Dim's Write Stuff

This book needs more than five stars. It is a universe of stars, magnificent and absolute. For me, it possesses all the qualities outstanding narrative works possess rendering them utterly impossible to articulate just how magnificent they are. See what I mean. Hopeless.How does one describe a thing that fills them, tears them, speaks to them so intimately, so personally, so honestly? Therein lies the true beauty and unfathomable skill Dalton has: he sees things. He notices us. He gets it all and then, quite astoundingly, has the ability to write to YOU the individual with undiluted clarity and unashamed compulsion. Dalton's novels feel as though they are tailored specifically for the individual, every single one of us. His characters slam feet first, boots and all, against your emotional armour with such force, it makes you gasp. This is not a bad thing. It's a magnificent and absolute and real sensation. So, yes, I loved Lola. Everything. The anguish. The agony. The sorrow. T...

Like Nigella Lawson, I am crushed to have reached the end of this book. It has been a true companion in recent days, a place I have relished (and rushed) to return to. Its occupants devastatingly alluring, a sheer buzz to hang out with, even the reprehensible ones. Lessons in Chemistry is simply the best book I’ve read this year. Okay, it’s the also the first book I’ve read but what a humdinger to start with! Smart, sassy, no nonsense – this summarises the premise, plot and the standout heroine, Elizabeth Zott who it turns out, is the sum of many superlative things: chemist, rower, mother, TV star which ultimately concentrates down to staunch feminist. Or as she prefers, humanist. But that’s not all. This novel heightens one’s sense of intelligence. It’s an articulate read that rallies intellectual spirit and challenges status quo smashing the shackles of antiquated belief systems centering around  useless values based on categories of sex, race, economic status and religion ...

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a Towles fan. Such eloquence of expression is truly spell-binding. This is undisputedly an adults' novel but I'd recommend it for YA readers, as well. Here's why ... Towles writes with such wit, intelligence, compassion and sophistication, to experience one of his novels is less of a reading event rather an exquisite pilgrimage into a world so beautifully crafted and portrayed, so cleverly multi-layered, it's an effort to farewell it. Admittedly, the following does not reveal a great deal about the plot. I'll leave that for the back cover blurb. It's the purpose of the thing that truly resounds.  The Lincoln Highway exhibited elements of The Outsiders and The Rain Man for me but all encapsulated in its own big, bold, unique personality. And just like these two former tales, larger than life characters dripping with charm, tragedy and heart-hugging humour steal the show; characters so finely honed, their hurts and happy moment...

This adult fiction review is sneaking in because it encompasses so many of life's most endearing, harrowing and heartbreaking moments in one glorious golden family-orientated glow, that I believe its appeal is further reaching than just as an 'adult read'.  So here we go ... The hardcover art of this novel portrays a duality of summer nonchalance and flamboyant gaiety, a bit like a freshly shaken frozen margarita. But don’t let that fool you for beyond the dancing title belies a story with substantial heart and a unique poignant jocularity for which author, Steven Rowley is renowned. There is nothing feeble or wanting in The GUNCLE rather it exudes a sticky kind of specialness that adheres to your innards in the most glorious replenishing way, as opposed to a need-to-retch-it-out way. It's summer in California, a land of 360 days of searing sunshine and infinite possibilities. It’s taken less the four years for former TV sitcom star, Patrick O’Hara to acclimatize a...

I have a dozen or so brilliant books stacked up awaiting words of adoration but this one rose to the top like jersey cream on a fresh pail of milk. Simply glorious. And with its timely release just months before the-Christmas-we-really-all-need this year, A Dog’s Perfect Christmas is, well…the perfect Christmas gift. A Dog’s Perfect Christmas , a novella of sorts by A Dog’s Purpose collection best-selling creator, W Bruce Cameron does not disappoint. This narrative departs from Cameron’s usual delivery from a dog’s point of view relying instead on a delightful collection of third person points of view, including the dogs’. This equates to a novel rich with emotional connection and bristling with exuberance, warmth, humor, tenderness and abject dread, rather like a dog visiting the vet’s. The swings from fraught school yard cliques to boardroom ballsups to doggie destruction are smooth and bright leaving us fully invested with the whole the family. Kind-hearted, Hunter Goss is ...

I don’t normally share adult fiction here but this recently read novel is pure magnificence and deserves  attention. I value stories that illuminate the dingier parts of history, especially histories that are not that old, like this one. Teens should therefore fin d A Gentleman in Moscow particularly fascinating. A Gentleman in Moscow is a story of grand proportions, immense character and infinite humor. And like all stories of colossal significance, those most successful and long remembered, it is utterly transformative. Therein lies the poetic essence of this tale; it’s essentially about the multitude of ways we are transformed by life as it itself yields to constant change. Count Alexander Rostov's life is one of continual transformation despite the fact that his current habitat confined within the walls of the Hotel Metropol under house arrest remains static. The Count is a gentleman of former prestige and aristocratic bearing whose main occupation of the bourgeois is as obse...