Love and other thought experiments

 by Sophie Ward

An amazing book that is full of inventiveness. I found myself losing the thread and then picking it up again when I was on the verge of defeat. It will stay with me for a while because of the raw energy of the writing.
The last two chapters let it down for me but I wish I could be half as creative as this. 7/10

This Mournable Body

 by Tsitsi Dangarembga

This book is the third of a trilogy, a fact I only learned after reading the book.

This maybe why I struggled to come into land with it. Set in Zimbabwe the main character Tambu suffers from depression and clearly has a backstory which I presume is fleshed out in the earlier novels. Without that she is difficult to understand and the story becomes a set of cameos of Tambu at various places in life.

It is written in the second person and I am not sure that works. If I find time I would come back and read the earlier novels. 5/10

Redhead by the side of the road

 by Anne Tyler

A short book about Micah Mortimer.
Nothing much happens apart from a teenager turning up claiming to be Micah's son and Michah's girlfriend dumping him but this was a great book with characters drawn really well and that you wanted to engage with. 8/10

Citizen Clem

 by John Bew

This is a very readable biography of Clement Atlee.

He covers his life from childhood and makes a point of starting each chapter with a piece of poetry linked to the period in his life he is covering. He refers a lot to correspondence with his brother Tom who he was very close to. This despite the fact they had very opposing views on war and pacifism which must of dominated their lives in their early twenties and middle age when Atlee was deputy prime minister. I would have liked to see this explored in a bit more detail. However, that aside, I thought this was a very good insight into the life of a very private person, whom duty(?) drove to become prime minister of the UK and leader of the labour party for 20 years. This idea of duty and loyalty to country reminded me of DeGaulle and his sense of destiny. 9/10

Madame Bovary

by Gustave Flaubert

It was a long time ago I read this book and this time I listened as an audiobook.

I love the character descriptions and the chemist is almost Dickensian in his caricatured awfulness.

However, Emma is dreadful and impossible to have sympathy with given her overwhelming selfishness. She is the ultimate in anti-heroine, femme fatale. How would she fare in the twenty first century where she could indulge her whims without society's condemnation. Sadly, I think she would fare badly. It would always be somebody elses fault that she was unhappy.

If Emma is a character you love to hate her husband Charles is worse. How can he have no idea what is going on? He is either totally self obsessed or totally stupid. I like to think he was away in the countryside having a torrid affair of his own but that makes the end of the book a little more difficult to explain. Also why does he give up his finances so easily.

One last question. What happened to all the creditors baying for blood just before Emma's final act?

A great character study but a frustrating novel 7/10

The good, the bad and the little bit stupid

by Marina Lewycka

A crazy story about a couple who fall out on referendum night, their lovers and their children and about what happens when the husband wins (or think he wins) the Latvian lottery. A crazy caper across Europe follows. This is a light train or holiday read and funny at times. Not my favourite this year. 5/10

There is no Outside

Edited by Jessie Kindig et al

A collection of despatches from around the world regarding covid 19. Fascinating take on the global pandemic and changing views across the world in a small snatch of time 7/10

The Mirror and the Light

by Hilary Mantel

The third book in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy and a very long one! The writing is wonderful as you would expect and the characters are wonderful and of course fictional. Do we know more about the real historical figures. Probably not, but then who do we really know. Dominic Cummings may have an endearing side to him but we would never know it. Maybe, in four hundred years time somebody will write a sympathetic novel about his rise to power. Lets hope not. The book was I felt too long by two hundred pages or so but I expect it will still make the Booker shortlist and it was still a good read 8/10

The Way we Live Now

by Anthony Trollope

A fantastic slice of late 19th century life, with great characters and scattered with a dry humour throughout. The book does highlight how prevalent anti-semitism was in England at this time and makes for some uncomfortable reading in places. 

