Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Rating: A+

If you want to spend time and fall deep for a book, this might be the one to curl up with in February. Covering five disparate storylines across time – from 1453 Constantinople to present day Idaho – and five explorers obsessed with the text ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land.’ It’s a meandering and lovely story about dreamers, human connection and more.

Attached by Dr. Amir Levine and Rachel S.F. Heller, M.A.

Rating: B

A scientific approach to our attachment styles, this is a quick and pithy insight into ourselves and our own motivations and approaches when it comes to relationships.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Rating: B

A pithy and tight read, where no word is wasted, telling the story of Keiko as she grapples with her own identity and just how inextricable it is from her job at a convenience store. It is simultaneously heartwarming and saddening.

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kufafka

Rating: B+

An eerie story centred around Ansel Packer – a murderer on death row. The story is flipped though, as his backstory and narrative is told through the women that have had impact on his life – from his mother to his wife and the detective that located him. It’s more than just a juicy thriller, its an interesting note on the wider impact of his actions on those around him.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Rating: A

If you’ve seen any round up lists from 2022, this one will have featured heavily and for once, it stands up to the hype. It’s a delightful story set in the 1960s, telling the story of Elizabeth Zott as she makes a career fas a TV personality. It’s about feminism, motherhood and enduring love, it’s funny, tender and is a delight from start to finish.

The Christmas Wish by Lindsay Kelk

Rating: B-

An easy and quirky Christmas romance, based on the idea of Groundhog Day.

Spare by Prince Harry

Rating: C+

Not much more can ever be said about Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir but what I will say is that on the one hand it’s juicy and entertaining, but the middle part is almost mind-numbingly dull. The editor needed some more heavy handed editing to bring the book together, as it felt largely disjointed and clunky in points. As ever, there’s something lacking in his approach to make it compelling – his inability to be accountable in his own story that makes it feel dishonest and disingenuous. Read the newspaper articles about this – it’s quicker.

The post Everything We Read in January 2023 appeared first on off the record.

The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Rating: A+

Quite simply one of the best books I read this year, Shipstead weaves the story of the female aviator Marian Graves through with the lost actress Hadley Baxter (set to play Graves in a forthcoming film) with ease. It is intricately plotted, with both protagonists intensely complicated but likeable in their own ways. A long but enjoyable read.

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados

Rating: B-

If you liked Naoise Dolan’s Exciting Times, this is a good follow-up read. Granados tells the story of Isa and Gala – two girls trying to make it in New York. Both are complicated, problematic and not at all likeable, yet the prose is pithy and intoxicating.

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Rating: B+

Drawing on the famed club The Wing for inspiration, Laura Hankin’s satirical look at an all female club and the power they hold in New York is clever, witty and immensely readable. Though readers will be familiar with the strange turn the plot takes, if you trust the prose and go with it – this makes for immensely entertaining reading.

Exes & O’s by Amy Lea

Rating: A-

Amy Lea is a bright new voice on the scene. This new rom-com is delicious, light and filled with a plethora of clever insights hidden beneath an immensely speedy and likeable prose.

The Binding by Bridget Collins

Rating: B+

This took a while to get into, but is worth the uphill climb, Bridget Collins book tells the story of a man learning his craft as a bookbinder (binding people’s memories into books so that they can forget). It’s clever and makes you think hard about the power of memory and regret.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Rating: A+

Perhaps the best book I read in 2022? Gabrielle Zevin’s story of friendship between two game-makers Sadie and Sam, who meet as children, before going on to form an industrious partnership is compelling and dazzling – weaving a story about the power of friendships, identity, misunderstanding. It’s a book about loss, disability and is so incredibly layered as to make it an intoxicating and dazzling read that we could read again and again.

The post Everything We Read in December 2022 appeared first on off the record.

The film adaptation of the much-loved and viral rom com novel by Casey McQuiston – Red, White and Royal Blue – has wrapped production. The movie will come to Prime Studios, although no release date has yet been announced.

The novel centres around the star-crossed, secret romance between the son of the President of the United States and the Prince of England, the two have been sworn enemies since they were children but, after an international scandal, are forced to work together to execute damage control. The friendship quickly turns to a love story.

