Ilka Weissnix, a Jewish refugee from Vienna, meets in a Nevada rail Station Carter Bayoux, an African American, twice her age. Carter + Ilka begin a loving relationship as Carter, a journalist at the centre of NY society but with an alcohol problem, introduces Ilka to a new life. A remarkable book that explores race, the nature of love, the trauma of the war, being an immigrant with humour and depth. If you do read listen to the Baclisted episode.

A book that has been on my shelf for years and it was a lovely read in which in a series of short tales we are in the world of a small post war Italian village where the eponymous priest does constant battle with the communist mayor. As Don Camillo converses with the god on the crucifix in his church, he is constantly admonished or dissuaded from using physical force on his rival, but invariably, Don Camillo finds his fist or his cunning works.

Two long train journeys this weekend allowed me to finish this story of Laura, an American 19yr old who travels to London in 1939 to stay with her aunt. Meeting a communist girl she befriends on the ship wakens a curiosity in the Soviets. As she mingles in high society, she finds herself involved in the world of espionage. In an afterword the author refers to Melinda marling, wife of Donald maclean as inspiration. An interesting book, well told.

This is my book of the year as I finish my lunch overwhelmed by the final pages.Taking in 60 yrs of Scottish history from 1950 to 2010, the book tracks a series of characters who all interconnect. Dealing with political changes it has at its centre a man back from the war in Japan who leaves his family to live on the road. His image is captured by a photographer, in 2010 the son stages an exhibition of his father's work. Tender + tough at times 5*

Finding a Penelope Lively in a charity shop that I haven't read is a bonus, especially when it proves to be another beautifully told story of lifes traumas. Frances is grieving the death of her celebrity husband. The picture of grief is very good, also the relationship with her friend, her sister in law, and adopted children. Lively is, in my view, one of the greats, and I will be on the search for more.

Having red 'a daughter in time' years ago in which Insp Alan Grant is in a hospital bed, i was interested, to go to 1st in the series. It took me a bit to adjust to the pace + style of 1920's police mystery, but I soon enjoyed the characters + a thrilling chase in the Scottish Highlands. The ending wasn't great, but overall, I enjoyed stepping back in time when people queue for the theatre + get murdered for their trouble. Definitely trying more

Had the afternoon off yesterday, so it was a perfect excuse to finish this excellent booker longlisted story in the pub. Set in a northwestern sea village, Tom Flett drags the dangerous beaches, where the sand can swallow a person every morning for shrimp. When an American film director arrives, charming Tom's mother into enlisting Tom's help, Tom's world shifts. I loved this story, which reflects on so much about a lost life and much more.

I finally read this splendid book after a friend lent it to me and i felt that this was better than her 1st two bks (I've not read her 3rd) with a remarkable portrait of two brothers whose grief + personality impacts on their relationships with each other + those close to them. The picture of siblings who love yet hate each other is well done + also the story of Ivan/Margaret, Peter/Sylvia. I found it moving, +wanting to get my chess set out. 4.5*

The story of an Irish man living on his own in London whose life takes on new purpose when he discovers a passion for cinema by visiting the compulsively the BFI where me meets similar obsessives. Brian is a character whose life seems inconsequential, but to the reader, the depiction of his thoughts + feelings are compelling + span nearly 40 yrs. Even as a lover of cinema, the film references sometimes overwhelmed me, but I still loved this book.

I love spy fiction, so it's bizarre that this is my first Len Deighton. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately ordered books 2+3 in the trilogy. Bernard Sansom is a senior officer in the service running a source in E Berlin who wants to escape, but London wants him to carry on. It emerges that someone is passing info to the Russians, but can Bernard find the source. Gripping to the very climactic end. Excited that I have so many more bks to find.

Dickens used the pen to reflect on poverty in 19th c London, so BK exposes the destruction of opioid addiction in appalachian America in the early 2000s. The plight of Demon is devastating as the plot follows the structure and characters of Copperfield, creating a lead to whom the reader becomes emotionally attached. My only issue was reading Copperfield, so recently, it was a distraction from fully enjoying it, but this is a remarkable book.

This is a very enjoyable series set in Kent and the dungeness coast. DI Alex Culpidi is on sick leave after the events of the last few books but becomes curious about the murder of a couple in a local house. As she is dragged into the investigation, she quickly becomes at risk herself as it also involves historic events covered up by her close friend.

