My #12Booksof2024 for July is a gorgeous cynical thriller set in postwar Germany, with a villain who would be right at home in our current crop of "populist" hatemongers. Thrilling, thoughtful, worrying.
@Andrew65
pick(1968) When files go missing from the British embassy in Bonn, Alan Turner arrives to sort out what happened while the diplomatic personnel wish he would just keep it quiet. The thief is quickly identified, but his motives and location remain a mystery. This is *so* LeCarré: espionage novel as psychological thriller, pensive, deeply cynical, gorgeously written. Also: the resolution has chilling parallels to our current historical moment.
Number 1 best seller in what?
More from the bizarre best seller categories 😁
pickLe Carré is the master of the slow burn political novel. He crafts his tale painstakingly, almost painfully, slowly, drawing you in page by page. Two hundred pages in, you feel like nothing has happened and just when you are starting to ask if anything is going to happen, the knots start to unravel and all of a sudden you can‘t look away and you can‘t put the book down. I found the ending disappointing, but the journey to it was worthwhile. ??
“That‘s the trouble with Americans, isn‘t it, really? All that emphasis on the future. So dangerous. It makes them destructive of the present.”
“Amazing the way things are hushed up here, I must say. You give a new meaning to the “need to know”, you do. Everyone knows except the people who need to.”
Ah, spies. 🤣🤣
I know I say this every month, but month-end close week is exhausting and I swear each one is worse than the last this past year. One more day to go, and now it‘s more than an hour past my bedtime, I‘ve put in too many hours of work, and I‘m wired. Reading Dark Age will just keep me up, so I‘m hoping le Carre will pull me down into a good story and allow me to sleep soon. 🤞🏻
I ❤️ John LeCarre, especially his older stuff. #smalltown #rockinmay
Pilot doesn't look too impressed, though. 😂 #dogsoflitsy
I'm so excited for my #novembertbr! I've had a lot of good books waiting patiently. I know The Witches is at the bottom, I just need to finish it. #photoadaynov16 @RealLifeReading
These are my most treasured #usedbooks. Back before Amazon, if you wanted an out of print book, you had to hunt for it! Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a fantastic used bookstore nearby. It took 6 months, but eventually I found them all. They aren't in great shape, but I have fond memories of obtaining them. 😍 #augustofpages
A Small Town in Germany: A Novel | 
