France

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

I don't think brains are necessarily a prerequisite for writing a good and thoughtful book. A mastery of language and the ability to put words together (whether or not it follows grammatical mores) definitely is. Writing is a craft that needs to be worked at and honed, just like somebody can't design a ballgown that will fit, flatter, be comfortable and suit the fabric without knowing about dressmaking and the properties of various materials. The other thing is to read, read, read. I wouldn't call discussing all sorts of subjects while the reader waits for something to happen clever, it's the literary equivalent of being a pub bore as far as I'm concerned (I haven't read Focault's Pendulum by the way!) Your Youtuber while probably being bright is also probably not reading every word of the books she reviews (ask yourself for a moment how the judges for the Booker manage to read all the books entered, they have to skim) and she may be writing her book in conjunction with someone else. Otherwise she could simply be very organised, if you set yourself to write 500 words a day you can complete an 80,000 word novel in under 6 months. Was Jane Austen super bright? Clever certainly and she came from a very literate family and she wrote and wrote. Dickens? Much of his writing was motivated by the need to make money, Dostoievski was another who was paid by the page. Dickens was also driven by social injustice. Was Emily Bronte brilliant or the owner of an incredible imagination (and another who wrote and wrote and wrote)? Lee Child may be a genius IQ wise for all I know but for me he's the perfect example of someone who is very slick and practiced at producing page turners, some of the plots have huge unliklinesses in them but it doesn't matter because he's so good at making the reader turn the page. That is clever.

These are Ingie and Dino, both rescues. Ingie was in a refuge for over 5 years after being removed from his owners for cruelty and was already 10 when we adopted him. We thought we'd give him a home for his last years, when he arrived in September 2020 he didn't know to wag his tail or move his ears in response when someone spoke to him. We've been unbelievably lucky because though he has a few issues he is very loving and affectionate. Since Desi died he's appointed himself chief comforter which involves spending a lot of time draped across my lap. Dino, on the right, is my daughter's and was thrown out of a car and left to fend for himself.

Not rubbish! And very characterful. No, that was Flynn who was most definitely a character! She has a paw of iron dressed up in some pretty speckled fur. I reckon you can be pretty sure that if you are invited to someone's home and get to meet the mother that the puppies are OK. They won't be from a puppy farm or imported illegally. I know a couple of breeders here in France and they are very careful about who their puppies go to and if for some reason the new owners decide to get rid of the dog will work their butts off to find the dog a new, decent home.

You're a really good photographer Hux! I love that picture, so full of essence of dog.

Sybil, now aged two but still just as opinionated, disapproving of my reading material.

Isabel Allende's first book The House of the Spirits is featured on the last episode of Graham Norton's Book Club podcast and there's a really interesting interview with her. She sound like exactly the sort of person I'd love to meet! I know we still have a copy of The House of the Spirits, I'm going to dig it out and reread it.

We had a Dalmatian (almost as accomplished thieves as Labradors) who worked out how to open the bread bin by getting his nose under the handle and rolling it up.

Lily looks like quite a character. There's attitude there! Is she a beagle?

Last posting of the year! Small Pleasures - Clare Chambers. It's 1957 and Jean, 39, a journalist on the North Kent Echo who normally covers all the light womanly stories is sent to interview Gretchen, a young Swiss woman, who claims to have had a virgin birth. The more Jean investigates, the closer she becomes to the whole family, Gretchen, Getchen's daughter Margaret and her husband Howard and the more puzzled she is by Gretchen's story. There are many good things about this book and I loved the way some of Jean's other writing is included so we can see how banal her normal work usually is but the first half is really slow moving and the ending reads as if Clare Chambers wasn't sure how to bring it to a close so threw everything in (actually this isn't the case as is made clear in the epilogue but it still feels that way). The Girl in the Ice - Robert Bryndza. Fast moving, well written, wrecked by ridiculous ending with multiple things that just wouldn't happen (ie police officer taking a suspect's keys and letting themself into the suspect's house) and totally nonsensical tying up of loose ends - ie why is A doing business with ? It hasn't been mentioned earlier. Shame I was enjoying it up to that point.

Have you tried Isabel Allende? Or Alice Hoffman. Both of them write about the real world but with magical elements, Hoffman verges on outright fantasy sometimes but Allende is firmly of this, albeit a slightly skewed, world.