Book Review | May 2018

May was a very sad month for reading. I only finished two books. I did start another book, but I just didn’t get around to finishing it. So by now I’m 5 books behind on reaching my Goodreads goals, but I just haven’t felt that inspired by reading these past few months. I think I have hit a bit of a reading slump. That said, I did get my hands on some newer releases and I think that will take me back into the swing of things. I just have to finish my current read so I can get on with something else.  

Ben Aaronovitch – The Furthest Station
Jack London – The People of the Abyss

Ben Aaronovitch – The Furthest Station

When a lady goes missing at the end of the Metropolitan line, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong at first. But when ghosts start to mingle themselves into the investigations, things get a little bit more complicated. But it is nothing that Peter Grant, his cousin and Nightingale can’t handle.

I was so excited when I found this at Waterstone’s in London. It is no secret that I love the Peter Grant series and this is a short novella in the series, which makes for a great filler before the next book in the series is released late this year. I like how the story does allow the characters to develop a little bit further and despite its short length it still works well as a stand alone book.

Jack London – The People of the Abyss

In this book, author and journalist Jack London writes up his observations when living in the East End of late Victorian London. So not a novel and there is definitely not much of a coherent line that one can follow, even though each chapter revolves loosely around a common theme. There is some chronological order to it, but not much.

The book describes life in the East End and the hardship in the slums. From workhouses, to sleeping rough, to trying to find a job and submitting oneself to endless sermons just to get a meal. The book is great in its descriptions, but at the end it becomes more of a socialist manifest about how to deal with the poor. While good and necessary at the time, it just kind of splits the book in half and it took the book from historical account to a bit of a whine fest. Still, an interesting read if you’d like to read a first hand historical account to the working poor of Victorian London.

What books have you read lately?