The rise of unscrupulous businessmen, a largely useless and penniless aristocracy and lawyers with ridiculous names makes you think that the book could be set in the present day. 9/10

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

by Shoshana Zuboff
This book is very hard to summarise in what is effectively my book list but it will stay with me for a long time.
On the negative side it probably labours its point by being a bit too long and having Google and Facebook as target number one without widening that out too much may put some people off, However, that aside this is a masterpiece. The laying bear of what the tech companies are about is relentless and breathtaking in its scope. In 1996 I thought google was the best thing I had ever seen. That naivety now lays in ruins.
The compare and contrast with totalitarianism is  excellent and the third section on where do we go from here was scary and very thought provoking. I would urge anybody interested in technology and/or the future of our society to read this book 9/10

You Would Have Missed Me

by Birgit Vanderbeke
Another moving story by the author of the Mussel Feast.
This story is told by a seven year old east german who on the face of it wants a kitten for her birthday but it soon gets darker than that. The ending was problematic for me but the tension through this short narrative and the humour were great 7/10

A Song for Drowned Souls

by Bernard Minier
The second novel featuring the French detective Martin Servaz and his colleagues.
This is again set in the Pyrenees and features Martin's nemesis, Julian Hirtman. What I like about this is the way Hirtman is a presence throughout the novel but not anything to do with the murder that is central to the plot. Lots of dead ends before the killer is unearthed but a great page turning read 7/10

One Good Turn

by Kate Atkinson
Another Jackson Brodie novel. This one is set in Edinburgh and Jackson has moved on. He now lives in France and has retired from his private detective business. He is in Edinburgh with one of the characters from the last novel but things are not going well. However, he witnesses a road rage incident one morning and is quickly drawn into the drama of the novel. I have to say this is a bit like Ian Rankin meets the keystone kops! However, it just about holds together and their is a lovely little twist at the end. 7/10

Actress

by Ann Enright
There is something about this book that is glorious. I cannot put my finger on what it is exactly but the way characters unfold and draw you into their lives is wonderful. The actress of the title is shown to us by her daughter and it is a wonderful tale of love in an almost any town, any family setting-apart from the shooting perhaps. 8/10

Case Histories

by Kate Atkinson
A crime novel that is normally positioned with literary fiction in the bookshops. This is the first novel to feature Jackson Brodie-a northerner living uncomfortably in Cambridge where he works as a private detective following his time as a policeman and soldier. He is a great character and the cases he works are knitted together perfectly but not necessarily solved. There is comedy and almost Dickensian caricature in places. Loved it 8/10

German Requiem

by Phillip Kerr
The third novel in the Bernie Gunther series. A private detective in post war Berlin who travels to Vienna on a case that brings him into contact with ex SS officers and other unsavoury characters. Did not enjoy as much as the previous two. 6/10

The Frozen Dead

by Bernard Minier
A French crime thriller set in a village in South West france close to the Spanish border.
A high profile horse killing leads to the investigation of a cold case. There are lots of twists and turns on the way. Look forward to the next in the series 9/10

The Picture of Dorian Grey

by Oscar Wilde
A spooky tale about a man who retains his youth while his portrait grows old. A vehicle for Wilde to include an overload of witticisms that became boring very quickly. Did not enjoy 4/10

The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau

by Graeme Macrae Burnet
This is supposedly a translation of a book by a forgotten French author called Brunet who wrote the book. The fact that this may be a tall tale is only revealed(or hinted at) by a lengthy translator's note at the end of the book in which we learn the author's life bears a remarkable resemblance to the main character.
The book is a crime novel where a waitress goes missing and suspicion falls on a non-descript bank manager who lives a very mundane life in a town close to Strasbourg. However, his life becomes by successive surprises more and more interesting. The book grew on me the longer it went on and I liked the ending. 8/10

