Carol's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 15 Apr 2025 01:45:49 -0700 60 Carol's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Satsuma Complex 61401116 'My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.'

Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.

And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life�

A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.]]> 301 Bob Mortimer 1398521213 Carol 0 currently-reading 3.70 2022 The Satsuma Complex
author: Bob Mortimer
name: Carol
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> There Are Rivers in the Sky 202468422 From the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time.

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.�]]> 464 Elif Shafak 0593801717 Carol 0 currently-reading 4.39 2024 There Are Rivers in the Sky
author: Elif Shafak
name: Carol
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> I, Mona Lisa 58014650
In Leonardo da Vinci's studio, bursting with genius imagination, towering commissions and needling patrons, as well as discontented muses, friends and rivals, sits the painting of the Mona Lisa. For five hundred tumultuous years, amid a whirlwind of power, money, intrigue, the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo is sought after and stolen. Over the centuries, few could hear her voice, but now she is ready to tell her own story, in her own words - a tale of rivalry, murder and heartbreak. Weaving through the years, she takes us from the dazzling world of Florentine studios to the French courts at Fontainebleau and Versailles, and into the Twentieth Century.

I, Mona Lisa is a deliciously vivid, compulsive and illuminating story about the lost and forgotten women throughout history.]]> 365 Natasha Solomons 1786330105 Carol 4 She also lets us into many secrets including artists� methods at the time she was created, her feelings for da Vinci and the established habits of the artistic community.]]> 3.76 2022 I, Mona Lisa
author: Natasha Solomons
name: Carol
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves:
review:
A fabulous and unusual read. In it, The Mona Lisa tells her own story and so we learn about hundreds of years of European History from her beginnings in Florence, through Renaissance Florence to The Louvre in Paris from where she is still watching what goes on in the world and the art scene.
She also lets us into many secrets including artists� methods at the time she was created, her feelings for da Vinci and the established habits of the artistic community.
]]> <![CDATA[Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1)]]> 6101138 This is an alternative cover edition for ISBN 9780007230181

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?]]> 653 Hilary Mantel Carol 5 But neither God nor nature are on his ‘side�.
Everyone in the court, including central figures Thomas Cromwell and Cardinal Wolsey, learn that there are no ‘freebies� in Henry’s court. It’s a lavish, and gorgeous read, but unpredictable and terrifyingly brutal.
Mantel’s masterful handling of such a notorious period of English History is superb. The first of a trilogy, she rightly won The Booker in 2012 and was either shortlisted for or won many other prestigious literary awards for this and the subsequent ‘Bring up the Bodies� and ‘The Mirror and the Light’]]> 3.90 2009 Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1)
author: Hilary Mantel
name: Carol
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
An extraordinary take on Henry Vlll’s court. The title gives away little of the conspiracies, rivalries and dangers of the Tudor court. But Mantel shies away from nothing. Perilous for England to be without an heir, the notorious king, makes the decision to apply to Rome for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn.
But neither God nor nature are on his ‘side�.
Everyone in the court, including central figures Thomas Cromwell and Cardinal Wolsey, learn that there are no ‘freebies� in Henry’s court. It’s a lavish, and gorgeous read, but unpredictable and terrifyingly brutal.
Mantel’s masterful handling of such a notorious period of English History is superb. The first of a trilogy, she rightly won The Booker in 2012 and was either shortlisted for or won many other prestigious literary awards for this and the subsequent ‘Bring up the Bodies� and ‘The Mirror and the Light�
]]> Black Butterflies 60102361
When violence finally spills over, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England. Reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a handful of weeks, she stays behind while the city falls under siege. As the assault deepens and everything they love is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops, Zora and her friends are forced to rebuild themselves, over and over. Theirs is a breathtaking story of disintegration, resilience and hope.]]> 256 Priscilla Morris Carol 5 Multi-cultural Sarajevo, with its splendid Hapsburg past eventually comes under siege in the Bosnian War of 1992. With devastating results.
In her remarkably powerful debut novel, Morris recreates the full horror of life in a war zone that thankfully, most of us only see on our news bulletins, albeit with accompanying vivid, reporting from exceptional foreign correspondents like Kate Adie and Frank Gardener.
Zora, the central character is an artist and teacher with a studio in the National and University Library where she paints exquisite landscapes of her beloved homeland. As the situation becomes more dangerous for civilians, she arranges for her husband and elderly mother to relocate to her daughter Dubravka and her husband Steve’s house in England.
It all begins quietly enough. Streets are safe, shops are full and men still play chess under the trees. But very quickly and coinciding with the bitter winter, snipers, explosions and fires reduce the city to a hell hole. Scraps of black paper are soon, all that is left of the magnificent library and Zora’s paintings. She and her neighbours join forces to survive but conditions become increasingly brutal, and hunger, fear, cold, lack of water and grief begin to take their toll.
It takes unbelievable courage, determination and resilience just to survive, let alone maintain some kind of feeling.
Thank you, @NetGalley and @DuckworthBooks for my pre-release copy in return for an honest review.
Bravo, Priscilla Morris. A privilege to read your novel.]]> 4.21 2022 Black Butterflies
author: Priscilla Morris
name: Carol
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves:
review:
This month’s @ShelterBox read is a book I read some time ago, but excited to read it again
Multi-cultural Sarajevo, with its splendid Hapsburg past eventually comes under siege in the Bosnian War of 1992. With devastating results.
In her remarkably powerful debut novel, Morris recreates the full horror of life in a war zone that thankfully, most of us only see on our news bulletins, albeit with accompanying vivid, reporting from exceptional foreign correspondents like Kate Adie and Frank Gardener.
Zora, the central character is an artist and teacher with a studio in the National and University Library where she paints exquisite landscapes of her beloved homeland. As the situation becomes more dangerous for civilians, she arranges for her husband and elderly mother to relocate to her daughter Dubravka and her husband Steve’s house in England.
It all begins quietly enough. Streets are safe, shops are full and men still play chess under the trees. But very quickly and coinciding with the bitter winter, snipers, explosions and fires reduce the city to a hell hole. Scraps of black paper are soon, all that is left of the magnificent library and Zora’s paintings. She and her neighbours join forces to survive but conditions become increasingly brutal, and hunger, fear, cold, lack of water and grief begin to take their toll.
It takes unbelievable courage, determination and resilience just to survive, let alone maintain some kind of feeling.
Thank you, @NetGalley and @DuckworthBooks for my pre-release copy in return for an honest review.
Bravo, Priscilla Morris. A privilege to read your novel.
]]> Old God's Time 62331692 'Have you ever been the custodian of a story no one else believed?'
'Oh yes,' he said.
'You have?'
'Yes,' he said.
'Then I can tell you.'

Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door. Occasionally, fond memories return, of his family, his beloved wife June and their two children.

But when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past.

A beautiful, haunting novel, in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive of us.]]> 241 Sebastian Barry 0571332803 Carol 5 Largely undisturbed his mind recalls his life and the happy, gruelling times he’s lived through as a father and a professional. Sometimes he appears haunted, reality and dreams muddle and Tom becomes disturbed. This is particularly so when two ex colleague detectives call on him and he is reminded of a harrowing case. He has never really been at peace since. There are many fragments of memories, when priests and nuns behaved atrociously towards children in their care. Tom’s role is never clear and the whole remains a mystery.
But boy, does he suffer.only occasionally does he recall happy family days.
Stunning portrait of a lonely, broken man, who gave his all.]]> 3.77 2023 Old God's Time
author: Sebastian Barry
name: Carol
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves:
review:
Narrated by retired police office Tom Kettle. As he sits in his modest home attached to a Victorian Castle overlooking the beautiful, wild, shapeshifting and mood changing Irish Sea, he remembers.
Largely undisturbed his mind recalls his life and the happy, gruelling times he’s lived through as a father and a professional. Sometimes he appears haunted, reality and dreams muddle and Tom becomes disturbed. This is particularly so when two ex colleague detectives call on him and he is reminded of a harrowing case. He has never really been at peace since. There are many fragments of memories, when priests and nuns behaved atrociously towards children in their care. Tom’s role is never clear and the whole remains a mystery.
But boy, does he suffer.only occasionally does he recall happy family days.
Stunning portrait of a lonely, broken man, who gave his all.
]]> Caledonian Road 199126293 A biting portrait of British class, politics, and money told through five interconnected families and their rising―and declining―fortunes.

Campbell Flynn, art historian and biographer of Vermeer, always knew that when his life came crashing down, it would happen in public―yet he never imagined that a single year in London would expose so much. Entangled with a brilliant student, he begins to see trouble brewing for his family and friends. All his worlds collide―the art scene and academia, fashion and the English aristocracy, journalism and the internet―as dangerous forces enter his life and Caledonian Road gives up its secrets.
Andrew O’Hagan has written a social novel in the Victorian style, drawing a whole cast of characters into company with each other and revealing the inner energies of the way we live now.

“Not only a peerless chronicler of our times, O’Hagan has generosity, humour and tenderness, which make this novel an utter joy to read.”―Monica Ali, author of Love Marriage and Brick Lane]]> 614 Andrew O'Hagan 1324074876 Carol 5 The cast of characters is immense and their relationships and raisin d’etre equally impressive and varied. We meet academics, artists, people traffickers, old ladies living lonely lives and city slickers.
It’s a far from glamorous or sugar coated portrait of a city; these characters have their problems, their hang ups and their humanity. There is also Primrose Hill and that unforgettable view.
Loved it. I’m there again, living in London. ]]> 3.73 2024 Caledonian Road
author: Andrew O'Hagan
name: Carol
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
A rich tapestry of Londoners living and working on one of London’s great arteries, the Caledonian Road, from Kings Cross to Camden and beyond.
The cast of characters is immense and their relationships and raisin d’etre equally impressive and varied. We meet academics, artists, people traffickers, old ladies living lonely lives and city slickers.
It’s a far from glamorous or sugar coated portrait of a city; these characters have their problems, their hang ups and their humanity. There is also Primrose Hill and that unforgettable view.
Loved it. I’m there again, living in London.
]]> The Other Americans 40988961 The Moor's Account, here is a timely and powerful novel about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant--at once a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story, informed by the treacherous fault lines of American culture.

Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant living in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraoui's daughter Nora, a jazz composer who returns to the small town in the Mojave she thought she'd left for good; his widow, Maryam, who still pines after her life in the old country; Efraín, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, an old friend of Nora's and an Iraq War veteran; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her son's secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and the murdered man himself.

As the characters--deeply divided by race, religion, and class--tell their stories, connections among them emerge, even as Driss's family confronts its secrets, a town faces its hypocrisies, and love, messy and unpredictable, is born.]]> 320 Laila Lalami 1524747149 Carol 4 A richly varied and very timely novel about the people who live in a small town in California. Opening with a hit and run incident causes much unravelling and exposes the citizens� lives. The victim is a Moroccan immigrant, owner of a local bread shop, father and husband; and known to everyone. Part detective story part romance, but also a close up examination of American society
The wide range and diverse characters each have a story and a struggle to tell, and they do so, in their own words. Much vulnerability, anxiety, trauma, conflict and ambition emerge through the skill of Lalami.
Definitely challenges the stereotypical small town folksy stories. These are the ‘other� Americans.]]> 3.88 2019 The Other Americans
author: Laila Lalami
name: Carol
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:
Read for @shelterbox book group.
A richly varied and very timely novel about the people who live in a small town in California. Opening with a hit and run incident causes much unravelling and exposes the citizens� lives. The victim is a Moroccan immigrant, owner of a local bread shop, father and husband; and known to everyone. Part detective story part romance, but also a close up examination of American society
The wide range and diverse characters each have a story and a struggle to tell, and they do so, in their own words. Much vulnerability, anxiety, trauma, conflict and ambition emerge through the skill of Lalami.
Definitely challenges the stereotypical small town folksy stories. These are the ‘other� Americans.
]]> Foster 8143909
Winner of the Davy Byrnes Memorial Prize, Foster is now published in a revised and expanded version. Beautiful, sad and eerie, it is a story of astonishing emotional depth, showcasing Claire Keegan's great accomplishment and talent.]]> 89 Claire Keegan 0571255655 Carol 5 A young girl is temporarily fostered by distant relatives, the Kinsellas, in rural Ireland while her mother endures yet another pregnancy in an overcrowded house with a drunken husband.
The kindness and genuine welcome she gets feed not only her body but her soul and her brain. She is treated with dignity, respect and trust. And she too, gives something wonderful to her hosts, who themselves have suffered unspeakable grief and loss.
The Troubles are rumbling on in the background,but these people have learned the wisdom and fun of the simple, silent life.
The ending will break your heart.]]> 4.32 2010 Foster
author: Claire Keegan
name: Carol
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:
A real heartwarming yet unsentimental novella. Powerful in the way that the best short stories are. Less is more may be a cliche but apt in this case.
A young girl is temporarily fostered by distant relatives, the Kinsellas, in rural Ireland while her mother endures yet another pregnancy in an overcrowded house with a drunken husband.
The kindness and genuine welcome she gets feed not only her body but her soul and her brain. She is treated with dignity, respect and trust. And she too, gives something wonderful to her hosts, who themselves have suffered unspeakable grief and loss.
The Troubles are rumbling on in the background,but these people have learned the wisdom and fun of the simple, silent life.
The ending will break your heart.
]]> Carol 10117779 The Price of Salt is story of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose salvation arrives one day in the form of Carol Aird, an alluring suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce. They fall in love and set out across the United States, pursued by a private investigator who eventually blackmails Carol into a choice between her daughter and her lover. With this reissue, The Price of Salt may finally be recognized as a major twentieth-century American novel.]]> 320 Claire Morgan 1408808978 Carol 5 4.00 1952 Carol
author: Claire Morgan
name: Carol
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1952
rating: 5
read at: 2016/01/10
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves:
review:
Written in 1952 but not published in the UK until 1990, this is a very brave and very classy piece of lesbian literature which cross the genres; romance to thriller. The two women are complex and opposites. Therese, a 19 year old theatre set designer slogs away in a 1950s unforgiving New York dept store waiting for her 'break', saddled with a boyfriend she doesn't love. Carol, elegant, wealthy and sophisticated but more significantly, married is quite simply, shopping. Beautiful prose; achingly tender, but full of narrative tension too. Gentle and comepelling.
]]> Journeys to Impossible Places 57742570 In Journeys to Impossible Places, best-selling author and presenter Simon Reeve reveals the inside story of his most astonishing adventures and experiences, around the planet and close to home.
Journeys to Impossible Places continues the story Simon started in his phenomenal Sunday Times best seller Step by Step, which traced the first decades of his life from depressed and unemployed teenager through to his early TV programmes.
Now Simon takes us on the epic and thrilling adventures that followed, in beautiful, tricky and downright dangerous corners of the world, as he travelled through the Tropics, to remote paradise islands, jungles dripping with heat and life and on nerve-wracking secret missions.
Simon shares what his unique experiences and encounters have taught him, and the deeper lessons he draws from joy and raw grief in his personal life, from desperate struggles with his own fertility and head health, from wise friends, fatherhood, inspiring villagers, brave fighters, his beloved dogs and a thoughtful Indian sadhu.
Journeys to Impossible Places inspires and encourages all of us to battle fear and negativity and embrace life, risk, opportunities and the glory of our world.]]> 384 Simon Reeve 1529364019 Carol 4 Everything is in this read, from genuine mortal danger (Mogadishu and Myanmar) to the exquisite paradise of the Indian islands. And takes in some utterly inspired work by activists intent on saving land and everything on it and in it.
Written with complete openness and touching just about every human emotion, from his anger at waste, poverty, eco Extinction, stripped lands, stripped seas, pollution, and his appreciation of the glorious wildlife, landscapes and captivating people he meets, to his joy being married to Anya and living with son Jake and beloved dogs, makes this an outstanding, candid and powerful read.
He’s come a very long way indeed.]]> 4.32 Journeys to Impossible Places
author: Simon Reeve
name: Carol
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:
Aside from very personal challenges and the tumultuous journey into fatherhood, Reeve takes us with his usual enthusiasm and zest around the Tropic of Cancer.
Everything is in this read, from genuine mortal danger (Mogadishu and Myanmar) to the exquisite paradise of the Indian islands. And takes in some utterly inspired work by activists intent on saving land and everything on it and in it.
Written with complete openness and touching just about every human emotion, from his anger at waste, poverty, eco Extinction, stripped lands, stripped seas, pollution, and his appreciation of the glorious wildlife, landscapes and captivating people he meets, to his joy being married to Anya and living with son Jake and beloved dogs, makes this an outstanding, candid and powerful read.
He’s come a very long way indeed.
]]> <![CDATA[How the Penguins Saved Veronica (Veronica McCreedy, #1)]]> 50519007 A curmudgeonly but charming old woman, her estranged grandson, and a colony of penguins proves it's never too late to be the person you want to be in this rich, heartwarming story from the acclaimed author of Ellie and the Harpmaker.

Eighty-five-year-old Veronica McCreedy is estranged from her family and wants to find a worthwhile cause to leave her fortune to. When she sees a documentary about penguins being studied in Antarctica, she tells the scientists she’s coming to visit—and won’t take no for an answer. Shortly after arriving, she convinces the reluctant team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin. He becomes part of life at the base, and Veronica's closed heart starts to open.

Her grandson, Patrick, comes to Antarctica to make one last attempt to get to know his grandmother. Together, Veronica, Patrick, and even the scientists learn what family, love, and connection are all about.]]> 355 Hazel Prior 1984803816 Carol 4 Mrs McGreedy is 85, fabulously wealthy, an incredible snob and imperious to her ‘help� Eileen. Fixated on the minutiae of life, she won’t have an open door, drinks expensive tea from Coalport china and is a total snob.
She always gets her way and with the promise of funding, embarks on a trip to Antarctica to join a group of scientists monitoring and trying to make a difference.
In places, this is comic, but becomes really touching. Mrs Mc’s back story, is heartbreaking.
She proves the point that we can all do something good; it’s never too late to change and make a difference to the planet, and its people.
The stars though, are the penguins. They really do ‘save� her.]]> 3.99 2020 How the Penguins Saved Veronica (Veronica McCreedy, #1)
author: Hazel Prior
name: Carol
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:
Not usually my choice but I really enjoyed this light, undemanding and feel good novel. The first in a series, I believe.
Mrs McGreedy is 85, fabulously wealthy, an incredible snob and imperious to her ‘help� Eileen. Fixated on the minutiae of life, she won’t have an open door, drinks expensive tea from Coalport china and is a total snob.
She always gets her way and with the promise of funding, embarks on a trip to Antarctica to join a group of scientists monitoring and trying to make a difference.
In places, this is comic, but becomes really touching. Mrs Mc’s back story, is heartbreaking.
She proves the point that we can all do something good; it’s never too late to change and make a difference to the planet, and its people.
The stars though, are the penguins. They really do ‘save� her.
]]> <![CDATA[The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store]]> 65678550
Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which served the neighborhood's quirky collection of blacks and European immigrants, helped by her husband, Moshe, a Romanian-born theater owner who integrated the town's first dance hall. When the state came looking for a deaf black child, claiming that the boy needed to be institutionalized, Chicken Hill's residents—roused by Chona's kindess and the courage of a local black worker named Nate Timblin—banded together to keep the boy safe.

As the novel unfolds, it becomes clear how much the people of Chicken Hill have to struggle to survive at the margins of white Christian America and how damaging bigotry, hypocrisy, and deceit can be to a community. When the truth is revealed about the skeleton, the boy, and the part the town’s establishment played in both, McBride shows that it is love and community—heaven and earth—that ultimately sustain us.]]> 385 James McBride 0593422945 Carol 0 currently-reading 3.83 2023 The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
author: James McBride
name: Carol
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Brave New World 5129 Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. “A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine� (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history’s keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New Worldd likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.

"Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." —Chicago Tribune]]> 268 Aldous Huxley 0060929871 Carol 5 Now, it seems that the more stuff people have, the less they will complain/rebel against their controllers. And that seems their opium.
But what a false world that is, dominated by screens, make believe friends, adventures which thrill but do no real harm to participants.
Huxley’s created world is dominated by His Fordship, and reproduction is carefully tailored, so a relatively few Alpa, more Betas, hoards of Deltas and Epsilons perform the necessary work to keep ‘civilisation� stable and peaceful.
Every single need is satisfied, regulated and provided. There is no more pain or striving, no more passion or desire, just anaesthesia and passivity. A quiet world.
Then there are The Savages. And it takes a Savage, John, to show us what full humanity and having a soul looks like; and it’s not pretty. But nor are the elites who control us and provide our ‘opiums�.
]]> 3.99 1932 Brave New World
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Carol
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1932
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:
An absolute masterpiece. I thought so when I first read it in the 1970s at college, and even more now in my retirement. It’s as though Huxley in the 30s could see the way the world was going. When Marx said that religion is the opium of the masses, he was taking about a very different world from ours.
Now, it seems that the more stuff people have, the less they will complain/rebel against their controllers. And that seems their opium.
But what a false world that is, dominated by screens, make believe friends, adventures which thrill but do no real harm to participants.
Huxley’s created world is dominated by His Fordship, and reproduction is carefully tailored, so a relatively few Alpa, more Betas, hoards of Deltas and Epsilons perform the necessary work to keep ‘civilisation� stable and peaceful.
Every single need is satisfied, regulated and provided. There is no more pain or striving, no more passion or desire, just anaesthesia and passivity. A quiet world.
Then there are The Savages. And it takes a Savage, John, to show us what full humanity and having a soul looks like; and it’s not pretty. But nor are the elites who control us and provide our ‘opiums�.

]]> Possession 41219 A beautiful hardback edition of the Booker Prize-winning novel. A romance, a literary quest, a modern classic.

