stays with you as you find that you return to its ideas every now and then, and can occasionally just creep up on you, and you are thinking about it again – and that, to me, is a sign of a good book.

I am blown away by the talent of Cormac McCarthy as an author, just from this book, so I would certainly like to read more when I can. I think ‘No Country for Old Men’ could be the next on the list. If people ask me for recommendations then ‘The Road’ is going to be a go-to recommendation, as it is just a really quite wonderful book.

The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

I have had a few people tell me that I need to pick this book up, including Mr Bookwormandtheatremouse, and I have finally listened and made the decision that it would be the last book of February for me. Just like ‘Curtain Call’ by Julian Clary, there is no mistaking who wrote this book as you read it, the voice of Bob Mortimer jumps out from the page the minute you start reading – and I am OK with that.

‘The Satsuma Complex’ is a crime novel, but it is often classed as contemporary fiction, and alongside that it is full of humour and warmth as you would expect from the pen of Bob Mortimer. I enjoyed this book, and being inside the head of our main character, Gary, is quite an experience, especially when he likes a chat with the local squirrel (as I write that it sounds so strange, but honestly it all works). Gary is a legal assistant in a firm in London; he feels very anonymous in a large world and seems to live a fairly mundane life. Until one evening, he is having a drink with an acquantice in a local pub and meets the mysterious Emily, who happens to be reading ‘The Satsuma Complex’. From that moment onwards, his life takes quite a different direction – and maybe life is not as mundane as he thought.

As usual that is all you are going to get from me on plot, as I do not share spoilers, especially for something that has some mystery amongst its pages. However, I will say that I adored the characters in this book; they had so much humour to them, even if they did turn out to be a villain. It may not be the most complex plot to a book, but it is one that does make you feel joy as you read it and probably hear it as Bob Mortimer in your head. This is like a film noir in a book and it is great fun. I think the chats with the squirrel are some of my favourite moments, and I think, if we are all honest, we have all probably had imaginary conversations in our head.

So, if you want to read a story that will leave you with a feeling of joy and that will help you escape the real world, this is definitely a book that is worth picking up, and I will definitely be reading ‘The Avocado Hotel’ to find out what happens to Gary next.