France

I'm like that too except I got one of Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan's books as a Kobo cheapie during lockdown (no 4 in the series I think) and on finishing bought all the rest in the series and read them all in order. I was really sorry to get to the end too.

It's nearly a week since I finished Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo and I still can't settle down properly to reading another novel as whatever I pick up just seems flat. I was amazed by this book, by the energy, the playfullness in parts, the flow and the absolutely exquisite writing. It's a perfect example of how those who know to do something very, very well can break all the rules with impunity. The novel is four chapters, each broken into three sub sections following a different, usually black, character who is loosely linked to those who come before. Each subsection is (I think, I've lent the book so can't check) just one sentence with practically no punctuation and often with very short lines. In lesser hands it would be a mess, ths book is lyrical and compelling and it's very easy to get used to the layout (several reviews I read found it daunting, I didn't). I'm often wary of Booker prize winners, they seem to be selected sometimes because they tick boxes that are deemed important for that year which doesn't necessarily include being a good read, or readable at all, but this book deserves every one of the plaudits it's received. It is absolutely brilliant.

My older brother was frightened of Noddy! I seem to remember reading a collection of her stories but moved on to the Famous Five quickly though my preference was for pony books.

Frankly it depends on the author, some are absolutely delightful, others are a bit up themselves! Some like JoJo Moyes have Facebook profiles with large amounts of friends and she does reply to comments. Don't assume that just because an author hasn't replied to you that they are being grand, sometimes they simply won't have seen the message. It happened to me, I was contacted via my author page on Goodreads and I never received a notfication and didn't realise for two years that I'd been asked a question!

Currently reading Girl, Woman, Other and taking it very slowly because I'm enjoying it so much.

This forum definitely isn't nasty! I think people who read a lot of books, like people who work in bookshops, tend to be better tempered! The worst I've ever found was in a writing forum which I joined because I was challenging myself to do new things, the people on there weren't only vicious, they would tear someone's piece of writing apart and then add that they loathed the genre of whatever it had been written in! I had no idea The Bear and the Nightingale etc were aimed at children! Loved them though. I avidly read both though I prefered the Famous Five. The first book I ever bought for myself with a birthday book token was a hardback of Five on a Treasure Island. I still have it.

Mission to Paris by Alan Furst was a book group choice and not one I was particularly looking forward to as I got tired of spy novels quite a long time ago. I was surprised at how good it was. It's 1938 Actor Frederic Stahl, originally Viennese now living in America, is making a film Paris where the Nazis are organising a sophisticated propaganda campaing to persuade the French that at all costs they must avoid another war. The background detail is fascinating and totally convincing, there are no wham bam heroics and it's reingited my taste for this sort of book. And according to the reviews this isn't one of his best either. Elizabeth of the German Garden by Jennifer Walker We're reading Elizabeth and her German Garden for my book group next month and as I'm presenting the book I got this for background detail. It's interesting up to a point, Mary von Arnim, "Elizabeth" 's real name was a fascinating charecter and wrote some very good books but as I've already said elsewhere this is far too long with far too much extraneous detail. For a really good example of a literary biography try The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne, or give yourself a treat and read Elizabeth and her German Garden. it's short, pithy and very funny, and free both from the Gutenberg Project and on Audible Plus. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis I first read this when it came out nearly 30 years ago and was prompted to reread it by a blog post by Kate MacDonald. I enjoyed it just as much this time and in many ways it was far more aposite after two years of Covid. Kivrin, a young historian traveling in time from Oxford 2052 to observe England in 1320 - or that's where she's supposed to go. it gradually dawns on her that she isn't when she is supposed to be but by that time she is so involved in the lives of the family at the local manor who have taken her in she could not leave even if she knew how to find the place where she could travel back in time. Back in modern Oxford people are falling ill and the whole area is placed in quarantine, while her tutor realises that something has gone wrong and is desperately trying to retrieve her. The medieval sections of the book are terrific, you can feel the cold, smell the many smells, hear the curch bels and get drawn into the rhythym of daily life, the bits in Oxford aren't so good and border on farce sometime but it's still an excellent, if not cheery, read.

I seem to have read a fair amount about the 13th and 15th centuries but I don't know much about the 14th but her descriptions just feel right. I really like her time travel books too though I agree about the howlers, however she's such a good story teller that I'm able to tell my pedantic side to shut up.

For some reason I can't get into Golden Hill, it should be exactly the sort of book I love but though I've started it three times I always loose interest. Maybe fourth time lucky! I'm with you totally about Harold Fry though.