The cast was announced on variety – with actors Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine cast as the leading men in the Amazon Studios film adaptation. Taylor will play Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the President of the United States while Nicholas will play the role of Prince Henry of England. Meanwhile, Uma Thurman has been cast as Alex’s mother, newly elected United States President Ellen Claremont.

The movie will be directed by Matthew López.

While there has been no confirmed release date for the movie, both Taylor and Nicholas have shared a multitude of photos from set. This is bound to be a joyful watch!

The post Everything We Know About the Red, White and Royal Blue Adaptation appeared first on off the record.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Rating: B

This was exactly the cosy thriller I needed to spend time with in October. The story centres around Pip who decides to look into the closed case of schoolgirl Andie Bell. The novel is cleverly plotted with twists and turns, so that it is only until the bitter end that all is revealed.

It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

Rating: B-

Colleen Hoover’s sequel to her phenomenally successful novel It Ends With Us tells the love story between Lily and Atlas. The book is no literary sensation but it was everything I needed it to be as the winter months draw in.

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

Rating: A-

For anyone who’s a fan of the TV show – The Summer I Turned Pretty – this novel embodies all the emotions that that series brought up. A delight of a novel, the story centres around Percy’s return to the coastal town where she grew up, where she reunites with the love of her life – Sam. It’s heartwarming, tender and joyful.

dear dolly by Dolly Alderton

Rating: A

Dolly Alderton’s collection of her Sunday Times columns feels like a warm hug from a big sister, though there are no big revelations in her advice, what Alderton brings is love, tenderness and charm delivered with a steady wit and humour throughout.

The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont

Rating: A-

This is a fictional account of the real Agatha Christie disappearance on Friday 3 December 1926 at around 9:30 p.m. The novel is told from the perspective of Nan O’Dea, the mistress of Agatha’s husband, Archie. It is an immensely creative, fascinating and shocking account of what she imagines could have happened on those days that Christie was missing.

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

Rating: B-

The Bounty Hunter meets a Hallmark movie in this novel from Christina Lauren. Though by no means the smartest of their novels, this is still an immensely quick and readable novel.

The Devil You Know by Dr Gwen Adshead

Rating: A+

An absolutely fascinating examination of Dr Adshead’s therapy sessions with various figures in the criminal system – from serial killers to mothers on the brink of losing their children. What this novel will give you is an empathy for the human side of these figures that are the topic of so much vitriol and it is fascinating.

The post Everything We Read in October 2022 appeared first on off the record.

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Rating: A-

Taylor Jenkins Reid consistently knocks it out of the park with her string of latest releases. This novel centres around the fictional tennis player, Carrie Soto, and her attempts to make a comeback. It’s a brilliantly plotted, fast-paced novel that peeks behind the curtain of what it means to be a woman in sport.

Read our full review here.

The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

Rating: A+

This is a vital read for anyone who works within an international company – the book allows a framework to work and understand the gaps between different cultures and the painpoints that may cause misunderstanding and confusions.

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

Rating: A-

This stunning novel by Heather Morris tells the story of Cilka Klein, who having endured unspeakable horrors under the Nazi regime was forced into hard labour in Siberian camps. Over time, she learns to survive in this horrific environment. What the novel brings to life, more than anything, are the everyday horrors endured in these labour camps.

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

Rating: B+

Based off The Bachelor, The Charm Offensive is the tender and emotional love story between Charlie – the lead of the series Ever After and his male producer Dev. More than this though, the story brings to life, the human side of what it is like grappling with anxiety and also of understanding your own sexuality.

The post Everything We Read in September 2022 appeared first on off the record.

Carrie Soto Is Back – the new novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid – may be one of the most hotly-anticipated novels of 2022, following hot on the heels of Malibu Rising. It is a powerful story about greatness against the odds, the inside of an athlete’s psyche and the beauty of ageing.

Carrie Soto has retired from tennis as one of the best players the world has ever seen, now her record of twenty Grand Slam titles stands under threat from newcomer Nicki Chan. Seeing her record on the verge of falling, she decides to make a comeback, with the aid of her father and coach Javier. At thirty-seven years old she is one of the oldest players in the game and so this comeback is anything but easy – even picking her hitting partner turns out to be an ordeal given her past as ‘the Battle-Axe.’