American Dirt

by Jeanine Cummins
The story of a mother and son as they try to escape Mexico following the slaughter of 16 members of their family by a drug cartel. The story tells the tale of migrants heading North. It is harrowing in places and relentless in terms of pressure of the plot progression. I felt this was a well told story and would class is at one of the best reads so far this year.
The author has been castigated for writing this story because she is not Mexican and not a migrant. I have never heard such horseshit in my life. (Well actually I have, but to make a point etc lalala). This is a novel. The author spent 4 years researching and is married to somebody who was undocumented until their marriage. Yes, it may not be 100% reality and flaws can be found I am sure, but it is a novel. By definition, not real. If authors have to have lived a situation to write about it the novel will be reduced to memoir and the creativity of some of our great authors is lost. I say well done Jeanine for shining a light on a dreadful mam-made suffering and if it causes us to think about these issues then it has been a force for good. 9/10

A World to Win

by Sven-Eric Liedman
Finally, a year after starting this book I have finished this interesting and informative biography of Karl Marx. I found it heavy going in places but really absorbing in others. It is told chronologically and provides a great introduction to Marx's major thought and writings.
It had a useful but far too short summary of where Marxism has gone since Marx's death. It had the effect of sending me off to check things out elsewhere to try and understand alienation or commodity fetishism etc. Could influence my reading list for a while! 8/10

The Girl who fell from the sky

By Simon Mawer
I loved the Glass room but this book kept threatening to sweep me along in the tension of the plot but then left me feeling that it was running out of steam. The main character, Marion is a genuine complex character who I liked but the characters around her never quite fleshed out. It was a good page turner but the ending was sort of inevitable if not totally believable. 5/10

The Division Bell Mystery

By Ellen Wilkinson
A murder mystery written by one of the first women mp's in the nineteen thirties. Fascinating! 8/10

Confession with Blue Horses

by Sophie Hardach
The story of Ella and her family related to us by Ella herself.
The story moves between 1980's East Berlin and London in 2010 and relates the vents that led to and followed an escape attempt. Great story 8/10

Braised Pork

by An Yu
Set in modern day Beijing this is the story of Jia Jia and what happens to her after she finds her husband dead in the bath(suicide). He has left her a drawing of a fish man and it is this which drives the story along. It was very readable but has a good but somewhat open ending. 8/10

Barnaby Rudge

by Charles Dickens
Set around the historical fact of the Gordon riots of 1780 this is an enjoyable novel.
It tells the story of The Maypole Inn and those living in or around this village pub to the South of London. Barnaby is one of these characters and he gets caught up in the riots and their aftermath. It is witty and sad and as ever great story telling 9/10

Snow, Dog, Foot

by Claudio Morandini
A funny, sad, short book about a mans sinking into loneliness, madness or some indeterminate state high in the mountains of Italy. It can be read at one sitting and made me laugh but also made me think about loneliness and what drives it and what effect it can have on an individual and how it is perceived by others. 8/10

Germinal

by Emile Zola
I last read this book in 2007 and was reading in a relatively new translation,
It is the thirteenth book in the Rougon Macquart series charting second empire France.
This is the story of Etienne Lantier, the son of Gervaise from L'assommoir. It is a heartbreaking story of a family's and community's struggle through a mine strike. As ever the key characters are fleshed out wonderfully and Zola uses the contrast between the Bourgeoisie and the working class to great effect, It was a great read still and ties in very well with my reading around Marx. 9/10

Review of 2019

Have read more non-fiction this year.
Enjoyed Left Bank a lot-a book about the Paris Left bank during and immediately after the second world war. Revolution Francaise was an interesting look at Macrons rise to power.
On the fiction side I have read and really enjoyed the tin drum. Also reread the first two books of Remembrance of things past and Anna Karenina.
The Booker had an interesting list this year. I particularly enjoyed the Elif Shafak and the winner was ok, the Bernardino and not The Testaments, which I was disappointed by. However, my two favourites were Lanny by Max Porter and The man who saw everything by Deborah Levy, neither of which made the shortlist. A mention to for Salman Rushdie's Quichotte a crazy enjoyable retelling of the Cervantes original.
In keeping with the Booker Prize this year I refuse to pick an absolute favourite!

