The Things We Never Say

By Elizabeth Strout

I did not expect to enjoy this novel as much as I did. It follows Artie Dam, a popular and successful teacher who life finally overwhelms as he descends into loneliness and depression. Sad, it is but engaging and touching the nerve endings of people of my age I suspect. It asks the question of whether it is true that no man is an island. It doesn't really answer the question. 9/10

Poulenc a biography

 by Roger Nichols

An interesting biography of one of the key French composers of the first half of the twentieth century. He comes across as a complex figure but whose musical stature grew and endures. The biography has definitely coaxed me into listening to more of his music which has been a good experience 7/10 

A prayer for Owen Meany

 by John Irving

A sprawling novel of over 700 pages that took me a little while to get into but ended up being totally absorbing. It is set mostly in 1960's New Hampshire at the time of the Vietnam war and two boys, the narrator and Owen Meany grow up together and become best friends, even though Owen manages to kill John's mother at the start of the book with a wild, uncharacteristic swing of the bat in a little league baseball game.

It touches on friendship and faith as the narrator looks back from twenty years hence when he is living in Canada. It is sad and moving in places but also has one of the funniest passages I have read as the 1953 christmas pageant unfolds. 9/10

Land

 by Maggie O'Farrell

Set in Ireland this book follows the fortunes of Tomas and his wife and family, together with the land they inhabit. It starts in 1865 when Tomas, working for the british as a cartographer has a quasi religious experience in a wood on the West coast. It will change him and those close to him forever. It is an absorbing book and has some great characters in it from a slimy priest to a faithful irish wolf hound. 8/10

The Alchemist of Paris

 by M. C. Dulac

A gothic page turner which starts in current day Paris but then takes us back by way of a diary to strange happenings in a house in Paris. Can alchemists make gold or extend life, and what happens if they can. All will be revealed. Fun holiday read 7/10

Maigret and the Ghost

 by Georges Simenon

A policeman gets shot and Maigret is pulled into the art world and the lives of the rich Europeans who operate there. 7/10

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein

 by Deborah Levy

The narrator (called Deborah Levy) goes to Paris to write an essay on Gertrude Stein. She falls in with two women, Fanny and Eva. Eva is Swedish but has a husband in America who she hasn't seen for a couple of years-other than their weekly facetime call. Fanny is in finance and has three lesbian affairs going at any one time. The book quotes a lot from Gertrude Stein but the writing is clever, funny and pulls you along at a cracking pace. A cat also features throughout but I must not give too much away! 9/10

All my Love

By Agnes Lidbeck

An absorbing story set in Sweden in the near future. A far right government has finally been defeated and a wishy washy investigation into their actions has just been published.  The book looks at the personal impact of this time on four friends and lovers. The ending collapsed a bit but I enjoyed the writing 7/10

Maigret's Anger

By Georges Simenon 

Another great story.  A lawyer is demanding large payments from clients by telling  them he is using the money to bribe policemen, including Maigret. 

Meanwhile someone gets killed.  Is it a gangland killing or is there a link to the lawyer? 8/10

The Wizard of the Kremlin

 by Giuliano da Empoli

A strange book in many ways and supposedly modeled on a real character, Vadim Baranov works as a key advisor to Putin. He uses his background in reality TV to great effect in setting Kremlin goals and political outcomes but eventually he wants out.

The book never quite worked for me but it was apparently turned into a 2025 film which I may have to watch 5/10

Far-Right France

 by Victor Mallet

Victor Mallet is an FT journalist and makes it clear from the beginning that he is writing with his journalist hat on. That makes this book very readable and it is very current. He looks at how the RN has moved from the fringes of politics in the days of Jean-Marie Le Pen to being the most popular party in France today. He describes how Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella have made themselves and the party so popular, how far left and far right have much in common but also how so much of their policy may not stand up to the realities of government. I found this a very informative and balanced book which is great to read going into the Presidential race next spring. 8/10

Septology

 by Jon Fosse

This book by a Nobel prize winner is a book I have wanted to read but have been putting off because of it's reputation for being difficult and having no full stops.

I am so glad that I finally got to it. It is the story of Asle, a painter living in the Western part of Norway on the edge of a fjord. He is now in his sixties and over the course of advent he looks back over his life which has all been spent in the same area. He has a neighbour who he sees now and then and they always share an advent meal, and he has a gallery owner who sells his work and puts an annual exhibition at Christmas.

Very little happens but the writing is beautiful-thank you translator Damion Searls- and I felt like I was lowering myself into a nice warm bath every time I picked the book up. It has been my find of the year so far 9/10

Maigret and the Tramp

 by Georges Simenon

A really enjoyable Maigret. A tramp has been attacked and thrown into the Seine but he survives. 

Nobody is that interested but Maigret has his suspicions as to the truth and that there may be more to this than meets the eye. He gradually uncovers the story but is unable to do anything about it as nobody wants to talk including the tramp. Great storytelling 9/10

Now, the people!

 by Jean-Luc Melenchon

Originally published in France in 2023 this English edition was published in 2025.

He highlights the problems the world is facing in terms of climate change, overuse of resources, wealth imbalance, and finds the culprit sitting firmly in the neo-liberal, capitalist system. So far, so good and most of his analysis I could agree with. Where I felt the book gets weaker is regarding solutions. Looking for a common world order, while appealing -and probably the only solution to some of these issues - is too idealistic, and ignores the inbuilt greed humans seem to be born with. I did like his call that we have to start somewhere, so why not do what we can. At least we can go down fighting for what is right! 7/10

The Predicament

 by William Boyd

A second novel fearuring Gabriel Dax, a travel writer who inadvertently ends up working for MI6 and the KGB (and subcontracting to the CIA!). 

