The Seventh Son

 by Sebastian Faulks

Seth was the seventh son of Adam and also the name given to the hero of this book who is born to two London based people via a surrogate mother supposedly using their eggs and sperm. However, the rich entrepreneur who runs the clinic has some problems of his own regarding the dementia that is killing his father and he uses his clinic to carry out some "research" that impacts on the child born in 2031. It is a thought provoking story as we follow Seth and his parents and surrogate mother over the next 25 years with some twists and turns along the way. 8/10

Maigret's Memoirs

 by George Simenon

One of the best Maigret novels as this is Maigret writing about Simenon and filling in some of the gaps and correcting some of his minor errors, It is very funny in places but also quite poignant in others when he talks about real issues of society seen on a daily basis by the police. 10/10

As the Eagle Flies

 by Nolwenn le Blevennec

A french book about an affair. The affair started three years before the time of the book and lasted three months but then spent three years coming to an end and we get taken through it on a self absorbed retelling of the time by the narrator. 

The saving grace of the book is that it is very funny in places and made me laugh out loud. Otherwise too introspective for me. 6/10

The Fraud

 by Zadie Smith

I think this is Zadie Smith's first historical novel but it is a lot of fun. It is based around real people and events, but the main characters have been largely forgotten by history. Characters such as Dickens and Maclise also make an appearance, and we don't always see their best sides!

The story follows Mrs Touchet and her cousin Ainsworth through their colourful lives and their interaction with a celebrated legal case over the identity of Roger Tichborne and whether the claimant of an inheritance is actually him. Great larks! The story moves from London to Jamaica to Australia and my only disappointment is that the story ran out of steam about two thirds of the way through. The earlier parts of the book I really enjoyed 7/10

Technofeudalism

 by Yanis Varoufakis

A book examining the rise of the big tech companies. The argument is that the rise of cloud capital has brought about the death of capitalism as we know it and that power now lies with a few cloudalists for whom most of us work for free.
YV loves to come up with new terms-indeed, one chapter of this book is devoted to explaining why the term used in the title is important- and we have many in this book including cloud proles and cloud serfs.

I found the argument difficult to follow at times but this is a very thought provoking book that will leave me wondering about the way this will move. The most sobering part of the book was his chapter looking at China and the USA and the new cold war. The most disappointing was the last chapter which paints a utopia that we are unlikely to ever reach and left to many questions unanswered 6/10

Prophet Song

 by Paul Lynch

A dystopian vision set in present day Ireland but could be anywhere in the western world. The country descends to civil war as a far right party takes over the country and bit by bit clamps down on dissent. A depressing but captivating read as a mother tries to keep her family together after the husband is arrested.

Some of the characters were a bit unbelievable but still powerful storytelling 7/10

The Wide World

 by Pierre LeMaitre

The first in a planned trilogy of the post war years but there is a surprise appearance of characters from the previous trilogy of the interwar years!

This story revolves around the Pelletier family. The father runs a very successful soap company in Lebanon but his four children are still finding their way in life with mixed results. This is the tale of how it unfolds, which takes us from Lebanon to Saigon to Paris and in true LeMaitre style is peppered with surprises along the way. A bit gruesome in parts, along with a smattering of humour this is great storytelling 9/10