Night Boat to Tangier

by Kevin Barry
This book is set in the Spanish port of Algeciras as two middle aged drug dealers from Cork wait in the hope of finding a daughter, Dilly who disappeared three years earlier. It is funny in places, sad and melancholic in others but has a lovely lilting flow to the language that made it a really enjoyable read. 8/10

My sister, the serial killer

by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Set in Lagos what do you do when your sister starts killing people?
This was a good read, presented in a deadpan sort of way we learn how a nurse looks out for her sister and why she reacts to men the way she does. 7/10

The Pale Criminal

by Philip Kerr
Second in the Bernie Gunther series and Bernie is forced to rejoin the police force to solve a crime intricately involved with the politics of the time. A good read for a train journey. 7/10

March Violets

by Philip Kerr
The first novel in a crime series about a detective called Bernie Gunther. Set in pre-war Berlin it is given an added twist by being set alongside the rise of national socialism, A good story 7/10

Machines like Me

by Ian McEwan
Very well written as you would expect.
I am not sure about the device of setting the book in the eighties and playing with political outcomes following the Falklands war, alongside a technology world set some years beyond where we are now. However, the story provokes thought about morals in an AI world and how sentient a being a robot can be. I finished the book quite drained and needed to plug myself, recharge and muse about what it all meant. 8/10

Swann's Way

by Marcel Proust
The first book of Remembrance of things Past which I first read 30 years ago. Listening to it as an audiobook is different but enjoyable, The descriptive passages are faantastic and although they can get drawn out for far too long at times his capturing of human emotion is brilliant 8/10

The confessions of Frannie Langton

by Sara Collins
Frannie is a mulato slave brought up on a sugar plantation in the West Indies. She is involved in some weird experiments her owner is undertaking to try and show that slavery is justified.
The book starts at the Old Bailey where she is on trial for murder. The book is her tale of what happened and how she got to the position she was in. I loved the ending but I think not everyone will. 7/10

Tangerine

by Christine Mangan
Tangiers 1956 and newly married Alice is deeply unhappy and a long way from home. Out of nowhere her best friend from college turns up-a friend she does not want to meet. This book promised a lot and I read it very quickly but somehow it did not quite do it for me. A good train read 6/10

Maigret takes a room

by Georges Simenon
Back in Paris and a really enjoyable novel, as Maigret sets out to find out who shot and wounded one of his detectives. He checks into a boarding house and meets a great array of characters. Oh and along the way he solves the case! 8/10

Spring

by Ali Smith
The third in a quartet looking at the state of Britain today.
I really enjoyed this book with a good balance of anger v humour and some great characters. Particularly liked Paddy and Richard (nickname Doubledick after a Dickens character).
I got a little bit lost at times in the second half of the book but didn't really mind this as I knew the direction we were heading in and that we were unlikely to arrive by the end-which we didn't. Still a great read 8/10

Revolution Francaise

by Sophie Pedder
The author makes clear that she is not writing a biography but she does write about Emmanuel Macron and his dramatic rise to the role of French President.
The whole book is fascinating as it tries to unravel what drives this unusual character and what it is he is trying to achieve. The best parts of the book were in chapters nine and ten examining the deep fractures that divide France and the French education system which is controlled from the centre to the point of stifling good teachers from developing those most in need of it.
Both society and the education system need attention. As I write this the yellow vest protests continue(they had not started when the book was written), and you feel the next 12 months are critical if the Macron presidency is going to deliver any of the hope promised during his election campaign. 9/10

Left Bank

by Agnes Poirier
A very readable portrait of the Paris arts scene during and after the war.
Sartre and de Beauvoir feature a lot but so do Mailer, Koestler and Camus, Saul Bellow and Miles Davis, and a host of others. It paints Paris in such a way as to be attractive, but also realistic about the realities of a post war city and leaves the reader wanting to explore the city and the works of the various people mentioned. 8/10

The Wall

by John Lanchester
A novel set in a post climate disaster world where are narrator is doing his national service on a massive wall that runs all the way around the UK to keep the others out.
At one point our hero tells us nothing much happens on the wall and he is right! Nothing much happens in the novel. The story that is told is told well but there is not a lot to tell. Life is boring, something major happens followed by a period which is dramatic but actually not much happens, the end. 5/10

Journey to a War

by WH Auden and Christopher Isherwood
This is a fascinating book written in 1938 and tells the story of a journey around China at the time of the Sino Japanese war.
The language is politically incorrect at times and their behaviours from a different age, but the writing is superb and the poetry is intoxicating-especially the sonnets. 9/10

