I only managed to complete one novel this month, for some reason.

That said, I'm trying to read some bigger books this year, rather than focusing on numbers for my reading goal for the year, as I have done previously. I'm not a that fast a reader, and I guess tackling a bigger book that I found less engaging just meant it took me a while to get through it.

Ah well.

The Light Years (Cazalet Chronicles #1) #

by Elizabeth Jane Howard
2 ⭐️

emotional; informative; lighthearted; slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

I'm working on a novel that' i's a big family saga, so I've been eager to read as many family sagas as possible. This one seemed ideal for me, but I was sadly rather disappointed.

The Light Years opens in summer, 1937, as tensions are building towards World War Two. The Cazalets are three generations of a large family, each with their different concerns, I never felt that I cared very much for the challenges each of them faces. The novel spends a lot of time with the youngest generation, but they're very young and their difficulties seem to have very little weight or consequence. The tension in the middle generation, the parents of those young children, has too small an impact on their own lives let alone the others. And I felt the grandparents were just a bit too disinterested, and so was I. And everyone's just a bit too privileged and comfortable for me to care too much about their shallow worries.