Skip to content
Rozz.ie

Rozz.ie

Me. Writing. Stuff.

  • Home
  • About me
  • Short story collections that I LOVE
  • Creative Writing Prompts/Ideas

Tag: writing

Posted on March 12, 2023March 12, 2023

The last white man by Mohsin Hamid. Writing is gorgeous.


The last white man by Mohsin Hamid.
Writing is gorgeous.

Posted on February 13, 2023February 16, 2023

2023 reads. Pine by Francine Toon. thank you @carlowlibraries


2023 reads.
Pine by Francine Toon.
thank you @carlowlibraries

Posted on August 15, 2022February 16, 2023

*Review* Brouhaha by Ardal O Hanlon. I am always surprised when someone not from a


*Review*
Brouhaha by Ardal O Hanlon.
I am always surprised when someone not from a writing background ( whatever that is) pens a novel. We all know Ardal as a comedian and actor but here we go on his next novel!
This is a crime mystery novel set in a border town full of murders, dodginess and crime.
The story opens with the apparent suicide of localad, Dove and brings us back to the event the town just can't let go-the disappearance of a young girl under very dubious circumstances.
The book revolves around three main characters. Kevin, the retired garda who handled the disappearance case originally. Sharkey, Dove's best friend and a local reporter Joanne.
The writing is good,  heavy but quite observant in terms of a small Irish town. In places, it does go on a bit where it doesn't need to,  which pulls the drama back.
Overall I really enjoyed it. A crime mystery with a mix of creepy,  bloodthirsty and morally good characters. Sad too.

Posted on August 11, 2022February 16, 2023

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. ***Review aka my random thoughts*** I had read a


Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
***Review aka my random thoughts***

I had read a lot about this book. It's a debut and has smashed all types of records in terms of sales and readership and its author is a former and very experienced copywriter so you'd be hoping that it'd be written well.
It is written very well. It zips along nicely with some excellent characters and a neatly woven plot.

 This is a fun story about our main character, Elizabeth Zott. She is a chemist who hosts a cooking show because it's the early 1960s and sexism, sexual assault, scientific theft and discrimination all prevent her from working as the actual scientist she craves to be. But when she becomes utterly famous on her TV show, "Supper At Six," things start to get interesting.

I read this book quickly and I read it over the holidays in France. It's a perfect holiday read, whatever that means. To me it means that it's easy to pick up wherever you are.

I loved Elizabeth though she does come across very unlikeable. I admire her not giving a sh€ # about other people's opinions but I also found it implausible that a woman in that time would push things as hard as she had. I found other really serious issues like rape and sexual assault were not given enough space in the writing in terms of how this impacted on Elizabeth. It was dealt with in a very sparkly let's move on kinda way. Come on, gals, toughen up! 😬

This will absolutely be a film or a TV series and it's worth reading for the realisation you might have that things have changed ever so slightly for females and the world of seemingly masculine careers like science.

A fun book club read. I'd be happy to have written this type of plot and characterisation.

Posted on August 3, 2022February 16, 2023

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. *Review* This book has been on my radar but the lovely


Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. *Review*
This book has been on my radar but the lovely bookworm @littlecassreads prompted me to buy it when I was n Belfast in the gorgeous bookshop @noalibispress.
This book is not perfect.
It's set in Belfast during the troubles. A love story with a teacher and solicitor as  the star crossed.
The attention to detail in terms of the backdrop of Northern Ireland is impeccable. The characters are absolutely perfectly written and rendered. Louise' dialogue is exceptional. It's so natural and hilarious!
As a teacher, the main character, who is a teacher, is so plausible and realistic. I wonder was Louise a teacher in another life, that is how genuine the school abd the teachers were written.
The bad guys, the bad characters in this story were all multi dimensional, neither black nor white but a spectrum that is the human race.
The drama, the way the story kept going till the perfectly apt ending, left me feeling quite in awe of the skill of this novel. Plot and character is so hard and it's where a story and a novel can lose its way very easily if these are not good.
The ending is really sad, so well done, predictable to me but still it felt satisfying as a reader.
The imperfections of this book were minor. It started with a lot of telling and no showing. In many areas, paragraphs leapt out of nowhere with no connection to the last. I surprised an careful reading team or editor didn't get these.
But even mentioning these feel petty. The remainder of the work, the characters and their plausibility and charisma, the setting, the history, the plot and the importance of the evocation of the pain this awful time in Northern Ireland was is so, so well done.
I'm ordering her short story collection off the back of this. Bow down to Louise Kennedy and huge kudos to her.

