Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

My rating: 4/5

My A-Z reading challenge book two! You can tell that this was Anne’s first novel; it doesn’t hold a candle to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but I still loved it! I found the simple plot endearing and, despite a lack of cohesion, was won over by Agnes’ faith and perseverance. Yes, she is weak and struggles to take action, but I know I was like that in my early 20s too. I could really identify with her struggles and her hope as she falls for the young curate. As a minister’s wife myself, I loved Agnes, raged on her behalf about her mistreatment, and wanted to take her under my wing.

About a Boy by Nick Hornby

My rating: 4/5

The first book of my 2024 A-Z reading challenge! I’d seen (and loved) the film years ago, but never read the book. I was glad to discover the film had been so faithful to this heartwarming novel. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, and often sad, without quite making it to tragic, with so much real life on the page. Switching narrator between a quirky 12-year-old boy and an overgrown 36-year-old teenager works really well, and Hornby draws the characters so precisely and brilliantly. This should be the textbook for emotional growth and characters changing each other.

Under the Dome by Stephen King

My rating: 4/5 stars

I can’t remember the last time I was so absorbed by a book! King really is a master storyteller. Observing small-town politics when it’s trapped under a mysterious dome is both fascinating and horrifying. King expertly draws an increasingly terrible villain and an increasingly loveable hero. It’s a violent and heartbreaking story that’s scary because it’s believable, particularly in its searing portrayal of hypocrisy. Sure, lots of the characters are cartoonish, but with this many characters that’s forgiveable, I think. This is horrifying, but most of all it was fun, and although it’s nearly 900 pages long, I raced through it.