Gav Reads

Author: gavreads

  • A Little Reading Space

    Many moons ago, I had a book blog*(with the same name as this one). I quite enjoyed it. Then it sort of faded. I changed, book blogging changed, and it didn’t feel the same. 

    I am not trying to recapture that feeling by starting a ‘new’ blog. This was a post you may not have gotten to see (I started this post on the 8th Sept 2022) as I was planning a private blog to log my reading. 

    But partly what changed my mind was wanting a space to explore and then share the feelings that I’ve had from reading Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey and wanting to somewhere to say how much I’ve loved The Salvagers Trilogy by Alex White. 

    Another thing is I want a place where I can hold myself accountable to my now overwhelming book stacks (thank you BookTok). 

    I am going to set myself some rules (TBC). I’m definitely planning on sticking with books already on my shelves (physical & virtual). And not to start chasing the ‘latest’ or most ‘buzzed’ books (though I do plan on scattering some 2022/23 releases into the mix of the coming year’s reads). 

    I don’t know what sort of posts I want to add. Mini-reviews/reading summaries/spoiler-filled reflections are all options but I have added a page called Books Finished in 2022 that has my star ratings of what I’ve finished this year. This was originally shared on the Bird Site but that doesn’t look as stable as it once was. 

    I do want to log what I’ve read and be able to look back at my 2023 (and beyond) reading. And I got a bit nostalgic looking at my old posts and remembering forgotten books when I was considering reopening a reading space. I had completely forgotten that Anne Rice once answered questions for me!! 

    I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts on my #ExtendedDarkTowerReadingChallenge – based on a list by The Truth Inside the Lie – I’ve only just finished ‘Salem’s Lot so I do have a long way to go. 

    Happy reading and I’ll speak to you in the next post. 

    Gav.

    * I have found (I think) all my posts (over 1,100 of them!) though annoyingly I can’t find a batch of images to go with them. I want to reinstate the reviews at a minimum though I may reinstate more (if I can find the missing images). 

  • Review: Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman

    Anonymous Lawyer
    Jeremy Blachman
    Vintage Books Original Fiction
    £7.99

    Published 1 Feb
    Review Copy

    The cover gives you some idea about the character of the Anonymous Lawyer He has horns, a devil tail and what could be a good suit. Though to be fair lawyers aren’t known for buying halo polish. AL is a hiring partner at one of the world’s largest law firms and he starts a blog. Everyone has a blog: I’m expecting The Queen to start one, anonymously of course. Well she couldn’t be that anonymous; there aren’t that many people who do her job.

    We’re presented with a series of blog posts and email exchanges as AL butts horns with ‘The Jerk’. And they do feel like blog posts. Everyone has a nickname matching their character. My favourite being ‘The Woman That Hugs Everybody’. He changes the places, dates, and outcomes of events to remain anonymous. But he worries for how long it will be before he found out.

    If it was an actual blog printed out I could see this being less exciting. But it’s not just a blog. It is a novel with a plotline and character development. And that’s what makes it very readable.

    Each of the posts give you a glimpse of behind the scenes of a law firm, at least it sounds convincing like a real law firm from the descriptions of the counting of Post-Its to the billing clients for researching in the bathroom.

    But most convincing is the character of AL. He does start off as a bit of Devil, but through the posts and more usually the e-mails he seems to be as human as the rest of us, if a little cynical, and a bit too rich.

    It’s not all successful. Making it blog-like with a compelling character and a plot that doesn’t seem too extreme for the world it inhabits doesn’t need to be promoted for having “up-to-the-minute references”, which are going to date it more than it needs to. It gets a little too soft in the middle when AL seems to run out of nasty things to torment the ‘summers’.

    Anonymous Lawyer is also a live a blog (anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com). I’ve not read it yet as not to effect my impression of this debut. I’m hoping there’ll be a sequel. For writers of anonymous blogs there could even be few writing tips to be had.

    Overall, an enjoyable and non-taxing read that had me laughing out loud more than once. Highly recommended.