Posted on July 27, 2022February 16, 2023

Sea State by Tabitha Lasley. This is a memoir about a former journalist, who after


Sea State by Tabitha Lasley.
This is a memoir about a former journalist, who after having her laptop (and her novel in progress) stolen and a suffering a bad breakup, decides to leave her job writing for a magazine to write that book.
She wants to write a book about oil rig workers in the North Sea and heads to Aberdeen to interview hundreds of those workers. Her initial question is what happens to men when women are not around? She interviews 103 different men in all types of bars, clubs and settings and it gets rough and ready.
The first man she interviews is a guy called Caden. He's married and they start an affair.
Her writing is pitch perfect and it's a unique voice we have here. She evokes the city of Aberdeen so well, a place where it seems to rain or snow all the time.
Caden becomes a study of what it means to really be an oil rig worker, its uber and toxic masculinity is clear.
This started off quick then went very slow but once I started to see the signs of Caden and how they the reveal of the plot and indeed the overarching theme of the book, I could not put the book down!

The concept is fresh as is the writing and it does answer the initial question of what happens to men when there are no women around?

The whole subject of oil rigs and the oil corporations was unknown to me. That exploration in itself is brilliant reading.

I just hope Caden( not real name) reads the book. I'll say no more.

I've been quite obsessed with Tabitha Lasley since then. Googling photos of her and then trying to see if I could get one of her and Caden for though she writes him well, I'd still love to see what he looks like.

I hope Tabitha is happy or happier and that she has met someone who will realise what a gem she is and what a talented writer she is. 

I'd really recommend this book if you fancy something different but extremely readable. It will leave you thinking, for sure.

***** review

Posted on May 14, 2022February 16, 2023

No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July.


No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July.

Posted on September 4, 2021May 22, 2022

Me and the big house. The festival of writing and ideas runs, in pre pandemic


Me and the big house.
The festival of writing and ideas runs, in pre pandemic times, every June.

We have been attending it for ten years now. Every year!

This year the 2021 managed to go in August.

It was much smaller in terms of attendees but the original small festival feel was back in force with the artists, writers, musicians and speakers all mingling on the lawn.

My best talk was John Banville who seemed to be in jovial form.
I'd still prefer it to run in June though as August is birthday city in our family in August but either way we thoroughly enjoyed it and soaked up the ideas and debated /argued as normal after the talks.
Thank you @writingandideas

Posted on September 4, 2021February 16, 2023

Me and the big house. The festival of writing and ideas runs, in pre pandemic


Me and the big house.
The festival of writing and ideas runs, in pre pandemic times, every June.

We have been attending it for ten years now. Every year!

This year the 2021 managed to go in August.

It was much smaller in terms of attendees but the original small festival feel was back in force with the artists, writers, musicians and speakers all mingling on the lawn.

My best talk was John Banville who seemed to be in jovial form.
I'd still prefer it to run in June though as August is birthday city in our family in August but either way we thoroughly enjoyed it and soaked up the ideas and debated /argued as normal after the talks.
Thank you @writingandideas

Posted on March 27, 2021May 22, 2022

A Crooked Tree by Una Mannion. I have always admired Una's short fiction so I


A Crooked Tree by Una Mannion.

I have always admired Una's short fiction so I was excited to get my hands on her debut novel.
It doesn't disappoint though it's a slow, slow start and it remains slow but by the time you get to end, you will enjoy that relaxed pace as it suits the story and the characters.

Libby is out for a drive at night with her siblings. Her mother is driving. We feel the tension but when Ellen, Libby's younger sister frustrates her frazzled mum, her mum basically dumps Ellen on the roadside and speeds off.
 
The story rocks on from this one awful decision and we learn about Libby and her connection with her father who has passed away.

This novel, set in an 80s rural Philadelphia, has all the feels of a  Goonies movie or an episode of Stranger Things. Una's writing never falters but I found the descriptions of nature and trees a little bit lengthy at times. It's clear she revels in writing about nature.

Overal, I found it to be a mesmerising read. Una's writing is carefully placed throughout and her plotting is excellent.

Posts pagination

Page 1 Page 2 Next page

Rozz's books

Tender
3 of 5 stars
Tender
by Belinda McKeon
Davy Byrnes Stories 2014
4 of 5 stars
Davy Byrnes Stories 2014
by Sara Baume
Foster
5 of 5 stars
Foster
by Claire Keegan
Superb, perfect short story telling from the genius of the form.
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
4 of 5 stars
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
by Wells Tower
hilarious and dark and funked up!
The Good House
1 of 5 stars
The Good House
by Ann Leary

goodreads.com

Recent Comments

  • admin on Current short story read is Nicole Flattery’s debut collection, Show
  • Brian Condron on A little cloud by John Kelly, a short story from Dubliners 100
  • Deirdre on Current short story read is Nicole Flattery’s debut collection, Show
  • Dee on If reading doesn’t affect our lives, doesn’t change us or
  • admin on Can we trust new writing? Is it any good? Reading
Proudly powered by WordPress