Kate Hilton's "Better luck next time"

You can find this book here.

The book is a multiple-perspective comedy based around a large extended family, with multiple people in midlife struggling to keep their lives together. In fact, their lives are falling apart. and to top it off, as this happens, an iconic feminist leader, who is mother to three of these five adults, is trying to push them into making their past choices work for them.

Each character written in Hilton's book are complicated, deep and strong; even with all their flaws. Whilst Nina (who doesn't have much of a voice in the novel) is less heard in this way, as a character you still see her strength and resilience even when others talk about her. In saying that, it would appear each of these characters are too strong or too successful to be relatable. I think that that's not the case. All of these characters look at new lives, in a way, not because of a midlife crisis, but because of choices, because of connections, or because of a lack of communication. These are very real things that can connect a reader to this family. 

It is also a very quick read. it is witty and flows rather well. I felt there was some discontinuity in a couple of places; overall however, it stands strongly as a recommended read. The wit and humour centres mostly around family relationships and family breakdowns in many ways, and possibly at least one character will ring familiar to any reader's personal life or someone they know. 

I enjoyed this read: it went by rather quickly. It is recommended for anyone interested in (possibly) chick lit, though the characters in the book are older and deal more with divorce than most chick lit heroines. Also, if you are interested in a lighter book for your period of life, or someone wanting to take stock of their own lives (as the characters have those kinds of defining moments in the book too).

Links for you

Read-a-likes in the Library:

First comes love
Emily Giffin

Heart of the matter
Emily Giffin

I almost forgot about you
Terry McMillan

P.S. I love you
Cecelia Ahern

All of these authors and titles may have different writing styles and tones; however they share themes: self-fulfilment in and for women, bouncing back into life, female friendship and middle-aged women.

Brian Bilston's "Diary of a somebody"

This book can be found here.

This book is filled with poetry. And you know what? I wasn’t too bothered.

Bilston is known for his poetry; starting there and gaining a huge following on social media. This book was his first novel and it is interspersed with his poetry as well. And as I said, I didn’t mind the fact that I was reading poetry as I was reading this book.

So, let’s talk about the poetry first, and bear in mind I am no expert (on anything probably, and yet here I am). There was a lot of humour in the poetry (some I didn’t get), but most I did. I enjoyed the linguistic jokes and the cultural references and I am sure anyone who enjoys his social media presence (check out his website here) that you would not be disappointed.

Since that’s all I know about poetry, let’s get down to the novel. The book is about a life; a “somebody” if you will. The character, Brian (possibly written because it reflects his own life? Hard for me to say, but it is interesting they share the same name), is a regular human. Maybe even less than regular as there is a typical dejection that follows him (or is created by him). The character; therefore, may be unlikeable to a lot of readers because of this naturalness of the character. Brian is unable to enjoy life, unable to see the good side, and often blames anything else but himself for his situation. What I found with the character however; is this didn’t bring me closer to Brian, it distanced me. However, there is a lot of humour and development of the story (not necessarily the character); that kind of ties it together. There’s almost a “Gumpness” to the character – but in a less positive way.

The remaining characters in the novel also do not seem to develop much, and as the story is told in the first person, you cannot fully understand what happens behind the minds of any of the other characters. 

In terms of story; it is rather slow. It basically follows the year in the life of Brian. There is not a lot of conflict or heart-racing moments; just like real life. The story itself is crowned by the poetry (this being its centrepiece and the story flowing around it). It may take some time to get into the story (for example the days about garbage); but every day is not full and exciting, and so it at least reflects life the way it should be. Or is.

I do think the novel is fun. It’s a short, quick read; even when there is no real pace. I will say that the poetry was great. Brian was interesting because he was so average, and it is nice to have a break from Adonises and Herculeses (if these can be the plurals?). If you don’t want an almost anti-heroic protagonist who is too human, don’t read the novel. But, you should definitely read it for the wordplay and poetry. If you must, skip the story … though I suggest you give it a shot anyway.

Links for you:

Title read-a-likes in the Library:

Less

Andrew Sean Greer

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Uncommon type: some stories

Tom Hanks

This author was chosen for their use of dialogue and tone.