A pair of young scholars investigate the lives of two Victorian poets. Following a trail of letters, journals and poems they uncover a web of passion, deceit and tragedy, and their quest becomes a battle against time. Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once a literary detective novel and a triumphant love story.]]> 555 A.S. Byatt 0679735909 Carol 5 A love story between fictional Victorian poets Christabel LaMotte and Randolph Henry Ash; conducted through long, lyrical and complex letters entirely in the emotionally restrained, yet elaborate Victorian style, and interspersed with samples of their writing; the spiritual ‘Melusina� and the more mythological and scientific ‘Ragnarork� respectively.
In the 1980s we meet academics Roland; struggling to make a name for himself and Prof Maud Bailey. Both are interested in researching RHA, their interest piqued when Roland discovers undiscovered fragments of letters in one of the original Ash manuscripts.
And so another story begins; this time in modern prose and exploring satirically the cut-throat world of scholarship while celebrating the beauty of poetics as Maud and Roland embark on a search for more evidence of the connection between Ash and LaMotte.
The title itself has multiple meanings; there are dramatic Victorian spiritualist episodes, the class system in both stories and love verging on obsession.
Connecting everything is the iconic image of love, from the metaphysical, who celebrates everlasting love with ‘a bracelet of bright hair�.]]> 3.89 1991 Possession
author: A.S. Byatt
name: Carol
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
An astonishing read. Read it years ago but had forgotten the enormity of Byatt’s achievement in terms of content, style and execution. Essentially everything works in parallel.
A love story between fictional Victorian poets Christabel LaMotte and Randolph Henry Ash; conducted through long, lyrical and complex letters entirely in the emotionally restrained, yet elaborate Victorian style, and interspersed with samples of their writing; the spiritual ‘Melusina� and the more mythological and scientific ‘Ragnarork� respectively.
In the 1980s we meet academics Roland; struggling to make a name for himself and Prof Maud Bailey. Both are interested in researching RHA, their interest piqued when Roland discovers undiscovered fragments of letters in one of the original Ash manuscripts.
And so another story begins; this time in modern prose and exploring satirically the cut-throat world of scholarship while celebrating the beauty of poetics as Maud and Roland embark on a search for more evidence of the connection between Ash and LaMotte.
The title itself has multiple meanings; there are dramatic Victorian spiritualist episodes, the class system in both stories and love verging on obsession.
Connecting everything is the iconic image of love, from the metaphysical, who celebrates everlasting love with ‘a bracelet of bright hair�.
]]> Outline 21400742
Beginning with the neighbouring passenger on the flight out and his tales of fast boats and failed marriages, the storytellers talk of their loves and ambitions and pains, their anxieties, their perceptions and daily lives. In the stifling heat and noise of the city the sequence of voice begins to weave a complex human tapestry. The more they talk the more elliptical their listener becomes, as she shapes and directs their accounts until certain themes begin to emerge: the experience of loss, the nature of family life, the difficulty of intimacy and the mystery of creativity itself.

Outline is a novel about writing and talking, about self-effacement and self-expression, about the desire to create and the human art of self-portraiture in which that desire finds its universal form.]]> 249 Rachel Cusk 0571233627 Carol 2 3.68 2014 Outline
author: Rachel Cusk
name: Carol
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:
Could not finish this. Listening to others� dreary back stories without any context, conversation or action has no emotional engagement for me whatsoever. Bland and pedestrian.
]]> <![CDATA[Bob the Robin: A love letter to Britain’s favourite bird]]> 201801129 'When a robin appears, a loved one is near'

In 2019, Tony Putman was working as a gardener in Edenbridge, Kent, when he noticed a bold robin sitting on a branch of an old plum tree. The robin glanced in his direction as he approached, but he didn't move, so Tony grabbed his camera and took a photo. This would be the first of hundreds of photos that Tony would take of Bob the robin - and the start of an extraordinary friendship that would last for years.

As Tony shared his pictures on his social media account, Putman and Robin, he witnessed an outpouring the love - not just for Bob, but for robins everywhere, who populate our gardens with song and movement even on the direst winter days.

In this book, Tony shares his touching journey with Bob, and tells the story of our unwavering affection for these magnificent creatures. This is an informative book about the life of a robin, as well as a beautiful love letter to these spirited and lively birds - who offer us a connection with nature, a moment of contact and a great source of comfort and joy.]]> 164 Tony Putman Carol 0 currently-reading 4.47 Bob the Robin: A love letter to Britain’s favourite bird
author: Tony Putman
name: Carol
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Salt & Metal 60817932 This is Sallyanne Rock's debut pamphlet. She was awarded Creative Future's gold prize for poetry in 2019 as judged by writers including Anthony Anaxagorou and Catherine Cho.

"A close attention to texture and craft and a voice that doesn't shy away from the truth." - Wendy Pratt

"Salt & Metal shines a light on the struggle, pain and complexities of domestic abuse whilst singing of hops, resurrection and ultimately survival. I loved every word." - Maria Ferguson

"Exquisitely crafted, with skilfully controlled imagery and an unerring ear for linguistic precision." - Sarah Doyle]]> 30 Sallyanne Rock Carol 5 Writing for women in a similar situation,Sallyanne Rock provides opportunities for them to fill in the gaps as they personalise what they’re reading. Realistic? Viscerally so. Empowering? Definitely. Brave? Absolutely. ]]> 4.83 Salt & Metal
author: Sallyanne Rock
name: Carol
average rating: 4.83
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:
A small but powerful collection entirely about the unthinkable impact of long term domestic abuse. Iron and salt are used symbolically as well as literally in the collection, where the relationship is like a smashed car.
Writing for women in a similar situation,Sallyanne Rock provides opportunities for them to fill in the gaps as they personalise what they’re reading. Realistic? Viscerally so. Empowering? Definitely. Brave? Absolutely.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid, #2.5)]]> 210040063 Molly the Maid has a whole new mystery to solve in this heartwarming novella from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest.

Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly’s mofinst joyful yet.

But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential—and personal—mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince?

A heartwarming, magical story about the true spirit of the season, The Mistletoe Mystery reminds us that love is the greatest mystery of all.]]> 112 Nita Prose 0593875443 Carol 3 Christmas approaches and thoughts turn to the giving of presents, but Juan has a big secret and almost tragically, Molly cannot read the signs, which makes her very insecure and doubting of Juan’s intentions towards her.
The big reveal is at the staff Christmas party where everyone knows what is going on except for Molly.]]> 3.41 2024 The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid, #2.5)
author: Nita Prose
name: Carol
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:
Once again, Molly the Maid, now elevated to the position of Head Maid at The Regency Grand, is happy beyond her wildest dreams, in a little flat she shares with Juan Manuel. He is now a highly regarded and talented pastry chef.
Christmas approaches and thoughts turn to the giving of presents, but Juan has a big secret and almost tragically, Molly cannot read the signs, which makes her very insecure and doubting of Juan’s intentions towards her.
The big reveal is at the staff Christmas party where everyone knows what is going on except for Molly.
]]> The Christmas Guest 83814905 An American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family's Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village's grim history.

Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma's aloof and handsome brother.

But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she'd ever imagined?

Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.]]> 96 Peter Swanson 0063297450 Carol 4 Which brings us unsuspectingly to Part 2. And a very neat and deft trick which genuinely shocks the reader.]]> 3.58 2023 The Christmas Guest
author: Peter Swanson
name: Carol
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:
Read in 2 sittings. Easy, full of expected tropes for the genre, and the impact of an English country house Christmas on an American visitor. Ashley, art student at The Courtaulds Institute in London is invited by Emma to her family pile, the Dickensian sounding Starvewood Hall in the Cotswolds. The family is weird; loaded but with an uncompromising and rude father, the pubs are great, and the woods are deep and dark. Emma and Ashley get on surprisingly well and Ashley falls for Adam, the handsome twin bother.
Which brings us unsuspectingly to Part 2. And a very neat and deft trick which genuinely shocks the reader.
]]> <![CDATA[The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years]]> 127464148 A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice
Rebecca meets The House of Spirits in this sweeping, gorgeously atmospheric novel about a ruined mansion by the sea, the djinn that haunts it, and a curious girl who unearths the tragedy that happened there a hundred years previous

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Now, nearly a century since it was built, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for misfits, seeking to forget their pasts and disappear into the mansions dark corridors.

Until Sana. She and her father are the latest of Akbar Manzil’s long list of tenants, seeking a new home after suffering painful loss. Unlike the others, who choose not to look too closely at the mansion’s unsettling qualities—the strange assortment of bones in the overgrown garden, the mysterious figure seen to move sometimes at night—she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion. To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the locked door at its end, unopened for decades.

Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time, with faded photographs of a couple in love and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, the original owner’s second wife, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who once loved Meena and has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Obsessed with Meena’s story, and unaware of the creature that follows her, Sana digs into the past like fingers into a wound, awakening the memories of the house itself—and dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil.

Sublime, heart-wrenching, and lyrically stunning, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, and a mystery, all twined beautifully into one young girl’s search for belonging.]]> 320 Shubnum Khan 0593653459 Carol 5 The house, Akbar Manzil,carries much history within it, from 1932 to more recent times. And seems to have a living breathing energy of its own. A grieving djinn hides and waits and passes between the residents, seemingly distressed by the history which it has witnessed. We learn about this history from Sana, a new tenant, who becomes increasingly obsessed with the locked room which eventually and heartbreakingly gives up its tragic secrets.
Highly recommended]]> 3.80 2024 The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years
author: Shubnum Khan
name: Carol
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:
Another superb novel chosen by ShelterBox Book Group. A lyrical and richly atmospheric read set in a once grand mansion, now ruined and broken up into individual dwelling spaces on the South African Coast.
The house, Akbar Manzil,carries much history within it, from 1932 to more recent times. And seems to have a living breathing energy of its own. A grieving djinn hides and waits and passes between the residents, seemingly distressed by the history which it has witnessed. We learn about this history from Sana, a new tenant, who becomes increasingly obsessed with the locked room which eventually and heartbreakingly gives up its tragic secrets.
Highly recommended
]]> <![CDATA[Impossible Creatures (Impossible Creatures #1)]]> 205977739
Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what's happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves.]]> 368 Katherine Rundell 0593809866 Carol 4 I did love the pictures of the animals, including the cutest pig ever, and was genuinely moved at the fate of the baby griffin; the last of his kind.
So gave it 4 stars because of the environmental issues.
The actual story carrying these messages would certainly appeal to younger readers.
Noticed links with ‘Gulliver’s Travels�. ]]> 4.13 2023 Impossible Creatures (Impossible Creatures #1)
author: Katherine Rundell
name: Carol
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
Not my thing really, but during the fantasy voyage, island hopping narrative, some very important comments and points are made about human interactions with our natural world, which for me, gave this mission to save The Archipelago considerable weight.
I did love the pictures of the animals, including the cutest pig ever, and was genuinely moved at the fate of the baby griffin; the last of his kind.
So gave it 4 stars because of the environmental issues.
The actual story carrying these messages would certainly appeal to younger readers.
Noticed links with ‘Gulliver’s Travels�.
]]> How to Say Babylon 62919742 Educated and Born a Crime, How to Say Babylon is the stunning story of the author’s struggle to break free of her rigid Rastafarian upbringing, ruled by her father’s strict patriarchal views and repressive control of her childhood, to find her own voice as a woman and poet.

Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, became obsessed with her purity, in particular, with the threat of what Rastas call Babylon, the immoral and corrupting influences of the Western world outside their home. He worried that womanhood would make Safiya and her sisters morally weak and impure, and believed a woman’s highest virtue was her obedience.

In an effort to keep Babylon outside the gate, he forbade almost everything. In place of pants, the women in her family were made to wear long skirts and dresses to cover their arms and legs, head wraps to cover their hair, no make-up, no jewelry, no opinions, no friends. Safiya’s mother, while loyal to her father, nonetheless gave Safiya and her siblings the gift of books, including poetry, to which Safiya latched on for dear life. And as Safiya watched her mother struggle voicelessly for years under housework and the rigidity of her father’s beliefs, she increasingly used her education as a sharp tool with which to find her voice and break free. Inevitably, with her rebellion comes clashes with her father, whose rage and paranoia explodes in increasing violence. As Safiya’s voice grows, lyrically and poetically, a collision course is set between them.

How to Say Babylon is Sinclair’s reckoning with the culture that initially nourished but ultimately sought to silence her; it is her reckoning with patriarchy and tradition, and the legacy of colonialism in Jamaica. Rich in lyricism and language only a poet could evoke, How to Say Babylon is both a universal story of a woman finding her own power and a unique glimpse into a rarefied world we may know how to name, Rastafari, but one we know little about.']]> 352 Safiya Sinclair 1982132337 Carol 5 Set in gloriously beautiful Jamaica, this memoir is the story of Safiya Sinclair’s dirt poor childhood and youth in a strict Rastafari home, dominated by her ruthless father, whose life becomes meaningless to him when his music fails to please his largely rich, white audiences in swanky hotels

There are so many powerful moments; when Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Salassi visited the island to a rapturous reception, from his supporters, to when Safiya, against all the odds and her home circumstances becomes a graduate and a free, independent woman, despite her father’s brutal and repressive home regime and abuses by white students and teachers for her difference; her dreadlocks, her long skirts and her henna patterns on her hands
But Safiya never, ever gives up. A brilliant scholar and speaker, she stands as an inspirational figure, a self-reliant and ambitious modern woman, taking every opportunity offered in America, part of Babylon, and so despised by her father.
A rich and beautiful text. ]]> 4.43 2023 How to Say Babylon
author: Safiya Sinclair
name: Carol
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves:
review:
One of my Shelterbox Book Club reads and an absolute treasure to enjoy and savour with much to think about.
Set in gloriously beautiful Jamaica, this memoir is the story of Safiya Sinclair’s dirt poor childhood and youth in a strict Rastafari home, dominated by her ruthless father, whose life becomes meaningless to him when his music fails to please his largely rich, white audiences in swanky hotels

There are so many powerful moments; when Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Salassi visited the island to a rapturous reception, from his supporters, to when Safiya, against all the odds and her home circumstances becomes a graduate and a free, independent woman, despite her father’s brutal and repressive home regime and abuses by white students and teachers for her difference; her dreadlocks, her long skirts and her henna patterns on her hands
But Safiya never, ever gives up. A brilliant scholar and speaker, she stands as an inspirational figure, a self-reliant and ambitious modern woman, taking every opportunity offered in America, part of Babylon, and so despised by her father.
A rich and beautiful text.
]]> Ask Me Again 200867676 From the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize nominee whose short stories received instant acclaim (“Sparingly told, evoked with lacerating intimacy . . . Extraordinary� —Esquire), a debut novel about a young woman's coming of age, in parallel with a renegade male friend who challenges her beliefs and the course of her life

At sixteen, Eva meets Jamie by chance. She lives in middle-class South Brooklyn; he comes from the super-rich of upper Manhattan. She’s observant, cautious, and eager to seem normal; he’s curious, bold, and full of mysteries. She keeps a keen intelligence under wraps; his eccentric brilliance is all but impossible to repress. While Eva welcomes Jamie into her family’s embrace, he avoids going home; with little in common, these two questers are drawn together in a deep friendship. As Eva goes off to an elite college and falls in and out of love, Jamie drops out of school and joins the Occupy Wall Street movement. Eva, so often trapped by self-doubt, is both awed and repelled by the strength of Jamie's convictions. Carried forcefully along by Sestanovich’s highly observant, butterfly-pinning prose, these two characters, pulled into separate spheres, circle the same how to define their values and find their purpose, how to create a sense of self while discovering what they owe to society and the cause of justice. The geometry of their platonic love leads us on a surprising journey of intimacy across time—exposing the alchemy of connection, of the relationships that can define who we are and can even change us, and the possible futures we might not have imagined for ourselves.]]> 320 Clare Sestanovich 0593318110 Carol 1 Thank you to #netgalley and #panmacmillan
There is definitely some quite beautiful writing, and some touching and well observed incidents. But as a whole, the novel did not hang together with any cohesion.
I also feel very strongly that its intended audience is much younger than I am.
My fault for misjudging when I requested it. ]]> 3.09 Ask Me Again
author: Clare Sestanovich
name: Carol
average rating: 3.09
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves:
review:
I do not think my review is a fair appraisal of ‘Ask Me Again� by Clare Sestanovich which I received as a pre-release download.
Thank you to #netgalley and #panmacmillan
There is definitely some quite beautiful writing, and some touching and well observed incidents. But as a whole, the novel did not hang together with any cohesion.
I also feel very strongly that its intended audience is much younger than I am.
My fault for misjudging when I requested it.
]]> The Wren, the Wren 77265006 An incandescent novel about the inheritance of trauma, wonder, and love across three generations of women.

Nell McDaragh never knew her grandfather, the famed Irish poet Phil McDaragh. But his love poems seem to speak directly to her. Restless, full of verve and wit, twenty-two-year-old Nell leaves her mother Carmel’s home to find her voice as a writer and live a life of her choosing. Carmel, too, knows the magic of her Daddo’s poetry—and the broken promises within its verses. When Phil abandons the family, Carmel struggles to reconcile “the poet� with the man whose desertion scars Carmel, her sister, and their cancer-ridden mother.

The Wren, the Wren brings to life three generations of women who contend with inheritances—of abandonment and of sustaining love that is “more than a strand of DNA, but a rope thrown from the past, a fat twisted rope, full of blood.� In sharp prose studded with crystalline poetry, Anne Enright masterfully braids a family story of longing, betrayal, and hope.]]> 278 Anne Enright 1324005696 Carol 4 In the contrasting relationships which they had with McDaragh and of course the contexts in which they live.
Youngest Nell is feisty, adventurous, and drawn back to her grandfather’s words as she goes through the complex relationships of adolescence, then on to explore the world as an independent woman
Her mother Carmel is finding Nell difficult and is isolated in her concerns, and also her love.
Some beautiful poetry and descriptions of the natural world, including the traditionally resourceful wren, linked with poets in Irish lore (according to Google) in contrast with the troubled lives of the main characters.]]> 3.51 2023 The Wren, the Wren
author: Anne Enright
name: Carol
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/31
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves:
review:
Beautifully written narrative about the lives of three generations of women in their own words. All have been traumatised in their past, by grandfather Phil McDaragh, a minor poet with a strident voice and echoing presence, despite abandoning his family. All three, wife Terry, a terminal cancer patient, daughters Carmel (and Imelda), and granddaughter Nell tell their own stories.
In the contrasting relationships which they had with McDaragh and of course the contexts in which they live.
Youngest Nell is feisty, adventurous, and drawn back to her grandfather’s words as she goes through the complex relationships of adolescence, then on to explore the world as an independent woman
Her mother Carmel is finding Nell difficult and is isolated in her concerns, and also her love.
Some beautiful poetry and descriptions of the natural world, including the traditionally resourceful wren, linked with poets in Irish lore (according to Google) in contrast with the troubled lives of the main characters.
]]> Trespasses 60417483 Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion.

Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast. By day she teaches at a parochial school; at night she fills in at her family's pub. There she meets Michael Agnew, a barrister who's made a name for himself defending IRA members. Against her better judgment - Michael is not only Protestant but older, and married - Cushla lets herself get drawn in by him and his sophisticated world, and an affair ignites. Then the father of a student is savagely beaten, setting in motion a chain reaction that will threaten everything, and everyone, Cushla most wants to protect.

As tender as it is unflinching, Trespasses is a heart-pounding, heart-rending drama of thwarted love and irreconcilable loyalties, in a place what you come from seems to count more than what you do, or whom you cherish. ]]> 304 Louise Kennedy 0593540891 Carol 4 Helping in the family pub in a small, fairly quiet village outside of Belfast, she meets Michael. Both are ready for the passionate affair which becomes all consuming; so from a pretty innocuous start, their relationship becomes fraught with threat and danger.
She is Catholic, and a primary school teacher who cares maybe more than she should about one very poor family. He is a lawyer, married and Protestant.
The results are explosive and tragic as the reader gets to know the two protagonists and how quickly hate can escalate in a community.]]> 3.92 2022 Trespasses
author: Louise Kennedy
name: Carol
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/31
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves:
review:
Powerful and moving narrative set in N Ireland during The Troubles. Kennedy deals sensitively and with great empathy with the consequences of religious, moral and political issues on a very personal level through the experiences of Cushla.
Helping in the family pub in a small, fairly quiet village outside of Belfast, she meets Michael. Both are ready for the passionate affair which becomes all consuming; so from a pretty innocuous start, their relationship becomes fraught with threat and danger.
She is Catholic, and a primary school teacher who cares maybe more than she should about one very poor family. He is a lawyer, married and Protestant.
The results are explosive and tragic as the reader gets to know the two protagonists and how quickly hate can escalate in a community.
]]> The Museum of Ordinary People 63202481
In the process of finding the books a new home, Jess discovers an unusual archive of letters, photographs, and curious housed in a warehouse and known as the Museum of Ordinary People. Irresistibly drawn, she becomes the museum's unofficial custodian, along with the warehouse’s mysterious owner. As they delve into the history of objects in their care, they not only unravel heart-stirring stories that span generations and continents, but also unearth long-buried secrets that lie closer to home.

Inspired by an abandoned box of mementos, The Museum of Ordinary People is a poignant novel about memory and loss, the things we leave behind, and the future we create for ourselves.



