The Steady Read

Your home for book reviews, recommendations, and more

Tag: Fiction

  • Review: People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami

    Review: People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami

    An incredibly short, as well as utterly bizarre, collection of micro stories that push the bounds of fiction and continuity to their wit’s end. Kawakami, through a comedic and semi-sardonic tongue, paints a small world that is far from normal. Whilst I’m not one to spoil books (especially not one that barely creeps beyond a…

  • Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

    Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

    Taking its title from the Beatles’ song of the same name, Norwegian Wood is an apathetic and cynical story about late-1960s Japan and accepting manhood. Following Watanabe as he reflects on his teenage years and the beginning of his twenties, Murakami discusses much about society, life’s worth, suicide, and the ever pressing matter of sex…

  • Review: Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw

    Review: Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw

    A comedic post-apocalyptic novel set in Brisbane; Jam is a book that will entertain you with its nerdy humour and solid wit. The premise is bizarre, with Australia being covered in a man-eating jam overnight. With most of the population being wiped out in a flash, it’s up to Travis and his posse of odd…

  • Review: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    Review: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    A simple story with much emotion and truth tied to each chapter. I believe that Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is an essential read and proof that short fiction can have a large impact on readers, especially when it plays around with the fancifulness of dreams and the severity of reality. Following George and Lenny,…

  • Review: I’m Travelling Alone by Samuel Bjork

    Review: I’m Travelling Alone by Samuel Bjork

    A cliché detective-thriller set within Norway, I’m Travelling Alone is a mixed bag of good and bad tropes. Even though it seemed to be generally well-received, I had a hard time enjoying this lengthy read. It felt like an insult that such an unoriginal, complicated thing could ever be printed and praised. The plot follows…

  • Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Undoubtedly Ishiguro’s magnum opus, Never Let Me Go is a melancholic tale that seeks to explore our worth as living beings.

  • Review: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

    Review: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

    One of the most infamous and controversial novels of recent time, American Psycho is both an amusing satire and a gruesome power fantasy in one.

  • Review: Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

    Review: Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

    Gritty, dark, and depressing; Darkness at Noon knows how to portray the harsh reality of Bolshevik Russia.

  • Review: Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

    Review: Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

    As touching as it is heart-wrenching, Heaven illustrates the horrors of childhood, bullying, and our fleeting attempts to love ourselves and the families that neglect us.