All Our Wrong Todays: A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice 2017 Hardcover – 2 Mar. 2017

If you liked Matt Haig's "The Humans", you'll probably like this. It has the same sort of feel of an outsider commenting on the modern world. The problem for me was that I hated The Humans. I enjoyed this more, and its main strength is an area where Haig fell over, but it does share two of the main weaknesses, paper thin stereotypical characters, and unlovely, mechanical prose. It also suffers from the problem of an author trying to write credible science without an adequate scientific background.The area where author Elan Mastai succeeds is in plotting. This is a time travel romance with an intricately and repeatedly twisting narrative. While the short, machine-gun chapters, with frequent cliff hanger endings become a little irritating, it did enough to grip me, to the extent that I read it in a couple of sittings while on train journeys.Tom Barren lives in an alternate 2016. In his world a man called Gottfried invented a source of unlimited energy in 1965 which resulted in Tom's present being a technological utopia. While Tom is something of an unfocussed under achiever, his father is a genius who invents a time machine. When the intended first Chononaut, and sort-of unobtainable centre of Tom's desire, Penelope, is incapacitated, Tom ends up taking the first temporal voyage back to the launch of Gottfried's invention. Tom makes a mess of things and finds himself catapulted into our 2016, where he finds himself with a completely different family and meets bookshop owner Penny.Aside from being in need of some more enthusiastic editing (was it necessary to describe the differences between books in the two worlds so many times?), my other main difficulty was the sexual politics. While it is true that Tom feels guilty about his frequently manipulative approach to women, that doesn't alter the fact that this rather unattractively whiny little man has no difficulty in seducing a string of attractive women. This smacks of adolescent wish fulfilment, or perhaps even more so of the old joke that these days you've got to be a sensitive,caring pro-feminist if you want to pull the chicks.I often find when writing reviews that doing so strengthens my feelings about a book, if I quite like it, I can end up loving it. The opposite is happening now. So instead of going on about the irritating fourth wall breaking, or the jaw droppingly trite ending, i shall let this keep its three stars on the basis of being a reasonably entertaining way to spend a few hours.

It was an ok read I would have preferred more science detail, with a bit of editing it would make a good film :-)

In a high-tech alternate version of 2016, Tom is the disappointing adult son of a physics genius. When his father invents time travel, Tom becomes - following a sequence of misfortunes - the first 'chrononaut'. But things don't go to plan and he finds himself in what he sees as a hellish dystopia - our version of 2016. He's quite literally stuck in 'the wrong todays'. And that's only the beginning of how complicated things are going to get for him as he tries to put right the timeline without making an even worse mess.It's a great idea for a story and works really well. Tom is a likeable protagonist, even though he's a bit of a 'loser' he's a likeable one and not as hopeless as he thinks himself. The concept is clever and is well executed. It's not an overtly humorous book but there are few places that made me smile. It's also gripping and has a couple of real surprises along the way.The story is consistently high quality throughout and even the ending is properly worked through and satisfying. Sometimes with time travel books I find they get themselves in a knot and you end up with ends untied, but 'All Our Wrong Todays' avoids that. I found it entertaining, different and very easy to read. I'd definitely read more books by the author.

I love those eights, who would have thought?I listened to the narration of this bookIt reminded me of my school daysBecause there were times that I drifted offTo dream land, to a place of imagined interestI was a radio that hadn't been tuned properlyI had a lot of static white noiseBut also I had clear moments of cymbals and drumsI would love to hear this book narrated by an English personI think it would appeal more to meFor my personal flavour, it would be a far tastier journeyAnd let us not forget that we are each uniqueEach of our opinions are differentIt's what makes humanity the mosaic picture, that it isWell done Elan for putting some creativity into this worldOne day Lionel Goatrider will appear in this worldClaiming he is the second comingAll I know is this human experience was not made to be easyIt tickles and stings, it screeches and singsOur emotions are there to be triggeredNo one ever said it was going to be easyThe best paintings are when the artist uses every colour, upon his/her palletOur stories lie between the start and the finishI would happily award this story three and a half starsI have got to post this review before I become number 89

I liked the storyline. Admittedly I'd get a little fuddled here and there but would return to the right time, at the right time. (I like that). I found the theory of time travel really interesting and the way it was explained figuratively and narratively, made it easier for me to grasp. All in all an enjoyable read or in my case an enjoyable audiobook.

An inspiring novel that is also mind bending and absurd... it tackles complex scientific, psychological and philosophical issues while still being completely accessible to anyone who understands that humans can be emotional and irrational creatures who continue to strive to do what’s right even when it isn’t clear what that is.Even though it’s written in first person you also get clear depth to the other characters which adds to the sense of reality the author is trying to convey. Even with the overarching sadness of the story there is still that note hope and spirit that keeps the reader hooked, knowing somehow the story will end as it has to end.The conversational tone also makes it a real page turner finished reading it a few days despite the heavy themes- i also hope i learned a lot!