]]> 336 Mike Gayle 1538740842 Carol 3 The first 200 pages pass so slowly, as Jess takes a hundred words where ten would do to explore her feelings.
Several good decisions, and some naive choices later, the story is resolved.
A bit too sentimental and reliant on coincidences for me, but some nice characters and important messages about saving things and respect for the past.]]> 3.79 2022 The Museum of Ordinary People
author: Mike Gayle
name: Carol
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/31
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves:
review:
Jess cannot throw away her collection of much outdated Encyclopaedia Britannica, when clearing her recently deceased and beloved mother’s house. She lugs them down to a modern, luxurious and stylish apartment shared with her partner Guy. The inevitable clash happens. But their relationship is about as unlikely as finding a bus on Mars, anyway.
The first 200 pages pass so slowly, as Jess takes a hundred words where ten would do to explore her feelings.
Several good decisions, and some naive choices later, the story is resolved.
A bit too sentimental and reliant on coincidences for me, but some nice characters and important messages about saving things and respect for the past.
]]> <![CDATA[Patchwork (Penguin African Writers)]]> 11541822 216 Ellen Banda-Aaku 0143527533 Carol 4 We learn a great deal about Zambian culture, political upheaval and family units, relationships and expectations within them.
Banda-Aaku uses Pumpkin as her protagonist, an irresistible young girl living with her mother, (Mistress)a single parent. So called because of her shape, Pumpkin is a child who knows much more than she should, aged 9, about sex and copes wonderfully with her unstable and needy alcoholic mother, a single parent. Yet the child is also great fun, witty, funny, clever, cheeky, and prone to telling fibs and helping herself to sweeties from the shop.
Pumpkin adores her father, the wealthy Joseph (Tata) who has enormous wealth, and whose visits are infrequent but in a limousine and with presents.
He eventually takes Pumpkin into his own luxurious world, but he has sons, and a wife (Mama T) who is indifferent to Pumpkin, and so the ‘Patchwork� of her life grows.
As an adult, though educated and a professional, what was cute, now gets Pumpkin into trouble, and she arguably becomes less appealing.
The first part of the book is for me, much more successful than the second part. Possibly because Ellen Banda-Aaku is a hugely successful children’s author, though this, her debut novel did achieve the Penguin prize for African Writing in 2010.]]> 3.74 2011 Patchwork (Penguin African Writers)
author: Ellen Banda-Aaku
name: Carol
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:
A wonderful @ShelterBox book set in 1970s Zambia.
We learn a great deal about Zambian culture, political upheaval and family units, relationships and expectations within them.
Banda-Aaku uses Pumpkin as her protagonist, an irresistible young girl living with her mother, (Mistress)a single parent. So called because of her shape, Pumpkin is a child who knows much more than she should, aged 9, about sex and copes wonderfully with her unstable and needy alcoholic mother, a single parent. Yet the child is also great fun, witty, funny, clever, cheeky, and prone to telling fibs and helping herself to sweeties from the shop.
Pumpkin adores her father, the wealthy Joseph (Tata) who has enormous wealth, and whose visits are infrequent but in a limousine and with presents.
He eventually takes Pumpkin into his own luxurious world, but he has sons, and a wife (Mama T) who is indifferent to Pumpkin, and so the ‘Patchwork� of her life grows.
As an adult, though educated and a professional, what was cute, now gets Pumpkin into trouble, and she arguably becomes less appealing.
The first part of the book is for me, much more successful than the second part. Possibly because Ellen Banda-Aaku is a hugely successful children’s author, though this, her debut novel did achieve the Penguin prize for African Writing in 2010.
]]> <![CDATA[The Woolworths Saturday Girls (Woolworths, #6)]]> 59092250
1950. The Second World War is over and life has moved on for the Woolworth girls, Sarah, Maisie and Freda. In a new world the Woolworth women have high expectations of their daughters, wanting them to seize opportunities they didn’t have themselves.

Ready to take on Saturday jobs at Woolworths, budding friends Bessie, Claudette, Clementine and Dorothy are faced with unforeseeable challenges, as the real world comes into focus. Their bond can only be strengthened as they overcome the darkest times. Perhaps their lives are not as clear-cut as their mothers wished them to be . . .

When Bessie finds love in the wrong crowd and falls pregnant, the image of her future and ambitions become skewed and she relies on the Saturday girls to help her see her problems through � but how will they find a home for the baby when it arrives?

With wild imaginations, it is up to the Woolworth girls, new and old, to save the day � and their futures . . .]]> 390 Elaine Everest 1529078040 Carol 4 What eases these women’s lives is the companionship of other women, at work in Woolworths and at home; almost like a sisterhood. They simply do not let each other down.
Realism is partly achieved through the mention of Mrs Thatcher’s first attempt to stand as MP for Erith. Her speeches even impress the traditional working class men! But also, those of us who can, remember very fondly, our Saturday jobs in high street stores like the much loved Woolworths.]]> 4.58 The Woolworths Saturday Girls (Woolworths, #6)
author: Elaine Everest
name: Carol
average rating: 4.58
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/16
date added: 2024/10/16
shelves:
review:
Not my usual read but I found this utterly charming, in a sentimental, though not cloying way. And from a more gentle time, though the lot of working class women was gruelling, in terms of juggling children, work, lack of money and expectations of ‘respectability�.
What eases these women’s lives is the companionship of other women, at work in Woolworths and at home; almost like a sisterhood. They simply do not let each other down.
Realism is partly achieved through the mention of Mrs Thatcher’s first attempt to stand as MP for Erith. Her speeches even impress the traditional working class men! But also, those of us who can, remember very fondly, our Saturday jobs in high street stores like the much loved Woolworths.
]]> Prima Facie 133287123 This is not life, this is law�

Tessa Ensler loves her job. She’s worked her way up to being a top criminal defense barrister against all the odds, and fights to defend those pleading not guilty. Tessa believes in the law, believes in the system. Her quick-witted cross-examinations and intelligence in the courtroom see her clocking up win after win - including securing freedom for men accused of rape and sexual assault. Innocence until proven guilty is, after all, the bedrock of a civilized society.

But when Tessa is raped by a coworker, she struggles to find the strength to bring him to justice in the face of the barriers and opposition within that same system. Determined to have her day in court, Tessa is forced to confront the stark reality that the law was not written for victims, and that she is the one on trial. She fights on, even as her evidence is manipulated to make her look like a liar, even while she is retraumatized in the stand.

Based on the Olivier and Tony Award-winning play, Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie is an unforgettable story of what happens when a victim is asked to navigate a system that is not set up to accommodate the lived experience of sexual assault survivors.]]> 288 Suzie Miller 1250292204 Carol 5 But this one is about the rape of a female barrister by a male barrister working form the same high profile chambers in London.
Tessa is working class but pushed herself academically and was awarded a scholarship to Cambridge. After graduation, and fully aware that she lacks the advantages of the public school families of her fellow graduates, with silks going back generations, her rise is meteoric and she is prohibitively powerful in her role as defence barrister, believing in truth and innocent until proved otherwise.
Her highly anticipated date with colleague soon turns into every woman’s worst nightmare. Good food, too much alcohol is followed by a brutal rape which Tessa is helplessly unable to stop.
She gets her day in court but becomes yet another victim of the very system she totally believes in.
One in three women are subjected to some form of sexual abuse suddenly becomes real…if it can happen to Tessa, it can happen anywhere to any one of us. ]]> 4.35 2018 Prima Facie
author: Suzie Miller
name: Carol
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2024/10/16
shelves:
review:
A terrific but disturbing and chilling read given the Me Too movement.
But this one is about the rape of a female barrister by a male barrister working form the same high profile chambers in London.
Tessa is working class but pushed herself academically and was awarded a scholarship to Cambridge. After graduation, and fully aware that she lacks the advantages of the public school families of her fellow graduates, with silks going back generations, her rise is meteoric and she is prohibitively powerful in her role as defence barrister, believing in truth and innocent until proved otherwise.
Her highly anticipated date with colleague soon turns into every woman’s worst nightmare. Good food, too much alcohol is followed by a brutal rape which Tessa is helplessly unable to stop.
She gets her day in court but becomes yet another victim of the very system she totally believes in.
One in three women are subjected to some form of sexual abuse suddenly becomes real…if it can happen to Tessa, it can happen anywhere to any one of us.
]]> The Proof of My Innocence 207851815
Chris has been following the careers of a group of students, all present at Cambridge University in the 1980s, now members of a think-tank which has been quietly pushing the British government towards extremism. And now, after years in the political wilderness, they might be in a position to put their ideas into action.

As Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a mysterious conference taking place deep in the Cotswolds. When Phyl hears that one of the delegates has been murdered, she begins to wonder if real life is starting to merge with the novel she’s been trying to write. But does the explanation really lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?

Darting between decades and genres, THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE reimagines the coming-of-age story, the cosy crime caper and the state-of-the-nation novel with Coe’s trademark humour and warmth. From one of Britain’s finest living novelists, this is a witty, razor-sharp novel which explores how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.]]> 327 Jonathan Coe 1405962429 Carol 3 The shadowy right wing think tank emerging from 1980s Cambridge is also compelling Coe material.
But for me, the whole forgotten novelist mystery, a ‘cosy� locked door and secret passage murder is derivative and dull.
There is humour, wit and some vivid characterisation, but overall, this latest work is disappointing; it lacks the integrity and seamless power of his earlier work. It took eleven days to read, whereas his best would be devoured in 3 days max.
Thank you #penguin and #netgalley for my pre-release copy.]]> 3.90 2024 The Proof of My Innocence
author: Jonathan Coe
name: Carol
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:
Jonathan Coe’s real strength is political satire and Liz Truss’s thankfully brief premiership and the UK’s economic collapse provides ample opportunity for him to play to his strengths in his latest novel.
The shadowy right wing think tank emerging from 1980s Cambridge is also compelling Coe material.
But for me, the whole forgotten novelist mystery, a ‘cosy� locked door and secret passage murder is derivative and dull.
There is humour, wit and some vivid characterisation, but overall, this latest work is disappointing; it lacks the integrity and seamless power of his earlier work. It took eleven days to read, whereas his best would be devoured in 3 days max.
Thank you #penguin and #netgalley for my pre-release copy.
]]> <![CDATA[Once Upon a Time in Birmingham: Women who dared to dream]]> 42101658 112 Louise Palfreyman 1910139513 Carol 5 Now celebrated in ‘Luna� the ballet choreographed by 5 females by Birmingham Royal Ballet. A stunning show with a chorus of children, all watched over by Luna]]> 4.15 Once Upon a Time in Birmingham: Women who dared to dream
author: Louise Palfreyman
name: Carol
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves:
review:
Fantastic profiles and beautiful illustrations of 30 exceptional women, chosen by ballot who made a huge difference to the lives of women not just in Birmingham; the themes are universal. Strike leaders in the 30s, the courage of Malala fighting for education (she was treated in Birmingham’s QE hospital), artists, academics, police officers, challengers of racism, protest.Mainly working for family welfare, children in need of help, education, the law, creativity, women’s rights, we owe each snd every one a great deal.
Now celebrated in ‘Luna� the ballet choreographed by 5 females by Birmingham Royal Ballet. A stunning show with a chorus of children, all watched over by Luna
]]> The Glovemaker's Daughter 33830630 From the acclaimed author of The Last Pearl and Dancing At The Victory Cafe, this is a beautiful novel about dark family secrets, betrayal, love and redemption.

1666. A child is born in the farmhouse at Windebank, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Named Rejoice (Joy) by her dying father, Joy grows up a witness to the persecution of the farming community for following a banned faith. Defying the authority of the local priest, she joins a group of Yorkshire pioneers traveling to the New World to form a colony close to Philadelphia - a passionate, rebellious and courageous woman fighting against the constraints of the time. Will she find peace and love?

2014. A leather-bound book is found buried in the walls of the Meeting House in Good Hope, Pennsylvania. Its details trace the owner back to a Yorkshire farm in the Dales. And so a correspondence begins between Rachel Moorside and the man who found the journal, Sam Storer, as Rachel uncovers the tumultuous secrets of her family’s history.]]> 338 Leah Fleming Carol 3 Losing both of her parents as a new born, Rejoice (Joy) leads a life full of conflict, deprivation and fear, both within her family, on a farm in Yorkshire and as a pioneer in Pennsylvania. Adding to this, Joy’s own feelings and desires for Jordan, makes this a complex story.
But for me, it lacked narrative interest and unconvincing characters. The sections set in 2015 following a book found in Pennsylvania added nothing, but confusion. 400+ pages is just too long for a story. Took me ages to read it. ]]> 3.66 2017 The Glovemaker's Daughter
author: Leah Fleming
name: Carol
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:
Well researched and shocking in its detail about the pressures of being loyal to the Quaker faith at a time when the Friends movement was not recognised as being legal.
Losing both of her parents as a new born, Rejoice (Joy) leads a life full of conflict, deprivation and fear, both within her family, on a farm in Yorkshire and as a pioneer in Pennsylvania. Adding to this, Joy’s own feelings and desires for Jordan, makes this a complex story.
But for me, it lacked narrative interest and unconvincing characters. The sections set in 2015 following a book found in Pennsylvania added nothing, but confusion. 400+ pages is just too long for a story. Took me ages to read it.
]]> Prodigal Summer 14249 Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia.

From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off-guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and confounds her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself unexpectedly marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them expected.

Over the course of one humid summer, these characters find their connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with whom they share a place. Prodigal Summer demonstrates a balance of narrative, drama and ideas that is characteristic of Barbara Kingsolver's finest work.]]> 444 Barbara Kingsolver 0060959037 Carol 5 There is no sentimentality at all, but my goodness, Kingsolver’s celebration of the seasons is captivating as she creates word pictures of everything which lives and changes in this rural, sometimes utterly wild environment. From moths to goats, coyotes, grasses, flowers, insects. It’s a world which dazzles the senses, and teaches us never, ever dare to think of ourselves as owners of the earth.
A humbling and respectful take on the plenty which we have been given but which can disappear in a careless, unthinking moment.]]> 4.03 2000 Prodigal Summer
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Carol
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves:
review:
Over the course of one summer in Appalachia, we get to know intimately, three pairs of characters. And these characters and their relationships are vividly brought to life, and are both moving, and completely in tune and sympathy with their varied environments.
There is no sentimentality at all, but my goodness, Kingsolver’s celebration of the seasons is captivating as she creates word pictures of everything which lives and changes in this rural, sometimes utterly wild environment. From moths to goats, coyotes, grasses, flowers, insects. It’s a world which dazzles the senses, and teaches us never, ever dare to think of ourselves as owners of the earth.
A humbling and respectful take on the plenty which we have been given but which can disappear in a careless, unthinking moment.
]]> The Betrayals 46159063 If everything in your life was based on a lie
would you risk it all to tell the truth?

At Montverre, an exclusive academy tucked away in the mountains, the best and brightest are trained for excellence in the grand jeu: an arcane and mysterious contest. Léo Martin was once a student there, but lost his passion for the grand jeu following a violent tragedy. Now he returns in disgrace, exiled to his old place of learning with his political career in tatters.

Montverre has changed since he studied there, even allowing a woman, Claire Dryden, to serve in the grand jeu’s highest office of Magister Ludi. When Léo first sees Claire he senses an odd connection with her, though he’s sure they have never met before.

Both Léo and Claire have built their lives on lies. And as the legendary Midsummer Game, the climax of the year, draws closer, secrets are whispering in the walls…]]> 419 Bridget Collins 006283813X Carol 3 Personally, the changes in narrative voice, and the time slips found me floundering and verging on impatient. A writer with so much skill stylistically does not need to mess about with changes in perspective and time which make the point of the novel at best, elusive and at worst incomprehensible.
The quality of the prose and engagement with nuance and imagery is captivating. And that alone is reason to stick with it.
Just a thought. Isn’t there a tower in Oxford called Carfax? No idea if it’s relevant but it is an elite centre of learning which dates back to the 1400s.]]> 3.47 2020 The Betrayals
author: Bridget Collins
name: Carol
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/12
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves:
review:
A complex and confusing narrative set in an elite European seat of learning where the competition to be the best is compulsive and ruthless. There are many secrets, many mysteries, and some sense of a totalitarian state at the helm.
Personally, the changes in narrative voice, and the time slips found me floundering and verging on impatient. A writer with so much skill stylistically does not need to mess about with changes in perspective and time which make the point of the novel at best, elusive and at worst incomprehensible.
The quality of the prose and engagement with nuance and imagery is captivating. And that alone is reason to stick with it.
Just a thought. Isn’t there a tower in Oxford called Carfax? No idea if it’s relevant but it is an elite centre of learning which dates back to the 1400s.
]]> Quartet in Autumn 227002 186 Barbara Pym 0330326481 Carol 2 I couldn’t see the charm, wit or humour, in Pym’s writing. It seemed cruel, rather.
]]> 3.90 1978 Quartet in Autumn
author: Barbara Pym
name: Carol
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1978
rating: 2
read at: 2022/03/15
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves:
review:
Oh dear. This story is about 4 office workers, socially isolated, three unmarried and one a widower. They are office workers, but don’t appear to have any significant role, and edging towards retirement. It all depressed me beyond words. Their obsessions; think milk bottles and observing every single day of the church calendar, and their complete inability to form attachments and do something enjoyable just made me imagine them as dried leaves being blown around
I couldn’t see the charm, wit or humour, in Pym’s writing. It seemed cruel, rather.

]]> <![CDATA[The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories]]> 99300
Written from a feminist perspective, often focusing on the inferior status accorded to women by society, the tales include "turned," an ironic story with a startling twist, in which a husband seduces and impregnates a naïve servant; "Cottagette," concerning the romance of a young artist and a man who's apparently too good to be true; "Mr. Peebles' Heart," a liberating tale of a fiftyish shopkeeper whose sister-in-law, a doctor, persuades him to take a solo trip to Europe, with revivifying results; "The Yellow Wallpaper"; and three other outstanding stories.

These charming tales are not only highly readable and full of humor and invention, but also offer ample food for thought about the social, economic, and personal relationship of men and women � and how they might be improved.

Collects:
—The Yellow Wallpaper
—Three Thanksgivings
—The Cottagette
—TܰԱ
—Making a Change
—If I Were a Man
—Mr. Peebles' Heart]]> 129 Charlotte Perkins Gilman 0486298574 Carol 5 4.05 1892 The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories
author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
name: Carol
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1892
rating: 5
read at: 2016/05/28
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves:
review:
First published in 1892, this has become a classic feminist text, yet also has elements of gothic menace as the patterns in the yellow wallpaper embed themselves into the mind of the unnamed narrator. Confined to her room by her medic husband (who is 'kind and loving and hardly lets me stir) after the birth of her child, our narrator's descent into madness is understated and subtle; and all the more harrowing for it. Chilling as the truth gradually dawns, a bit Poe-ish.
]]> Earth 198222359 From million-copy-bestselling author John Boyne, an inescapably gritty story about one young man whose direction in life takes a vastly different turn than what he expected.

It’s the tabloid sensation of the two well-known footballers standing in the dock, charged with sexual assault, a series of vile text messages pointing towards their guilt.

As the trial unfolds, Evan Keogh reflects on the events that have led him to this moment. Since leaving his island home, his life has been a lie on many levels. He’s a talented footballer who wanted to be an artist. A gay man in a sport that rejects diversity. A defendant whose knowledge of what took place on that fateful night threatens more than just his freedom or career.

The jury will deliver a verdict but, before they do, Evan must judge for himself whether the man he has become is the man he wanted to be.]]> 168 John Boyne 152991650X Carol 4 His first love is creating abstract art, but his talent is football. He is gay in a world which doesn’t readily accept his sexuality. He rents himself out to powerful men such as ‘Sir� to act out their fantasies.
And in court as an accessory to rape, he provides a feast for tabloids and social media along with Robbie, the abuser. As well as much heartache for his mother.
Both men are prepared to casually destroy the ambitions and peace of Lauren, an aspiring history graduate.
Elements of tragedy; so many lives are wasted in this short read, but also much serious debate about the nature of guilt, beyond the courtroom.
Boyne always ‘hits the spot� but this made me very uncomfortable. ]]> 4.31 2024 Earth
author: John Boyne
name: Carol
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/28
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves:
review:
Evan Keogh, mentioned in passing in Boyne’s ‘Water� is living a lie.
His first love is creating abstract art, but his talent is football. He is gay in a world which doesn’t readily accept his sexuality. He rents himself out to powerful men such as ‘Sir� to act out their fantasies.
And in court as an accessory to rape, he provides a feast for tabloids and social media along with Robbie, the abuser. As well as much heartache for his mother.
Both men are prepared to casually destroy the ambitions and peace of Lauren, an aspiring history graduate.
Elements of tragedy; so many lives are wasted in this short read, but also much serious debate about the nature of guilt, beyond the courtroom.
Boyne always ‘hits the spot� but this made me very uncomfortable.
]]> <![CDATA[8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster]]> 62949047 Pachinko and A Woman is No Man, a riveting and genre-bending debut of love and survival, set in the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. Life near the North Korean border is a zero-sum game, an ongoing battle in which you either win or you lose. This dangerous, shadowed netherworld is home to an unforgettable woman known only as the “trickster.� Inspired by the story of Lee’s great aunt, one of the oldest women to escape alone from North Korea, 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster consists of eight dark and spellbinding chapters that follow this remarkable character and her family as they struggle to survive during the most turbulent times of modern Korean history. Mirinae Lee’s trickster is a shapeshifter—throughout the course of these interconnected chapters she is a slave, an escape artist, a murderer, a terrorist, a spy, a lover, and a mother—a woman who must often choose the unthinkable to survive war and conquest in Korea. Her story is a beguiling, complex tale of love and survival that will keep you riveted—and speculating—until the very end thanks to Lee’s brilliant talent for sleight of hand. A fascinating look at survival, trauma, and family, 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster is an incredible literary debut from a bright new talent.]]> 304 Mirinae Lee 0063240424 Carol 4 In ‘As You Like it�, Shakespeare said ‘One man in his time plays many parts�. And when that time is one hundred years, in the most turbulent and dangerous contexts of North and South Korea, being a ‘trickster� is no game or party trick, but a necessary survival tactic.
And Mrs Mook telling of her remarkable life to an obituarist visiting her care home, does indeed, play many parts, from slave, to ‘comfort woman�, murderer, mother and everything in between. Her recollections are structured into eight interlinked short stories, framed by an introduction and finale by her recorder.
We have doubts about her veracity. Even her name is false, and she does live with victims of Alzheimer’s, but that somehow doesn’t matter.
Is there even such a thing as a reliable narrator? Particularly when the experiences she recalls happened in such a turbulent and politically complex world.
What never fails is the quality and skill of the writing. The power of Lee’s language is rich, inventive and guaranteed to draw you in.
I found it difficult though, to understand why, having numbered the stories, they were not told in numerical order. More confusing than anything but finally the unravelling does happen, and I suppose our memories actually don’t run chronologically.]]> 3.96 2023 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster
author: Mirinae Lee
name: Carol
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/08/23
shelves:
review:
Another wonderful @ShelterBoxBookClub read..
In ‘As You Like it�, Shakespeare said ‘One man in his time plays many parts�. And when that time is one hundred years, in the most turbulent and dangerous contexts of North and South Korea, being a ‘trickster� is no game or party trick, but a necessary survival tactic.
And Mrs Mook telling of her remarkable life to an obituarist visiting her care home, does indeed, play many parts, from slave, to ‘comfort woman�, murderer, mother and everything in between. Her recollections are structured into eight interlinked short stories, framed by an introduction and finale by her recorder.
We have doubts about her veracity. Even her name is false, and she does live with victims of Alzheimer’s, but that somehow doesn’t matter.
Is there even such a thing as a reliable narrator? Particularly when the experiences she recalls happened in such a turbulent and politically complex world.
What never fails is the quality and skill of the writing. The power of Lee’s language is rich, inventive and guaranteed to draw you in.
I found it difficult though, to understand why, having numbered the stories, they were not told in numerical order. More confusing than anything but finally the unravelling does happen, and I suppose our memories actually don’t run chronologically.
]]> <![CDATA[Sidesplitter: How To Be From Two Worlds At Once]]> 57443881
Phil Wang has been asked this question so many times he’s finally written a book about it.

