Gabriel's Moon

 by William Boyd

A really enjoyable spy caper set in the early 1960's. The characters are brilliantly drawn, although with an annoying habit of always telling us what they are wearing. Le Carre it is not but a page turner it most definitely is 7/10

Seascraper

 by Benjamin Wood

The story of Thomas, set in the late fifties in a Northern coastal town, where he plies a thankless trade scraping shellfish with a horse and cart and nets at low tide. His life is interrupted by a film director wanting to employ him. The story plays out over a few days but has implications for longer. It is a short novel but beautifully told. Should have made the shortlist but did not 9/10

Flashlight

 by Susan Choi

A story told from the perspectives of four main characters over a period of several decades from the end of the twentieth century to the present. Louisa is found nearly drowned on a beach near her house. Her father, who left the house with her is missing presumed drowned although his body is never found. Her mother is suffering from MS although at this point it has not been fully diagnosed. The story of their lives unfolds over time and through Japan and Korea and America. It is beautifully told and after a slow start it's pace picks up toward a poignant ending 9/10

The Mistress of Paris

 by Catherine Hewitt

The rags to riches story of a nineteenth century courtesan. The story was really interesting, Comtesse Valtesse de la Bigne as she ended up calling herself moved in the highest circles of society and became one of the richest people in Paris. She was clearly single minded and ruthless in the operation of her profession. I did at times feel the author was a frustrated fiction writer but that aside had clearly done a lot of research. 7/10

Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses

 by Georges Simenon

Maigret is thinking about impending retirement and getting grumpy. He has to deal with a young new prosecutor who he does not take to and in the middle of this he has to deal with a murder in a house where nobody wants to talk about what happened. Enjoyable for the grumpy Maigret on show. 8/10

Endling

 by Maria Reva

A wacky read that I enjoyed immensely. It is set in Ukraine just at the time the Russian invasion is starting in 2022. It involves an endangered snail called Lefty and some young women involved in the mail order bride industry together with some of the would be Western husbands. It does get a little complicated. It made me laugh, it made me sad, it made me question and wonder. It has the most ambivalent of endings. What more do you want from a novel. I hope it makes the Booker shortlist but it may be a bit too off piste for this. 9/10

Universality

 by Natasha Brown

A disappointing read. It started with a great  plot: a man attacked with a gold bar while squatting in an old farmhouse. He turns out to be the leader of an anti-capitalist group and the assailant is not only a member of the group but also the son of a journalist who is/was sleeping with the owner of the gold bar.

A great start but it all rather fizzled out by the end and seemed more of a surrender to the sorry state we are in than anything else. Perhaps even our writers are getting worn down by our current plight 6/10

One Boat

 by Jonathan Buckley

Set almost entirely at a Greek seaside village/town a British women returns to the same place nine years after her last visit when she came to deal with loss of a parent (death) and a husband(divorce). This time she is dealing with loss again.

The story jumps between the two times and the people she met and interacted with on the first visit. They have moved on, she may not have but she has to deal with the changes. It was a very enjoyable read with the story lapping around you like the ocean. My only regret was the ending and her return to the UK where she discusses with her new partner the plan to turn her notes into a book. It didn't see needed to me but a minor quibble. 8/10

Misinterpretation

 by Ledia Xhoga

An Albanian translator/interpreter living in New York runs into problems when working for a Kosovar who has traumas he is trying to work through. She is forced to face some things in her own life as her lack of appropriate boundaries gets her mixed up in some threatening situations. This was a slow moving book at the start but gathered pace and engaged me more and more as it progressed. I liked it 8/10

The Rest of Our Lives

 by Ben Markovits

A road trip of sorts set in America. Tom's daughter is heading off to college and he and his wife have been not getting along since she had an affair of sorts six years previously. This could be the time for a break so after dropping off his daughter he keeps driving West and reflecting on his life, 

I found a lot of the basketball and education references difficult, but they probably are fine if you understand American culture. It didn't quite work for me although I did recognise and enjoy some of the references to getting older and the life unfulfilled. 6/10

