Bibliography, May 2023

BOTM: O. Butler, Kindred (1979)

L. Blissett, Q (1999)
L. Borodin, The year of miracle and grief (1984)
F. Butler-Gallie, Priests de la Resistance (2019)

E. Chang, Lust, Caution and other stories (1979)
J. Fforde, The Eyre Affair (2001)
K. Harris, The Queen at the Cricket (2022)
R. Kapuscinski, The shadow of the sun (1998)
K. Rundell, Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (2022)

G. Taber, The Judgment of Paris: California vs. France (2005)

I liked parts of lots of these a lot. But many were flawed. Q is brilliantly mad (it's about sixteenth century anabaptists), but too long; Rundell's writing is spiky and very enjoyable to read, but I found the focus slightly off. Kapuscinski writes magnificently, but is slightly wincingly dated in some of his descriptions of African society. 

Largely immune from this were Priests de la Resistance which is actually a sneakily affecting book, with rich anecdotes to tell, told well, and forcefully reminding us of the Christian imperative to act. A marvellous book. Best of all was Octavia Butler's time travelling novel of race and America. Tight, clever, impactful and narratively surprising. It's a great novel.