Hello St Marks

Monica McInerney is famous for feel-good fiction. 'The Godmothers' is her 12th book, so she's very, very good at it. I read this one fast and casually, probably not doing it justice. Glamorous godmothers, international locations, handsome brothers—all the ingredients are in place for "a great big hug of a book" (according to the blurb), but meh. 

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's 'The War that Saved My Life' was a Newbery Honor Book winner but that was not the book I was reading. 'The War I Finally Won' was the sequel; yes, perhaps I could have guessed. A very battered copy arrived in the street library absent a back cover, so I read 'Finally' with care, lest the final pages detach altogether. Had I lost those last pages I would have been mildly put out, but my 12 year old self would have been devastated. Damaged child heroine Ada Smith is orphaned and—with reason—deeply ignorant and deeply distrustful. In 'Finally' the abuse she escaped in 'Saved' has lingering effects; Ada's defiant recovery plays out among familiar WWII tropes (English village, courageous sons and their mothers, the healing power of horses), creating the blend of dark and light beloved by the Newbery and earnest young readers. 

Alex Verus is a diviner, quietly running a magic shop in contemporary London. This is urban fantasy by Benedict Jacka, very well done and justifiably popular—as evidenced by the 10 books which came after 'Fated'. The final book is due in December 2021. I won't be embarking on the full dozen but tip my hat to Jacka for his clever world building. If you could have divination or teleportation, which would you choose? Now I know. 

I expected to enjoy 'The Wych Elm' because I'd loved 'The Searcher', but no. Entitled man-child Toby, antihero of 'Wych', was loathsome company compared to thoughtful retired detective Cal Hooper from 'Searcher'. Bloody Toby all but ruined 'Wych' for me, despite French's ferocious talent for characterisation and cracking Irish dialogue. Handsome, educated, charming, charmed—Toby is oblivious to most everything until he's the victim of a violent robbery and retreats, brain-addled and humiliated, to the summer house of his childhood. When a human skull is found in the wych elm, Toby's fractured memories smash against a new, darker reality. 

'Providence' is a warship. Probably sentient, but best not to think about that too much. Better for its crew to pretend they're not just passengers chosen for their media-friendly back stories: hunky warrior, adorable geek, stoic captain, bubbly propagandist. In this war against the aliens known as 'salamanders', the four humans dutifully take to their stations—Weapons, Intel, Command, Life—when the enemy is engaged but, again, best not to get in the way. Then, half way through a four year tour, closing in on 600,000 kills, the salamander hits the fan and the four crew members have to dig deep to find strengths they definitely weren't recruited for.  Max Barry is a successful Australian sci-fi writer, so quite a rare breed. I didn't love this book, but I celebrate the Max Barrys of Australian fiction. 

Nerd thriller. Geek hero. Intellectual swashbuckler. Andy Weir's 'The Martian' spawned some unexpected word combos plus the immortal battle cry: "I'm going to have to science the shit out of this". Who hasn't used that one? In 'Project Hail Mary' junior high science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship, with no memory, and has to save the world. Cue the hyper-technical problem-solving monologues which define the Weir Way. I have no idea what Grace is talking about almost all the time, but the science talk has a cadence which carries you along. I love it. 

The central mystery of 'We are all Completely Beside Ourselves' is: what happened to Fern? Fern and Rosemary are sisters, all but twins, inseparable until Rose is five and Fern, inexplicably, is gone. 'We are all Completely Beside Ourselves' was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction so we know going in that this novel about family, siblings and psychology will be both good and clever—which it is. It's also charming, uncomfortable and twisty.