In this mix of comic memoir and observational essay, one of the UK’s most exciting stand-up comedians reflects on his experiences as a Eurasian man in the West and in the East. Phil was born in Stoke-on-Trent, raised in Malaysia, and then came of age in Bath � ‘a spa town for people who find Cheltenham too ethnic�.

Phil explores the contrasts between Eastern and Western cultures and delves into Britain and Malaysia’s shared histories, bringing his trademark cynicism and wit to topics ranging from family, food, and comedy to race, empire, and colonialism.

Sidesplitter is a hilarious and incisive look at being mixed race and belonging to two home countries at once.]]> 304 Phil Wang 1529350271 Carol 4 Each chapter is about one aspect of everyday life: food, or love, or work, or family, manners and dress codes.
And with clarity and specifics he really nails it for us. And he does not allow himself to escape being a target.
I’m still wondering why Brits eat chicken with no flavouring, just plain, white meat. And I come from Wolverhampton, which is where Wang first experienced this baffling menu choice.
Written in the first person, it’s easy to imagine sitting in the pub with Wang and listening to him talk to you. Self-effacing, easy and familiar, cheeky and confessional make his book very disarming.]]> 4.20 2021 Sidesplitter: How To Be From Two Worlds At Once
author: Phil Wang
name: Carol
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/16
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves:
review:
An unusual @Shelterbox choice, but so refreshing in our troubled world. Many witty and informative observations about life in the 21st century for a mixed race and mixed culture engineering graduate who is also a very popular stand up comedian. Wang is at his best when pointing out ironies and satirising everyday life and the habits of us Brits as well as his Malaysian family’s and friends�. There is much affection and fondness as well as the odd swipe at real stupidity in our crazy world.
Each chapter is about one aspect of everyday life: food, or love, or work, or family, manners and dress codes.
And with clarity and specifics he really nails it for us. And he does not allow himself to escape being a target.
I’m still wondering why Brits eat chicken with no flavouring, just plain, white meat. And I come from Wolverhampton, which is where Wang first experienced this baffling menu choice.
Written in the first person, it’s easy to imagine sitting in the pub with Wang and listening to him talk to you. Self-effacing, easy and familiar, cheeky and confessional make his book very disarming.
]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Carol 5 3.95 1872 Around the World in Eighty Days
author: Jules Verne
name: Carol
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
Some wonderfully funny moments as Fogg fulfils the challenge (such as the uber polite fight on the train)
]]> Vinegar Girl 27070127
Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she’s always in trouble at work � her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don’t always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner.

Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There’s only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost.

When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying � as usual � on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he’s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to bring her around?]]> 237 Anne Tyler 0804141266 Carol 3 But although mildly amusing and with vividly drawn characters, this novel does little to enhance Shakespeare’s or Tyler’s reputation as exceptional writers.]]> 3.35 2016 Vinegar Girl
author: Anne Tyler
name: Carol
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:
Part of Hogarth Press’s project to bring Shakespeare, a man for all time, into the present.
But although mildly amusing and with vividly drawn characters, this novel does little to enhance Shakespeare’s or Tyler’s reputation as exceptional writers.
]]> The Break 34511798 'Myself and Hugh . . . We're taking a break.'
'A city-with-fancy-food sort of break?'

If only.

Amy's husband Hugh says he isn't leaving her.

He still loves her, he's just taking a break - from their marriage, their children and, most of all, from their life together. Six months to lose himself in south-east Asia. And there is nothing Amy can say or do about it.

Yes, it's a mid-life crisis, but let's be clear: a break isn't a break up - yet . . .

However, for Amy it's enough to send her - along with her extended family of gossips, misfits and troublemakers - teetering over the edge.

For a lot can happen in six-months. When Hugh returns if he returns, will he be the same man she married? And will Amy be the same woman?

Because if Hugh is on a break from their marriage, then isn't she?

The Break isn't a story about falling in love but about staying in love. It is Marian Keyes at her funniest, wisest and brilliant best.]]> 576 Marian Keyes 0718179722 Carol 4 3.81 2018 The Break
author: Marian Keyes
name: Carol
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:
A wise, funny and engaging read, especially when your world has been turned upside down.
]]> The Lamplighters 60538347 Inspired by a haunting true story, a gorgeous and atmospheric novel about the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a remote tower miles from the Cornish coast--and about the wives who were left behind.

What strange fate befell these doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent.

It's New Year's Eve, 1972, when a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the keepers. But no one greets them. When the entrance door, locked from the inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper's weather log describes a storm raging round the tower, but the skies have been clear all week. And the clocks have all stopped at 8:45.

Two decades later, the wives who were left behind are visited by a writer who is determined to find the truth about the men's disappearance. Moving between the women's stories and the men's last weeks together in the lighthouse, long-held secrets surface and truths twist into lies as we piece together what happened, why, and who to believe.

In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story of isolation and obsession, of reality and illusion, and of what it takes to keep the light burning when all else is swallowed by dark.]]> 352 Emma Stonex 1984882171 Carol 4 But for me, the plot is not the main appeal. That is, the characterisation of the lighthouse keepers, forced to live for weeks together taking in turns to perform regular tasks and duties and the impact of that life on their psyche and their relationships.
But the writing is gorgeous; the sea in its moods, the never changing colour palette, the weather and its capriciousness and needs to be taken slowly so the whole experience is immersive and sensual.
Life on the mainland seems altogether barren and colourless in contrast.]]> 3.43 2021 The Lamplighters
author: Emma Stonex
name: Carol
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/10
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed this retelling of the Flannan Isle mystery. Three lighthouse keepers disappeared without trace. The clocks have stopped, dinner is uneaten; and the door is locked from the inside.
But for me, the plot is not the main appeal. That is, the characterisation of the lighthouse keepers, forced to live for weeks together taking in turns to perform regular tasks and duties and the impact of that life on their psyche and their relationships.
But the writing is gorgeous; the sea in its moods, the never changing colour palette, the weather and its capriciousness and needs to be taken slowly so the whole experience is immersive and sensual.
Life on the mainland seems altogether barren and colourless in contrast.
]]> Yellowface 62047984
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 319 R.F. Kuang 000853277X Carol 3 June Hayward is an unsuccessful but dedicated, passionate writer who cannot resist seizing an opportunity which transforms her into the best selling Juniper Song, celebrated and feted in the charts, conventions and bookshops.
Her follow up work is a problem for her, but no problem for the trolls and vipers on social media, let alone book agents.
Great plot but the last third lets it down with the introduction of melodrama, violence and a ghost.]]> 3.69 2023 Yellowface
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Carol
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves:
review:
An intriguing and engaging first person narration about the fickle world of publishing and popularity. Other important themes are the minefield of cultural appropriation and copyright.
June Hayward is an unsuccessful but dedicated, passionate writer who cannot resist seizing an opportunity which transforms her into the best selling Juniper Song, celebrated and feted in the charts, conventions and bookshops.
Her follow up work is a problem for her, but no problem for the trolls and vipers on social media, let alone book agents.
Great plot but the last third lets it down with the introduction of melodrama, violence and a ghost.
]]> <![CDATA[The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree: How I Fought to Save Myself, My Sister, and Thousands of Girls Worldwide]]> 56620829 The "incredibly powerful" (Kirkus Reviews) story of the human rights activistwho changed the minds of her elders, reformed traditions from the inside, and is creating a better future for girls and women throughout Africa.

Nice Leng`ete was raised in a Maasai village in Kenya. In 1998, when Nice was six, her parents fell sick and died, and Nice and her sister Soila were taken in by their father’s brother, who had little interest in the girls beyond what their dowries might fetch. Fearing “the cut� (female genital mutilation, a painful and sometimes deadly ritualistic surgery), which was the fate of all Maasai women, Nice and Soila climbed a tree to hide.

Nice hoped to find a way to avoid the cut forever, but Soila understood it would be impossible. But maybe if one of the sisters submitted, the other would be spared. After Soila chose to undergo the surgery, sacrificing herself to save Nice, their lives diverged. Soila married, dropped out of school, and had children–all in her teenage years–while Nice postponed receiving the cut, continued her education, and became the first in her family to attend college.

Supported by Amref, Nice used visits home to set an example for what an uncut Maasai woman can achieve. Other women listened, and the elders finally saw the value of intact, educated girls as the way of the future. The village has since ended FGM entirely, and Nice continues the fight to end FGM throughout Africa, and the world.

Nice’s journey from “heartbroken child and community outcast, to leader of the Maasai� is an inspiration and a reminder that one person can change the world–and every girl is worth saving.]]> 240 Nice Leng'ete 0316463353 Carol 5 Born into the Maasai people of Kenya, the gradual dawning of the horrors of FGM leads Nice to run away. In doing so, she courageously opened up her own world through education and became a global human rights activist. It was a slow process, and there were setbacks, but working on the ground, within communities, she is changing not only traditions but also, laws.
She opened a refuge in 2021, and called it ‘A Nice Place�. Beautiful.
A personal and fulfilling triumph is saving her adored sister, Soila from an abusive husband.
Truth be told, she is still running ‘until all my dreams come true.� When ‘every girl in the world can live her life to the fullest�.]]> 4.46 2021 The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree: How I Fought to Save Myself, My Sister, and Thousands of Girls Worldwide
author: Nice Leng'ete
name: Carol
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/26
date added: 2024/06/26
shelves:
review:
An astonishing and humbling read (a ShelterBox choice), about how Nice Leng’ete has transformed the lives of many thousands of girls and women all over the world.
Born into the Maasai people of Kenya, the gradual dawning of the horrors of FGM leads Nice to run away. In doing so, she courageously opened up her own world through education and became a global human rights activist. It was a slow process, and there were setbacks, but working on the ground, within communities, she is changing not only traditions but also, laws.
She opened a refuge in 2021, and called it ‘A Nice Place�. Beautiful.
A personal and fulfilling triumph is saving her adored sister, Soila from an abusive husband.
Truth be told, she is still running ‘until all my dreams come true.� When ‘every girl in the world can live her life to the fullest�.
]]> The Women 127305853 From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie� McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 471 Kristin Hannah 1250178630 Carol 3 I was genuinely interested in learning about this war through which I lived but knew little other than the headline atrocities, and Hannah does bring it to vivid and visceral life and she takes us with Frankie to her first posting. A brilliant and incredibly empathetic nurse, her service is extraordinary. But then love rears its ugly head and it’s all downhill from then on. The story becomes a fest of heartbreak, tragedy, loss, grief, bad decisions in every conceivable form and context.
On the plus side, we learn a lot of important stuff about the role played by women, and the plight of families living in nearby villages.
But even so, this was too long and way too sentimental for my taste.]]> 4.59 2024 The Women
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Carol
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/17
date added: 2024/06/17
shelves:
review:
At its heart is Frankie, a newly qualified nurse who volunteers for duty in Vietnam, despite the recent loss of her brother Finlay and the disapproval of her socially polished wealthy parents, who pretend to friends that Frankie is studying in Florence.
I was genuinely interested in learning about this war through which I lived but knew little other than the headline atrocities, and Hannah does bring it to vivid and visceral life and she takes us with Frankie to her first posting. A brilliant and incredibly empathetic nurse, her service is extraordinary. But then love rears its ugly head and it’s all downhill from then on. The story becomes a fest of heartbreak, tragedy, loss, grief, bad decisions in every conceivable form and context.
On the plus side, we learn a lot of important stuff about the role played by women, and the plight of families living in nearby villages.
But even so, this was too long and way too sentimental for my taste.
]]> Kiss Kiss 44521
Originally published in 1960, Kiss Kiss brings together 11 of Roald's macabre adult tales. William and Mary was later adapted for Roald's American television series 'Way Out and several of the stories appeared in British television adaptations for the series Tales of the Unexpected in the 1980s. Also included here is The Champion of the World - the first time Roald wrote about the man who would go on to become Danny's dad in Danny the Champion of the World.

The stories featured in Kiss Kiss are:

The Landlady
William and Mary
The Way up to Heaven
Parson's Pleasure
Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat
Royal Jelly
Georgy Porgy
Genesis and Catastrophe
Edward the Conqueror
Pig
The Champion of the World
--roalddahl.com]]> 233 Roald Dahl 0140018328 Carol 4 But the appeal comes from anticipating what will be the twist in the tale/tail. Some are disturbing, some are funny, and some are truly sickening.
Enjoyed being diverted.]]> 4.09 1959 Kiss Kiss
author: Roald Dahl
name: Carol
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1959
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/17
date added: 2024/06/17
shelves:
review:
A collection of easy to read short stories. Weird tales, depending on weird characters in weird situations, doing weird things. And an unsuspecting, trusting victim.
But the appeal comes from anticipating what will be the twist in the tale/tail. Some are disturbing, some are funny, and some are truly sickening.
Enjoyed being diverted.
]]> Dear Life 13530981
Alice Munro's peerless ability to give us the essence of a life in often brief but always spacious and timeless stories is once again everywhere apparent in this brilliant new collection. In story after story, she illumines the moment a life is forever altered by a chance encounter or an action not taken, or by a simple twist of fate that turns a person out of his or her accustomed path and into a new way of being or thinking. A poet, finding herself in alien territory at her first literary party, is rescued by a seasoned newspaper columnist, and is soon hurtling across the continent, young child in tow, toward a hoped-for but completely unplanned meeting. A young soldier, returning to his fiancée from the Second World War, steps off the train before his stop and onto the farm of another woman, beginning a life on the move. A wealthy young woman having an affair with the married lawyer hired by her father to handle his estate comes up with a surprising way to deal with the blackmailer who finds them out.

While most of these stories take place in Munro's home territory - the small Canadian towns around Lake Huron - the characters sometimes venture to the cities, and the book ends with four pieces set in the area where she grew up, and in the time of her own childhood: stories "autobiographical in feeling, though not, sometimes, entirely so in fact." A girl who can't sleep imagines night after wakeful night that she kills her beloved younger sister. A mother snatches up her child and runs for dear life when a crazy woman comes into her yard.]]> 336 Alice Munro 0771064861 Carol 4 3.75 2011 Dear Life
author: Alice Munro
name: Carol
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/09
date added: 2024/06/09
shelves:
review:
Master storyteller and Nobel Laureate, Munro’s characters are ordinary, their lives are ordinary, but one moment, one decision is all it takes to find them on a new path. Understated, and unremarkable characters somehow make their way through unexpected dangers, challenges and encounters and emerge richer than ever. And like in much wonderful poetry, there are some twists in the final thought.
]]> The Bookbinder of Jericho 61410172 A young British woman working in a book bindery gets a chance to pursue knowledge and love when World War I upends her life in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words.

“Williams spins an immersive and compelling tale, sweeping us back to the Oxford she painted so expertly in The Dictionary of Lost Words.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press.

Ambitious, intelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her job is to bind the books, not read them—but as she folds and gathers pages, her mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Street, where the female students of Oxford’s Somerville College have a whole library at their fingertips. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerable, and Peggy feels compelled to watch over her.

Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgium, sending ripples through the Oxford community and the sisters� lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate herself and use her intellect, not just her hands. But as war and illness reshape her world, her love for a Belgian soldier—and the responsibility that comes with it—threaten to hold her back.

The Bookbinder is a story about knowledge—who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through women’s eyes.]]> 432 Pip Williams 1922806625 Carol 5 Peggy is torn when new social contacts and Belgian refugees begin to arrive as she volunteers for the VAD
Pip Williams explores many important themes through this story; social inequality and women’s rights for mr were the most interesting. Somerville College seems to haunt Peggy and she longs to study there. But a working class female stands little chance. And there is Maude to consider too.
This is not the only dilemma.
But again, for me, the painstaking research and knowledge which went into writing this novel, makes it worth 5 stars.]]> 4.07 2023 The Bookbinder of Jericho
author: Pip Williams
name: Carol
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/04
shelves:
review:
Such an immersive read about twin sisters, Peggy and Maude living on a narrowboat in Oxford during WW1. Peggy is clever snd ambitious, reads avidly and is ambitious. Maude is charming, undemanding but very vulnerable. And besides working in the Clarendon Press bookbinding company, it is Peggy’s life’s work to protect and guide Maude who copies what her sister does, folds paper on a little table at the bindery.
Peggy is torn when new social contacts and Belgian refugees begin to arrive as she volunteers for the VAD
Pip Williams explores many important themes through this story; social inequality and women’s rights for mr were the most interesting. Somerville College seems to haunt Peggy and she longs to study there. But a working class female stands little chance. And there is Maude to consider too.
This is not the only dilemma.
But again, for me, the painstaking research and knowledge which went into writing this novel, makes it worth 5 stars.
]]> <![CDATA[Stories of Your Life and Others]]> 223380 ]]> 281 Ted Chiang 0330426648 Carol 4 But reading Chiang’s stories, was a richly engaging experience.
Building a tower that reaches heaven, understanding rationally the meaning and structure of heptapods� spoken and written language, golems, basis of number theory, cognition, language, and even what we see with our own eyes are just some of his explorations. And there’s some time travelling too.
Each story could’ve been a novel, but Chiang uses the short story with polish and packs a punch.
Stories are largely set in a familiar world, populated by real people, and develop into probing discussions about possible scientific and technological changes which would radically change our world and our view of it.
I am reminded of ‘Flowers for Algernon� and of several encounters of Gulliver in Laputa.
Very grateful for ‘Story Notes� at the end. ]]> 4.28 2002 Stories of Your Life and Others
author: Ted Chiang
name: Carol
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves:
review:
I am not a fan of science fiction (except for the obvious classics), and nor am I by any stretch of the imagination, a scientist…or even a rational thinker.
But reading Chiang’s stories, was a richly engaging experience.
Building a tower that reaches heaven, understanding rationally the meaning and structure of heptapods� spoken and written language, golems, basis of number theory, cognition, language, and even what we see with our own eyes are just some of his explorations. And there’s some time travelling too.
Each story could’ve been a novel, but Chiang uses the short story with polish and packs a punch.
Stories are largely set in a familiar world, populated by real people, and develop into probing discussions about possible scientific and technological changes which would radically change our world and our view of it.
I am reminded of ‘Flowers for Algernon� and of several encounters of Gulliver in Laputa.
Very grateful for ‘Story Notes� at the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow]]> 58784475 In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.]]> 401 Gabrielle Zevin 0735243344 Carol 1 And the whole thing needs a good edit.]]> 4.12 2022 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: Carol
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 1
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:
I’m too old for this novel. The world of gaming has no appeal whatsoever for me, but more significantly, Sam and Sadie are only moderately interesting and the narrative style is pretentious and will date very quickly.
And the whole thing needs a good edit.
]]> <![CDATA[For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain]]> 61165321
In the year of 1413, two women meet for the first time in the city of Norwich.

Margery has left her fourteen children and husband behind to make her journey. Her visions of Christ - which have long alienated her from her family and neighbours, and incurred her husband's abuse - have placed her in danger with the men of the Church, who have begun to hound her as a heretic.

Julian, an anchoress, has not left Norwich, nor the cell to which she has been confined, for twenty-­three years. She has told no one of her own visions - and knows that time is running out for her to do so.

The two women have stories to tell one another. Stories about girlhood, motherhood, sickness, loss, doubt and belief; revelations more the powerful than the world is ready to hear. Their meeting will change everything.

Sensual, vivid and humane, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain cracks history open to reveal the lives of two extraordinary women]]> 166 Victoria Mackenzie 1526647885 Carol 4 In complete contrast, Margery abandoned her many children and loved her life in public, suffering a frenzied grief for Christ’s Passion and agonies.
Written with compassion, empathy and stripped of unnecessary literary decoration, we hear the ‘genuine� voices of the two women in alternating narrative voices. Victoria MacKenzie writes a brave and successful debut novel.]]> 3.81 2023 For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain
author: Victoria Mackenzie
name: Carol
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/07
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves:
review:
An absorbing and personal insight into mystical beliefs in Middle Age Britain, through the voices of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, both of whom actually existed.Julian lost both her husband and her baby to plague and tormented by grief, chose to spent the rest of her days as a solitary anchoress, in a sealed room against the wall of Norwich Cathedral. She remained a soul in torment and beyond her basic needs, had little contact with others, keeping her visions to herself.
In complete contrast, Margery abandoned her many children and loved her life in public, suffering a frenzied grief for Christ’s Passion and agonies.
Written with compassion, empathy and stripped of unnecessary literary decoration, we hear the ‘genuine� voices of the two women in alternating narrative voices. Victoria MacKenzie writes a brave and successful debut novel.
]]> <![CDATA[10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World]]> 43706466 An intensely powerful new novel from the best-selling author of The Bastard of Istanbul and Honour

'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore. Her brain cells, having run out of blood, were now completely deprived of oxygen. But they did not shut down. Not right away...'