The Accordionist

by Fred Vargas
Back with the three evangelists as ex special investigator, Louis Kehlweiler, is asked by an old friend to prove that a young accordionist is not guilty of a string of murders.
Quirky as ever this was a good fun, fast paced crime thriller and very enjoyable. 7/10

The Tin Drum

by Gunter Grass
This is a lodge in your brain type book.
I started reading it because of it's reputation and the fact that it was published in the year I was born. Despite this it is an amazingly fresh and modern book.
It follows the life of Oscar, who narrates the book swapping between the 1st and 3rd person.
He is a surreal character who was born fully developed mentally but stopped growing at the age of three-by his own choice he would have us believe.
It is set largely in Danzig (modern day Gdansk) in the period just before the second world war and takes us through Oscar's experiences and introduces us to a panoply of amazing characters.
Apart from his physical attributes, Oscar is unusual in that he can shatter glass at will with his voice and always has with him his tin drum. His drumming eventually makes him very wealthy but it gets him into and out of a lot of scrapes along the way.
This is one of those books that makes you wonder at the imagination of the author. Although I found it totally bizarre in places and frustrating in others I will relish and as one of those book reading experiences that stays with you long after the last page 9/10

Lullaby

by Leila Slimani
A psychological thriller where we learn from the first page that two children have been killed by their nanny. We spend the rest of the book examining how she got there and the effect she had on the family she worked for. It is well written and keeps a tension throughout but, and for me it was a big but, I don't think we will ever know. Maybe this was the point, as it is echoed by the detective on the case. The frustration of modern fiction. No escape from the real world! 7/10

The Misty Harbour

by George Simenon
Excellent Maigret, set on the Normandy coast it is the tale of a mystery man who turns up in Paris not knowing who he is. The trail leads to the coast and an old love problem. 8/10

Anna Karenina

by Leo Tolstoy
It is probably 30 years since I last read this book but I still really enjoyed it.
My love for Levin was tempered on this reread as I found him bloody annoying at times.
As for Anna-I am still not sure. In many ways this is the beauty of the book, its refusal to endorse or condemn the characters. Tolstoy lays them out in full and almost challenges the reader to decide. 9/10

Children of the Cave

by Virve Sammalkorpi
A Finnish novel told in a series of diary entries from a nineteenth century explorer's assistant about a strange group of animals/humans who are discovered living in a cave in the Russian wilderness. It is a compelling read as we gradually find more and more revealed about the children and the group of explorers. 7/10

A Political History of the World

by Jonathan Holslag
In 560 pages this book covers 3,000 years of history around the world so it is always going to be a fairly superficial look. Having said that he does it really well demonstrating the way that war follows peace as certainly as sunshine follows rain. Each chapter covers 250 years and put empires and political powers in a clear context. There were a few points that grated such as using the apocryphal "let them eat cake" when talking about the French revolution, but overall I found it really engaging and interesting. 8/10

Review of 2018

Another varied year dominated mid-year as is becoming traditional-by the Booker prize list. Around this I have read a couple of good biographies-particularly enjoyed the Balzac. On the non fiction side I particularly enjoyed a history of France by John Julius Norwich.
The Booker was won by Milkman, set in Northern Ireland at the time of the troubles. However, my favourites were Washington Black and The Overstory and I would find it difficult to choose between them.
In other fiction I have listened to a couple of Dickens-very enjoyable as ever. Have also read the English Patient which was good but I think my favourite has to be a short novel called The Mussel Feast set at a German meal table.

Love is Blind

by William Boyd
This book set at the end of the nineteenth century is the tale of Brodie Moncur, a Scottish piano tuner. It is peopled with marvellous characters some of whom I would have liked to see and hear more of.
The story follows Brodie all over Europe and beyond and although I felt the story stalled at times I always was interested to find out what happened next. 7/10

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

by Gail Honeyman
an accounts assistant in Glasgow, with a past, this book is very funny and very sad in equal measure as Eleanor tries to come to terms with the present,
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic. One of the most enjoyable reads of the year. 9/10

A tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens
How good to read this tale of the French revolution again. Different to many of Dickens that I have read. Fewer comic characters-although Cruncher and Miss Pross are magnificent and situated largely out of London it is interesting to try and hear Dickens view of the revolution.
You still get his concern for the working classes and the condemnation of the rich but in a very English way he seems wary of the revolution as a means of solving these problems. I guess history has proved him right with clear social divides still in clear view on the streets of Paris. 9/10

The Order of the Day

by Eric Vuillard
This is a recording of history from the second world war that scarily demonstrates how we can get sucked into the most chilling acts by turning a blind eye. How the outworking of evil can sit next to the most banal acts of everday life.
It is short. It is well researched-the farewell luncheon for Ribbentrop in London could have been (and probably was) lifted straight from Churchill's memoirs of the second world war. It is fascinating 8/10