My 2nd booker book is a satirical look on modern media. From a young reporters account of a raid upon a rave in which a gold bar is stolen, to the reporter's encounter with her obnoxious University friends and ending with a populist columnist at a literary festival, a character typical of today's media when saying anything outrageous is free speech. It is a short book that deserves a reread and definitely an appealing new literary voice.

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Another great read with (reminded me of a lost lady by WC) a central character who is the hypnotic femme fatale who attracts everyone except the sceptical narrator ,here Frankie burnaby who as a child loves the stranger + her parents forbid her to contact but as adult sees the spider like risk.

My 1st foray into the booker longlist was this story of the big freeze of 1962/63 winter in a small west country English village. 2 couples like very close to each , one the local GP + wife, the other farmer + wife. The women are pregnant and form a close bond despite their diffences. This book weaves an intricate Web of deceit, past lives, and future hopes amidst an evocation of winter + a country not yet shifting from post-war to swinging 60s.

Catherine is grieving her father + beloved stepmother. Her birth mother, susannah, died when C was a baby but left a box with a curious mix of objects. C feels little for her mother, but as she chooses to search the meaning in the objects, she learns more about a woman connected to her but unknown but more about herself. This is a reflective book with no dramatic reveal, but the writing is compelling with no word wasted, + I was completely hooked.

A comic tale of middle-class manners where the dark humour is biting as Muriel Spark paints a picture of gross characters happy to moan about each other in one breath while hugging in the other. Set around a dinner party, we meet a number of couples as they prepare for the event. With a spate of burglaries occurring in the area there also seems to be a connection to the feast. Spark is a reassuring favourite writer who never fails to captivate me.

This is a challenging read but once you get into the rhythm of the prose style it is immensely rewarding. Bill Shankly is a complicated character ,obsessive about football and success for Liverpool fc, but also incredibly humble and humane. The last 200 pages when we follow him in retirement are incredibly moving with his willingness to talk to anyone at anytime being notable. If the stories told are true it is a remarkable tribute to a great man.

My final holiday reading review is for this 2023 booker nominated family saga. I recall enjoying Skippy Dies a few years ago, so with mixed reviews, I was unsure how this book wd go as we follow the 4 members of the Barnes family through the collapse of the Irish economy. Sprawling in scope, I loved the slow reveal secrets that explain characters' decision-making + emotional reaction to events. I really enjoyed the narrative +was totally absorbed

It doesn't look like I've moved other than to grab wine + pizza, but book 2 on our holidays was this very good spy thriller set in bahrain after the Arab spring revolts. Shane Collins is a jaded CIA operative, divorced, and a heavy drinker living in the American community, having to temper his anger at a younger boss. When he is attracted to a bahranian woman, and he becomes attached to his source in the protest movement, the story gains pace.

In anticipation of reading Demon Copperhead I decided to take this classic on holiday, making my luggage 2lb heavier. I have not read it before and was soon totally lost in a world I thought I knew already. The characters are astonishing from the well-known Uriah Heep and Micawber to the wonderful Mr Dick and Traddles. I can only imagine the anticipation of waiting for a new chapter to appear each week. A brilliant read.

Thought I'd try the first maeve kerrigan having heard Jane casey talking about the most recent. She is an enjoyable character, being the only female detective in an all male murder squad. In this story , what appears to be another victim of a serial killer, has Maeve wondering about anomalies which allow her to prove how good a police officer she is. Enjoyable and will read more in the series.

A memoir about the author's love of a small North East coastal town Withernsea. Adam moved with his family as a teenager, + in a series of essays, he tackles his memories, which are, in turn, funny ( I laughed out loud about seaside seagulls), to the moving thoughts about his older brother. Mens' mental health is a significant theme in this book, which I found explored a difficult theme very well with reflection also upon family + aging. Very good

There's something comforting abt reading Anne Tyler, knowing that there are so many more of her novels that I have yet to try. Delia Grinstead is a 40 yr old mother, wife, + sister, these are her roles in life, so on a day at the beach she simply walks off + creates a new home with a job in a town she does not know. I loved how Delia, in turn, discovers her identity while her family adjusts to her absence. Should it have ended as it did, not sure.

Catching up on last weekends rdng + this v good spy story. Scarlet King is a British agent who, in 1946, helps kidnap a German scientist to Eng + then rises through the ranks of the secret service nearly to head MI6. When historian Max Archer is invited to meet Scarlet in her 90s, she has a story to tell which could be a bigger scandal than the Cambridge 5 + the establishment tries to stop the leak. Fast paced,+ well researched, the pages flew by.

