The General

by Jonathan Fenby
A very good biography of Charles de Gaulle with a great balance between the personal, private man and the statesman. 8/10

Three Ghost Stories

by Charles Dickens
Great fun 8/10

The Finkler Question

by Howard Jacobson
Very amusing in parts, boring in others and fascinating in others. He is as in touch with the human condition as any writer I have come across 8/10

Our Kind of Traitor

by John Le Carre

Le Carre on good form but with an ending that seemed inevitable for a Le Carre hero. Enjoyed it though 7/10

The Elephant's Journey

by José Saramago
Written by a nobel prize winning Portuguese writer this is a fantastic story of an elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century. I loved it, especially the narrator's quirky asides. 9/10

The Glass Room

by Simon Mawer
The story of a house, based on a real house in Brno, this is a fascinating story of the Czech Republic from the mid 1920's to the 1960's which I found really absorbing. 8/10

Death in the Latin Quarter

by Raphael Cardetti
Set in Paris this is a fast paced mystery thriller involving book restorers and shady secret service personnel from around the world. A great holiday read that is fun and not too taxing. 6/10

Ordinary Thunderstorms

by William Boyd
Enjoyed the premise of this book of a man who has his identity taken from him by being in the wrong place at the wrong time,. However it seemed to lose its way and the ending was disappointing. 5/10

Silence

by Shusaka Endo
This story of a missionary priest in the seventeenth century going off to Japan did not do a lot for me. 4/10

Oranges are not the only fruit

by Jeanette Winterson
Very funny in places and very reminiscent in parts of my youth. Felt the last 40 pages or so lost their way but 25 years on this is still agood read. 7/10

The Kindly Ones

by Jonathan Littell
Where do I begin. It was the best of books; it was the worst of books. One thing is certain you cannot be indifferent to this book. It is the fictional autobiography of Max Aue, an intellectual who was a SS officer during the second war. He recounts his experiences from the relative safety of sixty years after the event when he is a respectable owner of a lace factory in France. The narrative is compelling as it recounts not only the history of WWII but the intimate enjoyment and pain of one man's experience. It is hard going though with some very harrowing scenes. I also found the detail of the SS and German heirarchy difficult to follow, even with a glossary at the end of the book. This is a book that will live with me for some time yet. 8/10

Indemnity Only

by Sara Paretsky
This book, first published in 1982, introduces the detective V. I. Warshawski. She is a Chicago based private investigator who has gone on to feature in numerous subsequent investigations set in the city.
This first novel starts with somebody employing Warshawski by pretending to be a wealthy banker and sending her off on a hunt that results in her finding the body of the bankers son. Despite being warned off numerous times, she pursues the case, involving fraud, murder and corruption to an exciting end. As an aside it is fascinating to read a “modern” detective who is set pre mobile phones, pre internet and who is debating whether an IBM desktop computer would be any help in her office.
The character of VI is well built and it is not hard to see why she has continued to attract readers in her subsequent adventures. The plot in this novel stretches credibility to breaking point at times, particularly in the final showdown scene. I also found most of the characters-with the exception of VI –very two dimensional but such is the nature of the genre. If you enjoy a good crime caper this is a fun read.

Parrot and Olivier

by Peter Carey
Carey is a fantastic storyteller and this is no exception. This is a crazy tale inspired by Tocqueville but covers Paris and Dartmoor as well as America itself. It is littered with amusing characters and tall story scenes. Good fun 8/10

Alone in Berlin

by Hans Fallada
This book took me by surprise. The story is in many ways a simple one of a couple whose son is killed at the front during the second world war. They start a campaign of dropping postcards denouncing Hitler. Somehow the inevitable ending is moved towards with tremendous suspense and an engagement with the characters. The best book I have read so far in 2010 9/10

Berlin Tales

Edited and translated by Lyn Marven
This is a collection of short stories with Berlin as a unifying theme. They range from excellent-Evenings after six by Kurt Tucholsky- to very poor. The photos at the start of each story are a real treat. 2/10

The Outsider

by Albert Camus
A fascinating short novel by one of France's most revered writers. Set in his native Algeirs this is a fascinating story that reminds me of a line from Eliot. Humankind cannot face too much reality or words to that effect. It is a fascinating read that left me asking questions about how I would react in similar circumstances-although I cannot envisage killing a man- and what are the things that should provoke a reaction in us. 7/10

Solea

by Jean-Claude Izzo
This is the final book in the Marseilles trilogy featuring the ex cop Fabio Montale. I can't put my finger on what makes this series so good. It could be the worn down, flawed humanity of the central character, it could be the flawed and yet beautiful city of Marseilles that features as a central character in the book, it could be the thriller that runs as almost secondary story throughout. Whatever it is I found all three of the books really enjoyable as they moved slowly to the ineviatable conclusion. 10/10

Smile or Die

by Barbara Ehrenreich
A swipe at the positive thinking industry in America with some reference to the rest of us.
I found the book quite heavy on evidence but would have liked more reasoning as to why positive thinking is not a good thing. An interesting thought provoking read all the same. 6/10

The Girl who kicked the hornet's nest

by Stieg Larsson
The final part of the Salander trilogy and like the previous two ploughs on at an unrelenting rate. As with any series like this there is an element of repitition for those who need a reminder of where we have got to and this makes the book too long. It is a great yarn though!8/10

Wolf Hall

by Hilary Mantel
This Booker Prize winning novel plots the life of Thomas Cromwell-an advisor to Henry VIII. Its detail is remarkable but I never got caught up in the story although the characters were remarkably well drawn and the scope extensive. I can see why it won the prize but I would have chosen AS Byatt above this. 7/10