For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . .]]> 312 Elif Shafak 0241293863 Carol 5 As her conscious mind slowly closes down, she sensually remembers moments which combine to magically transport the reader into the street of brothels, of cauldron makers, to the Cemetery of the Companionless. And in such places witness the harshness and brutality of Leila’s life, of lost opportunities, closed doors and misogyny. Of collisions between the traditional and modern worlds
But there is beauty too, in the female spirit,in love and in the all important friendships, another ‘Famous Five�, which never, ever, let her down.
Loved it. ]]> 4.09 2019 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
author: Elif Shafak
name: Carol
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/05/01
shelves:
review:
A captivating read from the inimitable Elif Shafak. Protagonist Tequila Leila recalls in the 10 minutes 38 seconds after her death, experiences of her all too short but rich and varied life in Istanbul.
As her conscious mind slowly closes down, she sensually remembers moments which combine to magically transport the reader into the street of brothels, of cauldron makers, to the Cemetery of the Companionless. And in such places witness the harshness and brutality of Leila’s life, of lost opportunities, closed doors and misogyny. Of collisions between the traditional and modern worlds
But there is beauty too, in the female spirit,in love and in the all important friendships, another ‘Famous Five�, which never, ever, let her down.
Loved it.
]]> With This Kiss 56345179 When their lips touch, will she seal his fate?

From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her best friend. But she carries a painful burden, something she’s kept hidden for years; whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die. But she’s never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was sixteen.

Then she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t� or can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change what she sees?

Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget.]]> 400 Carrie Hope Fletcher 0008400989 Carol 2 Sorry Carrie! ]]> 3.56 2022 With This Kiss
author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
name: Carol
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:
I really am past the stage of reading about kissing.
Sorry Carrie!
]]> This Lovely City 52384536 An atmospheric and utterly compelling debut novel about a Jamaican immigrant living in postwar London, This Lovely City shows that new arrivals have always been the prime suspects � but that even in the face of anger and fear, there is always hope.

London, 1950. With the war over and London still rebuilding, jazz musician Lawrie Matthews has answered England’s call for labour. Arriving from Jamaica aboard the Empire Windrush, he’s rented a tiny room in south London and fallen in love with the girl next door.

Playing in Soho’s jazz clubs by night and pacing the streets as a postman by day, Lawrie has poured his heart into his new home � and it’s alive with possibility. Until one morning, while crossing a misty common, he makes a terrible discovery.

As the local community rallies, fingers of blame point at those who were recently welcomed with open arms. And before long, London’s newest arrivals become the prime suspects in a tragedy that threatens to tear the city apart. Immersive, poignant, and utterly compelling, Louise Hare’s debut examines the complexities of love and belonging, and teaches us that even in the face of anger and fear, there is always hope.]]> 400 Louise Hare 0008332576 Carol 3 London doesn’t look lovely after the blitz but for the Caribbean newcomers, it’s the chance for a new life. But we all know the shameful way in which The Empire Windrush passengers were treated.
Despite clear racial barriers, sometimes spilling over into blatant hatred, our hero Lawrie, a talented jazz musician and genuinely hard working young man, tries so hard to make a go of things. But when he discovers a baby’s body on Clapham Common, Lawrie becomes number one suspect.
Not only does he have to battle the community, the law, his employer, but also the mother of his beloved Evie.
It’s a good story, shameful in its content and with some uncomfortable and revealing insights into a range of social and moral issues at the time, but for me, the unravelling of the plot took too long, and at times, too sentimental.
I wonder if things have changed that much?]]> 3.81 2020 This Lovely City
author: Louise Hare
name: Carol
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
shelves:
review:
This lovely city is London, and the time is just after the end of WW2.
London doesn’t look lovely after the blitz but for the Caribbean newcomers, it’s the chance for a new life. But we all know the shameful way in which The Empire Windrush passengers were treated.
Despite clear racial barriers, sometimes spilling over into blatant hatred, our hero Lawrie, a talented jazz musician and genuinely hard working young man, tries so hard to make a go of things. But when he discovers a baby’s body on Clapham Common, Lawrie becomes number one suspect.
Not only does he have to battle the community, the law, his employer, but also the mother of his beloved Evie.
It’s a good story, shameful in its content and with some uncomfortable and revealing insights into a range of social and moral issues at the time, but for me, the unravelling of the plot took too long, and at times, too sentimental.
I wonder if things have changed that much?
]]> Tin Man 31117613
Ellis and Michael are twelve when they first become friends, and for a long time it is just the two of them, cycling the streets of Oxford, teaching themselves how to swim, discovering poetry, and dodging the fists of an overbearing father. And then one day this closest of friendships grows into something more.

But then we fast forward a decade or so, to find that Ellis is married to Annie, and Michael is nowhere in sight. Which leads to the question, what happened in the years between?

This is almost a love story. But it's not as simple as that.]]> 213 Sarah Winman 0755390962 Carol 5 A beautiful, beautiful book about the power and tenderness and poignancy of love and friendship.
I loved spending time with Ellis, Michael and Annie. And especially the idyllic trip to Arles. Those sunflowers!]]> 3.94 2017 Tin Man
author: Sarah Winman
name: Carol
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/06
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves:
review:
The most difficult book to review adequately.
A beautiful, beautiful book about the power and tenderness and poignancy of love and friendship.
I loved spending time with Ellis, Michael and Annie. And especially the idyllic trip to Arles. Those sunflowers!
]]> Before the Queen Falls Asleep 122868734
Now middle-aged, each night Jihad tells her daughter a story from her life. As Maleka prepares to leave home to attend university abroad, her mother revisits the past of their Palestinian family, tenderly describing their life in exile in Kuwait and her own experiences of love and loss as she grows up.

Huzama Habayeb weaves a richly observed and affectionate portrait of a Palestinian family displaced from their homeland, exploring with humour and poise the love and betrayal that pursues Jihad and her family from Kuwait to Jordan to Dubai. This is a novel whose words will resound long after you finish the final page.

Translated from the Arabic by Kay Heikkinen]]> 258 حزامة حبايب 1529415667 Carol 5 She tells her story in episodes to her daughter Maleka (Queen), before she leaves to study in England.
And for us, these are not headline stories; we read those stories at the time of The Gulf War, but stories of family love, achievement, betrayal, need, hunger, and everything in between
Very funny and yet heartbreaking, the tangled lives finally somehow resolve.
Have to congratulate the translator Kay Heikkinen.]]> 3.54 2011 Before the Queen Falls Asleep
author: حزامة حبايب
name: Carol
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/06
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
Another wonderful book from @ShelterBox, allowing me into a world I’ve never experienced before. Jihad is our narrator, and she (yes), is one of many, many strong women in this story of displaced Palestinian families, moving from Kuwait, Jordan and Dubai as a result of invasion.
She tells her story in episodes to her daughter Maleka (Queen), before she leaves to study in England.
And for us, these are not headline stories; we read those stories at the time of The Gulf War, but stories of family love, achievement, betrayal, need, hunger, and everything in between
Very funny and yet heartbreaking, the tangled lives finally somehow resolve.
Have to congratulate the translator Kay Heikkinen.
]]> <![CDATA[Midnight at Malabar House (Malabar House #1)]]> 49544193 Bombay, New Year's Eve, 1949

As India celebrates the arrival of a momentous new decade, Inspector Persis Wadia stands vigil in the basement of Malabar House, home to the city's most unwanted unit of police officers. Six months after joining the force she remains India's first female police detective, mistrusted, sidelined and now consigned to the midnight shift.

And so, when the phone rings to report the murder of prominent English diplomat Sir James Herriot, the country's most sensational case falls into her lap.

As 1950 dawns and India prepares to become the world's largest republic, Persis, accompanied by Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, finds herself investigating a case that is becoming more political by the second. Navigating a country and society in turmoil, Persis, smart, stubborn and untested in the crucible of male hostility that surrounds her, must find a way to solve the murder - whatever the cost.

]]> 344 Vaseem Khan Carol 3 But for me, the main character Persis; female detective, the first in India has few redeeming features other than her courage and determination to solve the crime of who killed English diplomat Sir James Herriot.
She is single minded to the point of obsession, takes huge risks and is aggressively assertive almost to compensate for her gender.
In addition, the Agatha Christie type ending which puts Persis at centre stage is a touch pantomimic and the ending is a disappointment.]]> 3.93 2020 Midnight at Malabar House (Malabar House #1)
author: Vaseem Khan
name: Carol
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/01
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
My first @ShelterBox read. I very much enjoy books set in India because of the cultural, religious and social richness of this great country. These aspects along with a dearth of opportunities for even educated women beyond the domestic spheres are handled in detail, with authority and knowledge of the writer.
But for me, the main character Persis; female detective, the first in India has few redeeming features other than her courage and determination to solve the crime of who killed English diplomat Sir James Herriot.
She is single minded to the point of obsession, takes huge risks and is aggressively assertive almost to compensate for her gender.
In addition, the Agatha Christie type ending which puts Persis at centre stage is a touch pantomimic and the ending is a disappointment.
]]> The Color of Air 52585218 From the New York Times bestselling author of Women of the Silk and The Samurai's Garden comes a gorgeous and evocative historical novel about a Japanese-American family set against the backdrop of Hawai’i's sugar plantations.

Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel’s mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can’t wait to see Daniel, who he’s always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father. But Daniel’s arrival coincides with the awakening of the Mauna Loa volcano, and its dangerous path toward their village stirs both new and long ago passions in their community.

Alternating between past and present—from the day of the volcano eruption in 1935 to decades prior�The Color of Air interweaves the stories of Daniel, Koji, and Mariko to create a rich, vibrant, bittersweet chorus that celebrates their lifelong bond to one other and to their immigrant community. As Mauna Loa threatens their lives and livelihoods, it also unearths long held secrets simmering below the surface that meld past and present, revealing a path forward for them all.


]]> 304 Gail Tsukiyama 0062976192 Carol 5 At the same time as native son Danny leaves his doctoring in Chicago and arrives back in Hawaii, his high school girlfriend Maile also returns but from a troubled and abusive relationship. Their returns coincide with the rumblings and spitting cascades of fire from Maura Loa (locally Pele)
Never having left Hawaii, Daniel’s Uncle Koji lived for his love, Daniel’s mother Marika, having been abandoned by Daniel’s father Franklin.
Interspersed through the main narrative are ‘Ghost Voices� of the older generation when they were in their prime.
So it’s a historical novel, but unchanging are the traditions; the fish market, the sugar plantations, the glorious beauty of the natural world, and the island’s traditions of aunties making leis (garlands) for any communal event. And here, there is real joy.
And in the background all the time is the rumbling volcano; feared, respected and almost a character in itself.]]> 3.73 2020 The Color of Air
author: Gail Tsukiyama
name: Carol
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/06
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
Thank you @ShelterBox for this beautiful read.
At the same time as native son Danny leaves his doctoring in Chicago and arrives back in Hawaii, his high school girlfriend Maile also returns but from a troubled and abusive relationship. Their returns coincide with the rumblings and spitting cascades of fire from Maura Loa (locally Pele)
Never having left Hawaii, Daniel’s Uncle Koji lived for his love, Daniel’s mother Marika, having been abandoned by Daniel’s father Franklin.
Interspersed through the main narrative are ‘Ghost Voices� of the older generation when they were in their prime.
So it’s a historical novel, but unchanging are the traditions; the fish market, the sugar plantations, the glorious beauty of the natural world, and the island’s traditions of aunties making leis (garlands) for any communal event. And here, there is real joy.
And in the background all the time is the rumbling volcano; feared, respected and almost a character in itself.
]]> The Selfless Act of Breathing 56898266 Transcendent Kingdom meets A Man Called Ove in this heartwarming novel about a Congolese-British Londoner who decides to go on one last adventure in the United States, determined to end his life once his savings run out.

As a charismatic teacher living in London, Michael Kabongo strives to alleviate the injustices he sees around him: for the students who long for better lives, in memory of his father’s tragic death, and to end the violent marginalization of Black men around the world.

But after a devastating loss, he decides to embark on an adventure in the land of the free—the United States of America. From Dallas to San Francisco, Michael parties with new friends, engages in fleeting romances, splurges on thrilling escapades, all with the intention of ending his life once all his savings run out.

As he makes surprising new connections and faces old prejudices in odd but exciting new settings, Michael alone must decide if his life is worth living after all...]]> 272 J.J. Bola 1982175567 Carol 4 determines to end his life once his money runs out, on his final trip to America. The beginning is intriguing and the ending is beautiful, but in between, it’s a tiresome and repetitive, though there are some great characters.
From The Congo, he becomes a teacher in a London city comp, full of students who in some way or other are suffering from a lack of something…money, opportunity, interest, social contacts. He develops a ‘work husband� relationship with Sandra, which seems fun, but doesn’t last. Michael is unpredictable and moody in a context which demands imagination, self control and self discipline. He unforgivably develops a ‘pet project�, the mentoring and protecting of one pupil. Duwayne is troubled�.but so are many other kids.
Life in America is hectic and the same old problems are reworked. Essentially, it’s Michael who needs to come to terms with life’s cruelty…and only he can find a way through for himself.]]> 3.58 2021 The Selfless Act of Breathing
author: J.J. Bola
name: Carol
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
A really interesting read from @ShelterBox. I really struggled to feel any real compassion for the protagonist Michael, who
determines to end his life once his money runs out, on his final trip to America. The beginning is intriguing and the ending is beautiful, but in between, it’s a tiresome and repetitive, though there are some great characters.
From The Congo, he becomes a teacher in a London city comp, full of students who in some way or other are suffering from a lack of something…money, opportunity, interest, social contacts. He develops a ‘work husband� relationship with Sandra, which seems fun, but doesn’t last. Michael is unpredictable and moody in a context which demands imagination, self control and self discipline. He unforgivably develops a ‘pet project�, the mentoring and protecting of one pupil. Duwayne is troubled�.but so are many other kids.
Life in America is hectic and the same old problems are reworked. Essentially, it’s Michael who needs to come to terms with life’s cruelty…and only he can find a way through for himself.
]]> <![CDATA[Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller]]> 56269272
In 2002, with her sister, Hind, and their friend, Nihal, she founded Diwan, a fiercely independent bookstore. They were three young women with no business degrees, no formal training, and nothing to lose. At the time, nothing like Diwan existed in Egypt. Culture was languishing under government mismanagement, and books were considered a luxury, not a necessity. Ten years later, Diwan had become a rousing success, with ten locations, 150 employees, and a fervent fan base.

Frank, fresh, and very funny, Nadia Wassef's memoir tells the story of this journey. Its eclectic cast of characters features Diwan's impassioned regulars, like the demanding Dr. Medhat; Samir, the driver with CEO aspirations; meditative and mythical Nihal; silent but deadly Hind; dictatorial and exacting Nadia, a self-proclaimed bitch to work with--and the many people, mostly men, who said Diwan would never work.

Shelf Life is a portrait of a country hurtling toward revolution, a feminist rallying cry, and an unapologetic crash course in running a business under the law of entropy. Above all, it is a celebration of the power of words to bring us home.]]> 240 Nadia Wassef 037460018X Carol 3 The hurdles and setbacks are many, but their determination remains undaunted in the face of many changes in a ruling regime, and threat of revolution. And Diwan proves to be a huge success.
There is much to interest the reader, particularly about traditional Egyptian culture, and the joy and importance of reading jumps off the page.
But personally I found the writer’s tone to be unsympathetic and arrogant. She is honest about herself, admits mistakes and defeat, eg of the Cairo Uni branch, but nonetheless is superior and alienated my sympathies. The interview with the writer, as usual, helped me appreciate the achievement of this book.]]> 3.58 2021 Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller
author: Nadia Wassef
name: Carol
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/17
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
Thank you, @ShelterBox, for this powerful read. Nadia, along with her sister, Hind and their friend, Nihal, pursue relentlessly their shared ambition to open a independent bookshop in Cairo, at a time when books were not accessible to the public, and not valued or even considered essential by a government.
The hurdles and setbacks are many, but their determination remains undaunted in the face of many changes in a ruling regime, and threat of revolution. And Diwan proves to be a huge success.
There is much to interest the reader, particularly about traditional Egyptian culture, and the joy and importance of reading jumps off the page.
But personally I found the writer’s tone to be unsympathetic and arrogant. She is honest about herself, admits mistakes and defeat, eg of the Cairo Uni branch, but nonetheless is superior and alienated my sympathies. The interview with the writer, as usual, helped me appreciate the achievement of this book.
]]> Mexican Gothic 53152636
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 320 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 0525620788 Carol 4 The forest in the clouds is a wonderful setting for the creaky once High Place grand mansion. And the narrative itself is menacing and yet seductive in a very lyrical way.
The glamorous Noemi proves to be much more than a cocktail swilling debutante when she gets embroiled in the strangeness of the house so distant from urban Mexico.]]> 3.66 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Carol
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/08
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
Loved this @ShelterBox choice.Didn’t realise there was Mexican Gothic, but it’s rich, exotic and magical.
The forest in the clouds is a wonderful setting for the creaky once High Place grand mansion. And the narrative itself is menacing and yet seductive in a very lyrical way.
The glamorous Noemi proves to be much more than a cocktail swilling debutante when she gets embroiled in the strangeness of the house so distant from urban Mexico.
]]> Farewell Fountain Street 61054933
Selçuk Altun romanlarının bildiğimiz muzip ve gizemli atmosferine kör bir Osmanlı çeşmesinin tanıklığında davet ediliyoruz. Romanın iki ana karakterini bekleyen büyük sırra doğru yaklaşırken, ustaca aktarılan ilginç yan hikâyelerle pek çok tarihi olaya, kişiye, sanat yapıtına kısacası hayata dair bilgilerle de donanıyoruz.]]> 224 Selçuk Altun 184659216X Carol 3 Bey is from an aristocratic family with connections historically to royalty, so we learn a lot about Istanbul’s rich history and culture and its upper classes.
Sharing such personal confidences bring the men close together; and the final unravelling is an epiphany for the reader.
The only other memorable incident though, is when Artvin is the victim of a horrendous and life changing event early on in the novel.
The main issues for me, and which puzzled me are that this is not in the thriller genre, though that is how it’s ‘sold� to us. There is hardly a moment of tension. But even worse, is the flat, pedestrian writing style. There is no variety of pace or exploration of feeling and little poetic language. And the lack of narrative structure, as Bey gets sidetracked, gives us interminable and irrelevant back stories and family trees of endless characters, whom we never meet and who disappear without further relevance.
Very disappointing. Could’ve been so rich.
But the follow up discussion with the writer really helped. Thank you, @ShelterBox.]]> 2.96 2020 Farewell Fountain Street
author: Selçuk Altun
name: Carol
average rating: 2.96
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/23
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
Set in Istanbul, this novel has the potential to be fascinating. Philosopher Professor Ziya Bey is coming to the end of his life and wishes to share his memories. He chooses Artvin, a brilliant but very troubled academic.
Bey is from an aristocratic family with connections historically to royalty, so we learn a lot about Istanbul’s rich history and culture and its upper classes.
Sharing such personal confidences bring the men close together; and the final unravelling is an epiphany for the reader.
The only other memorable incident though, is when Artvin is the victim of a horrendous and life changing event early on in the novel.
The main issues for me, and which puzzled me are that this is not in the thriller genre, though that is how it’s ‘sold� to us. There is hardly a moment of tension. But even worse, is the flat, pedestrian writing style. There is no variety of pace or exploration of feeling and little poetic language. And the lack of narrative structure, as Bey gets sidetracked, gives us interminable and irrelevant back stories and family trees of endless characters, whom we never meet and who disappear without further relevance.
Very disappointing. Could’ve been so rich.
But the follow up discussion with the writer really helped. Thank you, @ShelterBox.
]]> <![CDATA[Rachel's Holiday (Walsh Family, #2)]]> 9301
But what Rachel doesn’t count on are the toe-curling embarrassments heaped on her by family and group therapy, the dearth of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll � and missing Luke, her ex. What kind of a new start in life is this?]]> 578 Marian Keyes 0060090383 Carol 4 She anticipates celebrity guests, saunas, glamour, but is deeply disturbed to find she is the only resident who doesn’t have a problem among an oddball company of uglies, misfits, the deeply disturbed and the gluttonous.
But�..she learns; slowly and painfully, she learns.
Funny, bleak, authentic and incredibly, full of hope. Bravo Marian Keyes. ]]> 3.99 1997 Rachel's Holiday (Walsh Family, #2)
author: Marian Keyes
name: Carol
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves:
review:
Rachel’s ‘holiday�, is time off from cocaine, alcohol and generally the path to self-destruction. Grim indeed and deeply moving, Rachel’s parents book her at great self-sacrifice and despairing, into ‘Cloisters�, a Dublin rehab facility run with discipline and routine partly by nuns and partly by medics.
She anticipates celebrity guests, saunas, glamour, but is deeply disturbed to find she is the only resident who doesn’t have a problem among an oddball company of uglies, misfits, the deeply disturbed and the gluttonous.
But�..she learns; slowly and painfully, she learns.
Funny, bleak, authentic and incredibly, full of hope. Bravo Marian Keyes.
]]> Uncommon Type 34389773 A collection of seventeen wonderful short stories showing that two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks is as talented a writer as he is an actor.

