On my bedside table #2

sneak peak: mini reviews of some books: This Is Going to Hurt, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Life of Pi, The Matchmaker of Perigord, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

In the second instalment of my bedside table series, I come to you with five more books. Maaaybeeee you could start reading one (or more) over the upcoming Easter long weekend... Want to read the first edition? Click here for On my bedside table #1.

This is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay
I. Loved. This. Book. I lent it to Mum who also loved it, and have already promised to lend it to a queue of other people too. It's hilarious and had me snorting with laughter, but also deeply affecting and very real (probably because it is). I learned a lot about the medical profession reading this, and even more about people. If it's this good for a mere mortal like me, I can imagine it's the best thing ever for someone who actually knows a thing or two about being a doctor.
Buy it from Waterstones (and support a traditional, lovely bookshop) or Amazon* (and support me, ish).

The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
I read this book in one and a half days. I started it one lunchtime at work and read it for the full hour, read it for probably more hours than I should have that evening, read it all through lunch the next day, and finished it that evening. It's really difficult to read, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it. Based on a true story and written from the point of view of the real-life tattooist of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Lale Sokolov, this book put an unexpectedly optimistic tilt on one of the worst horrors of human history and carefully illustrated the power and importance of hope.
Buy it from Waterstones (and support a traditional, lovely bookshop) or Amazon* (and support me, ish).

Life of Pi - Yann Martel
More than a little bit late to the party, I have finally read Life of Pi. Having seen the film for the first time at the beginning of this year, I added the book to my list of things to read. I was a bit surprised by how long it took for Pi Patel to end up on the boat with Richard Parker, the tiger (the whole premise of the story) as from recollection I think this happened around 100 pages in. This isn't a fault of the book - it's a fault of watching the film before reading the book, which is always (always always always) better done the other way round. Anyway, this was really good and I recommend it a lot.
Buy it from Waterstones (and support a traditional, lovely bookshop) or Amazon* (and support me, ish).

The Matchmaker of Perigord - Julia Stuart
My favourite book of all time, this one needs little introduction. Except it's also not that well known, so it does need some introduction. It's whimsical, comforting, hilarious and poignant and I absolutely adore it. Following his resolution to read more fiction, I bought a copy for Plus One last summer which is yet to be read (lol) but in a way I'm envious he still has the joy of reading it for the first time on the horizon. That said, it's really good so why wait? It deserves to be read now.
Buy it from Waterstones (and support a traditional, lovely bookshop) or Amazon* (and support me, ish).

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
I know we're not supposed to judge books by their covers (although how else do you decide what to pick up in a bookshop?) but I think the title of this one put me off reading it for a while, as it does sound a teeny bit dry. In actual fact, there is very little about tractors in the book. Of the tractory excerpts, I read some and skimmed through others and still understood perfectly fine what was going on. It's a narrative of family life and dynamics and is equally endearing and infuriating. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the others on this list, but they do set a pretty high bar.
Buy it from Waterstones (and support a traditional, lovely bookshop) or Amazon* (and support me, ish).

*Affiliate links - that means if you buy by clicking that link, it will cost you exactly the same and will also give a portion to me. If you do, thank you! And if you don't, fair enough, not much I can do except wonder why.