This excellent story centres on 3 people returning to Vienna Post ww2 for a new life. Pr Adler confronts nazi suspicion in his old lab in a brilliant scene. Kanakis is a rich exile who wants to buy property + surround himself in admirers. Resi is a beautiful teenager sent to family. Compelling read.
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This was an enjoyable bit of gentle crime set in 1901 in the inner temple of the English legal system. When the Lord chief justice is found murdered on the steps of Gabriel Ward KC'S Chambers, he is told to investigate the crime. With his forensic intelligence, he is a very readable character who also has to deal with a trial concerning the authorship of a child's mouse story. The crocheted Paddington bookmark is a lovely fathers day present.

I am enjoying our latest foray into the persephone catalogue + so far this is an interesting tale of several individuals returning to Vienna post ww2. This was a very powerful scene in which Pr Adler is confronted by Dr Krieger + ends up justifying himself. Very powerful+ required a reflective pause
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I do like stories set in faded English seaside towns + this setting of lost glamour perfectly suited this story of 2 very different women confronting their past + current lives. Lydia was part of a one hit pop duo who has been asked to accept an apology from a man who sexually assaulted her and flees to stay with her old friend. Joyce, a woman in her 40s, lives with her mother who treats her as a sister + smothers her life. Very readable, + v sad.

A darkly funny crime story set in Glasgow. Trigger warning for violence. DI Alison McOist (Ally McOist in Glasgow is a constant joke) is suspected by colleagues of being dodgy but is pulled into various crimes in which a local car wash seems central. When a local gangster who Ally wants to nail is interested in the car wash, the plot thickens. Really great characters + a dark plot meant this was a cracking read altho very dark and violent.

Irl grp last night had an Orwell themed chat about Wifedom + this excellent retelling of 1984 from the perspective of Julia. We discover about a childhood in which she betrays her patents, her work in the ministry, and Obriens recruitment of her to use sex to reveal male enemies of big brother. If the world wasn't increasingly resembling the dystopian society imagined 70 years ago, this would have been a fun read, but today, it felt disturbing.

In a great episode of Take Four Books the author talks abt his own family (disgraced lawyer father who opens a bureau de change on the irish border + br who is kidnapped by gangs) which inspired this fictionalised story again of a true tale of a murder/suicide. At the centre is Lorraine, who is gangster Paddy's lover + as the rivalry + gang wars of the Irish troubles the bk builds to the climax with which the bk has opened. Brilliant writing.

A book I finished last weekend as I try and read the women's prize shortlist. Interesting to be in the head of a 45 year old artist who hits a mid life crisis as she goes on a cross country drive to NY but stops halfway where she renovates a motel room + has a non consummated sexual encounter with a ynger man. What follows is the exploration of her sexual encounters as she rationalises her life. Its taken me a week to process, + still not sure.

A fascinating story of a woman lost in the shadow of a man's life story, a tale as old as time. Eileen O'Shaugnessy wrote a dystopian poem '1984' before her husband George's opus, went to Spain & helped order the republican fight leading to her facing death on both fascist + stalinist blacklists,+gave ideas toward Animal Farm, but is barely mentioned in Homage to Catalonia or biographies of Orwell. An excellent book that was compelling read.

The dramatic opening to this women's prize winner (sat in a pile for some times) then gives way to the story of a man redeeming himself by caring for his brother and sister in laws children as well as other curious characters he meets over the next year. A strange tale and Harry Silver is an endearing character who seeks forgiveness for his actions, which caused the crisis. It's darkly funny, an enjoyable read.

Nothing like reading in the park which is what we found ourselves doing at the weekend and this tye 7th in the merrily Watkins series finds the diocesan exorcist faced with the mystery of an apparent suicide from the tower in ludlow Castle mirroring that of a famous haunting (apparently true tale). Usual enjoyable story.

Two women from similar London Muslim backgrounds meet in a Syrian camp for isis brides. Nadia is a UN worker, an academic, who wants to derdicalise the women who have been living with isis husbands, often young and impressionable. Sara is one of those who joined isis. A book about a very important subject as states remove individual citizenship, but told in an accessible Manor with humour and from an informed writer. A good read.