This novel is set largely in Sussex and Guatemala and Berlin. The year is 1963 and JFK is big news. This is probably best described as a spy caper but is a very enjoyable read. Along the way, Gabriel's love life gets more complicated! 8/10

Death of a Hawker

By Janwillem van de Wetering

The usual quirky caper from our two Amsterdam detectives as they track down a murderer of two people, the first of whom has left no clue as to the murder weapon. It also has a gruesome ending! 7/10

Maigret and the Saturday Caller

 by Georges Simenon

A man turns up at Maigret's house and claims he is planning to kill his wife and her lover who have gradually taken over his house and painting and decorating business. Then he disappears and Maigret senses something is not right. A sad story with an interesting ending 8/10

The Eleventh Hour

 by Salman Rushdie

A collection of short five short stories, two of which have been published before in the New Yorker, They all deal with ageing and the passage of time in some form or other. My favourite by far was a ghost story called Late. It deals with an author who has been made an honorary fellow of some oxbridge college who wakes up dead one morning. The others were all enjoyable with characteristic humour and satire. I was not so keen on the last story which was about the importance and changing of language. Having just read Julian Barnes it is difficult not to wonder whether this is Rushdie's last book. 7/10

Departure(s)

 by Julian Barnes

His final book-or so he tells us at the start, but can you trust a novelist?
This book seems part novel, part memoir and reflections on the end of life or at least it's later years, Where one begins and the other ends is hard to tell but this makes it no less enjoyable. His observations are sometimes very funny, other times moving but always(or nearly always) interesting. It was a good read 9/10

Robinson Crusoe

 by Daniel Defoe

A difficult read in many ways with its racist approach to the depiction of Friday and it's over the top preaching of the protestant world view, not to mention the depiction of slavery, but I was glad to read it. I wouldn't call it a great novel-but seven hundred editions and numerous spin offs would suggest I am wrong-but it was full of adventure. Crusoe is not that likeable but you are desperate to know how he gets out of the hole he has largely dug for himself. An interesting reflection of it's time. 5/10

Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse

 by Georges Simenon

An unusual murder in a family of "good" people gets Maigret frustrated and having to dig into the family history to understand the case. 7/10

The Proof of my Innocence

 by Jonathan Coe

A very enjoyable read part murder mystery, part piss take of the conservative party and far right as they went through the Liz Truss fiasco. A good holiday read 7/10

Maigret and the Lazy Burglar

 by Georges Simenon

 Maigret is fed up with a change in the judicial organisation which has seen the examining magistrate getting more involved and controlling, so while supposedly investigating some jewellery heists Maigret gets sidetracked by a murder of a burglar he has known for thirty years. 8/10

The Mind Murders

 by Janwillem van de Wetering

 Seventh novel in a series I probably started twenty years ago. The main characters are two zany Amsterdam cops called Grijpstra and deGier who are very different but look out for each other and occasionally play music together.
This one involved a murder with no corpse and a corpse with no murder and a tenuous link between the two cases. Very enjoyable 8/10

Glyph

 by Ali Smith

A companion to Gliff which was published last year this book doesn't follow on but playfully references the previous book along the way. 

It was an amusing read playing with language and perspectives throughout while still managing to make sensible comments on subjects like war and education.
I didn't really get the ending but rated the  book and would probably read again. 8/10

She Who Remains

 by Rene Karabash

 Written by a Bulgarian woman this is an absorbing tale about Bekija(or Matija) who becomes a sworn virgin hours before she was due to be married. This whole set up is alien and governed by the laws of the Kanun.

The voices are all mixed together which can be confusing at times but this adds to the tension as we gradually discover what actually happened on that night in the dairy. I really enjoyed this. 9/10 

Imagine Breaking Everything

 by Lina Munar Guevara

 Set in Columbia, this is a tale narrated by 18 year old Melissa as she looks to graduate and deal with the demons from her adolescent years. Her mother has come to visit her but this is far from straightforward! An interesting book but not altogether my cup of tea. 7/10

Parade's End

 by Ford Madox Ford

 I am not sure how I came across this book but I am glad that I did.

It tells us the story of Christopher Tietjens and his life before,during and after the first world war. It is also the story of his wife Sylvia who is so obnoxious at times to verge on the unbelievable with out quite falling over. At times the language and classical references left me totally baffled but the style of writing kept me hanging on. Definitely a good read to start the year. 9/10 

Maigret and the Old People

 by Georges Simenon

A retired diplomat is found dead in his apartment and suspicion falls on various old friends, lovers and his housekeeper-the relations between whom are unusual. Maigret gets rather frustrated dealing with them but it was an enjoyable tale and not least because I solved it before Maigret! 8/10

A Long Winter

 by Colm Toibin

A novella first published in a collection called Mothers and Sons in 2006(?) this is set in the Pyrenees as winter starts to set in. A family that for historic reasons is disliked by the rest of the small isolated village has to come to terms with the mother going missing in a snow storm as she walks out one day having argued with her husband and son regarding her drinking. Sombre and bleak it was a good read which I undertook as storm Goretti battered the south west of England. Very appropriate! 8/10

Little Dorrit

 by Charles Dickens

My Christmas book for this year. Every time I reread a Dickens I enjoy it more I think.

This one was no different as Arthur Clennam returns from China after his father's death, to be confronted with his cold domineering mother and a whole host of intertwined mysteries. One of these, of course, involves our eponymous heroine and her father who is imprisoned in the Marshalsea-a debtors prison.

Full of humour and biting satire this is a long but enjoyable feel good read. 9/10