The three Jackson Brodie novels are all similar enough that it's hard for me to rank them, but they all have their own unique charms as well. Like the others, this one wraps up just a little too neatly, but not before a few genuine "aw shit" twists. Atkinson somehow makes certain characters lik...
Great title. Not so great book. I just couldn't get into it mainly because the jumping around is so very annoying. I don't have time to read a book straight through, and doing that might have helped, but I don't know that it serves any purpose to have a scene from 1975 with no explanation, and...
This should actually get two stars only but me and Kate Atkinson go way back. I read her 'Behind the Scenes in the Museum' when I was a newbie to the grown-up literature and I loved it. I am quite afraid to go and revisit it now because after reading 'Case Histories' I am not sure if Atkinson can...
One Good Turn is Atkinson's second novel to feature a character named Jackson Brodie, though I didn't realize it was part of a series until I had finished the book. That didn't seem to impact the story. The book is sort of a mystery, but it doesn't completely belong to the genre. There is a detec...
The year is 1951 and Atkinson gives us Ruby, our unconventional, imaginative narrator who greets us with the exuberant opening revelation: “I exist!” At this moment, our narrator has just been conceived, deep within her mother Bunty's womb. The environs provide sustenance but little else. In...
Can you see the cover of Emotionally Weird that I read? I don't know, but if it's a peach colored cover with a sort of crappy drawing of a redheaded woman smoking and a dog then you are seeing it? Or maybe you are seeing the new cover, which is dark and fits with the covers of Kate Atkinson's l...
Critically acclaimed author Kate Atkinson uses a clever blend of witty, satirical characterizations and intriguing settings ranging from apocalyptic to only slightly unordinary in her captivating collection of short stories, Not the End of the World. Each of its twelve tales has a different focus...
While this book wasn't quite as good as Behind the Scenes at the Museum A Novel, it had many of its strong points -- excellent writing and characterization, acerbic wit, good pacing, etc. It was also more creative and postmodern, which I found to be both a strength and a weakness. Sixteen-year...
‘Bridget’s had a bit of an accident, I’m afraid. She tripped and fell over the step. Just a sprained ankle, I think, but I doubt that she’ll be able to go up to London for the celebrations.’Bridget was sipping a brandy, sitting in Mrs Glover’s chair, a big high-backed Windsor, by the stove. Her a...