A gentle Eastern European immigrant arrives in New York City after his family and his life have been torn apart by his country's civil war. A man who loves to bowl rolls a perfect game--and then another and then another and then many more in a row until he winds up ESPN's newest celebrity, and he must decide if the combination of perfection and celebrity has ruined the thing he loves. An eccentric billionaire and his faithful executive assistant venture into America looking for acquisitions and discover a down and out motel, romance, and a bit of real life. These are just some of the tales Tom Hanks tells in this first collection of his short stories. They are surprising, intelligent, heartwarming, and, for the millions and millions of Tom Hanks fans, an absolute must-have!]]> 405 Tom Hanks 1101946156 Carol 1 3.41 2017 Uncommon Type
author: Tom Hanks
name: Carol
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2017
rating: 1
read at: 2024/03/26
date added: 2024/03/27
shelves:
review:
I don’t think Tom Hanks has quite mastered the art of storytelling.
]]> <![CDATA[The Crusader's Cross (Ben Hope #24)]]> 57932097 THEY THOUGHT WRONG.

It’s a snowy, peaceful Christmas at Le Val, the rural haven that is home to ex-SAS soldier Ben Hope and his associates. With most of the team away for the festive holiday, Ben, recovering from an accident, is one of the skeleton crew guarding the compound. That’s when a ruthless Corsican crime gang, knowing that Ben is injured and out of action, target the location for a violent raid.

With help from his faithful canine companion, Storm, Ben thwarts the attack � but not before the raiders claim several victims among his best friends. Now he must embark on a personal revenge mission to catch the sole remaining killer, the psychopathic Petru Navarro.

Ben’s quest takes him across France into the lawless gangland of Corsica, his only real lead a priceless historic gold cross that is now in Navarro’s hands. If Ben can find it, he’ll find his enemy. But taking down this murderous psycho is another matter . . .]]> 388 Scott Mariani 0008365563 Carol 3 But as they go, from my limited experience I would have thought this a really good example of the thriller genre. ]]> 4.32 2021 The Crusader's Cross (Ben Hope #24)
author: Scott Mariani
name: Carol
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/17
date added: 2024/03/18
shelves:
review:
I don’t read many of these generic thrillers featuring a crime family, good guy outnumbered but tenacious, overwhelmed but stubborn, despite multiple injuries and about 20 highly trained hard-core crooks, who can act without conscience and disappear into the night.
But as they go, from my limited experience I would have thought this a really good example of the thriller genre.
]]> Girl in a Blue Dress 3916763
At the end of her life, Catherine, the cast-off wife of Charles Dickens, gave the letters she had received from her husband to their daughter Kate, asking her to donate them to the British Museum, “so the world may know that he loved me once.� The incredible vulnerability and heartache evident beneath the surface of this remark inspired Gaynor Arnold to write Girl in a Blue Dress, a dazzling debut novel inspired by the life of this tragic yet devoted woman. Arnold brings the spirit of Catherine Dickens to life in the form of Dorothea “Dodo� Gibson–a woman who is doomed to live in the shadow of her husband, Alfred, the most celebrated author in the Victorian world.

The story opens on the day of Alfred’s funeral. Dorothea is not among the throngs in attendance when The One and Only is laid to rest. Her mourning must take place within the walls of her modest apartment, a parting gift from Alfred as he ushered her out of their shared home and his life more than a decade earlier. Even her own children, save her outspoken daughter Kitty, are not there to offer her comfort–they were poisoned against her when Alfred publicly declared her an unfit wife and mother. Though she refuses to don the proper mourning attire, Dodo cannot bring herself to demonize her late husband, something that comes all too easily to Kitty.

Instead, she reflects on their time together–their clandestine and passionate courtship, when he was a force of nature and she a willing follower; and the salad days of their marriage, before too many children sapped her vitality and his interest. She uncovers the frighteningly hypnotic power of the celebrity author she married. Now liberated from his hold on her, Dodo finds the courage to face her adult children, the sister who betrayed her, and the charming actress who claimed her husband’s love and left her heart aching.

A sweeping tale of love and loss that was long-listed for both the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize, Girl in a Blue Dress is both an intimate peek at the woman who was behind one of literature’s most esteemed men and a fascinating rumination on marriage that will resonate across centuries.]]> 442 Gaynor Arnold 0955647614 Carol 5 While thousands mourn, Dodo is left alone with her thoughts and memories and her housekeeper in a modest house, to ruminate.
Until eventually she faces her estranged children, her sister who replaced her in her marital home, and the young actress with whom Alfred was obsessed.
This mammoth task is executed in vivid detail. Victorian London comes alive, characterisation is utterly convincing and the portrayal of the charismatic, mercurial Alfred both attracts and repels us.
But Dodo remains faithful to his memory, thankful for his love and their early glory days.
The style of Arnold’s writing is authentically Dickensian in itself. The novel is long, richly written, with plenty of dialogue, emotion and description.
Such an achievement. ]]> 3.54 2008 Girl in a Blue Dress
author: Gaynor Arnold
name: Carol
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/14
date added: 2024/03/14
shelves:
review:
Fascinating and brave. Gaynor Arnold’s work of fiction explores the possible life of Dickens� wife in Victorian London. She renames the main players, invents a few and really shines a light on a difficult and painful life for Dodo (Dorothea) wife of Alfred ‘The One and Only�. Following a heady, passionate and glorious few years in which like her sovereign, was dominated by pregnancy and childbirth, the now ‘stout� and exhausted Dodo loses her attraction for the most celebrated and arguably the best English novelist. He was utterly devoted to his adoring children, his adoring public whom he entertains and amuses gloriously, and of course his work. While Dodo is burdened with their many children and the strain of being hostess and a pale, uninteresting figure within the social scene which so embraced Alfred.
While thousands mourn, Dodo is left alone with her thoughts and memories and her housekeeper in a modest house, to ruminate.
Until eventually she faces her estranged children, her sister who replaced her in her marital home, and the young actress with whom Alfred was obsessed.
This mammoth task is executed in vivid detail. Victorian London comes alive, characterisation is utterly convincing and the portrayal of the charismatic, mercurial Alfred both attracts and repels us.
But Dodo remains faithful to his memory, thankful for his love and their early glory days.
The style of Arnold’s writing is authentically Dickensian in itself. The novel is long, richly written, with plenty of dialogue, emotion and description.
Such an achievement.
]]> <![CDATA[The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story]]> 25362017
As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal totalitarian regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and to realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told “the best on the planet�?

Aged seventeen, she decided to escape North Korea. She could not have imagined that it would be twelve years before she was reunited with her family.

She could not return, since rumours of her escape were spreading, and she and her family could incur the punishments of the government authorities � involving imprisonment, torture, and possible public execution. Hyeonseo instead remained in China and rapidly learned Chinese in an effort to adapt and survive. Twelve years and two lifetimes later, she would return to the North Korean border in a daring mission to spirit her mother and brother to South Korea, on one of the most arduous, costly and dangerous journeys imaginable.

This is the unique story not only of Hyeonseo’s escape from the darkness into the light, but also of her coming of age, education and the resolve she found to rebuild her life � not once, but twice � first in China, then in South Korea. Strong, brave and eloquent, this memoir is a triumph of her remarkable spirit.]]> 304 Hyeonseo Lee 0007554834 Carol 5 She demonstrates an awe inspiring spirit as she negotiates her way round officials and regulations to achieve what she wants, despite at times being a heartbeat away from destitution or capture or worse.
I rarely read biography, but this is beyond anything which I can imagine.]]> 4.36 2014 The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story
author: Hyeonseo Lee
name: Carol
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/11
date added: 2024/03/11
shelves:
review:
A captivating read. The story of Lee’s defection to South Korea via China and her tireless efforts to secure her mother’s and brother’s journey to join her are testament to her courage and determination; her ambition and intelligence.
She demonstrates an awe inspiring spirit as she negotiates her way round officials and regulations to achieve what she wants, despite at times being a heartbeat away from destitution or capture or worse.
I rarely read biography, but this is beyond anything which I can imagine.
]]> The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) 55196813
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 304 Nita Prose 0593356152 Carol 3 Clearly neurodivergent, Molly gets herself into unbelievable trouble when she finds the body of a very important and wealthy businessman in one of her rooms. And so the book becomes a thriller. Molly is suddenly prison, in court, accusations pile on. But she shows courage and is ultimately instrumental in solving the crime.
If only the ending hadn’t relied on coincidence and contrived detail, this would have been such a good read.]]> 3.71 2022 The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)
author: Nita Prose
name: Carol
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/03/01
shelves:
review:
Molly is a maid at The Regency Hotel and she shows us how she negotiates her world. Brought up by her Gran, she has very high standards of work and behaviour. Perfection is her aim and her rooms are pristine. She is always polite, does not understand nuance and has little sense of fun. But she is safe and happy in her world. Guests like her and so does the management but colleagues are less than kind. And we know she is an unreliable narrator, misjudging characters and motives.
Clearly neurodivergent, Molly gets herself into unbelievable trouble when she finds the body of a very important and wealthy businessman in one of her rooms. And so the book becomes a thriller. Molly is suddenly prison, in court, accusations pile on. But she shows courage and is ultimately instrumental in solving the crime.
If only the ending hadn’t relied on coincidence and contrived detail, this would have been such a good read.
]]> Leonard and Hungry Paul 48595115
Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends trying to find their place in the world. It is about the uncelebrated people of this world. And it asks a surprisingly enthralling question: Can kind people change the world?]]> 252 Ronan Hession 161219849X Carol 5
But…there is something enviable, incredibly powerful and moving going on. And that is kindness and contentment. Hungry Paul’s chat to his sister Grace. on the eve of her wedding couldn’t be wiser, yet is completely artless. It could be a blueprint for a happy life and erase the plague of many current mental health issues.

Neither Leonard nor Hungry Paul hide from the truth of themselves, so the book is like a course of therapy.
And so beautifully written.]]> 4.14 2019 Leonard and Hungry Paul
author: Ronan Hession
name: Carol
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/17
date added: 2024/02/22
shelves:
review:
A wonderful book. Quietly tells the story of friends Leonard and Hungry Paul. They lead unremarkable, modest lives, and draw no attention to themselves. Definitely wouldn’t engage with social media, but regularly play board games.

But…there is something enviable, incredibly powerful and moving going on. And that is kindness and contentment. Hungry Paul’s chat to his sister Grace. on the eve of her wedding couldn’t be wiser, yet is completely artless. It could be a blueprint for a happy life and erase the plague of many current mental health issues.

Neither Leonard nor Hungry Paul hide from the truth of themselves, so the book is like a course of therapy.
And so beautifully written.
]]> I Capture the Castle 31122 408 Dodie Smith 0312181108 Carol 5 I found the characters sympathetically drawn despite their flaws, and the whole narrative so skilful, it just drew me effortlessly into each scenario and situation.
And yet, it’s packed with very important questions and truths about love, class, sanity and above all, sincerity.
Quintessentially English, the countryside is immersive, like a picture you can see and magically walk into.]]> 3.99 1948 I Capture the Castle
author: Dodie Smith
name: Carol
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1948
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/08
date added: 2024/02/14
shelves:
review:
Nothing I could say would do justice to this wonderful book. Beautiful coming of age story. The Mortmains are dirt poor, live in a crumbling Suffolk castle where their brilliant, eccentric father and flamboyant, quirky stepmother Topaz somehow function, with their teenage daughters Rose and Cassandra and schoolboy brother, Thomas.
I found the characters sympathetically drawn despite their flaws, and the whole narrative so skilful, it just drew me effortlessly into each scenario and situation.
And yet, it’s packed with very important questions and truths about love, class, sanity and above all, sincerity.
Quintessentially English, the countryside is immersive, like a picture you can see and magically walk into.
]]> Water 195100472
But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes?

Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.]]> 176 John Boyne 0857529811 Carol 5 The only way his wife, Vanessa can cope is to adopt a new persona, take herself off alone and live a simple, basic life on an island with few locals and ferocious storms. And a fairly bad tempered cat called bananas. And the delicious Luke.
She copes…and is reborn.]]> 4.29 2023 Water
author: John Boyne
name: Carol
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/11
date added: 2024/02/11
shelves:
review:
What is it with men who blame women when they’re convicted and get a custodial sentence for sex crimes? This one is a swimming coach working with young girls, including his own daughter, for pity’s sake.
The only way his wife, Vanessa can cope is to adopt a new persona, take herself off alone and live a simple, basic life on an island with few locals and ferocious storms. And a fairly bad tempered cat called bananas. And the delicious Luke.
She copes…and is reborn.
]]> The Manningtree Witches 55274918
In Manningtree, depleted of men since the wars began, the women are left to their own devices. At the margins of this diminished community are those who are barely tolerated by the affluent villagers - the old, the poor, the unmarried, the sharp-tongued. Rebecca West, daughter of the formidable Beldam West, fatherless and husbandless, chafes against the drudgery of her days, livened only by her infatuation with the clerk John Edes. But then newcomer Matthew Hopkins, a mysterious, pious figure dressed from head to toe in black, takes over The Thorn Inn and begins to ask questions about the women of the margins. When a child falls ill with a fever and starts to rave about covens and pacts, the questions take on a bladed edge.

The Manningtree Witches plunges its readers into the fever and menace of the English witch trials, where suspicion, mistrust and betrayal ran amok as the power of men went unchecked and the integrity of women went undefended. It is a visceral, thrilling book that announces a bold new talent.]]> 295 A.K. Blakemore 1783786434 Carol 4 We are transported vividly into the Essex country villages and into the lives of dirt poor Rebecca West, and her mercurial and indomitable mother, Beldam West. Such women are treated with suspicion and superstition which drives those in authority and those with wealth and influence.
Enter Matthew Hopkins, ‘Witchfinder�, himself devilish in black and cruelly zealous in his ‘mission� to bring these women to ‘justice�.
Some fabulous imagery of the countryside, the light, the weather, the views, but Blakemore spares us nothing as she transports us to foul living conditions only marginally better than animals�. And viscerally to prisons where unspeakable deprivation and humiliating tortures are inflicted for months prior to hanging; one victim so light and frail she has to be pulled down.
In a refreshing ending, hopes rise for Rebecca; clever, talented and adventurous.
Thank you #NetGalley and #Granta for my digital download.]]> 3.80 2021 The Manningtree Witches
author: A.K. Blakemore
name: Carol
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/02/13
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves:
review:
It is 1643; the English Civil War rages and the women of the country were left to eke out what few resources they had.
We are transported vividly into the Essex country villages and into the lives of dirt poor Rebecca West, and her mercurial and indomitable mother, Beldam West. Such women are treated with suspicion and superstition which drives those in authority and those with wealth and influence.
Enter Matthew Hopkins, ‘Witchfinder�, himself devilish in black and cruelly zealous in his ‘mission� to bring these women to ‘justice�.
Some fabulous imagery of the countryside, the light, the weather, the views, but Blakemore spares us nothing as she transports us to foul living conditions only marginally better than animals�. And viscerally to prisons where unspeakable deprivation and humiliating tortures are inflicted for months prior to hanging; one victim so light and frail she has to be pulled down.
In a refreshing ending, hopes rise for Rebecca; clever, talented and adventurous.
Thank you #NetGalley and #Granta for my digital download.
]]> <![CDATA[Ithaca (The Songs of Penelope, #1)]]> 59416521
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door.

No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.

This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca’s shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses� that will change the course of the world.]]> 391 Claire North Carol 3 It seemed a chaotic book to me, with little cohesion in either style or plot lines. The narrative voice of Hera, goddess of queens and wives varies in register from the formal lyrical to modern idiom, so it was difficult to fathom her attitudes. Also the tenses kept changing, so what is or what had or might happen often collided.
Plot lines shifted from mortals to gods and back again, and the mercurial nature of the gods interfering in the affairs of men added a further layer of confusion.
And finally, I would challenge the need for a simplistic and stereotypical ‘feminist retelling�. The men do nothing but gorge themselves on wine, food and women, they quarrel and do little to attract any interest or sympathy. The mortal women are loyal, secretive, brave and clever. Particularly, the hapless Penelope, weaving her father-in-law’s shroud interminably. The goddesses on the other hand are tiresomely competitive and childish. ]]> 3.69 2022 Ithaca (The Songs of Penelope, #1)
author: Claire North
name: Carol
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/03
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves:
review:
Took me forever to get through this. I’ve read a few other modern retellings of myths which are so much better than this, though I know Claire North is a favourite of many.
It seemed a chaotic book to me, with little cohesion in either style or plot lines. The narrative voice of Hera, goddess of queens and wives varies in register from the formal lyrical to modern idiom, so it was difficult to fathom her attitudes. Also the tenses kept changing, so what is or what had or might happen often collided.
Plot lines shifted from mortals to gods and back again, and the mercurial nature of the gods interfering in the affairs of men added a further layer of confusion.
And finally, I would challenge the need for a simplistic and stereotypical ‘feminist retelling�. The men do nothing but gorge themselves on wine, food and women, they quarrel and do little to attract any interest or sympathy. The mortal women are loyal, secretive, brave and clever. Particularly, the hapless Penelope, weaving her father-in-law’s shroud interminably. The goddesses on the other hand are tiresomely competitive and childish.
]]> Private Revolutions 199444758 A sweeping yet intimate portrait of modern China told through the lives of four ordinary women striving for a better future in a highly unequal societyWhile serving as the deputy Beijing bureau chief of the Financial Times, Chinese-British journalist Yuan Yang began to notice common threads in the lives of her Chinese peers—women born during China’s turn toward capitalism in the 1980s and 1990s, who, despite the country's enormous economic gains during their lifetimes, were coming up against deeply entrenched barriers as they sought to achieve financial stability.The product of seven years of intimate, in-depth reporting, this transporting and indelible booktraces the journey of four such women as they try to make better lives for themselves and their families in the new Chinese economy. June and Siyue are among the few in their villages to graduate high school. Each makes her way to Beijing, June as a young professional and Siyue an entrepreneur. Like Siyue, Leiya lives with her grandparents in their village while her parents send money home; yearning for a different life than those of the women she sees around her, Leiya soon joins her parents in Shenzhen as an underage factory worker. Born to an urban middle-class family, Sam is outraged when her eyes are opened the poor treatment of workers, and becomes a labor activist, increasingly under threat by the authorities.As the women grapple with government policies that threaten their businesses, their children's access to education, their choice of where to make a home, and, in Sam’s case, their lives, a vivid, damning, and urgent picture emerges of the previously unseen human cost of China’s rising economic tide—and the courage and perseverance of those caught in the swell.]]> 304 Yuan Yang Carol 5 Written by a Chinese-British journalist, Yuan Yang traces the lives of these young women during the economic boom of the 1980s when opportunities opened up, but demanded a move from rural poverty to the more affluent cities.
But my goodness, are there hurdles to overcome. So many traditional rules and regulations about residency and consequent entitlement or limitation, traditionally, exhaustingly long hours toiling in factories or on the land, missed opportunities and family pressures. But in their own, and very different way, these four do overcome these hurdles, stumbling maybe, but overall, successfully. And the lives they build for themselves are testament to courage, determination and initiative.

This is an important book, which I will never forget.
Bravo Yuan Yang and thank you #NetGalley and #Bloomsburypublishing plc (UK and ANZ) for my re-release download.]]> 4.13 2024 Private Revolutions
author: Yuan Yang
name: Carol
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/22
date added: 2024/01/22
shelves:
review:
An astonishing, painstaking and often painful to read work, about the lives of four modern individual Chinese women set against the wider and almost inconceivably vast population of hundreds of millions of people and hundreds of years of tradition.
Written by a Chinese-British journalist, Yuan Yang traces the lives of these young women during the economic boom of the 1980s when opportunities opened up, but demanded a move from rural poverty to the more affluent cities.
But my goodness, are there hurdles to overcome. So many traditional rules and regulations about residency and consequent entitlement or limitation, traditionally, exhaustingly long hours toiling in factories or on the land, missed opportunities and family pressures. But in their own, and very different way, these four do overcome these hurdles, stumbling maybe, but overall, successfully. And the lives they build for themselves are testament to courage, determination and initiative.

This is an important book, which I will never forget.
Bravo Yuan Yang and thank you #NetGalley and #Bloomsburypublishing plc (UK and ANZ) for my re-release download.
]]> The Magic Mountain 88077
The Magic Mountain is a monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, a book that pulses with life in the midst of death.]]> 706 Thomas Mann Carol 0 currently-reading 4.12 1924 The Magic Mountain
author: Thomas Mann
name: Carol
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1924
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days]]> 29502605
For years Jeanette Winterson has loved writing a new story at Christmas time and here she brings together twelve of her brilliantly imaginative, funny and bold tales. For the Twelve Days of Christmas—a time of celebration, sharing, and giving—she offers these twelve plus one: a personal story of her own Christmas memories. These tales give the reader a portal into the spirit of the season, where time slows down and magic starts to happen. From trees with mysterious powers to a tinsel baby that talks, philosophical fairies to flying dogs, a haunted house and a disappearing train, Winterson's innovative stories encompass the childlike and spooky wonder of Christmas. Perfect for reading by the fire with loved ones, or while traveling home for the holidays. Enjoy the season of peace and goodwill, mystery, and a little bit of magic courtesy of one of our most fearless and accomplished writers.]]> 293 Jeanette Winterson 0802125832 Carol 5 Stories vary from the nativity, to Victorian ghosts, and recipes from sherry trifle to turkey kebabs.


]]> 3.98 2016 Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days
author: Jeanette Winterson
name: Carol
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/30
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:
Lovely book. Alternate recipes and short stories and plenty of discussion about much loved Christmas traditions.
Stories vary from the nativity, to Victorian ghosts, and recipes from sherry trifle to turkey kebabs.



]]> Dear Santa 57392462 A special holiday wish list brings about hope, love, and second chances in this nostalgic novel from the queen of Christmas stories, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

Lindy Carmichael isn't feeling particularly joyful when she returns home to Wenatchee, Washington, for Christmas. The man she thought was "the one" has cheated on her with her best friend, and she feels completely devoid of creativity in her graphic-design job. Not even carolers or Christmas cookies can cheer her up--but Lindy's mother, Ellen, remembers an old tradition that might lift her daughter's spirits.