Poor Economics

by Abhijit Bannerjee and Esther Duflo
Interesting and thought provoking look at how macro policies work out at the micro level in trying to fix some of the world's fundamental problems. Found the writing style a bit tedious. 6/10

The Man in the Red Coat

by Julian Barnes
Ok so first off, this is a beautifully produced book. The paper is the right thickness, the illustrations are interesting and help draw you in.
The writing is great and you can feel on every page the novelist wanting to get out of this biographers cage that he has placed himself in. Humour spilling over the edges is the result.
The biography of Dr Pozzi-and although I have seen the painting, I confess I did not know who he was-is a wonderful telling of society in the Belle Epoque. Pozzi is one character among many who shines out from the pages. I was amazed at the advances in medicine that took place at the end of the nineteenth century but fear not. This book is not about medicine, it is about characters rich in stories to tell and told in an unusual and brilliant way. 9/10

The Bastard of Istanbul

by Elif Shafak
Set in Istanbul and America this is a look at the Armenian genocide of 2015 from the standpoint of today through the eyes of Turks, Armenian Turks and Armenians in the diaspora.
It is told through the story of one family over the course of 20 years and with a big secret stuck in the centre of the story throughout. In truth, by half way through we know what the secret is but the tale is well told. I was disappointed with the contrived device of using a medium to inform the current generation of what happened to grandparents but that aside it was an interesting read with engaging characters. 6/10

Faces on the tip of my tongue

by Emmanuelle Pagano
A really interesting book translated from the French in the Peirene press series. It tells the story of a French village from small anecdotal stories that seem unconnected apart from the odd cross reference that gradually makes the whole hang together. No names are used to add to the confusion but the stories are those of any rural setting and beautifully evocative writing 8/10

Steel Boat, Iron Hearts

by Hans Goebeler
This is life aboard a U-boat in the second world war as seen through the eyes of a crewman aboard U-505. It is a candid tale of life on board and ashore in Lorient and Brest in Brittany. Taken as a tale told with hindsight and the removal of time it is a fascinating history told by the losing side and adds some balance to the standard histories of the period. It was a miserable existence in my view but won that Herr Goebeler had immense pride in and his insistence that he was motivated by love of his homeland like most sailors the world over has a ring of truth to it. The relentless bombing of the allies on French civilian towns is as equally abhorrent as the german bombing of London and Plymouth and other cities. It was an interesting read 8/10

The Man who saw everything

by Deborah Levy
I would not recommend Deborah Levy for the pulsating plot line. What I enjoy so much is her writing and the way a story is borne along on the language and beauty of the style.
This book is about Saul Adler who gets hit by a car on the iconic Abbey Road zebra crossing in 1988 and again seemingly in 2016. Once before the Iron curtain fell and once as Britain voted to leave the EU. But this is an unreliable narrator and we slip about in time and many things are not what they seem. What a man remembers is not always truth. I really enjoyed this book and cannot understand why it did not make the shortlist. 9/10

Grand Union

by Zadie Smith
A book of short stories that was a mixed bag as all such collections are I suppose. There were a few that I really enjoyed, Parents morning epiphany, Miss Adele amongst the corsets, Kelso deconstructed, and For the King remain in the memory. Not a great fan of short stories as a type but this was ok. 6/10

This Poison Will Remain

by Fred Vargas
Commissioner Adamsberg gets called back from Iceland to solve a case in the first few pages of this book but then gets sidetracked into examining a case of poisoning by spider bite. With its normal twists and turns and eccentricities of the team this was another enjoyable read, albeit the crimes uncovered were horrific. 8/10

The Testaments

by Margaret Attwood
The last of the five Booker shortlisted novels I am reading. I did get 150 pages into Ducks, Newburyport but found it too in love with the art of novelty than with storytelling.
This was a good follow up to the Handmaids Tale but not as good as its predecessor. The story is told through three characters. One of these, Aunt Lydia, was a key character in the first novel but we get to hear her side of the story. The other two narrators are new but it soon becomes clear they have links to the previous book. The first part of the book was good but the later part had elements of an Enid Blyton adventure which seemed out of keeping. Still a good read 8/10
I know while typing this that this book won the Booker Prize last night jointly with Girl, Woman, Other. Given Lanny had already been eliminated I can't argue with that decision.

