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