I’m making my way through the full series of the Anne Shirley and the Alex Rider books and also the 2019 short list for the Man Booker prize. I bought these three collections at a very reasonable price ass par to The Book People’s closing down sale. Some of my writing friends may be relieved at the demise of this company who sold books very cheaply. I have mixed feelings. Yes, I believe that writers should be paid properly. But you could also argue that The Book People sold many more books than other retailers so writers got the same royalty in the end as from other sellers. Also, they did encourage some people to read who otherwise wouldn’t. They delivered books to people’s places of work and so made buying books easy. And it was a company that loved books anyway. So, I remain ambivalent.
I’m really
enjoying the books for younger readers but thought I should offer something
more for adults.
My favourite to
date form the Man-Booker list is Bernadine
Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other.
Bernadine Evaristo
uses a type of prose poetry to introduce us to a variety of women whose stories
interweave and who come together at the after party of a play written by one of
the women. Evaristo presents us with a multitude of concerns that these women
face. They are all black or mixed race except one who nevertheless finds she
has mixed ethnicity when she takes a DNA test. The women are from diverse
backgrounds. We get to know them really well and Evaristo has given each one
her unique voice.
