Water in the Desert, Fire in the Night by Gethan Dick

 Info about the book

‘Original and lyrical...unlike anything I’ve read in recent memory’ JOHNY PITTS, presenter of R4’s ‘Open Book’ and author of Afropean

‘Vast, generous, funny, resistant and alive’ VALÉRIE MANTEAU, novelist and winner of the Prix Renaudot.

‘An original and vital perspective on much more than how a world ends: on how it begins' - OANA ARISTIDE, author of Under the Blue

Gethan Dick’s stunning debut is a thought-provoking post-apocalyptic novel, Fizzing with energy, anger, fear and ultimately hope.  Water in the Desert Fire in the Night will appeal to fans of Claire Kilroy, Megan Hunter and Cormac McCarthy.  

Here is a novel about hope, wolves, companionship and resilience, hunger and gold. It’s about an underachieving millennial, a retired midwife and a charismatic Dubliner who set out from London after the end of the world to cycle to a sanctuary in the southern Alps.  It’s about packing light and choosing the right companions and trousers: What’s worth knowing, what’s worth living and holding on to your sense of humour in moments big and small. It’s about the fact that the world ends all the time. It’s about what to do next!

My thoughts

My thanks to Helen Richardson and Tramp Press for the copy of this book to read and review to take part in the Blog tour of this book last year.  However, life had other plans for me at the time and I was around half way through the book at the time of the Blog tour.  I still took part and my blog post can be read here. Wyres World: Water in the Desert, Fire in the Night by Gethan Dick (Blog tour post)

Anyway back to the job in hand, my review of the book now that I have finished it.

This is an odd book to review in some ways, it flits around a lot and at times you never know where you are, this may be the intention of the Author though.  None of us know how we would cope and at times flit around a lot in a sense of panic like a headless chicken.   

I have enjoyed the book, as I do enjoy books set in the future like this one is.  It makes you think what life would be like living in a post apocalyptic era and how you would cope if you survived an apocalypse. Would you rather lose your life or be a survivor?  I have a feeling that I know my answer to that.

Quote

    '  So maybe Julie’s labour began when she saw the baby at the bonfire, or maybe it began a few mornings later while Martin and I were out fishing and fucking, so when we got back she had started having contractions and everyone was a little wired. Or maybe it began much later that day, because after a morning of contractions Julie ate some lunch and then lay down and slept while we rattled about the house, uneasy and unable to think about doing anything because we kept expecting it to start again. Sarah did not rattle about. She quietly got a couple of things ready and sat down and had a cup of tea while we all walked around bumping into each other, and then when we’d been doing that for about half an hour, Pressure Drop said, ‘Right then, let’s go and find the rock.

     'So we were all, ‘Rock? What rock?’    

     And he said that in Ireland, out in the sticks and back in the day, if a birth was difficult the men of the house went out and found the biggest rock they could lift and carried it three times round the edge of the farm, and that was supposed to help. Sarah got a good laugh out of that, and then said that, rocks aside, if Julie’s body was resting itself now then it’d be a long night, and the best thing any of us could do was get some rest.  '

The above made me laugh.  If only the man of the house lugging a rock round a field, would make a pregnancy go easier.  It would make life so much easier for the lady giving birth.

The Martian by Andy Weir

From Goodreads

The bestseller behind the major film from Ridley Scott, starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.

I’m stranded on Mars.

I have no way to communicate with Earth.

I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days.

If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death.

So yeah. I’m screwed.

My thoughts

I saw the film version of this some time ago and really enjoyed it. At the time I was watching it, I didn't realise that it was based on a story. I couldn't help but read the book to see how they compare.

I grabbed a copy from my local Library and was as enthused with the book as I had been by the film.

It was well written and the thought of being left behind on a planet, felt very isolating and thought provoking and made you wonder how you would cope if you were that person in that position. I for one know that I wouldn't deal with it very well at all.

I will be back to add to this review at a later date, as I have more to add! Watch this space ...

I told you there was more to add.

An excerpt that made me smile to myself at the time.

" People have been using human waste as fertiliser. It's even got a name for it: night soul. Never an ideal way to grow crops, because it spreads disease has pathogens in it that you guessed it, infects humans. Not a problem for me. The only pathogens in this waste, I already have. "

This made me laugh to myself at the time, as he clearly has a point.

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

From Goodreads

Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone's surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York's Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can't deny their chemistry - or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since.

Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva's not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered...

With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual.

My thoughts

I grabbed a copy of this book from my local Library. I had noticed that it had divided people and wondered which part of the dividing line that I would fall.

Well, I was on the enjoyed it side of the dividing line.

Telling the story of Shane and Genevieve (Eva) who rekindle a short relationship over a seven day period in June, later in their lives.

Told almost like a dual time frame story, as the story reverts back to their younger lives as we experience the seven days with them both.

I could tell you so much. But, I feel that by doing so it may spoil your enjoyment of the book and I 'm not one for doing that if I can help it.