France-A history from Gaul to De Gaulle

by John Julius Norwich
A gallop through French history from 58BC to the end of the second world war.
Although by its very nature this history omits much of the detail it is a very enjoyable and informative read. His personal asides are amusing without ever diluting his clear love for France and its people. 9/10

A walk through Paris

by Eric Hazan
A walk from South to North through areas of Paris that tell the story of the republic from a left perspective. I love his (I suspect slightly tongue in cheek) asides, speculating on how people will react in the coming revolution, as well as his extensive knowledge of the city he has always lived in. Good to have a street map at your side, or better still be in Paris as you read. 7/10

The Mussel Feast

by Birgit Vanderbeke
This is a short but fantastic story. It is set on one evening in the late eighties in East Germany. A family of four awaits the father so they can celebrate his new job with his favourite food -moules frites.
He is late and as the evening gets later more and more gets revealed about how this idyllic family buries many secrets. In turns funny and sad it has a great ending. 9/10

Paris Echo

by Sebastian Faulks
An American post grad researcher and a young Moroccan man searching for something meet in unusual circumstances as they arrive in Paris. There follows a story of how they bounce off each other as one looks for love and one looks to forget love, told in a storytelling way that Faulks is so good at. Good read for a holiday 8/10

Everything Under

by Daisy Johnson
The last of this years Booker crop and an interesting read. It was not my favourite but it may have the right ingredients to win.
Everything in this book is fluid. Set on the canals and rivers, relationships are fluid, gender is fluid and everything in between keeps moving. Scary to follow and the reveal at the end of the book of the adaption of a well known Greek myth is clever but also a bit too in your face. 7/10

The Overstory

by Richard Powers
This is an amazing book. It is about trees and the people who try to save them. The characters are fascinating, and the commentary on the human race depressing but the beauty of the storytelling is wonderful. It would be up there as a possible Booker winner this year for me. 9/10

The Flemish House

by George Simenon
Maigret is invited by a distant cousin to look at a murder near the Belgian border. It is an interesting book in that Maigret is investigating in an unofficial role and the end of the book is surprising while displaying another side of his character. As usual I enjoyed this book 8/10

Milkman

by Anna Burns
Another surprise from this year's Booker longlist.
It is a book set in 1970's Belfast although the book never mentions the city, or the country or the conflict by name. It also never mentions the characters names other than by relationship to the nameless narrator.
All of this made me reluctant to pick this book up but I ended up listening to an audiobook and this was definitely the right choice. The narration of Brid Brennan is fantastic, catching the language of the book in a compelling and gripping way. This is important because the central character is forever going down side roads as she tells the story of how Milkman came into her life and how he was shot.
Along the way it is very funny in places, very sad in others and, for those who remember those years, a reminder of how unusual and scary a time it was. 7/10

The Long Take

by Robert Robinson
I did not expect to like this novel. A novel written largely in verse about a Canadian soldier returning to America after the second world war.
He travels from New York to California and the book gives us impressions of his experience and flashbacks to France. I found it mesmerizing and much better than I expected it to be. The experiences, past and present, are presented raw and without comment - a good read 8/10

Normal People

by Sally Rooney
The writing here is compelling and it drew me in against my will. The subject matter are two young people from Ireland, both intelligent but both flawed in some way. They have a peculiar relationship that lasts through various angst that did wear me down a bit. I can see why people rave about Rooney's writing talent but I fear I am a little too old for the subject matter to resonate with me. I have still not made up my mind about this book. 7/10

The Mars Room

by Rachel Kushner
This is a story about life in a Californian prison and the lives of those incarcerated there. It is a depressing and tedious life that is reflected perfectly n this book. I did not enjoy it. 4/10

Warlight

by Michael Ondaatje
This was a fascinating book. It did however fall into two parts. Part one set just after the second world war is full of Dickensian characters and Wilkie Collins mystery as Nathaniel and his sister are seemingly abandoned by their parents and looked after by various seedy characters.
The second part moves on to 1959 and Nathaniel is working for the government trawling through files to see what still needs to be destroyed to protect the history being written about the still recent war. It is also where he slowly unpeels what happened with his parents-or his mother at least. I found this second part of the book less convincing. Too many unresolved questions. Characters who are painted so vividly in part one fade away leaving you wanting more. What did happen to his father? The writing, as you would expect, is beautiful 8.5/10

