Thursday, June 25, 2020

good novel, mediocre mystery and a pretty good mystery

The Untouchable by John Banville, 2009. Such a good writer. Not a light book, a bit dark but great character and so perceptive about people. And so well written.

Ian Rankin wrote a book a long time ago, and it was recently published. Westwind, 2020. Characters are forgettable, plot was ok, but writing not very good. Rebus books are much much better.

Bluff by Jane Stanton Hitchcock, 2020. good mystery, main character and older woman who could walk into busy hotel, shoot someone and walk out and no one would notice her. good plot.

Saturday, June 6, 2020

good books

The Mirror and the Light, 2020, by Hilary Mantel. Oh my, poor Cromwell! Very long book but it's all conversations and really interesting. Certainly brings those people to life.

Six Months in Sudan, 2009, James Maskalyk. His first book, really good. Interesting writer, dealing with tough stuff.

Down Among the Dead, 2020, Damien Boyd. Good mystery, like the way he always remembers the dog - never left in a hot car, always walked and fed and left with the TV on.

The Driftwood Girls 2020, Mark Douglas-Home
ok mystery, don't remember much about it.

Gone By Midnight, Candice Fox, 2019. Book 3 in her series, starting out at the vets office - like the way she writes about animal care. Like the characters.


Middle England by Jonathan Coe, 2019. Really good novel. Brexit finally made a bit of sense to me, what the issues are, or some of them. Believable characters, well told story.

Soap and Water and Common Sense, Bonnie Henry, 2020 edition, originally writter ten years ago. Very interesting book about the bugs of the world, and how they mostly rule.