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