21/07/16: Emma Donoghue – Room (2010)

Jack, aged five, is imprisoned in a single room with his mother, who was kidnapped seven years ago. This room is Jack's entire world, and it has become a sealed universe of play and learning. His mother protects him from the true horror of their situation. The things and places he sees on TV he believes are all unreal. Reality is the room alone. The book is narrated by Jack and through his impressions we learn how abusively they are being treated by “Old Nick”, their captor. It's overwhelmingly sad – especially since Jack demands so little beyond the love of his mother. You find yourself desperately hoping they will be rescued or escape, but wondering what sort of life Jack might have in a world he cannot believe or understand. Without wanting to spoil the ending, there’s a lot more to it than just getting out of Room… There are many negative reviews of this book on Amazon (partly because it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, which always attracts a backlash), so I thought it was worth addressing some of the criticisms raised:

“Nothing happens.”/“It’s dull.”: This is untrue. Plenty happens. During this novel, Jack and his mother live through the pivotal moments of their life, then have their world turned upside down again and again. The book is centred in Jack's interior consciousness, yes, but that world is going through daily transformation. This is hardly uneventful. I found it riveting – almost painfully so, as I was rooting for the characters so much and so touched by their love for each other.

“It’s depressing and/or upsetting.”: Books about imprisonment and child cruelty are likely to be disturbing. But the true theme of this novel is compassion. The author wisely keeps the love of mother and son at the centre of the story, rather than merely turning it into a thriller. The disturbing elements are integral and necessary, hardly gratuitous.

“Jack’s voice is unrealistic.”: Unrealistic compared to what? He’s not meant to be a typical five-year-old. He's a child whose very existence has been entirely shaped by his situation. He is highly advanced in some ways and extremely limited in others. I found this a heartbreakingly believable expression of his confinement, his insular life and his uniquely intense relationship with his mother – the only human he had ever known. This material makes for one of the most powerful novels I have read. Don't be put off by the horrible cover.

In 2015, Room was made into an excellent film.

16/07/16: Juliana Buhring – This Road I Ride: My Incredible Journey from Novice to Fastest Woman to Cycle the Globe (2016)

"If you really want to experience the world, get on a bicycle."

I'm wary of any book described as "inspirational", but this one genuinely is. Juliana Buhring survived a childhood in a religious cult and then the death of the man she loved. She decided to cycle around the globe, and set a world record in the process. This narrative details that trip. Her writing is wise, dry and funny. But there's also a perfect economy to the style: no filler, no trying to be clever-clever, no travel-writing cliché – just the bare bones of each diary entry describing the scenes she experienced.

Along the way there are moments of total despair – high winds, freezing cold and steep mountains that go up forever. There's awful discomfort – from severe food poisoning to being splattered in roadside human excrement during the Indian typhoon. And there's danger – being attacked by magpies in Australia, being mobbed by "hordes of silent, staring men" in India and being chased by a pack of wild dogs in Turkey ("terror-inspiring lions"). This is all in addition to the tiresome punctures and daily exhaustion that she has to deal with. There are also moments of freedom and joy, when she's totally at one with the world and herself. There's a lot of life wisdom and common-sense philosophy, but she never becomes preachy. The complete lack of ego is admirable and refreshing.

This is a highly readable, life-enriching memoir. I hope she writes another book about her ongoing adventures in cycling and beyond.

03/07/16: Brix Smith Start – The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise (2016)

I came to this as a Fall fan. The two sections (1983–88 and 1994–96) dealing with her two stints in the band make for fascinating reading, with a lot of insights into the creative process that made the group so dynamic on record and in concert. Of course it all ends in a horrible sordid m.e.ss. What surprised me is how very readable the rest of the book is: her young life split between Chicago and L.A.; her problematic relationships with her father; her issues with food; her relationship with violinist Nigel Kennedy; her friendship with Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles; her time on TV with Gok Wan (who doesn't come across as very nice); bouts of severe depression; opening Start, the Shoreditch fashion boutique, with her husband Philip Start; and ultimately recovering her love of music as Brix and The Extricated. I got hooked and by the last 200 pages couldn't put it down. Recommended.

On 14 June 2016, I met Brix at an event at Cafe Oto, Dalston, where she was interviewed by Thurston Moore and played an acoustic "Hotel Bloedel". She was very charming indeed and signed the book for me.