If you do come across the book, please grab a copy and feel free to let me know, which side of the dividing line you fall on.

20 Books of Summer 2026 Reading Challenge

 

It's that time of year again, that some readers aim to challenge themselves to read 20 books during June, July and August.  I had been keeping an eye out on Twitter for tweets about the challenge and not spotted any.  Then one day just into June, I spotted one.  It has a new poster again and this year it has a new hashtag #20BOS26.

Again this year the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge is hosted by @annabookbel and @wordsandpeace who can both be found on Twitter (aka X).

This year I don't have a set plan of 20 books to read, as life is too busy AGAIN to stick to a set list and I want to be able to wing it again.  I may not even get 20 books read, but I will give it a go.

This year a more relaxed approach is taking place in the Reading Challenge and the emphasis being on reading rather than on the number of books read, regardless of whether it's 10, 15 or 20. 

As my blog post is late at being shared, I have already finished 1 book with several on the go.

Good luck to everyone taking part and if you use Twitter keep your eye out for #20BOS26

Strange Pictures by Uketsu

 

From Goodreads

The spine-tingling bestseller that has taken Japan by storm—an eerie fresh take on horror for fans of Hidden Pictures and Junji Ito, in which a series of seemingly innocent pictures draws you into a disturbing web of unsolved mysteries and shattered psyches.

An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance. . . .

A pregnant woman's sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.

A child's picture of his home contains a dark secret message.

A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbit hole that will reveal a horrifying reality.

Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu—an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan's most talked about contemporary authors.

My thoughts

I borrowed a copy of this from my local Library.  A lot of the books I read I can't really remember where I hear about them and this certainly fits that bill.  It's probably from an online notice, from one source or another.

This is an unusual book to review in some ways, it's fiction yet at times you could be mistaken for thinking that it is factual due to the way that it is written.  The reader is taken on a journey that begins with a child's sketch of his home, it is what is contained within that is the important thing.

The reader is encouraged to help solve the crime with the aid of the drawings that each contain a clue. 

This is a slow burner in my opinion, that is a story that bridges several genres.  I enjoyed the way the story was written and will keep an eye out for others by him.

The Lamb by Lucy Rose

 

From Goodreads

A folk tale. A horror story. A love story. An enchantment.

Margot and Mama have lived by the forest since Margot can remember. When Margot isn't at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she satisfies her burning appetite by picking apart their bodies.

But Mama's want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, little Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires and make a bid for freedom.

With this tender coming-of-age tale, debut novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire and animal instincts - and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.

My thoughts

This was a book that I found while looking online at other readers that I know.  I chose it to read as a Halloween read.  Whilst it may not be your typical Halloween read, as in ghosts, witches, etc.  It did meet the criteria in some ways.  

The story is a quirky read set around a group of people who enjoy relationships and cannibalism.  

I enjoyed this read and can thoroughly recommend it, as it is so much more than just a horror read.  It details how deep relationships, between parents, their partners and children can evolve between one another.  I feel that it would make a great reading group read, but for some readers it may be more than they can cope with.

It Takes One To Know One by Isla Dewar

From Goodreads

Charlie Gavin was abducted as a baby. He didn't know who he was or where he came from. His mission was to find himself. And when he did, he decided to spend his life finding other lost souls by opening the Be Kindly Missing Persons Bureau. Martha Walters, his assistant, has had her fifteen minutes of almost fame and failed. Now, dealing with her guilt and pain, she lives with her mum and dotes on her young daughter. Charlie appears to be a man who is a loser and dreamer, but, hey, his office is near her house, she can lie in of a morning, take her kid to school and the work isn't too heart-breaking. 

Or is it . . . ?

My thoughts

This was a book that was on my local Library Reading Group read list.  I started it a while ago and had to put it to one side, as I didn't finish it in time for the reading group meeting and had to grab a copy from the Library to finish it off.

This book tells the story of Charlie Gavin who was abducted as a young baby.  He had no idea about his origins and his family that brought him into the world.  As a result of this he wants to find out about his  past prior to his abduction, doing so he decides to help others that may have had similar experiences.  He sets up an agency to help others find missing people.  He takes on an assistant called Martha, she likes the idea of the job with it not being too far from home to travel and doesn't think the work will be too emotional for her to deal with.

I can't say that I have read any books by Isla Dewar before.  After looking on Goodreads, I can confirm that I hadn't and that this is my first read, it won't be my last.

I enjoyed the relationships between the characters, both working and private.  It's a quirky read that keeps the reader engaged and wanting to see how things develop.  

This quote from the book will resonate with so many. 

'They'd both been role playing, an easy, unexciting husband-and-wife routine they'd picked up from magazines and sit coms .  They'd hardly communicated.  They'd become boring.  Not even halfway through twenties they'd embraced being Darby and Joan.  They could have sported matching beige cardigans and fleecy-lined slippers.'

Plenty of couples will relate to this kind of married relationship, were their lives become mundane and settled without much excitement in them.