Review: Once Upon a Time in Iraq

Once Upon a Time in Iraq by James Bluemel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely devastating, impossible to read without becoming angry and depressed about this disaster of a conflict and my country's role in it. The first-hand interviews are from a range of voices, ranging from US Servicemen, war photographers, Iraqi civilians and even Saddam zealots, but none come away with anything good to say about the war. It's clear that the US and UK (interviewees mention on several occasions how we are just as guilty as the Americans) went in with no long-term plan or attempts to reconstruct the country, nor any clear understanding of the geo-political and religious complexities of Iraq. I found the final chapters focusing on the rise of ISIS particularly painful, inflicting horrific brutality on the civilians and almost certainly wouldn't have occurred without the war. I doubt I'll read a better non-fiction book this year.

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Review: Lean Fall Stand

Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An absorbing book about storytelling and particularly communication. Split into three very different sections (titled Lean / Fall /Stand), I'd recommend going in with as little knowledge as possible of the story. My first McGregor novel and certainly won't be my last - some dazzling, affecting writing that kept me gripped throughout.

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Review: The Disconnect: A Personal Journey Through the Internet

The Disconnect: A Personal Journey Through the Internet by Róisín Kiberd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Deeply personal collection of interlinked essays, focusing mainly on the tech industry and the internet. Kiberd particularly captures the millennial experience of the internet well, specifically how intertwined "online" and "real" life are now in a way that maybe doesn't make sense to older people.

I thought the essays focusing on Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as their effects on Dublin through gentrification were very strong and Kiberd is an engaging writer, although I did find the personal nature of many of the essays slightly overbearing by the end of the book. Keen to read more from her in the future.

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Review: The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story

The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story by Kate Summerscale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A little dry and not really a "ghost story" as such, more of a study on the parapsychologist Nandor Fodor from the early 20th Century and his complex investigation into Alma Fielding.

I found the book worked best as a unique lens to look at an interesting period in history, with a country suffering from the long dark shadow of death from the Great War and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic with a new war on the horizon alongside recent advances in Technology, Science and Psychoanalysis but still interested in the supernatural world.

Listened to as an audiobook which was well narrated by David Morrissey.

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Review: Fake Accounts

Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this, although you probably need to be "extremely online" to get the most from it. Oyler captures the intertwined nature of modern life with the internet well. The book does read at times like some personal essays shoe-horned into a fiction template, but that style doesn't bother me too much and the extended riffs on Twitter and Online Dating were amongst the highlights.

Didn't gel as well as I'd have liked near the end and peaks in the first third, but was an entertaining read.

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Review: Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again

Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again by Katherine Angel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Focused and insightful book, teasing out countless strands surrounding sex, power dynamics, societal pressures, and consent in a very thoughtful and intelligent way. It reminded me in parts of What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About #MeToo: Essays on Sex, Authority and the Mess of Life, but arguably coming from a more empathetic and nuanced perspective.

Very readable, well-researched, and not pretending to have any quick answers to a very messy and complex part of human life and society. Highly recommended.

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Review: The Dictionary of Coronavirus Culture

The Dictionary of Coronavirus Culture by Alan Bradshaw
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Deserves to be much more widely read - can't believe I'm the first and only reader of this on GoodReads! Inspired in part by Raymond Williams' "Keywords", essentially a book of short essays from academics from a wide variety of fields (transcribed and edited from podcast interviews recorded in Spring/Summer 2020), this covers a range of topics all linked (but not limited to) the pandemic - e.g. Clapping, Idleness, Statues, Social Distancing

The podcast > essay transition seems to work very well and I'm surprised it isn't used more often. Removing the interviewers questions, the text is tightly packed with insight and each essay is an excellent, accessible primer on it's specific subject.

A joy to dip in and out of over the past month, don't be put off by the slightly unwieldy title!

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