Flesh

 by David Szalay

The story of a man who starts life with little in a flat in Hungary and ends life with little in a flat in Hungary. A lot happens in between as we move from Hungary to Iraq and to London, and up and down society. As a consequence the story pulls you along as we get close to the central character but never really know him. His mother features at various times through the story but I found her a bit unbelievable.  An interesting read 7/10

Maigret's Doubts

 by Georges Simenon

Very enjoyable, bordering on Simenon's psychological side this story starts with a man coming to tell Maigret that he is going to be killed by his wife. Not long after the wife arrives and Maigret spends the rest of the book trying to unravel what and who he is dealing with. 9/10

Maigret Travels

By Georges Simenon 

A great case where Maigret moves in the world of the super rich following clues around France and Europe after a wealthy English man is found dead in his hotel bath. 8/10

The Silence and the Rage

By Pierre Lemaitre

The second in the glorious years trilogy following the fortunes of the Pelletier family. We are in the 1950's and all surviving children are in Paris and surviving but definitely not thriving! Various stories unwind but for Lemaitre the story ends in a quite upbeat fashion. I fear for these characters in vol three lol.

The author lists a number of influences in his acknowledgements but does not include Zola or Dickens. I think maybe he should. 8/10

Love Marriage

 by Monica Ali

I was not sure I would like this book but from the start I was hooked. Mina who starts the book as a typical newly qualified doctor, engaged to another doctor and full of confidence learns that everything is not always what it seems as she learns some truths about herself, her parents and her boyfriend. The characters are brilliantly drawn including her old friend/patient on the ward and the very funny handyman/janitor. It's a long book but it was a joy to read. 9/10

Long Island

 by Colm Toibin

The follow on to Brooklyn and we have moved on 20 years to the 70's and Eilis is living in Long Island with her Italian husband and two teenage children.

Tony has had an affair that has resulted in a child that the woman's husband has made clear will be dumped on Tony once born. Eilis is not happy and decides to go back to Ireland for the first time in 20 years to see her mother and try and sort out her future. We meet many of the old characters and catch up with what has happened in the town over the past two decades-not much as it turns out.

I enjoyed this story, probably more than Brooklyn but it leaves so many questions hanging at the end. I am not sure this is to facilitate a sequel-but it could be- as much as to leave the future in the readers minds to disentangle-or not! 8/10

Enter a Murderer

 by Ngaio Marsh

The second of the Inspector Alleyn novels and not as good as the first one imo.
A nasty actor is shot dead during a play that Alleyn is watching with Nigel Bathgate when somebody swaps dud bullets for the real thing. A number of people have good motives to want the victim dead and Alleyn sets about unpicking the case. I will probably give him another try but for the moment it is back to Maigret for my crime. 

Supporting Act

 by Agnes Lidbeck

A novel about parenthood, relationship strain, a difficult affair and death all in a short novel and all a bit much for me. 

It maybe that I am getting too old for the angst of younger writers but I did find this book piling on the agany a bit too much. The writing style and translation I enjoyed. The subject matter, not so much 5/10

Growth, A Reckoning

 by Daniel Susskind

The author sets out to explore a number of questions such as what is economic growth, what is good about it and what is bad about it and finally, how should we approach growth going forward.

The first parts of the book are uncontroversial and interesting. However, he makes it clear that in his opinion we have to continue to pursue growth. He is rather quick to dump the arguments of those who struggle to see how growth can continue and I found his arguments for how it might a little fanciful.

He tackles the problem of the trade-offs necessary between growth and desirable outcomes  really well and this I found the most thought provoking part of the book. The answers he offers didn't work for me but I don't have anything more plausible to offer so you have to applaud this attempt and if it gets more of us thinking about this issue then bravo DS. 8/10

A Man Lay Dead

 by Ngaio Marsh

Enter Inspector Alleyn who has to solve the murder of a man at a house party where they are playing a murder game. Of course many people have a motive but our man finds his way to the truth. Vintage english crime from the 1930's. Good fun. 7/10

The Empusium

 by Olga Tokarczuk

Very funny, very dark, this book is loosely based on The Magic Mountain but is set in Silesia at the same time as the former book.