Girl, Woman, Other

by Bernardine Evaristo
I did not like the format of this book. It is 12 short stories about black women/trans living mostly in the UK but they all have a link to each other somehow.
This grew on me as the book unfolded and I got caught up in the working out of these lives across different time periods. 7/10

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood
This famous post apocalyptic novel has a sequel 30+ something years later. I wanted to read this before I read the Booker listed sequel. It is fairly grim stuff but totally engaging. What was going to happen to our heroine at the end of the book as she stepped in to the van? Can't wait to find out 9/10

Quichotte

by Salman Rushdie
Magical, funny, topical, this was a really good book as long as you are prepared to suspend reality.
The story revolves around a man in America addicted to TV, who falls in love with a TV talk show host, who like him hails from India.
He takes on the name of Quichotte and invents a son for himself called Sancho who materialises into reality (for a while at least).
However, the story of Quichotte runs alongside the story of the author, one Sam Duchamp who also has a son. Confusing it is at times but you have to marvel at the imagination who can dream up this stuff. 9/10

An Orchestra of Minorities

by Chigozie Obioma
This book is different in that it is narrated by a chi-the guardian spirit that is joined to a human from birth. It tells the story of Nonso, a chicken farmer in Nigeria. He saves a woman from jumping off a bridge and eventually they become lovers. In trying to win the approval of her parents he goes off to Cyprus to get a degree. This turns out to be a scam and he ends up imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.
The language of the book is great but to be honest I found it really bleak and devoid of hope. I did not like it. 5/10

Lanny

by Max Porter
I did not expect to enjoy this book but I loved it. Lanny is a young boy living with his parents in a commuter village in the home counties. He also seems to be in rouch with dead papa toothwart, who can and does take the form of all sorts of things in the surroundings of the village.
When Lanny goes missing the blame focuses on a local artist, as the outsider, the not like us. It is a great fable for our time and written in a challenging yet engaging style. A potential winner of the Booker prize? Would that be that bold? 9/10

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

by Elif Shafak
On the face of it this does not offer a promising premise.
A prostitute is found dead in a waste bin in Istanbul. The 10 minutes 38 seconds of the title refers to the time from when her heart stopped beating to when her brain died.
However, Leila uses that time to tell us her life story and introduce us to her five dearest friends. The latter part of the book takes us on a slapstick journey of how these friends demonstrate their friendship and also how important friendship is. In danger of getting a little twee toward the end I really enjoyed this book and hope it makes the Booker shortlist 9/10

Within a Budding Grove

by Marcel Proust
The second book in the Remebrance of things Past septology(?) on Audible.
This book takes our narrator and us to Balbec where we meet Elstir the painter, and Albertine and her gang of friends. I love the description and his understanding of the human condition but it has to be said-and I know it is sacrilege-but he does go on a bit at times! 8/10

Frankissstein

by Jeanette Winterson
As you can guess by the title this has echoes of Frankenstein throughout.
The book starts with Mary Shelley in Italy where she first gets the idea for her famous book. Switch abruptly to a tech show in Memphis for adult toys and robots and enter Ron Lord. He is a very funny character and if Dickens was alive now I can imagine him conjuring up such a character along with his soon to be partner Claire, Enter also Ry Shelley, a doctor who is trans and used to be called Mary. Enter also Victor Stein a very intelligent academic in the field of AI who falls in love with Ry-or does he?
As well as being funny in places it is also a book that provokes you to think about what it means to be human as well as gender patterns.
The end was not perfect, a little too contrived and clunky but a great read none the less. 9/10

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