Ninety three

by Victor Hugo
Set in 1793 this book was about the Vendean war at the time of the French revolution. The second half of the book was good and had some great insights into the terrors and hardships of civil war and also some detail on how enlightened some of the revolutionary thinking was. However the first half of the book was hard going and pretty dull. 4/10

Dawn, Dusk or Night

by Yasmina Reza
Subtitled 'a year with Nicolas Sarkozy' this is a book of reflections and observations of the French president during the manic year leading up to his election in May 2007.
I found the style of this book difficult to get my head around and yet I could not put it down. It is mesmerising and offers this love him hate him view that resonates with my own reactions to Sarkozy. So many of the observations are fleeting glances when I would have liked to stay longer, but maybe this is the nature of the man where clearly what you see is only what he wants you to see. The book mercifully steers clear of any comment on his private life and gets an extra point from me for that alone. 9/10

Rounding the Mark

by Andrea Camilleri

Another Inspector Montalbano crime mystery set in Sicily. This is very easy reading but great fun although easier than some to unravel fairly early on. 6/10

La Terre (The Earth)

by Emile Zola
The fifteenth novel in the Rougon Macquart series and I think one of the best.
It is shocking even today and exposes some of the more base and brutal sides of mankind, where Jean Macquart as a outsider throughout observes the futile battle of the peasants with the soil and themselves. Some of the scenes are brilliantly written such as when Lise is giving birth at the same time and i the same location as their household cow is giving birth to twin calves. There is even humour with Jesus Christ's(a character not a deity) farting exploits. Definitely a must read if you want to sample Zola. 9/10