Emma is the only one of JA's novels that I haven't ever wanted to reread. ¨Persuasion is my favourite even though I want to shake Anne occasionally for being such a wet drip.

Lot's of catching up to do! Pachinko - Min Jin Lee is a multi generational saga about a Korean family in Japan from the 1930s onwards, after the Japanes e invasion of Korea, up to the 60s. I was put off reading it for ages because it kept on being praised by people who like Lucinda Riley and Kirsten Hannah (most definitely not my cups of tea) but once I started I was completely enthralled. It's moving and cast a completely believable light on a period I knew very little about. Recommended. Everyone Brave is Forgiven - Chris Cleave DNF I have no idea how this got in my bookcase and oh goodness it was a load of tosh! I should have given up at page 2 when a girl at finishing school in Switzerland managed to ski to a telephone the day war was declared, ring the war office and sign up (on the phone!). She is then assigned as a teacher, not a teaching assistant mind you, to a whole class.However I wasted more hours of my life by struggling on to about page 75 before consigning it to the charity pile. . A Comedy of Terrors - Lindsay Davis The latest in her Roman detective series about Flavia Albia, the adopted daughter of the inimitable Falco, who is also a private informer. Albia isn't as funny or cynical as her adopted pa but these books are still hugely enjoyable, and this was no disappointment. The Falco audiobooks read by Christian Rodska are sheer delight to listen to, the ones read by Gordon Griffen less so as he has an annoying whine. Birdcage Walk - Helen Dunmore This was the last novel Helen Dunmore wrote. It's set in the early 1790's in Bristol and Lizzie Fawkes, daughter of a radical feminist, is newly married to the possesive Diner, a speculative builder who is trying to make his fortune with a elegant row of houses in Clifton overlooking the gorge. Parts of it are brilliant, she was a wonderful writer and there's a looming sense of tension that grows and grows and the correlation of Lizzie's increasingly fraught home life with events happening in Revolutionary Paris are terrific.The beginning left me puzzled as it doesn't seem to have a lot of relevance but all in all I enjoyed it a lot.

If you're interested in Churchill I strongly recommend The Splendid and the Vile by Eric Larson who is brilliant at narrative non-fiction. It's about Churchill and the beginning of the war. It's told almost in real time, on a day to day basis, so everything feels immediate and sometimes very tense.

The Promise, a French thriller on BBC4. It's set near where I used to live and yes, there are some very strange people there.

I'm in the middle of Elizabeth of the German Garden, a biography of " Elizabeth von Arnim" (she was actually Mary and her books were by Elizabeth, or later, 'by the autor of Elizabeth and her German Garden', she didn't start being referred to as E von A until after her death). I love her books, they're sharp, funny and sarcastic and very modern in some ways, this is very good as a literary biography but I'm getting totally bogged down in extraneous details, like her feeling better after a good walk.

You are the first person I've ever "met" who also has a Kobo! I have to admit to having a lot more than one unread book on mine though!

I absolutely loved this one, for me it's McEwan at his best, lean, concise, beautiful prose which was why I started reading him from when he first wrote the Cement Garden (which I remember as being very grim). I'm in the didn't like Atonement camp, I felt it was bloated as if he were writing to impress rather than using his words to convey his meaning as succincty as possible. What could have been a terrific story was sumerged under a torrent of long sentences involving cosulatations of the dictionary. I know I'm in the minority here so don't slaughter me!

I read Moll Flanders as background for English A level (a long time ago) and it was a real slog.

The Strays of Paris - Jane Smiley Perastroika, or Paras as she's known to her friends, is a young, curious filly who breaks out of her stable after a race at Longchamp and makes her way into the centre of Paris where she meets up with an opinionated raven, a stray pointer called Frieda, two mallard ducks and Etienne an 8 year old boy living with and caring for his blind elderly grandmother. Oh and there's a black rat too. This could have so easily have degenerated into a sickly sweet schmaltz fest but stays on the right side of whimsical, partially because though the animals can talk to each other they always stay true to their species, Frieda is never more than a street wise clever dog, Paras more than a horse, Etienne more than a boy. It's absolutely delightful, a real raise your spirits job and just what I needed after a dreary read. Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight - Alexandra Fuller This is Fuller's memoir of growing up in Rhodesia during the war of independence and several other African countries. Her parents were farmers, not altogether successful, very erratic and after a tragedy her mother became a raving alcoholic, mercifully it's not a misery memoir either, just an honest portrayal of her family, her upbringing and her surroundings. She doesn't try to pretend that racism wasn't ingrained in all the whites but it's also obvious that she loves Africa as did her parents. Absolutely fascinating, well written and well worth reading.