Washington Black

by Esi Edugyan
This is in many ways a tall yarn in the style of Peter Carey and I loved it.
It tells the story of a slave called George Washington Black and the brother of a cruel slave owner. His nickname is Titch and he is a mad inventor who takes Washington on board, releasing him from the ever close cruelty inflicted on his fellow slaves. Trying to get a flying machine to work they have a number of adventures and following a tragic suicide both Titch and Wash make a dramatic escape taking the across America to the Arctic and eventually to Europe and Africa.
Beneath the adventure there is the pain of finding a place of belonging and home and self worth. It is the best booker nominee I have read so far this year 9/10

Snap

by Belinda Bauer
This worked as a crime novel but not sure how it ended on the Booker longlist-other than Val McDermid is one of the judges this year and she appears on the cover of the book raving about how good it is.
It has a good plot line which keeps you reading but the language was pretty underwhelming and cliched in places.
It is the story of Jack who gets abandoned by his mother- along with two younger siblings- on the hard shoulder of the M5 while she goes to call for help. She never comes back and is found murdered a week later. The story is what happened next. 7/10

The English Patient

by Michael Ondaatje
Fascinating book examining the interaction of four characters in an abandoned villa in Italy at the end of the second world war.
The characters are wonderfully portrayed and tension remains throughout. A book to read in large chunks and let the prose wash over you. 9/10

The Water Cure

by Sophie Mackintosh
I did not enjoy this book. Set slightly in the future you guess it appears at first to be a tale about some distopian future but starts to shed scales and reveal what seems more like child physical and sexual abuse. Very little that is redeeming about it. 4/10

From a Low and Quiet Sea

by Donal Ryan
A collection of short character studies of three very different characters that are brought together in the final chapter in a rather contrived way.
I enjoyed the writing but didn't feel it held together as a novel. 7/10

In our Mad and Furious City

by Guy Gunaratne
This story is told in a number of different voices over 2 days on a London housing estate. It tells the story of young second and third generation british asians as well as giving us the background on early immigration waves from the West Indies and Ireland. It took me a while to get into the language but I enjoyed the book a lot. 8/10

Flights

by Olga Tokarczuk
This is a collection of tales wound together by airports and flights and travel. They go back and forth in time and are beautifully told. Almost before you realise it you have tumbled into a new story and then just as you are settling down with it you take off on the back of another story. 8/10

Dawn of the Belle Epoque

by Mary McCauliffe
I have always enjoyed Mary McCauliffe's writing about Paris, ever since Paris Notes-which I still miss by the way.
This is a very readable book and well researched, and it left me wanting to seek out places I have never been to in Paris-small galleries and quirky corners. It's also about 19th Century France/Paris so how can you not love it. 8/10

Brideshead Revisited

I really enjoyed revisiting Brideshead after a long break-it must be 30 years ago I last read it. It has lost nothing of its attraction and I fell in love with the characters all over again. 9/10

Blood Wedding

by Pierre Lemaitre
Typical Lemaitre, gruesome, gripping and full of twists and turns it is a can't put down, can't take any more type of book. 9/10

A far cry from Kensington

by Muriel Spark
Really enjoyed this. Great characters with a narrator offering useful asides to the reader which made me chuckle on ore than one occassion. Will definitely read more of Muriel Spark 8/10

The Saint-Fiacre Affair

by Georges Simenon
An unusual tale where it is not clear a murder has taken place but a lady is dead and her death was induced by a malevolent act.
This book is more interesting for the back story on Maigret's childhood on an old landed estate. I enjoyed it a lot 9/10

The Beast in Man

by Emile Zola
A rereading of this novel, which was even more powerful than when I first read it, exploring mental illness and psychosis to a devastating conclusion. 9/10

Winter

by Ali Smith
Second in a planned quartet charting the state of modern britain. Ok storyline, funny in places and a /great quirky introduction. 7/10

A Sultan in Palermo

by Tariq Ali
Fourth in the Islam Quintet this as the title suggests is set in Palermo in the court of King Roger in the twelth century. It tells the tale of Idrisi the court cartographer against the backdrop of encroaching christian invaders. Great story with a different ending to what I had expected 8/10

Balzac

by Graham Robb
Telling the life of a figure like Balzac is difficult. He spent much of his life constructing stories about his life while running away from his creditors or lovers that seperating fact from fiction becomes very difficult. Robb recognises this difficulty but puts together a very readable account of A life of Balzac. However, I finished by thinking this was one life amongst many that could have been constructed and many others that probably died with Balzac and his acquaintances. 8/10

My Life, Our Times

by Gordon Brown
A fascinating self portrait of Gordon Brown in power. He tries to spell out why he thought and acted as he did, much of which was admirable. The book really comes to life with the financial shocks of 2007-8 and their aftermath which Brown played a leading role in.
A man like Brown seldom seems to think they are wrong and the apologies he makes in this book are of a minor nature. The true assessment of Brown as Chancellor and Prime Minister will have to come from others.
A minor criticism but I did find the prose rather clunky in places 6/10

Soviet Milk

by Nora Ikstena
This book is published in translation by Peirene press.
As usual it is a great read. The story is told in alternating chapters by a mother and daughter who are born and live in Latvia.
The mother is born just after the second world war and the daughter in 1969. The mother grew up as the Soviet Union tightened its grip during the Cold War. The daughter grew up as that grip was loosening and the breakup of the Soviet Union drew near. It is also the story of a mother and daughter who despite desperately trying were prevented by life and illness and circumstances from ever bonding.
It is a sad but beautiful story that I missed when it ended.8/10

A long Way from Home

by Peter Carey
This novel starts off as a road caper movie as an off the wall and suspended teacher teams up with his neighbours to take on the Redex trial- a gruelling road race around Australia.
However, part way through he becomes seperated from husband and wife team-the Bob's and at a section aptly named a fork in the road his life starts in a new direction.
Set in the 1950's, it is, as well as being funny in places, a stark look at what racism looks like at ground level. Willy, the hero, is brought up to believe he is the child of German immigrants. It turns out he is not. His escapades in Northern Australia bring him face to face with the realities of his own past and at the same time, the past of Australia's white settlers. Great book 9/10

Echo Park

by Michael Connelly
Bosch sailing close to the wind again and displaying a slightly dark side to his character as he takes on the hunt for a serial killer and his latest victim who may be still alive. 7/10

Dombey and Son

By Charles Dickens
What to say, he makes you laugh, he makes you cry, he is far too sentimental yes but this does not take away from the drama and fast moving plot lines that are Dicken's hallmark. A great read over the new year period 9/10

The French Art of War

by Alexis Jenni
A great start but meandered it's way through the latter 20th century French wars. It tells the story of Victorien Salognen who has fought in the second world war, Indochine and Algeria.
The story is told by a young man who stumbles across Victorien in Lyon, having given up on his job and girlfriend. It turns out that Victorien is an artist and he offers to teach the younger man to paint in return for writing the story of his life. The book jumps from the present day to the various war zones.
It is a vast book and I felt it only partly worked. I loved the bits about painting but the war scenes were very mixed. 5/10

Review of 2017

Quite a varied year with crime-Maigret and Bosch yet again-biography, a session of Evelyn Waugh, a couple of books by Thomas Mann and a couple by Salman Rushdie and a record attempt at the Booker longlist where I managed 12 out of 13!
The Booker list this year was the best for a while. The winner was unusual, funny at times but definitely not my favorite. I really liked Elmet and home fire. I liked Autumn by Ali Smith and Exit West by Moshin Hammad, not to mention Swing Time and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, but I think my favorite of the crop was Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor which charts the circle of life as the years roll by in a village in Northern England.
For the others, Waugh was very funny but poignant too examining Britain around the wars of the last century, and Thomas Mann was a great family saga and the beautiful Death in Venice. However, I think my absolute favorite of the year was Salman Rushdie's Satanic verses. I love the breadth of his imagination and his use of language.
On the non-fiction side I think the prize must go to Claire Tomalin's biography of Thomas Hardy.

The Shadow Puppet

by Georges Simenon
Set in the Place des Vosges this case involves addiction, family secrets and greed. Claustrophobic and Maigret at his best. 8/10

Thomas Hardy-The time torn man

by Clare Tomalin
This book was a joy to read, especially as while reading it we stayed for a couple of nights at the Old rectory in St. Juliot, where Hardy met his first wife.
The book is very accessible and paints a great picture of the contradictions and tensions in his life and particularly with his women. It also gives a great picture of the novels and their setting which makes you want to visit Dorset and read the books again. 9/10

The two-penny bar

by George Simenon
Another enjoyable outing with Maigret, this time investigating a six year old murder brought to his attention by another criminal, the night before the man is guillotined. Great stuff 8/10

The Golden House

by Salman Rushdie
Set in America this book tells us the story of a family of Indian immigrants with secrets to hide. They move into a large house in New York in the same block as our narrator Rene Unterlinden, himself the son of Belgian immigrants. The Indian family take the name Golden and hence The Golden House.
Salman Rushdie is a great story-teller and hence the narrative moves along and keeps you interested as we hop between the stories of the three golden children and eventually their father. From the beginning we know something bad is going to happen. I enjoyed the book but it is not the best of his I have read. There are endless lists in the book which are both tedious and pretentious and this bugged me. Having said that there is also a back story running about the 2016 presidential election where Trump is portrayed as the Joker to Clinton's Batwoman, and also a quirky aside about the origins of a fedora hat! It apparently has a claim to be on the list of famous belgians. 7/10

Dance by the Canal

by Kerstin Hensel
A short novel published by the ever wonderful Peirene press.
This story is set in East Germany and tells the story of Gabriela. She was born into a family of privilege but also a troubled family. She never fit in and by the time we catch up with her she is living rough under a bridge in Leipzig. The story darts back and forwards in time as Gabriela tells us the story of her childhood at the same time as we discover what is happening to her in the present. It is a beautiful sad story 7/10

4321

by Paul Auster
A novel about an American called Archie Ferguson who shares my birthday!
The numbers in the title refer to the four lives that this character might have lived between his birth in 1947 and the early 1970's.
It is beautifully written with common links along the way in American history. It could have been a little bit cliched and forced but it wasn't. The final chapter of the book unlocks some of the secrets of what has been happening in the storytelling which just added to its pleasure. I will miss you Archie(s)! 8/10

Elmet

by Fiona Mozley
This is a debut novel but what a novel. From the outset it throws you off balance.
The narrator, a teenage boy seems to be wandering through some future post apocalyptic landscape but it turns out he isn't.
He calls his father daddy throughout the book but this does not quite fit with the character we learn about as the book unfolds and we learn why the boy is wandering as he is.
The other character is his sister who turns out to be far from the quiet retiring sort we are lulled into thinking she might be. It is a compelling read and although I found the ending very difficult to read it was a novel that challenged our views of family, commitment and society. 8/10

Lincoln on the Bardo

by George Saunders
A remarkable novel told in an unusual way through a myriad of voices.
The basic construct is that on the night Abraham Lincoln's son dies he gets caught in the bardo(purgatory) and some well meaning souls also caught there try to help him along to paradise while at the same time the grieving father visits the grave to hold his son for one last time. The characters are at various times funny, horrific, coarse but all universally dead!
I got a bit bored with it by the end but I enjoyed the imagination 6/10

History of Wolves

by Emily Fridlund
An interesting story of a girl brought up in the backwoods of Minnesota as part of a hippy commune already broken up by the time the story starts.
Madeline is fifteen and this story takes place over the summer as she gets involved with a family across the lake who employ her to look after their four year old. Not everything is as it seems and we soon realise something dreadful is going to happen. It is a gripping story with a number of sub plots that left me a little perplexed-her ex school teacher for one. Would still recommend it though 7/10

Exit West

by Mohsin Hamid
A retelling of Antigone set in the modern day this story had me gripped from beginning to end. A tale of three british asian siblings who get caught up in the struggles of our times. It does not have a happy ending but in the way of the Sophocles play, family devotion wins out over loyalty to the state which is uplifting 9/10

Days Without End

by Sebastian Barry
A story set in the American civil war lent some wry humour by a cross dressing soldier and his lifelong friend. It was very readable but not really my cup of tea 5/10

Reservoir 13

by Jon McGregor
The supposed central character of this book is Rebecca who disappears just before new years eve. She pops up throughout the book but the real star of the show is the village and it's changing and unchanging life over a period of some 10 years. It is a simple story beautifully told and, living in a village and having an allotment, I found resonances in so much of the detail. I loved this book 9/10

The Underground Railroad

by Colson Whitehead
This book grew on me as it went along. The story of a black slave in pre-civil war America is a timely reminder of the evils of racism and how barbaric man can be.
Cora, the slave in question who tries to runaway, is the character who holds the narrative together. I liked the construct of a physical underground railroad that was used to take slaves from state to state and examine the various stances different parts of the US took.
However, I never quite engaged with the narrative for some reason 5/10

Home Fire

by Kamila Shamsie
A story of 3 siblings -British Asians who are torn apart by current political turmoil. This book is riveting reading and definitely one of the best books I have read this year. It progresses at a breathtaking pace as the storytelling passes from one character to another. 9/10

Autumn

by Ali Smith
A round up and, to some extent, a comment on the current state or mood of the country. It is a story of the friendship between an old man, Daniel and a young girl/woman, Elisabeth that is full of imagination and humour that I loved. Quirky at times and maybe lopping off characters -such as Elisabeth's lovers-too quickly I really enjoyed it which almost certainly kills off its chances in the Man Booker prize for which it has been longlisted. 9/10

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

by Arundhati Roy
This is an engaging book but I found that when I picked it up I found it hard to put down, but when I put it down I felt no urgency to pick it back up.
The story is that of an Indian transexual who sets up an odd but engaging community in an old graveyard. The characters are tragic and comic and larger than life but they have a vibrancy that draws the reader in. A large part of the middle of the book is taken up with the Kashmir conflict and the relationship of 2 people caught up in it. This was interesting but for me a bit to long but a good read all the same 8/10

Les Parisiennes

by Anne Sebba
A fascinating book that I found difficult to follow at first because of all the names mentioned, but it gives a very balanced view of the role women played in Parisian life during the second world war and some of the reasons they may have acted as they did. 8/10

Unconditional Surrender

by Evelyn Waugh
The final part of the Sword of Honour trilogy sees things work out not too badly for Guy. This is a book full of pathos as the war nears its end and society realises that things have changed forever.
It has some interesting comment on being a catholic and the cultural as well as religious implications. I enjoyed this better than the second volume but still enjoyed the first book best 8/10

A horse walks into a bar

by David Grossman
This book has a number of very amusing jokes in it but it s far from a comedy.
It is the story, set in a stand up club, where a man's life unfolds during his act, to which he has invited a childhood acquaintance. As a side story we also get a bit of his life too.
It is a short, gripping piece of writing that kept me enthralled from beginning to end. 8/10

Officers and Gentlemen

by Evelyn Waugh
The second part of the Sword of Honour trilogy.
Continuing the story of Guy Crouchback, an outsider in many ways but part of the English elite. In this volume we have the story of preparations for war on the isle of Mugg, which is very amusing and the comedy of errors that leads to the elevation of trimmer.
The second part is based around Crete and is much more sombre and sobering but continues to show up the senselessness of war. 7/10

The Satanic Verses

by Salman Rushdie
The imagination of Rushdie is astounding. 30 years nearly after first published, it still bowled me over with its bizarre happenings from the very start to its tragic-tinged with a glimmer of hope-ending. The best book I have read this year and I will be lucky if I read one to equal it 9/10

Men at Arms

by Evelyn Waugh
The first part of the Sword of Honour trilogy finds Guy Crouchback joining the army 8 years after a failed marriage. He stands melancholy and aloof from the host of comic characters he meets en route as he grapples with his Catholicism and the boredom of army life at the start of WW2. It is laugh out loud funny in places but equally sad in others as the loneliness of human existence is laid out. His fellow officers struggles with his thunderbox are a great piece of theatre. 9/10

The Closers

by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch is back in the LAPD after a 3 year "retirement" and working cold cases, or as they like to refer to them open unsolved. This first case brings him into conflict with Irving Irvine who himself has been moved out of Parker Centre. The case centres around a murdered teenager and the trauma left in the wake of her killing. A good return for Harry 8/10

The Narrows

by Michael Connelly
The return of a notorious fbi agent turned criminal known as The Poet keeps Harry more than occupied in a tense cat and mouse chase 7/10

Buddenbrooks

by Thomas Mann
Mann's first novel published in 1901 is the story of a wealthy merchant family in Germany covering three generations from the 1830's to the late 1870's. It charts the gradual decline of the family fortune.
I loved this book. The descriptions of the characters were such that I could see them immediately in my minds eye. I loved Toni, who is constantly referring to herself as a silly goose but actually was the most committed to maintaining the family position and suffers personally as a result. Little Hanno with his artistic bent was wonderful and then Christian and Thomas - so different but so true to life. I will miss them all 10/10

The Orange Grove

by Larry Tremblay
Another great short novel from Peirene Press.
This novel left me tearful as it examines the fate of twin brothers caught up in a bloody civil war and being forced to take actions that we in the West find hard to comprehend.
Being the father of twin boys I recognised the friendship that bound the two central characters and ultimately ripped them both apart. 8/10

The Pen and the Brush

by Anka Muhlstein
A look at the link between novelists and painters in nineteenth century French fiction looking at Balzac, Zola and Proust together with Maupassant and Huysmans.
This is a fascinating survey of the painter in the French novel and how the novelist uses their own relationships with painters and painting to influence their writing. I particularly liked the piece on Proust's painter Elstir. Made me want to pick up the book again 8/10

The Last Summer

by Ricarda Huch
A thriller set in St Petersburg in the early 1900's. The governor has closed the University following student unrest and has received a death threat.
His wife, concerned for his safety, hires a secretary to look out for him. But not everything is as it seems. Told through letters written by the main characters this book is a real page turner. 8/10

Death in Venice

by Thomas Mann
I read this book in Venice and it evokes the city in a loving and perfect way.
The story is about a wealthy artist who falls in love with a young boy whom he adores from a distance. It is always a doomed attraction but is one of the most beautiful books I have read in some time 9/10

Vile Bodies

by Evelyn Waugh
The story of Adam Fenwick-Symes and of England and the upper classes between the wars.
This satire is bitingly funny in places but ends up in a very somber and, for a book published in 1930, prophetic place. 8/10