Even for those who are not fans of tennis, there is a beauty and spellbinding grace in the way that Jenkins Reid speaks of the game and narrates the matches that Carrie Soto wins and loses. It’s an intoxicating story that will appeal to fans of Jenkins Reid and newcomers to her writing.

The post REVIEW: Carrie Soto Is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid appeared first on off the record.

This year, we’ve had more word on what the Amazon Prime Video movie adaptation of Robinne Lee’s novel ‘The Idea of You’ will look like. Published in 2017, the book tells the story of 40 year old divorcee Solène Marchand who takes her daughter to meet her favourite ball band – August Moon – only to fall in love with the lead singer, 20 year-old Hayes Campbell – supposedly inspired by Harry Styles. The novel takes you through the highs and lows of their relationship and is a breathlessly romantic love against the odds novel. The movie adaptation has made some small changes, including making Hayes 24 and having their meet-cute at Coachella, rather than in Vegas and with Solène’s name changed to Sophie.

The movie version will star Anne Hathaway in the lead role and the film itself will be directed and produced by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick). Gabrielle Union and Hathaway will also step into producer roles.

Given the widespread popularity of the novel, doubtless the adaptation will be one of the bigger releases on Prime Video when it is released, although we do not have a release date yet to hand.

The post Everything We Know So Far About the Idea of You Movie appeared first on off the record.

If you’ve even casually scrolled through BookTok, you’ll be familiar with ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.’ The book has sold an absurd number of copies and has become a viral sensation. So far, what we know so far about the movie adaptation is fairly limited, however, we do know that the novel will be adapted for Netflix by Liz Tigelaar (‘Little Fires Everywhere’) and Reid herself will be one of the executive producers for the new movie.

So far, no release date or casting have been announced for the film but we will update this page as more information gets released.

The adaptation was announced in March 2022, so it may be some time before we get any further details.

The novel though revolves around reclusive Hollywood legendary film actress Evelyn Hugo, who has chosen to recount the story of her life to reporter – Monique Grant. Hugo recounts the story of her time in the Golden Age of Hollywood, her rise to fame, her seven marriages and the secrets and lies behind each one. The novel is a twisting and turning book full of surprises, intrigues and mystery that will translate flawlessly to the screen – we hope!

The post Everything We Know So Far About The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Movie Adaptation appeared first on off the record.

For any lovers of family-centric novels, like The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, comes Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson – the phenomenal new debut novel that is as propulsive as it is touching and moving.

When their mother Eleanor dies, estranged siblings Byron and Benny reunite for her funeral in California. Once there, they are given a strange inheritance – an eight hour voice recording in which Eleanor narrates her extraordinary family history, alongside a traditional Caribbean black cake. Across the length of the voice recording, Eleanor narrates a tumultuous story about a headstrong young woman who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder – finding a life in England eventually. The story is full of revelations for the siblings, making them question their relationship with their mother and their own heritage.

Black Cake is an extraordinary story, showcasing a lyrical and thoughtful writer, who characterises her protagonists with amazing sensitivity, dealing with broad issues from race to motherhood, the environment and family ties. It is without a doubt one of the most extraordinary novels of the year, positioning Wilkerson as an exciting new voice in the cultural zeitgeist.

The post REVIEW: Black Cake – Charmaine Wilkerson appeared first on off the record.

Amanda Montell’s deeply insightful book Cultish – The Language of Fanaticism –  is out everywhere now. It’s a fascinating look into the language of cults and the power of language as a persuasive tool. Cults have always been both intriguing and frightening in equal measure for most people – and the prevailing question remains what are their appeal for so many people to get people to enter. From the Manson cult to Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown and QAnon, Montell provides an immensely well-researched exploration of the language of cults, showing how the language can be similar with cults and MLMs.

Juicy and compelling in equal measure, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. The book is incisive, darkly funny taking on the fanatical language applied to so many areas of modern-day society and groups. Montell’s thesis and structure is compelling and propulsive and this is one of the most readable non-fiction books we’ve read in recent years.

The post REVIEW: Cultish – Amanda Montell appeared first on off the record.