Good thing that I never actually made that resolution as I've just ordered 5 books! So 4 of them are book group reads and the fifth looked great and was only £2.50 as and I was already paying a flat rate postage fee it seemed silly not to add it to the list...

I've already mentioned Night Trains by Andrew Martin in another thread. I love trains and I love sleepers and he's very knowledgeable but he just can't tell a story. It was worth reading because of the trains and I really want to go on the Nordstrom sleeper in Norway but it could have been so much better. Find You First - Linwood Barclay was typical of him, fast moving, infinitely readable and it's only once you've finished it that you realise how ludicrous the plot is. Excellent for helping survive airport delays. Civilisations - Laurent Binet (Civilizations spelt with a Z in the French original, not sure why it's been changed). Laurence Binet is best known for HHhH, his novel about the assassination of Rudolph Heydreich which won loads of literary prizes. . Binet teaches at the university of Paris and is highly regarded, this book also won loads of prizes too. It's what if alternative history where the Vikings reached America and introduced iron and horses to native north and south Americans and Colombus's expedition is overcome leading the Inca to learn about building ocean going ships and ultimately invading Europe. I was looking forward to reading it but found it a real struggle, he pastiches various styles, so the first part about the Vikings is written rather like a Norse saga and the main section about the Inca invasion of Europe is in the style of a 16th century historian, it makes for dry reading with little charecterisation so I never properly engaged with what was going on. Binet is undoubtedly very clever and I fear I'm not clever enough to appreciate his work. We read it for our book group and all those who read it in English had reservations, those who read it in French loved it, so it may just be a translation problem. He's known for his elegant style and the French readers all said his writing is fabulous and carries you along so the rest of us undoubtedly missed out on a lot.

I'm currently reading Civlizations by Laurent Binet for one of my book clubs, an alternative history where the Vikings didn't just find America they colonised it and introduced horses, leading to the Aztecs conquering part of Europe. It should be interesting but I'm finding it a bit of a chore, there's very little charecterisation and it tends to read like some of the duller history books we had at school (I loved history too). I've set myself a target of 30 pages a day. Otherwise I'm reading Night Trains by Andrew Martin about the demise of night trains (though since he wrote this in 2017 they're coming back in Europe). Some of it is wonderful, I'd really like to do the Nordstrom sleeper in Norway but he's got more knowledge than skills as a writer so it's worthy and interesting and misses out on being fascinating which it could so easily have been.

I had a quick look though it and was rather put off by glancing through the Reading the World challenge and seeing books listed as being of that country which weren't, Where the Crawdads Sing listed for Brazil and Murder on the Orient Express for Turkey for instance.

I have to buy loads of books - there is an English bookshop in Bordeaux but it's small and by necessity expensive, there isn't an English library within 250 km and the nearest charity shops with English books are 150 km... There is a big charity booksale held twice a year which is good for stocking up on the thrillers my husband likes reading. So I trawl second hand sites, get anything that looks interesting and if a book comes up at a good price that looks reasonably interesting I get it. I know authors need royalties (I'm one myself) but I can only afford to buy a very few new. I agree though that sometimes the sheer quantity of books can seem oppressive but if I do a cull I rapidly find myself restlessly searching books sites for something to fill the gap. I often read more than one book at a time. If I've borrowed a book I only read it where I can keep it in absolutely pristine condition, so not at breakfast or in the bath. Ditto books with pictures don't go into the bathroom and when I'm tired I'll read something light that doesn't need too much concentration.

A Rising Man by Abir Mukharjee got the year off to a cracking start. Sam Wyndham, ex Scotland yard arrives in Calcutta in 1919, and has to deal with the murder of a prominent member of the British community almost immediately. It looks like the work of Indian terrorists yet Wyndham, assisted by his sergeant Surrender-not Bannerjee and Digby, an old India hand who is resentful at not getting the top job, has his doubts. It's a well written, fast moving story full of life and colour. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next in the series.