The characters are sympathetically drawn and, being half the length, we do not have so much philosophising. There is still some! 

The subtitle refers to a horror story that does unfold gently as the book goes on and explodes at the end of the novel in a scene with gothic overtones! 

A very enjoyable read 8.5/10

The People Opposite

 by Georges Simenon

Set in a Crimean port town in the 1930's this is the story of a Turkish consul sent to Stalin's Russia just ten years after the founding of modern Turkey. It captures his sense of isolation and the mistrust everybody has in everyone else. Is he being followed, is he being poisoned? 7/10

Emile Zola

 by Rachel Bowlby

Part of the Writing modern life series this is a short introduction to Zola's novels looking at the beginning, middle and end of his life and concentrating on character profile, shops and Zola's exile in London. 

It was a very interesting book and I particularly enjoyed the middle section on shops, contrasting the department store on The Ladies Paradise with the smaller shops of L'assommoir and Le Ventre de Paris. 8/10

Maigret Enjoys Himself

 by Georges Simenon

Maigret has been advised by his doctor to take a holiday but rather than go away Maigret and his wife stay in Paris to enjoy a quiet August. It is not long before a murder is reported in the newspapers and Maigret takes on the role of a member of the public as he tries to solve the case by using the newspaper reports only. Great fun 8/10

Madame Sosostris and the festival for the broken hearted

 by Ben Okri

A cross between midsummer nights dream and the wasteland this is a wacky book about two successful but unhappy couples and a magical festival one of them organises in an enchanted wood in the south of France. What could possibly go wrong? More clever than riveting it was a fun read. 6/10

Hunchback

 by Saou Ichikawa

A short book, that was longlisted for the International Booker 2025.

It starts with a steamy sex session in a Tokyo swingers club but then quickly switches to it's main theme about living with disability as a young woman. It is a difficult read at times but scattered with humour and certainly thought provoking. 5/10

The Magic Mountain

 by Thomas Mann

First of all, this is a long book with large sections of philosophising that lost me at times. However, it is also an absorbing story set in the seven years leading up to the first world war in a sanitorium in the Swiss mountains. It is funny in places and sad in others, and in others fascinating as we go through the new record collection or a seance with one of the patients being the medium. I am going to miss this hotch potch of characters from our hero Hans Castorp to Settembrini and Naphta, our two philosophers, to Behrens and all the patients who come and go but our central to the story at various times. Not the easiest of reads but really enjoyable. 9/10

Maigret's Failure

 by Georges Simenon

Another good story. Hot August and Maigret is failing to find a missing English woman when he is asked to protect a very wealthy businessman who turns out to be someone who Maigret knew at school but did not like. When he is killed Maigret tries to find the killer. In both cases there is no quick resolution but it is enjoyable to see how it unfolds. 8/10 

The Invisible Doctrine

 by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison

The subtitle of this book is The Secret History of Neoliberalism.
It is a short history of capitalism and the rise of neoliberalism from the second world war and in particular rhe damaging effects it has had on the world and society since the 1980's. It is at times a bit of a rant and there will be few who will agree with it 100% but reading it against the unfolding of the second Trump presidency makes for sobering reading. Much of the root of neoliberalism is found in Hayek they state and it is well known that Thatcher adored him. 