Reading through a box of childhood letters to Santa and reminiscing about what she'd wished for as a young girl may be just the inspiration Lindy needs. With Ellen's encouragement, she decides to write a new letter to Santa, one that will encourage her to have faith and believe just as she'd done all those years ago. Little does Lindy know that this exercise in gratitude will cause her wishes to unfold before her in miraculous ways. And, thanks to some fateful twists of Christmas magic--especially an unexpected connection with a handsome former classmate--Lindy ultimately realizes that there is truly no place like home for the holidays.

In Dear Santa, Debbie Macomber celebrates the joys of Christmas blessings, old and new.]]> 272 Debbie Macomber 1984818813 Carol 1 After 50 pages I decided doing the ironing was more interesting.
]]> 3.90 2021 Dear Santa
author: Debbie Macomber
name: Carol
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2023/12/28
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves:
review:
As bad as ‘The Inn at Rose Harbour�, but at least this one didn’t have a knitting pattern in it.
After 50 pages I decided doing the ironing was more interesting.

]]> The Echoes of Love 61831197
‘An unforgettable story of great love torn apart by war, of heroism and betrayal, passion and pure evil, all set against an idyllic Greek island backdrop. It’s a genuine masterpiece, a book to lose yourself in� Gill Paul, The Secret Wife

‘Ashcroft has done it again with another deeply moving, beautifully romantic and vividly rendered story. This is a wonderful and resonant historical novel, focussing on family, loyalty and love without borders� Katherine Webb, The Legacy

* * *

Under the Cretan sun, in the summer of 1936, two young people fall in love�

Eleni has been coming to Crete her entire life, swapping her English home for cherished sun-baked summers with her grandfather in his idyllic shoreside villa. When she arrives in 1936, she believes the long, hot weeks ahead will be no different to so many that have gone before.

But someone else is visiting the island that year too: a young German man called Otto. And so begins a summer of innocence lost, and love discovered; one that is finite, but not the end.

When, in 1941, the island falls to a Nazi invasion, Eleni and Otto meet there once more. But this time Eleni has returned to fight for her home, and Otto to occupy it. They are enemies, and their love is not only treacherous, but also dangerous. But will it destroy them, or prove strong enough to overcome the ravages of war?

An epic tale of secrets, love, loyalty, family and how far you’d go to keep those you love safe, The Echoes of Love is an exquisite and deeply moving love letter to Crete � one that will move every reader to tears.

* * *

‘I was completely spellbound. A beautiful, poignant love story with a clever twist, all set against the backdrop of war-torn Crete. It’s the best book I’ve read this year� Kathleen McGurl, The Forgotten Secret]]> 477 Jenny Ashcroft 0008469024 Carol 4 But of course, WW2 looms and Eleni finds herself on the ‘opposite� side to Otto.
She, because of her fluent Greek, is recruited by the SOE, and Otto forced into the Nazi force which invaded and defeated Crete.
But love is so much stronger than hate.
Flashbacks and flashforwards help create a tension, but there are suprises right to the end, in 1974.
A feel-good read but also ‘edgy� and gritty.]]> 4.54 The Echoes of Love
author: Jenny Ashcroft
name: Carol
average rating: 4.54
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/27
date added: 2023/12/27
shelves:
review:
Starts like a slow burning holiday romance when Eleni, visiting her Cretan grandfather meets Otto, who is staying close by with his German family. They swim, they flirt, they meet secretly and fall deeply in love.
But of course, WW2 looms and Eleni finds herself on the ‘opposite� side to Otto.
She, because of her fluent Greek, is recruited by the SOE, and Otto forced into the Nazi force which invaded and defeated Crete.
But love is so much stronger than hate.
Flashbacks and flashforwards help create a tension, but there are suprises right to the end, in 1974.
A feel-good read but also ‘edgy� and gritty.
]]> <![CDATA[Fourteen Days: An Unauthorized Gathering]]> 58709561 0 Margaret Atwood 1529116007 Carol 5 36 Canadian and American writers assume the identity of a persona resident in an apartment block in New York during lockdown.
The new ‘Super� of the building finds the key to the roof door and the roof becomes her ‘place�.
From this vantage point, she has stupendous views over the city and we get a vivid sense of the impact of lockdown.
Gradually the residents join her (socially distanced, of course), and the stories they want and need to share are told over 14 days.
And so, we are transported from this rooftop into these captivating experiences; funny, wise, brutal, beautiful worlds. Stories are hosted by the self-appointed emcee, Eurovision. And the numbers keep growing. So many voices, so many lives.
And the tragedy of Covid is eventually revealed in for me, a completely unexpected ending.
Who contributed what?
You have to wait, to find out.
Astonishing and brilliant.
Thank you @netgalley and @vintage books for my ARC. What a gift!]]> 2.77 2024 Fourteen Days: An Unauthorized Gathering
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Carol
average rating: 2.77
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/14
date added: 2023/12/14
shelves:
review:
What a book! Anything with Margaret Atwood’s name on it has my vote, but I usually avoid collaborative texts, feeling ‘less is more�. But this one blew my socks off.
36 Canadian and American writers assume the identity of a persona resident in an apartment block in New York during lockdown.
The new ‘Super� of the building finds the key to the roof door and the roof becomes her ‘place�.
From this vantage point, she has stupendous views over the city and we get a vivid sense of the impact of lockdown.
Gradually the residents join her (socially distanced, of course), and the stories they want and need to share are told over 14 days.
And so, we are transported from this rooftop into these captivating experiences; funny, wise, brutal, beautiful worlds. Stories are hosted by the self-appointed emcee, Eurovision. And the numbers keep growing. So many voices, so many lives.
And the tragedy of Covid is eventually revealed in for me, a completely unexpected ending.
Who contributed what?
You have to wait, to find out.
Astonishing and brilliant.
Thank you @netgalley and @vintage books for my ARC. What a gift!
]]> The Travelling Bag 29220951
Why ?

Later, Craig opens a prestigious scientific journal and finds a paper, containing his own work, in detail, together with the significant results he had worked out. The research is his and his alone. But the author of the paper is Dr Silas Webb.

Craig determines that he will hunt Webb down and exact revenge.

Were it not for a terrifying twist of circumstance, he might have succeeded.


Susan Hill has won the Whitbread, Somerset Maugham and John Llewelyn Rhys prizes, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She has written over 55 books in several genres, including the ghost story, THE WOMAN IN BLACK. The stage adaption is still running in London’s West End after 25 years. I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE has been a GCSE set text. She has also published collections of short stories, fiction for children, several non fiction books and the highly successful crime novel series about the detective Simon Serrailler. SUSAN HILL is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of King’s College, London, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Honours of 2012]]> 32 Susan Hill Carol 2 Strange lights, walking dead, graveyards, swirls of luminescence, smells and fog. All there.
Cannot believe that such an excellent writer churned these out. ]]> 3.38 2016 The Travelling Bag
author: Susan Hill
name: Carol
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves:
review:
Very lame and underwhelming ghost stories. Traditional? Maybe. Cliched? Definitely.
Strange lights, walking dead, graveyards, swirls of luminescence, smells and fog. All there.
Cannot believe that such an excellent writer churned these out.
]]> <![CDATA[House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family]]> 49879670 A writer investigates her family’s secret history, uncovering a story that spans a century, two World Wars, and three generations.

Hadley Freeman knew her grandmother Sara lived in France just as Hitler started to gain power, but rarely did anyone in her family talk about it. Long after her grandmother’s death, she found a shoebox tucked in the closet containing photographs of her grandmother with a mysterious stranger, a cryptic telegram from the Red Cross, and a drawing signed by Picasso.

This discovery sent Freeman on a decade-long quest to uncover the significance of these keepsakes, taking her from Picasso’s archives in Paris to a secret room in a farmhouse in Auvergne to Long Island to Auschwitz. Freeman pieces together the puzzle of her family’s past, discovering more about the lives of her grandmother and her three brothers, Jacques, Henri, and Alex. Their stories sometimes typical, sometimes astonishing—reveal the broad range of experiences of Eastern European Jews during Holocaust.

This thrilling family saga is filled with extraordinary twists, vivid characters, and famous cameos, illuminating the Jewish and immigrant experience in the World War II era. Addressing themes of assimilation, identity, and home, this powerful story about the past echoes issues that remain relevant today.]]> Hadley Freeman 1797104810 Carol 5 Written with clarity and insight, we hear about life for poor Jewish people in Nazi occupied Europe.
There is love, tragedy, fun, courage and a determination to survive and make careers and futures. Each member of the family has their own story, and Freeman writes of them with fully supported evidence and even handed clarity.
We incidentally also get to meet Dior, Picasso and many others in this amazing cast of people.
Possibly the most stunning are grandmother Sala and Uncle Alex. Birth, inimitable. Bravo Hadley Freeman.]]> 4.39 2020 House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family
author: Hadley Freeman
name: Carol
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/12
date added: 2023/11/12
shelves:
review:
A fantastic record of the Jewish family of Hadley Freeman, put together from a shoebox of memorabilia and much painstaking research.
Written with clarity and insight, we hear about life for poor Jewish people in Nazi occupied Europe.
There is love, tragedy, fun, courage and a determination to survive and make careers and futures. Each member of the family has their own story, and Freeman writes of them with fully supported evidence and even handed clarity.
We incidentally also get to meet Dior, Picasso and many others in this amazing cast of people.
Possibly the most stunning are grandmother Sala and Uncle Alex. Birth, inimitable. Bravo Hadley Freeman.
]]> <![CDATA[All the Broken Places (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, #2)]]> 61111301
Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can't help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry's beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel's hard-won, self-contained existence.

All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel's girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before -- whatever the cost to herself....

From the New York Times bestselling author John Boyne, a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her own terrible past, and a present in which it is never too late for bravery. ]]> 400 John Boyne 0593653068 Carol 5 Gretel is the older sister of Bruno, but cannot bear to use his name, even into her nineties, so emotionally paralysed by grief and guilt, is she. And so tormented by having witnesses the horrors of ‘the other place�, where her father was Kommandant.
Now living in a Mayfair apartment, having tried and failed to build a new life for herself, life is easy, and peaceful until a young family moves into the apartment below Gretel.
And at last, through her interaction with their son, Henry, she gets a chance to redeem her past with courage and determination.
Until finally she can use Bruno’s name.
Deeply moving, shocking but also beautiful.]]> 4.43 2022 All the Broken Places (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, #2)
author: John Boyne
name: Carol
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/04
date added: 2023/11/04
shelves:
review:
The power of this exceptionally moving novel depends really, on having read the inimitable ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas�.
Gretel is the older sister of Bruno, but cannot bear to use his name, even into her nineties, so emotionally paralysed by grief and guilt, is she. And so tormented by having witnesses the horrors of ‘the other place�, where her father was Kommandant.
Now living in a Mayfair apartment, having tried and failed to build a new life for herself, life is easy, and peaceful until a young family moves into the apartment below Gretel.
And at last, through her interaction with their son, Henry, she gets a chance to redeem her past with courage and determination.
Until finally she can use Bruno’s name.
Deeply moving, shocking but also beautiful.
]]> <![CDATA[The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle]]> 59427409
At once, Albert’s sole connection with his world unravels. Every day as a mail carrier, he would make his way through the streets of his small English town, delivering letters and parcels and returning greetings with a quick wave and a “how do?� Without the work that fills his days, what will be the point? He has no friends, family, or hobbies—just a past he never speaks of, and a lost love that fills him with regret.

And so, rather than continue his lonely existence, Albert forms a brave plan to start truly living. It’s finally time to be honest about who he is. To seek the happiness he’s always denied himself. And to find the courage to look for George, the man that, many years ago, he loved and lost—but has never forgotten. As he does, something extraordinary happens. Albert finds unlikely allies, new friends, and proves it’s never too late to live, to hope, and to love.]]> 400 Matt Cain 149673775X Carol 4 Albert has a secret, which with through years of guilt and shame, he’s never dared to share.
As a teen, in the early sixties, he and the more flamboyant local lad, George, fell deeply in love. They met in secret but never dared to ‘come out�.
Years passed; they were driven apart. But Albert never forgot.
Approaching retirement, Albert begins to let others into his life and discovers there’s a whole new world waiting for him thanks to the efforts of single mum Nicole, herself with issues of acceptance and Albert’s colleagues.
Deeply moving and for those of us who grew up at the same time as Albert, deeply shocking. I had no idea there was such agony for so many, living my best life in the 60s.]]> 3.99 2021 The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle
author: Matt Cain
name: Carol
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/29
date added: 2023/10/29
shelves:
review:
An easy to read and heartwarming story about Albert as he faces retirement from being a postman. He’s known no other life, is very private and dreads being without routine and company, though he rarely interacts with others.
Albert has a secret, which with through years of guilt and shame, he’s never dared to share.
As a teen, in the early sixties, he and the more flamboyant local lad, George, fell deeply in love. They met in secret but never dared to ‘come out�.
Years passed; they were driven apart. But Albert never forgot.
Approaching retirement, Albert begins to let others into his life and discovers there’s a whole new world waiting for him thanks to the efforts of single mum Nicole, herself with issues of acceptance and Albert’s colleagues.
Deeply moving and for those of us who grew up at the same time as Albert, deeply shocking. I had no idea there was such agony for so many, living my best life in the 60s.
]]> The Guest Cat 17574849 The Guest Cat, by the acclaimed poet Takashi Hiraide, is a subtly moving and exceptionally beautiful novel about the transient nature of life and idiosyncratic but deeply felt ways of living. A couple in their thirties live in a small rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo; they work at home, freelance copy-editing; they no longer have very much to say to one another. But one day a cat invites itself into their small kitchen. It leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. Soon they are buying treats for the cat and enjoying talks about the animal and all its little ways. Life suddenly seems to have more promise for the husband and wife � the days have more light and color. The novel brims with new small joys and many moments of staggering poetic beauty, but then something happens�.

As Kenzaburo Oe has remarked, Takashi Hiraide’s work "really shines." His poetry, which is remarkably cross-hatched with beauty, has been acclaimed here for "its seemingly endless string of shape-shifting objects and experiences,whose splintering effect is enacted via a unique combination of speed and minutiae."]]> 140 Takashi Hiraide 0811221504 Carol 4 We find out little about the couple, but they are captivated by this ‘guest cat� whose bell alerts them to her presence. The prose is poetic snd I’m sure, full of significant symbols and references to Japanese culture, which I missed but some beautiful descriptions of the plants, the trees, the surroundings. A quiet and peaceful ending; though the darkness comes again.
My one reservation is that it takes the writer a long time to explain the setting of their apartment in relation to other buildings, but I’m none the wiser! Needs a map really.
I was very grateful for the translator’s notes ag the end. ]]> 3.60 2001 The Guest Cat
author: Takashi Hiraide
name: Carol
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/21
date added: 2023/10/22
shelves:
review:
A tender, completely unsentimental story of a small kitten, Chibi who becomes a regular visitor to a married couple in a Tokyo suburb. And she pops up at all sorts of unexpected times and places, almost like a spiritual guide or follower, to the delight of the narrator.
We find out little about the couple, but they are captivated by this ‘guest cat� whose bell alerts them to her presence. The prose is poetic snd I’m sure, full of significant symbols and references to Japanese culture, which I missed but some beautiful descriptions of the plants, the trees, the surroundings. A quiet and peaceful ending; though the darkness comes again.
My one reservation is that it takes the writer a long time to explain the setting of their apartment in relation to other buildings, but I’m none the wiser! Needs a map really.
I was very grateful for the translator’s notes ag the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Step by Step: The Life In My Journeys]]> 40311472 352 Simon Reeve 1473689112 Carol 5 And we couldn’t have a better guide. His enthusiasm and sense of adventure are boundless.
His sense of justice; respect for other cultures and people shine a light and contacts he makes, open up and guide him to many interesting places, revealing much more than we can get from a 5 minute news item.
He models himself on Michael Palin, and has the same affable and relaxed way of breaking down barriers. While taking no stupid risks and mindful of his and his team’s safety, he will dance with locals, allow himself to be the butt of jokes and eat unspeakable dishes.
When he gets it wrong, he tells us. But it’s rare. A truly great read.]]> 4.30 2018 Step by Step: The Life In My Journeys
author: Simon Reeve
name: Carol
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/13
date added: 2023/10/21
shelves:
review:
I learned so much from this wonderful book. Simon Reeves takes us to some very challenging places both in his childhood, adolescence and in his career as a rookie documentary maker in ‘The Four Stans� Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan. And on to ‘unrecognised� countries in a series called ‘Places That Don’t� Exist�, Somaliland, Transnistria and Artsakh; obscure, forgotten but dangerous, unstable but with a population deserving of attention
And we couldn’t have a better guide. His enthusiasm and sense of adventure are boundless.
His sense of justice; respect for other cultures and people shine a light and contacts he makes, open up and guide him to many interesting places, revealing much more than we can get from a 5 minute news item.
He models himself on Michael Palin, and has the same affable and relaxed way of breaking down barriers. While taking no stupid risks and mindful of his and his team’s safety, he will dance with locals, allow himself to be the butt of jokes and eat unspeakable dishes.
When he gets it wrong, he tells us. But it’s rare. A truly great read.
]]> <![CDATA[Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)]]> 62047992 The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> 150 Satoshi Yagisawa 0063278677 Carol 3 Following a traumatic break up with her partner, Tamoko is saved from despair by her similarly estranged Uncle Satoru. He runs the family owned Morisaki Bookshop and offers Tamoko a rent free room.
Slowly she begins to read seriously and the books save her from despair.
But for me, given the experiences of the characters, the whole is less than the sum of the parts.
The bookshops are fabulous, the Kanda Used Book Festival is wonderful; and so is the visit to the shrine in the mountains. But the style is bland, with little nuance; the characters are flat and there is little exploration or insight into them. Things just happen. Maybe I’m just not familiar enough with Japanese style of characterisation. In which case, I’m sorry.
Expected much more from this ‘international sensation�.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #Manilla Press for my free download in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.67 2010 Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: Carol
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/20
date added: 2023/10/20
shelves:
review:
Set in the district of Jimbocho, Tokyo, the Hay- on-Wye (UK) of Japan, I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into this book. And the thought of living in a bookshop sounded like heaven.
Following a traumatic break up with her partner, Tamoko is saved from despair by her similarly estranged Uncle Satoru. He runs the family owned Morisaki Bookshop and offers Tamoko a rent free room.
Slowly she begins to read seriously and the books save her from despair.
But for me, given the experiences of the characters, the whole is less than the sum of the parts.
The bookshops are fabulous, the Kanda Used Book Festival is wonderful; and so is the visit to the shrine in the mountains. But the style is bland, with little nuance; the characters are flat and there is little exploration or insight into them. Things just happen. Maybe I’m just not familiar enough with Japanese style of characterisation. In which case, I’m sorry.
Expected much more from this ‘international sensation�.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #Manilla Press for my free download in exchange for an honest review.
]]> Heart of Darkness 4900
A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted, Heart of Darkness is considered one of the most influential works ever written.]]> 188 Joseph Conrad 1892295490 Carol 4 Published in 1893 when the British Empire was establishing itself with supreme confidence and a global superpower. Still dominant was the shameful belief in the automatic superiority of The British, over indigenous people, with the kind of language now so shocking; And the lucrative, abhorrent reaping of ivory was a thriving trade.
Conrad’s novella takes us, with Marlow as our guide into the ‘Heart of (this) Darkness. And to its dark secrets and evil, and its corrupting, tormented impact on its exploitative profiteers
Opening with some astonishingly beautiful impressionistic descriptions of the hazy light in the skies of London over the water and the docks; Marlow’s journey leads him to witness the ‘darkness� of Africa, the mad Kurtz as well as his own ‘heart of darkness� too.
Powerful, but relentlessly bleak from the remarkable Polish writer who left Poland to escape being drafted into the Russian army. English was his third language and he travelled in Africa as a mariner.]]> 3.43 1899 Heart of Darkness
author: Joseph Conrad
name: Carol
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1899
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/01
date added: 2023/10/01
shelves:
review:
A tough and dark read for a modern audience. And a parallel for the iconic, terrifying film ‘Apocalypse Now� (1979) set in Vietnam.
Published in 1893 when the British Empire was establishing itself with supreme confidence and a global superpower. Still dominant was the shameful belief in the automatic superiority of The British, over indigenous people, with the kind of language now so shocking; And the lucrative, abhorrent reaping of ivory was a thriving trade.
Conrad’s novella takes us, with Marlow as our guide into the ‘Heart of (this) Darkness. And to its dark secrets and evil, and its corrupting, tormented impact on its exploitative profiteers
Opening with some astonishingly beautiful impressionistic descriptions of the hazy light in the skies of London over the water and the docks; Marlow’s journey leads him to witness the ‘darkness� of Africa, the mad Kurtz as well as his own ‘heart of darkness� too.
Powerful, but relentlessly bleak from the remarkable Polish writer who left Poland to escape being drafted into the Russian army. English was his third language and he travelled in Africa as a mariner.
]]> Let Us Descend 87556695
“‘Let us descend,� the poet now began, ‘and enter this blind world.’� � Inferno, Dante Alighieri

Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.

Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.

