We Need To Talk About Books

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By my standards, a challenging list for 2025. Can't wait to get started #2025ReadingList https://t.co/c1xpbzb8jU

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American Psycho is a brutal, relentless satire of consumer culture, toxic masculinity and moral apathy, that is disturbing, compelling and enduringly relevant told via the disquieting lens of a narrator who is both product and symptom of his environment https://t.co/siwU8G2fxi

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Given the age we live in (or are hostage to) we must examine the fact that Bateman’s idol is Donald Trump. While there are some factors to consider, it may be the case that Bateman’s love for Trump is an instance of one sociopath admiring another https://t.co/siwU8G1HHK

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Bateman regales the reader with his thoughts on pop music. It serves to humanise him, pause the escalation of his violence and juxtapose the man who commits those acts with the one who loves Whitney Houston. I had to chuckle at the comic timing of it https://t.co/siwU8G1HHK

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Its playfulness and humour makes an upsetting combination with its narrator’s disturbing sexual and homicidal exploits. And that first-person narration puts the reader in the awkward position of asking us to read on while rejecting Bateman’s worldview https://t.co/siwU8G2fxi

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The character of Bateman is an early exemplar of the antihero that would enjoy a dominant period in television from the late 1990s. Tony Soprano (The Sopranos), Walter White (Breaking Bad) and Don Draper (Mad Men) being some of the most famous iterations https://t.co/siwU8G1HHK

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In American Psycho we can see a showcasing of the expensive lifestyles of the New York elite we would later see in television shows like Sex and the City and Gossip Girl. Both stepping stones to the vapid influencer culture we are currently steeped in https://t.co/siwU8G2fxi

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American Psycho is set in the resurgent New York of the 1980’s. Think Reaganomics, young Donald Trump, Oliver Stone’s Wall Street and Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities. An elitism obsessed with looks and status without competency or consequences https://t.co/siwU8G2fxi

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American Psycho is one of the most controversial and polarising novels of the late 20th century, shocking readers with its blatant sexism and graphic sexual violence and forcing readers to question the values of the culture that enables the main character https://t.co/siwU8G1HHK

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Nostalgic for Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I eagerly picked up this novel to see how Gardiner and Kumar have imagined the character's lives unfolding. What also caught my attention was the uniting with one of my favourite genres, murder mystery https://t.co/fyXn41jpaC

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I do not doubt there is a ready audience for Octavo. It offers a compelling story premise, blending a contemporary thriller with an historical murder mystery. The present-day characters are engaging and speak to current issues https://t.co/aimYofLaFg

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Octavo was serialised as an audiobook and released via Substack. The audiobook was very well received. Neumeier, I hear, is already working on a sequel https://t.co/aimYofKCPI

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This mystery-thriller does touch on larger themes and issues. Sexism is a major one, in science, art or publishing. Lost art – when art disappears into private collections depriving the public. And elites who have the power to manipulate the ‘truth’ https://t.co/aimYofKCPI

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In Octavo, Leonardo will make use of ideas far ahead of Renaissance Italy but for which there is no reason they could not have been invented sooner. The Leonardo of Octavo is not impossible but it will be up to the reader whether they find him plausible https://t.co/aimYofLaFg

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The historical mystery may remind readers of novels like AS Byatt’s Possession or Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. While the combination with a contemporary conspiracy involving da Vinci might evoke obvious comparison to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code https://t.co/aimYofKCPI

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De Melzi and his master are soon dragged into a murder mystery which will take all of da Vinci’s genius to solve and places their own lives in danger as it uncovers the involvement of Renaissance Italy’s powerful families https://t.co/aimYofLaFg

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The 16thC portfolio is the story of a grim adventure taken by de Melzi and da Vinci, of a diabolical mystery and extraordinary events that took place. He adds that the powerful Borgias and Estes families will not be pleased with the story https://t.co/aimYofKCPI

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In Octavo, Marty Neumeier invites readers into a labyrinthine tale that bridges centuries, intertwining a Renaissance murder plot with modern-day billionaire gangsterism. With nods to other historical fiction and to the thrillers of Dan Brown https://t.co/aimYofLaFg

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Sarah is not afraid of being critical and finding fault. There should be nothing wrong with that. She acknowledges her Western privilege and never assumes her experiences are universal. To omit, sugar-coat, rationalise or be dishonest would be worse https://t.co/Rx3yuZKF5X

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The book attracted criticism insisting it is closeminded and even racist. I wondered if they were wholly selective in their reading. I found Sarah to be sincerely openminded to new ideas and experiences, willing to admit her faults and change her mind https://t.co/Rx3yuZKF5X

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Sarah offers very little about her husband and their relationship probably out of privacy. It means the book suffers a little because big moments such as in the immediate aftermath of September 11 are not as powerful as they should be https://t.co/Rx3yuZLcVv