A Simple Intervention

By Yael Inokai 

A nurse involved in a pioneering surgical procedure falls in love with her room mate and has her world shaken up. I really enjoyed this book. 8.5/10

Maigret is Afraid

By Georges Simenon

Maigret calls in on an old friend on his way back from a conference in Bordeaux. He gets involved in a murder enquiry involving three dead bodies, a suicide and a rather dysfunctional family. 7/10

Orbital

 by Samantha Harvey

This is a very short book at just over 100 pages and deals with one day -or I should say 24 hours on board the International space station and the interactions and lives of the astronauts aboard. I did not expect to enjoy it and yet it was strangely absorbing as well as being informative about life in space. 8/10

Creation Lake

 by Rachel Kushner

A spy story with a difference. Sadie Smith is sent to infiltrate a commune in South West France as well as keep an eye on a low ranking government official. She used to be employed by the FBI but her current employer remains unknown. 
The book never really got going for me and although I enjoyed some of her fun one liners to end various sections I was yearning for something to happen. By the time it did happen it all felt too late. 6/10

Wandering Stars

by Tommy Orange

Another family saga. This time about a twentieth/twenty first native american family in Oakland. A look at life for the underprivileged and discriminated against in modern America. It was well written but left me a bit cold 6/10

The Duke's Children

By Anthony Trollope 

The last of the Palliser novels. Glencora has died and the Duke is left trying to come to grip with the love interests and various misdemeanours of his three children.  Still amusing in places and painful in others I enjoyed it and will miss the various characters we have met along the way. 8/10