From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.]]> 305 Jesmyn Ward 198210449X Carol 5 From the cotton and sugar plantations, Annis takes us through her experiences. The walk from slave market to plantation is in itself brutal beyond words, and tests the resilience of our narrator to its limit. We feel every minute of her physical punishment and mental torture; desperate hunger and thirst.
But strengthened by the spirit of her mother and warrior African grandmother, and sustained in the present by nature’s beauty; the bees, the honeyed sun, the stars. Such is the nature of true heroism.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #BloomsburyplcUK for my ARC]]> 3.68 2023 Let Us Descend
author: Jesmyn Ward
name: Carol
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/18
date added: 2023/09/29
shelves:
review:
This wonderful book will stay with me for a very long time. I’ve read many slave narratives but this works on a new level of consciousness; beyond the chains, the fear and the brutality, to a spiritual, beautiful and emancipated world of love and memory and sisterhood. And an appreciation of nature’s beauty.
From the cotton and sugar plantations, Annis takes us through her experiences. The walk from slave market to plantation is in itself brutal beyond words, and tests the resilience of our narrator to its limit. We feel every minute of her physical punishment and mental torture; desperate hunger and thirst.
But strengthened by the spirit of her mother and warrior African grandmother, and sustained in the present by nature’s beauty; the bees, the honeyed sun, the stars. Such is the nature of true heroism.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #BloomsburyplcUK for my ARC
]]> The Carer 43307715 From the bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Tulip Fever, a deliciously funny, poignant and wry novel, full of surprising twists and turns.

James is getting on a bit and needs full-time help. So Phoebe and Robert, his middle-aged offspring, employ Mandy, who seems willing to take him off their hands. But as James regales his family with tales of Mandy's virtues, their shopping trips, and the shared pleasure of their journeys to garden centres, Phoebe and Robert sense something is amiss. Is this really their father, the distant figure who never once turned up for a sports day, now happily chortling over cuckoo clocks and television soaps?

Then something happens that throws everything into new relief, and Phoebe and Robert discover that life most definitely does not stop for the elderly. It just moves onto a very different plane - changing all the stories they thought they knew so well.

]]> 204 Deborah Moggach Carol 4 Plenty to attract a modern reader. Appearing as an ideal, stable, happy family, Prof James Wentworth and his high achieving wife Anna bring up their children Phoebe and Robert in their North Oxford home with regular holidays in their small property in rural Wales.
But we first meet the cast as adults; Robert, unhappily married to the glamorous and wealthy newsreader Farida, hiding in his shed writing an epic book. And Phoebe, disenchanted,single and unsuccessful artist. Following their mother’s death, they are faced with the dreaded problem of finding care for their father..
Enter Mandy, unwisely dressed in sparkly leggings, with a bag of goodies, weakness for daytime tv, and the sunniest and most wonderfully warm response to James. Robert and Phoebe are terribly sniffy, but there’s no doubt. James is happy.
Nothing is predictable�.and Moggach cleverly keeps us turning the page to find out what happens next!]]> 3.79 2019 The Carer
author: Deborah Moggach
name: Carol
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/23
date added: 2023/09/23
shelves:
review:
An engaging read. Very readable with really well observed characters, warts and all; witty, funny and moving moments and a clear plot.
Plenty to attract a modern reader. Appearing as an ideal, stable, happy family, Prof James Wentworth and his high achieving wife Anna bring up their children Phoebe and Robert in their North Oxford home with regular holidays in their small property in rural Wales.
But we first meet the cast as adults; Robert, unhappily married to the glamorous and wealthy newsreader Farida, hiding in his shed writing an epic book. And Phoebe, disenchanted,single and unsuccessful artist. Following their mother’s death, they are faced with the dreaded problem of finding care for their father..
Enter Mandy, unwisely dressed in sparkly leggings, with a bag of goodies, weakness for daytime tv, and the sunniest and most wonderfully warm response to James. Robert and Phoebe are terribly sniffy, but there’s no doubt. James is happy.
Nothing is predictable�.and Moggach cleverly keeps us turning the page to find out what happens next!
]]> Julia 86508927
But Julia becomes intrigued by a colleague from the Records Department—a mid-level worker of the Outer Party called Winston Smith—when she sees him locking eyes with a superior from the Inner Party at the Two Minutes Hate. And when one day, finding herself walking toward Winston, she impulsively hands him a note—a potentially suicidal gesture—she comes to realise that she's losing her grip and can no longer safely navigate her world.

Seventy-five years after Orwell finished writing his iconic novel, Sandra Newman has tackled the world of Big Brother in a truly convincing way, offering a dramatically different, feminist narrative that is true to and stands alongside the original. For the millions of readers who have been brought up with Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, here, finally, is a provocative, vital and utterly satisfying companion novel.]]> 400 Sandra Newman 0063265338 Carol 4 It is very difficult at the start not to compare, and to see Julia functioning in the Oceania with which we are very familiar. It’s all there: telescreens, posters of BB, Newspeak, Doublethink, the Ministries and slogans. And of course, brutal methods of control.
But thankfully, Newman very quickly establishes Julia’s complex character and her own story. Her character and background are fully fleshed out and she emerges as a gutsy feminist, high profile member of The Junior Anti-Sex League, collaborator with BB and a survivor.
Through her, we are taken into the SAZ where proles live a feral existence and chillingly, we meet Weeks, owner of the flat with the ‘picture�.
The only section I didn’t like were the detailed torture scenes. Too visceral, too detailed and the moment when we hear ‘Don’t do it to me� is truly shocking.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #Granta for my ARC]]> 3.72 2023 Julia
author: Sandra Newman
name: Carol
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/09
date added: 2023/09/14
shelves:
review:
It takes a writer of courage to ‘retell� an iconic modern classic such as �1984�, a favourite of all time, personally.
It is very difficult at the start not to compare, and to see Julia functioning in the Oceania with which we are very familiar. It’s all there: telescreens, posters of BB, Newspeak, Doublethink, the Ministries and slogans. And of course, brutal methods of control.
But thankfully, Newman very quickly establishes Julia’s complex character and her own story. Her character and background are fully fleshed out and she emerges as a gutsy feminist, high profile member of The Junior Anti-Sex League, collaborator with BB and a survivor.
Through her, we are taken into the SAZ where proles live a feral existence and chillingly, we meet Weeks, owner of the flat with the ‘picture�.
The only section I didn’t like were the detailed torture scenes. Too visceral, too detailed and the moment when we hear ‘Don’t do it to me� is truly shocking.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #Granta for my ARC
]]> Small Things Like These 58662236
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802158749 Carol 5 He and his wife have their five daughters and head a happy, stable and contented family. Bill is fully conscious that his life could have been so different were it not for the charity and kindness of others. And, that he could lose everything in a heartbeat.
Looming over the town is the church with its priest and routine of Masses, and the convent where young girls work for their keep, supervised by rigorous nuns.
The truth of the convent intrudes unexpectedly on Bill during one visit and his world is shaken to the core.
And so the quiet, self effacing family man acts with the kind of courage we can only dream of.
A startlingly understated, powerful and gently moving read.
My first, but not my last Keegan read.]]> 4.14 2021 Small Things Like These
author: Claire Keegan
name: Carol
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/30
date added: 2023/09/01
shelves:
review:
Bill Furlong is a steady, hard working family man. Delivering coal and logs to his town brings him into contact with the community and his generous and charitable nature alerts him to the needs of the less well off.
He and his wife have their five daughters and head a happy, stable and contented family. Bill is fully conscious that his life could have been so different were it not for the charity and kindness of others. And, that he could lose everything in a heartbeat.
Looming over the town is the church with its priest and routine of Masses, and the convent where young girls work for their keep, supervised by rigorous nuns.
The truth of the convent intrudes unexpectedly on Bill during one visit and his world is shaken to the core.
And so the quiet, self effacing family man acts with the kind of courage we can only dream of.
A startlingly understated, powerful and gently moving read.
My first, but not my last Keegan read.
]]> The Buried Giant 22522805
The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.

Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.

Included on TIME Magazine's "THE 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME"]]> 317 Kazuo Ishiguro 030727103X Carol 3 Struggled with the narrative. A slow burner set in The Dark Ages, as we follow Beatrice and Axl through a hostile landscape on their quest for their son of whom they have only very hazy memories.
Dialogue is stilted, as I suppose it would be if we had no memory of anything much.
Then it becomes much more energised and complicated with overlapping stories of other characters all on their own quests; Gawain, Wistan, Edwin, with a weird injury/ mark; and we hear of ogres, and other mythical beasts and she dragon who robs characters of their memories, both good and bad.
So I suppose the philosophical issue is about memory…and can we be happy with the knowledge of all we and others have done?
A challenging ending which unpicks most of what we’ve learned about Axl and Beatrice.]]> 3.56 2015 The Buried Giant
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Carol
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/30
date added: 2023/08/30
shelves:
review:
Did little for me really.
Struggled with the narrative. A slow burner set in The Dark Ages, as we follow Beatrice and Axl through a hostile landscape on their quest for their son of whom they have only very hazy memories.
Dialogue is stilted, as I suppose it would be if we had no memory of anything much.
Then it becomes much more energised and complicated with overlapping stories of other characters all on their own quests; Gawain, Wistan, Edwin, with a weird injury/ mark; and we hear of ogres, and other mythical beasts and she dragon who robs characters of their memories, both good and bad.
So I suppose the philosophical issue is about memory…and can we be happy with the knowledge of all we and others have done?
A challenging ending which unpicks most of what we’ve learned about Axl and Beatrice.
]]> A Long Petal of the Sea 46042377 From the author of The House of the Spirits, this epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home.

In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.

Together with two thousand other refugees, they embark on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda, to Chile: “the long petal of sea and wine and snow.� As unlikely partners, they embrace exile as the rest of Europe erupts in world war. Starting over on a new continent, their trials are just beginning, and over the course of their lives, they will face trial after trial. But they will also find joy as they patiently await the day when they will be exiles no more. Through it all, their hope of returning to Spain keeps them going. Destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world, Roser and Victor will find that home might have been closer than they thought all along.

A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile, and belonging, A Long Petal of the Sea shows Isabel Allende at the height of her powers. ]]> 325 Isabel Allende Carol 5 We follow the fortunes of pregnant widow Roser, a brilliant musician, and her brother in law Victor, a brilliant doctor.
Their love grows through their courage and resilience; beginning as they make the hazardous trek over The Pyrenees, finding themselves with thousands of other refugees badly neglected and abused by locals in the French internment camps.
Pablo Neruda charters the ship Winnipeg to rescue the Spanish and bring them to Chile where their stories continue until 1983; four generations later.
Gorgeously written with many very important messages and insights about humanity. A massive book. ]]> 4.03 2019 A Long Petal of the Sea
author: Isabel Allende
name: Carol
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/15
date added: 2023/08/15
shelves:
review:
Beginning with a personal and deeply moving letter to the reader from Allende herself makes this an incredible read. It is based on true events. Allende achieves so much by taking us from Franco’s Spain to Pinochet’s Chile and plunging us into the consequent horrors and suffering from such abuses of power and people.
We follow the fortunes of pregnant widow Roser, a brilliant musician, and her brother in law Victor, a brilliant doctor.
Their love grows through their courage and resilience; beginning as they make the hazardous trek over The Pyrenees, finding themselves with thousands of other refugees badly neglected and abused by locals in the French internment camps.
Pablo Neruda charters the ship Winnipeg to rescue the Spanish and bring them to Chile where their stories continue until 1983; four generations later.
Gorgeously written with many very important messages and insights about humanity. A massive book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mitford Trial (Mitford Murders, #4)]]> 53138130
It's lady's maid Louisa Cannon's wedding day, but the fantasy is shattered shortly after when she is approached by a secretive man asking her to spy on Diana Mitford―who is having an affair with the infamous Oswald Mosley―and her sister Unity.

Thus as summer 1933 dawns, Louisa finds herself accompanying the Mitfords on a glitzy cruise, full of the starriest members of Society. But the waters run red when a man is found attacked.

Back in London, the case is taken by lawyer Tom Mitford, and Louisa finds herself caught between of a love lost, a family divided, and a country caught in conflict.]]> 368 Jessica Fellowes 1250316839 Carol 3 Whodunits are not really my thing, but when it involves the notorious Mitford sisters, and it’s 1933, they’re irresistible. We are sure enough launched into a world of luxury, privilege, cocktails, evening gowns, cigars and disturbing fascist leanings.
One time ladies� maid to the notorious Mitfords, but newly married and training to be a stenographer, Louisa Sullivan is approached by stranger Iain. His instruction from ‘the highest level� is that she should accompany Diana and Unity Mitford on a luxury cruise and report back.
It doesn’t take long for a brutal murder to happen with its consequent hysterics
Closely observing and noting down all, Louisa becomes very involved but can tell no one but Iain. Not even her new husband, Guy, DS in the Met, who on a whim, joins the cruise because he misses his wife.
There is awkwardness. And the usual collection of red herrings etc.
But a decent read, despite holes and unlikely events; and the glimpse into the glamour yet also the ugliness threat to freedom of Sir Oswald Moseley and Hitler himself held my attention.]]> 3.56 2020 The Mitford Trial (Mitford Murders, #4)
author: Jessica Fellowes
name: Carol
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/25
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves:
review:
Number four in the series, but also a standalone read.
Whodunits are not really my thing, but when it involves the notorious Mitford sisters, and it’s 1933, they’re irresistible. We are sure enough launched into a world of luxury, privilege, cocktails, evening gowns, cigars and disturbing fascist leanings.
One time ladies� maid to the notorious Mitfords, but newly married and training to be a stenographer, Louisa Sullivan is approached by stranger Iain. His instruction from ‘the highest level� is that she should accompany Diana and Unity Mitford on a luxury cruise and report back.
It doesn’t take long for a brutal murder to happen with its consequent hysterics
Closely observing and noting down all, Louisa becomes very involved but can tell no one but Iain. Not even her new husband, Guy, DS in the Met, who on a whim, joins the cruise because he misses his wife.
There is awkwardness. And the usual collection of red herrings etc.
But a decent read, despite holes and unlikely events; and the glimpse into the glamour yet also the ugliness threat to freedom of Sir Oswald Moseley and Hitler himself held my attention.
]]> <![CDATA[Normal Rules Don't Apply: Stories]]> 63934846
Nothing is quite as it seems in this collection of eleven dazzling stories. We meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; a man who bets on a horse that may—or may not—have spoken to him. Everything that readers love about the novels of Kate Atkinson is here—the inventiveness, the verbal felicity, the sharp observations on human nature, and the deeply satisfying emotional wallop.

A startling and funny feast for the imagination, these stories conjure a multiverse of subtly connected worlds while illuminating the webs of chance and connection among us all.]]> 224 Kate Atkinson 0385549504 Carol 5 This is what makes this collection irresistible. Kate Atkinson is always able to suddenly throw a curved ball, along the way, as she delivers a mix of the banal and the fantastical, which delight and surprise the reader.
The first story ‘The Void� had me hooked, completely apocalyptic �.but then the other stories, with minor but deliberate echoes of the first, such as the smell of violets, takes the reader on a dizzying yet controlled whirl of romance, fantasy, the bizarre, the sad.
Many feature Franklin, hapless in love and prosaic but making a fortune with a soap opera. There is a talking horse ( or is there?), a witch, or rather several�.and so it goes! Yes, literary references are there to such as video games based on Austen for Middle Aged women.
There’s enough here for two novels but one collection is a case of less is more. Stories work fine individually but together, are terrific.
Loved this book
Thank you to @NetGalley and @Transworld; Penguin Random House, for my ARC.]]> 3.78 2023 Normal Rules Don't Apply: Stories
author: Kate Atkinson
name: Carol
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/17
date added: 2023/07/17
shelves:
review:
An intriguing collection of eleven interconnected stories, which certainly do not conform the ‘normal rules� of fiction writing.
This is what makes this collection irresistible. Kate Atkinson is always able to suddenly throw a curved ball, along the way, as she delivers a mix of the banal and the fantastical, which delight and surprise the reader.
The first story ‘The Void� had me hooked, completely apocalyptic �.but then the other stories, with minor but deliberate echoes of the first, such as the smell of violets, takes the reader on a dizzying yet controlled whirl of romance, fantasy, the bizarre, the sad.
Many feature Franklin, hapless in love and prosaic but making a fortune with a soap opera. There is a talking horse ( or is there?), a witch, or rather several�.and so it goes! Yes, literary references are there to such as video games based on Austen for Middle Aged women.
There’s enough here for two novels but one collection is a case of less is more. Stories work fine individually but together, are terrific.
Loved this book
Thank you to @NetGalley and @Transworld; Penguin Random House, for my ARC.
]]> The Magician 56897459
The Magician is an intimate, astonishingly complex portrait of Mann, his magnificent and complex wife Katia, and the times in which they lived—the first world war, the rise of Hitler, World War II, the Cold War, and exile.]]> 498 Colm Tóibín 1476785082 Carol 5 Mann succeeds in securing the escape of the whole family from the grim Nazi threat to personal liberty and peace of all Jews but particularly the intellectuals.
And so begins the country and continent hopping life he and Katia lead for many years, campaigning against Hitler but unable to lead the resistance to him.]]> 3.90 2021 The Magician
author: Colm Tóibín
name: Carol
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/14
date added: 2023/07/15
shelves:
review:
A vast yet very intimate and fictionalised presentation of Thomas Mann, 1929 Nobel laureate for his writing, notably Buddenbrook (1901) and The Magic Mountain (1924). His family life, married to Katia, fathering 6 children, belies his homosexuality and intense admiration for the beauty of young men and boys, including his own son. We see him become obsessed with a young boy playing on the beach in Venice, which of course becomes arguably his most popular novella. His own children have unconventional sexual relationships too, which could have caused real difficulties for the Manns.
Mann succeeds in securing the escape of the whole family from the grim Nazi threat to personal liberty and peace of all Jews but particularly the intellectuals.
And so begins the country and continent hopping life he and Katia lead for many years, campaigning against Hitler but unable to lead the resistance to him.
]]> Mild Vertigo 62043762 Mild Vertigo explores the dizzying inability to locate oneself in the endless stream of minutiae that make up a life confined to the home, where both everything and nothing happens.

With shades of Clarice Lispector, Mavis Gallant and Lucy Ellman, this late-period novel by the esteemed novelist, essayist, and film and literary critic Mieko Kanai - whose often dark and cynical work occupies something of a cult place within the Japanese canon - is a disconcerting and astute portrait of life in late-stage capitalist society.]]> 176 Mieko Kanai 1804270385 Carol 5 Her interior monologue gives us the chance to really get to know her, from the banal trips to the supermarket, details of food and fashion to the spiritual impact of her ‘mild vertigo� to moments when she becomes utterly mesmerised by the light falling on water as it swirls and curls in a stream from her kitchen tap and into the plug; and the complex and highbrow analysis impact of art on society, most notably, photographer Kineo Kuwabara
She creates her piece with little regard for ‘standard� sentence, dialogue and paragraph forms. This is the for me, the ‘mild vertigo� which her readers experience as they become mesmerised by her ‘flow� of words and her nuances of style.
Congratulations to translator, Polly Barton.
Thank you to @NetGalley and @Fitzcarraldo for my ARC copy.]]> 3.52 1997 Mild Vertigo
author: Mieko Kanai
name: Carol
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/04
date added: 2023/07/04
shelves:
review:
Such a rich, yet slim volume, which takes in and brings to vivid life, the personal, social, the cultural, the inner life of Natsumi, a Tokyo housewife living with a husband and two sons.
Her interior monologue gives us the chance to really get to know her, from the banal trips to the supermarket, details of food and fashion to the spiritual impact of her ‘mild vertigo� to moments when she becomes utterly mesmerised by the light falling on water as it swirls and curls in a stream from her kitchen tap and into the plug; and the complex and highbrow analysis impact of art on society, most notably, photographer Kineo Kuwabara
She creates her piece with little regard for ‘standard� sentence, dialogue and paragraph forms. This is the for me, the ‘mild vertigo� which her readers experience as they become mesmerised by her ‘flow� of words and her nuances of style.
Congratulations to translator, Polly Barton.
Thank you to @NetGalley and @Fitzcarraldo for my ARC copy.
]]> Big Girl 58999263
Growing up in a rapidly changing Harlem, eight-year-old Malaya hates when her mother drags her to Weight Watchers meetings; she’d rather paint alone in her bedroom or enjoy forbidden street foods with her father. For Malaya, the pressures of her predominantly white Upper East Side prep school are relentless, as are the expectations passed down from her painfully proper mother and sharp-tongued grandmother. As she comes of age in the 1990s, she finds solace in the music of Biggie Smalls and Aaliyah, but her weight continues to climb―until a family tragedy forces her to face the source of her hunger, ultimately shattering her inherited stigmas surrounding women’s bodies, and embracing her own desire. Written with vibrant lyricism shot through with tenderness, Big Girl announces Sullivan as an urgent and vital voice in contemporary fiction.]]> 288 Mecca Jamilah Sullivan 132409141X Carol 4 Coming from a high achieving family, she attends an elite, mainly white prep school, has a professor for a mother and a waspish grandmother, who desperately try to get her; to lose weight, for Malaya is obese; and attracts much cruel and destructive attention in public, school and at home.
Despite this, she puts on her lipstick, her big man clothes and hoodlum boots and lives for food. And art and hip hop.
Once tragedy hits her family and hormones and sex rear their heads, we see an impressive and self assured young woman emerge.
Thank you #NetGalley and #Little Brown Book Group UK, for my advance copy.]]> 3.86 2022 Big Girl
author: Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
name: Carol
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/30
date added: 2023/07/01
shelves:
review:
Sullivan’s is an important and fresh voice in the coming of age genre. I was completely immersed in 8 year old Malaya’s life. We’re taken to 1990s Harlem in all its glorious variety and richness; its music, its art its street food. And into the heart and mind of Malaya as she grows up to discover herself and negotiates life’s pressures.
Coming from a high achieving family, she attends an elite, mainly white prep school, has a professor for a mother and a waspish grandmother, who desperately try to get her; to lose weight, for Malaya is obese; and attracts much cruel and destructive attention in public, school and at home.
Despite this, she puts on her lipstick, her big man clothes and hoodlum boots and lives for food. And art and hip hop.
Once tragedy hits her family and hormones and sex rear their heads, we see an impressive and self assured young woman emerge.
Thank you #NetGalley and #Little Brown Book Group UK, for my advance copy.
]]>