Print/Kobo 1. A Rising Man - Abir Mukherjee ++++1/2 2. Night Trains - Andrew Martin +++1/2 3. Find You First - Linwood Barclay ++++ 4. Civilisations - Laurent Binet +++ 5. The Strays of Paris - Jane Smiley ++++1/2 6. Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight - Alexandra Fuller +++++ 7. Pachinko - Min Jin Lee ++++1/2 All The Brave Shall be Forgiven - Chris Cleave DNF 8. Inge's War - Svenja O'Donnell ++++ 9. The Last Graduate - Naomi Novik ++++ 10. Chances Are - Richard Russo ++++ 11. A Comedy of Terrors - Lindsay Davis ++++ 12. Birdcage Walk - Helen Dunmore ++++ 13. Spring - Ali Smith +++1/2 14. The THursday Murder Club - Richard Osman (rr for Book Group) ++++1/2 15. Mission to Paris - Alan Furst ++++1/2 16. Elizabeth of the German Garden - Jennifer Walker +++ 17. Doomsday Book - Connie Willis ++++1/2 18. Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo +++++ 19. Outbound Train - Renea Winchester ++++ 20. Course of Honour - LindsayDavies ++++ 21. The Magician - Colm Toibin +++ 22. Sorrow And Bliss - Meg Mason +++1/2 23. Saving Time - Jodi Taylor +++++ 24. Let The Dead Speak - Jane Casey ++++1/2 25. Diamond and the Eye - Peter Lovesey +++ 26. The Psychology of Time Travel - Kate Mascarenhas ++++1/2 27. Still Life - Sarah Winman +++++ 28. Lost Dog - Kate Spicer +++ 29; The Reading List - Sara Nisha Adams +++ 30. Odd Boy Out - Gyles Brandreth +++1/2 31. Mr Loverman - Bernardine Evaristo ++++1/2 32. Astonish Me - Maggie Shipstead +++++ 33.Redhead by the Side of the Road - Anne Tyler +++++ 34. Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Read ++++ 35; All My Mothers - Joanna Glen +++1/2 36. Stiletto ' Daniel Massey. ++++1/2 37. Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi ++++1/2 38. American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins+++++ 39. A short History of the World According to Sheep -Sally Coulthard ++++1/2 40.Oh William! Elizabeth Strout ++++1/2 41. Mother's Boy - Patrick Gale +++++ The House on the Cerulean Sea - T J Klune Abandoned 42. The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison +++++ 43. Doing Time - Jodi Taylor ++++1/2 44. The ManWho Died Twice - Richard Osman ++++ 45. Miss Buncle's Book - D E Stevenson +++++ 46. The Dark - Sharon Bolton+++++ 47. Cold Kill - P J Tracy ++++ 48. The Travelling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Akiwira ++++ 49. Good Riddance - Elinor Lipman +++1/2 50 The Talk of Pram Town - Joanna Nadin +++ 51. The Lincoln Highway - Amor Towles 52 The Mystery of the Paper Bark Tree - Ovidia Yu ++++ 53. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap - H G Parry ++++ 54. The Feast - Margaret Kennedy +++++ 55. Tales From the Folly - Ben Aaronnvitch ++++(RR° 56. THe Half Life of Valery K - Natasha Pulley ++++1/2 57. Lake Silence - Anne Bishop ++++ 58. The Island of Missing Trees - Elif Shafek +++++ 59. The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett +++++ 60. The Last Party - Clare Macintosh +++ 62. Nora goes off script - Annabel Monnahan ++ 61. The Final Reunion of Opal and Nev - Dawnie Walton ++++1/2 62. The Stone Chamber - Kate Ellis +++ 63. Wake - Shelley Burr +++1/2 64. Smoke and Ashes - Akbir Mukajee ++++ 65. Murder Before Evensong - Rev Richard Coles ++ 66. The Bog Child - Siobhan Dowd ++++ 67. The Lady of Adderley - Robert Barnard ++++ 68. Death Wore White - Jim Kelley +++ 69. The Dead Will Tell - Linda Castillo ++++ 70. My Word is My Bond - Roger Moore ++++ 71. Blue Monday - Nicci French +++ (downgraded for the truly annoying ending) 72. Death in the East - Akbir Mukajee +++1/2 73. Dirt Town - Hayley Scrivinor +++ 74. French Braid - Anne Tyler +++++ 75. The Last to Disappear +++ 76. Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doer +++/+++++ (Can't make up my mind whether it's overblown or brilliant) 77. This Charming Man - CK McDonnell ++++1/2 78. O Caledonia - Elspeth Barker ++++ 79. Shamed - Linda Castillo ++++1/2 80. Mrs Harris Goes to Paris - Paul Gallico +++1/2 81. Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead ++++1/2 82. The Angels of Venice - Phillip Wynne Jones ++++ 83. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus +++1/2 84. Business As Usual - Jane Oliver +++++ 85. Fresh Water for Flowers - Valerie Perrin ++++ 86. The Golden Enclaves - Naomi Novik ++++1/2 87. Miss Buncle Married - D E Stevenson +++ Audio Books The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriaty +++ for story, top notch narrating Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris