Indulge me - May 2025 Roundup

Reviews, recs and rationalisations. Whistleblowers, Dystopias and the Writers pit of Despair...

Welcome to my book roundup. I’ll try to do this on the first Sunday of the month, every month. I’ll tell you the best thing I read last month, the things that got added to my TBR, what happened at book club and maybe even what is happening with my own writing. I’ll also give you snippets of the reviews for all the other books I read last month. Sound good? Get a cuppa and let’s get started.

The Best Book

It was quite hard to pick this month as I read 3 that got 4 stars. I’ve gone for the novel ‘Riot Baby’ by Tochi Onyebuchi as it was the one that touched more of the squishy and shadowy parts of me.

“A novella of epic proportions. It wasn't what I was expecting - which I love. To be surprised in this world, one so stripped of awe is a blessing. I read it in 4 sittings.

The first; quizzical. The second; treading lightly into the unexpected territory. The third... well the third was where my own revelations happened. And the fourth was where I devoured the end and wanted more, even though I was quietly glad it was over.

I felt it. I didn't want to. I did not want to. But this book - being in this book with these characters, harried through an all too possible future, the unrelenting, day to day, minute to minute, claustrophobic, every waking moment, death (or madness) by a thousand cuts… I felt it.

And my bias, and my privilege, and my own desperate wishes tried to choke me. And maybe its because I’d recently read the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Maybe because the last novel I read was by Toni Morrison. Maybe these authors are showing me the layers upon layers of experience that aren’t just ‘Racism’. Instead of burying me underneath them, each layer is like an uncovering. So I can’t say that you’ll have the same experience reading this book. But for me? I felt it.

The actual story, with its subtle, clever and believable nods to the potential future we are sleepwalking into is fast and furious. The author gives the reader a lot of grace, assumes that you will be able to keep up. Because there is no hand holding here. It is sink or swim and we are swimming in murky shark infested waters.

‘The Thing’ is mysterious and builds inexplicably through the novel. It’s interesting but never explained or explored, which is frustrating for a fan of the genre. But, in the whirlwind of the story it works well enough. The writing is chaotic, but deft enough to leave clues.

Would I have liked some things explained better? Yes, but not because it would have made the story better - I think the chaos and uncertainty adds to the experience, but Tochi makes science fiction uniquely interesting and I wanted to spend longer with the characters - even though it was actually an uncomfortable place for everyone.

Selfishly , I think the end could definitely have done with 30-40 more pages, but it’s a novella not a novel. The two main characters are heartfelt and I would have loved to see them win, or at least find a little peace. But this story is not a peaceful one. It’s an important one though.

What happened at bookclub?

I have rounded up, because I think this book should be read far and wide and a four star rating will help that along more than a 3. I gave it a 7/10 in book club. It scored pretty highly, some even gave it a full 10.

The opening chapters were not what anyone was expecting and everyone loved them. They serve not just as a great hook to keep you reading in the beginning, but also to show you how the author is very good at not complaining while sitting in a pot of slowly boiling water.

The facebook stuff is quite hard to listen too, intriguing in parts, infuriating in others. There isn't as much admission of guilt for her own part as we all thought there should have been. Very much 'other people' made decisions, but throughout the book she is making impossible things happen. It was like watching a slow car crash sometimes and the authors naivety was annoying and painful. There is a whole story about breastfeeding - or rather NOT breastfeeding that made me want to punch a wall.

She does not come off as a very good mother, but that is weaved into the story in a way where America doesn't come off as very supportive of mothers or motherhood in general, which I think most of us can already sense. Likewise, Americas healthcare shambles, sorry, I mean 'system' is shown to be barbaric. You can't help but wonder if she had such a horrible time of it and she's a white woman who regularly flies next to billionaires on a private jet then what hope do the rest of Americans have.

Then theres the stuff about facebook that we kind of knew but most of us liked to ignore. And that is where this book is important. I came off Facebook ages ago because I just found it noisy and nosey, and boring. However I am on Instagram and I use whatsapp all the time... so I'm still very much tied to Meta and I'm really not sure how to stop that.

So, although the author didn't stay likeable throughout, the things she brings out into the light are definitely worth knowing. Everyone at bookclub recommends this book.

We haven’t chosen the next one. Voting stars today. I’ve put forward ‘That Peckham Boy’ by Kenny Imafidon and I hope it wins because it’s been on my TBR for ages.

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A quick interruption to remind you that hitting the ❤️ button is a totally free and very gorgeous way of supporting this new thing I’m doing, cheers x

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To be (or not to be) read

This is what made it on to my TBR this month, I’d love to know what made it on to yours. Let me know.

S.C.U.M. manifesto. Valerie Solana’s - I was looking for a quote about consistency not being boring and came across a pretty vivid quote by the author, which led me down a rabbit hole and here we are. Quite a book to be added to the list first this month.

Combining. Nora Bateson - I’ve recently joined Keri Jarvis’s group coaching ‘Composting’ and this book came up through a quiet she shared. I have high hopes for this book, I felt fizzy as I read the blurb.

Braiding Sweetgrass. Robin Wall Kimmerer - Asking questions of nature with the tools of science. A book we’re reading from the above mentioned group coaching. It went straight into my currently reading list as we were discussing bits of it the week after I found out about it.

There was a post on instagram by Shelley Karikari about non fiction Palestinian books, so they have all gone on the list:

• One State’ by Ghada Karmi

• ‘Perfect Victims’ by Mohammed El-Kurd

• ‘Greater than the Sum of Our Parts’ by Nada Elia

• ‘Namesake’ by N.S. Nuseibeh

• ‘Light in Gaza’ edited by Jehad Abusalim

• ‘Recognizing the Stranger’ by Isabella Hammad

As yet unwritten

I am so bad. I will never be a writer… I have literally messed around with a few sentences at the end of a chapter this whole month. May has been really busy, but June & July are worse and then its the summer holidays… so I really don’t know if I’ll ever finish anything ever. I am wallowing in a writers pit of despair. A friend of mine has talked me into trying to write 500 words a day as a challenge. It feels like I’ve agreed to Climbing Everest. I am being slightly dramatic. Maybe I am a writer.

And the rest

‘Great Britain?’ Torsten Bell 4/5 ****

“He makes the case that Britain doesn’t need to be “great” again. It just needs to be normal. Functioning. Fair. Not flailing in a fog of despair that drives people to vote for fringe parties who should’ve remained the punchlines they are, not ones with seats at the bloody table. But when people lose hope, when they think things are always going to be bad, they’ll take a punt on the ‘different’ option. Bell sees this, and he’s trying to cut through it with real policy instead of panic.”

Click here for the full review

‘Aspects of Evocation’ Phil Hine 3/5 ***

“It's a collection of stories, so some are weirder than others, some are more connected to evocation than others but all have an insight into the practice that really help build some awareness and interest in the subject. … No, it is not a guidebook. it is way more interesting.”

Click here for the full review

I am currently reading ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer and am loving it. I’m not even 10% of the way in yet but I’ve already highlighted so much, like; “The trees act not as individuals, but somehow as a collective. Exactly how they do this, we dont yet know. But what we see is the power of unity. What happens to one happens to us all. We can starve together or feast together. All flourishing is mutual.” If you like that you’ll LOVE the book.

That’s all folks

Thanks so much for reading, it was really enjoyable to put this all together. Please do let me know what you liked or didn’t, it’s still very experimental at the moment. You can sign up to just receive this monthly Bookstack, or just subscribe to everything, either would make me smile.

Here’s to reading something wonderful in June!

Big Love

Elektra x