The most notable quote for me was by Roosevelt in 1938 when he said "the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism." Sobering stuff. 7/10

Chip War

 by Chris Miller

A fascinating history of semiconductors that places them front and centre of the last 60 years and the centrality of our reliance on them for our current way of life.
Both breathtaking it what has been achieved and frightening in how quickly we have become reliant on them. Very readable 8/10

On the Greenwich Line

 by Shady Lewis

An Egyptian, living and working in the UK is asked by a friend in Cairo to arrange the funeral of someone he has never met and does not know. He reluctantly agrees and the thread of this story takes us through the book as we learn about our hero's life working in local government in London, dealing with a failing system. The book is very funny in places and very sad and moving in others. It was up there with the best from this year so far and am sure it will still be come the end of the year 9/10

Maigret Sets a Trap

 by Georges Simenon

A serial killer on the loose in Paris is making Maigret angry. He sets a trap to try and find the killer and nearly gets a policewoman killed. By the end he is highly infuriated and ready to beat up the killer who by this time is in his office. I found this one slightly off par given the level of the previous two but still a good listen. 7/10

Going to the Dogs

 by Pierre LeMaitre

Billed as a black, comic novel this is certainly a dark tale and I am sure the author had a lot of fun writing it.

An atypical but top rated contract killer has reached her sixties and is starting to develop serious dementia like symptoms. Mayhem is let loose. We are introduced to a number of characters who you build empathy with, only for them to be summarily dismissed at some point. His ability to keep us onside with the story is a mark of his storytelling skill. There is a neat twist at the end of a real page turner of a story. 9/10

Maigret and the Headless Corpse

 by Georges Simenon

Another interesting case where Maigret spends much of his time in a bistro by the Canal St. Martin after a headless dismembered corpse is found in the canal. He almost stumbles on the killers by accident but the bulk of the tale is him trying to work out why and why then. 8/10

Time Shelter

By Georgi Gospodinov 

Won the international booker prize in 2023.

The book is  a fascinating look at time and memory. Very amusing in places it started to lose me when it spilled out of the clinic. 5/10

Capital & Ideology-A Graphic Novel

By Claire Alet and Benjamin Adam

An introduction to the ideas in Thomas Piketty's book of the same name. Based around one French family this book moves the argument along really well with a bit of humour thrown in. 8/10

The Land in Winter

By Andrew Miller 

Set in the west country in the cold winter of 1962 this is the story of two young couples and the pregnancies of the two wives. Social classes clash and the cold reflects the interactions. It was an absorbing book 8/10

Maigret and the minister

By Georges Simenon 

A Maigret without a murder. A sensitive government report has gone missing and Maigret tries to uncover who is behind it. I really enjoyed this one 9/10

Maigret and the Dead Girl

 by Georges Simenon

Maigret attempts to solve this murder by trying to understand the dead girl. He has a detective from the second arr. one step ahead of him the whole time until the end. It was an enjoyable story with Maigret at his best at home in Paris. 8/10

Murder Mindfully

 by Karsten Dusse

A black comedy crime novel about a solicitor who turns to killing after attending a mindfulness course. The premise is amusing and their are some funny parts such as a magpie flying off with a key piece of evidence but the book lacked much in the way of suspense. You always knew how it would end and much of the book was just going through the motions, although I did like the ending. 5/10

The Shortest History of Migration

 by Ian Goldin

This was a really interesting book. Written in 2024 many of the figures quoted are up to date, but as well as trends in current migration this book gives a succinct history of migration over the centuries and points out how as a species we have always moved. He also emphasises how people fleeing adversity tend to stay as close to their home country as they can, rather quashing the myth of being overrun with asylum seekers. 

The only downside-apart from the inevitable skimming across the surface- was the referencing which was not easy to follow back to sources. 7/10

Maigret goes to School

 Set in a small village that reminds Maigret of his childhood, a cantankerous old woman is murdered and the village schoolteacher, who is an outsider gets the blame.
He asks Maigret for help and this results in Maigret travelling to the village and trying to unravel village politics and history. 8/10

Our Mutual Friend

by Charles Dickens

A long read for the Christmas period and a book I have not read for a long time which made it all the more enjoyable as I could not remember how it unfolded. The humour is wonderful and Dickens' slating of the poor laws still carries a punch from this far away in history. 
The antics of John Harmon would I think raise a few eyebrows nowadays and may make some modern readers uncomfortable but the power of the storytelling gift still shines through, and with memorable supporting characters like the Veneerings, Mr. Venus and Jenny Wren this is a great read. 9/10