A while since I delved into the world of
28 Barbary Lane and with Aids now having begun its impact the 'family' Michael at a loss enjoys a London flat exchange with a naval officer awol from the Royal yacht. Mary Ann and Brian, meanwhile, are unsure about trying for a baby as Mary Anne's TV career blossoms. Loved it and love this community. I'll try not to leave so long until the next.

A great piece of writing bringing the trilogy about black Texas Ranger Darren Matthews to a close. The author nails the politics of America today as a politician who has his eyes on greater rewards finds the indictment of a black law officer a personal crusade. Attica Locke is brilliant on race and politics as the story centres on the disappearance of a black student in a very white Uni house, as well as a creepy village created by a big company.

The last Dublin murder squad series is a twisty story in which a bit part character takes centre stage. Antoinette Conway, a woman of colour, is disliked by her colleagues except for her partner Steve. When they are allocated the murder of a woman in her flat, their boss has an older DS babysit them who appears to steer them off course. Is it Antoinettes's paranoia, or is the case set up for her fall? Great storytelling in a great series.

An excellent read in which 3 older women go to their recently deceased friend house to sort through her belongings. The gap in the group creates new tensions as all 3 struggle to adjust to new dynamics. The women are brilliantly portrayed as they have to accept ageing in a world where older women are often ignored despite their talents + personality. Stone Yard Devotional was so good, + this makes me want to read more of the author's work, v good

In a Spanish boat terminal two aged Irish men Maurice and Charlie hand out flyers in their search for a young woman. What follows in thus brilliantly told novel is the story of their life as we find out more about how these are not two gentle pensioners + the young girl is part of their past. Beautifully told but with a gloriously dark humour and sinister undertones. 5*

When picked for my next reading grp I groaned + after meeting the 3 sisters in the 1st 3 chapters abt each of them i didn't feel that I wanted to invest in a model, a corporate lawyer, + a boxer the first two with addiction issues. But as I persevered, I found the relationships relatable particularly as they deal individually with grief of a dead sibling. The dynamics of each to the other was well done, + I put it down gripped + glad I'd read it.

This is one of those books that I keep seeing everywhere at the moment so I thought I'd give it a go. Set in the 1970's in a West Yorkshire village two teenage girls become obsessed with the Yorkshire ripper and set out to find if he is someone hiding in plain sight in their community. The book is more about tensions in families and other issues than the ripper with lots of obligatory references to 1970's culture. An enjoyable read 3.5*

I think everyone has posted about the melodrama in this book. Certainly the characters couldn't be more extreme in traits with Nigel being a perfect villain + Betty his nemesis with a tension filled ending. I liked the political aspect with the emphasis on US progress while Britain is in decline
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Another very enjoyable book from the DS Alex Culpidi series set in Dungeness. When a body is found in the freezer of a property on the market for sale, a chain links it to the development of land for new houses, which houses badger setts and local wildlife. The subsequent investigation touches on local mp's , businessmen, and environmental campaigning. Really good series, and I plan to read the next one soon.

Set in a rambling country house, this is the story of Alison + Charles, who bring up their 6 children with the help of au pair Ingrid. As adults the children reflect on an unconventional childhood + strange parents, + we learn more of the secrets in this middle-class English family. Penelope Lively is adept at drawing out jealousies and tensions within families, and I love her writing. Always entertaining. Cake + tea brings mothers day to a close

I picked this up in the library and it is an excellently scary set of tales based in a haunted hotel on the fens. The underlying them is treatment of women over the years from the opening images of a woman blamed by villagers for children's deaths by plague, to hotel staff being mauled by lascivious men. The reading was enhanced by my then listening to the BBC series which came first + led to the book. Definitely worth reading and enjoyably creepy

Set in Tenessee in 1952 this is a great story of a family of 3 brothers + a father who is returning after a long absence. The father E F Bloodworth, in his 70s has a reputation for violence in the past and for playing the banjo. The bk also focuses on his grandson Fleming. This was a really enjoyable family drama with great characters and some brilliant scenes. Evokes the region + tensions within families, as well as the exuberance of youth well

Irl grp tonight had a good discussion abt Cal, + this great tale of Sean, a young irish man who, on returning from his degree in Liverpool to Belfast, is drawn back into a life dominated by the next party. A random act of violence drags him further down a path to oblivion until he meets an old friend, mariead. A story of the difficulty of life in a city in which the young are still impacted by the past + whether an individual can escape. V good.