The Disappearance of Emile Zola

by Michael Rosen
In 1898 Zola had to disappear following a court case relating to his stance in the Dreyfus case.
This book charts the time he spent in England during the year before he was able to return to France. Using letters that remain and newspaper accounts it charts a very personal account of the pressure Zola was under and the cost he had to pay for his speaking out in support of a wrongly accused man. Although it is a story I know well I enjoyed this book and I liked the fact that J'accuse was included as an appendix together with a ghost story he wrote while in England. 9/10

The Courtesan and the Gigolo

by Aaron Freundschuh
This book uses the Pranzini Affair from 1887 Paris to examine social and political life at the time. Parallels with today are hard to avoid as the book examines the rise of right wing xenophobia and the looking for scapegoats among the outsider. Very interesting 7/10

Zero K

by Don Delillo
On the face of it this was a novel examining why someone might go for cryogenic freezing ranging from hope for a cure for a disease to escaping the current human disasters in hope of a better future.
The story is narrated by the son of a wealthy man who has set up a hidden and highly secure facility in the middle of nowhere. The father and step mother end up going through the cooling process and the son is a witness, opposed to the whole idea.
The book works best and is at it's most engaging when the father and son are interacting. They are not close and the exchanges between them bring out some of the ethical issues raised. Much of the rest of the book I found laboured but as you would expect written in a prose that was wonderful. 6/10

Frog

by Mo Yan
This is a novel about a chinese midwife called Gugu and her nephew called Tadpole who narrates the story. However, it is much more than that. It tells the story of the one child policy in China from the time of post second world war to the current day. At one point it is talking about the national level and the benefits the state would see and then seamlessly, takes it down to the individual level and the pain and problems caused to families and individuals.
It was funny in places and heartbreaking in others. Personally, I found difficulty in getting to grips with the names but that did not get in the way of a thought provoking and enjoyable novel 8/10

William Morris

by Fiona MacCarthy
This is a heavy tome in terms of weight but is a very enjoyable read. Published 20 years ago it looks at the phases of life that Morris went through and is particularly good on his socialist phase-how he arrived there and the contribution that he made to the early days of the labour movement. I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to know about the man and his relationships with Burn-Jones(a lifelong friend) and Rosetti etc. 9/10
ps To protect your wrists from permanent damage buy it for your kindle!

Decline and Fall

by Evelyn Waugh
A very funny book with a great bunch of comic characters. The book follows the story of Paul Pennyfeather, who gets wrongly thrown out of Oxford for indecent exposure following a party of the Bollinger club.
As we follow his life subsequent to this we come across some marvelous specimens of which my favourite is Captain Grimes who he meets at Fagan's school. He, by his own admission, is always in the soup but manages to pull himself through due to his public school background.
The book was written in 1928 and seems to cross certain PC lines at times but does take a gigantic swipe at "the privileged" 8/10

Lost Light

by Michael Connelly
Harry has left the police force and picks up a job as a private eye tracking down the killer in a cold case he worked on in the past.
Along the way he picks up a bank heist and learns to play saxaphone from an old jazz player he visits. Perhaps his biggest surprise waits until the end of the book though. 7/10

The Story of the Lost Child

by Elena Ferrante
So the final book in this quartet. I left book 3 feeling annoyed with Lenu. This book brings us back to Naples and covers the second half of the six decades this quartet covers.
It is a very sad and at times painful portrayal of friendship and whether it can last the ravages of time. I find myself wondering with which character I empathise most. Lenu is extremely selfish. I didn't buy her justifications for writing a novel that borrows from her friends deeply personal loss, but I guess at the end of the day she had her own battles to fight.
I think my sympathy lies mostly with Pietro. Even though the book talked a lot about Leila it would be wonderful to hear this story told from her perspective. Like Lenu, I guess we know that will never happen. A memorable quartet of books 9/10

Round up 2016

A year when I read a greater number of non-fiction books including a very enjoyable biography of Napoleon and books around the French revolution and France after the second world war.
I also reread War and Peace and 3 of the Neopolitan quartet by Elena Ferrante which I mostly enjoyed. Continued in crime with Harry Bosch and Maigret.
I also reread A Christmas Carol which is always fun and sure to bring a tear to the eye.
Putting aside the classics, hard to find a really standout book this year. Maybe Hot Milk by Deborah Levy for the beauty of the language or The Childhood of Jesus by JM Coetzee. Ian Macewan and Nutshell was so quirky I enjoyed it but I have to say nothing that will stay with me for a long time.
The Booker was disappointing with the winner being funny but maybe more suited to a reader more in touch with America.