Tuesday, January 28, 2020
good mysteries
Peter Robinson's latest two DCI Banks books are very good. Careless Love, 2018 and Many Rivers to Cross 2019. interesting plots and likeable characters.
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Golden Fleece, and a marshy mystery
The Golden Fleece by Esther Rutter, 2019. Non-fiction exploration of the history and social backgrounds of knitting around the UK. Delightful book, interesting to read and well researched. A good read.
Where the Crawdad's Sing, Delia Owens 2018. A novel, but the main plot is not believable - the setting is fascinating, the marsh and the coast and the whole environment. But I don't believe a child could bring herself up with no money living in a shack in the marshland. A good ending to the book, and it was entertaining. But not great.
No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters Ursula K. Le Guin Dec 5 2017
Really enjoyed this book. very thoughtful and interesting. and funny :-)
Where the Crawdad's Sing, Delia Owens 2018. A novel, but the main plot is not believable - the setting is fascinating, the marsh and the coast and the whole environment. But I don't believe a child could bring herself up with no money living in a shack in the marshland. A good ending to the book, and it was entertaining. But not great.
No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters Ursula K. Le Guin Dec 5 2017
Really enjoyed this book. very thoughtful and interesting. and funny :-)
Saturday, January 11, 2020
books
What Comes Next and How to Like It, by Abigail Thomas, 2016. Memoir. Very good book, very honest and flawed person.
It's also very funny. And she likes dogs.
The Body A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson, 2019. Really interesting, easy to follow and informative with good references.
Good book, worth reading.
Your House Will Pay, 2019, by Steph Cha. Listed as a mystery but really a good novel. She write about race and living in LA and she is very perceptive and forgiving of her characters. Good book, good writing.
The Godmother,
by Hannelore Cayre , 2019. Translation. Did not like this book at all - the reader was very irritating. The story not interesting.
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan, 2019. A novel, but based on fact. Interesting book, interesting woman.
The Ministry of Truth, The biography of George Orwell's 1984 by Dorian Lyndkey, 2019. Very interesting book, about how he wrote it. It took many years, and all the links to things that were happening in his life and in the world. Good book.
We the Survivors, by Tash Aw. Very good novel. 2019. as they say on Amazon "A murderer's confession--devastating, unblinking, poignant, unforgettable--which reveals a story of class, education, and the inescapable workings of destiny." interesting perspectives, good characters.
Agent Running in the Fiels John le Carre 2019. The best mystery writer, it is so much more. my favourite quote from the book "It is my considered opinion that for Britain and Europe, and for liberal democracy across the entire world as a whole, Britain’s departure from the European Union in the time of Donald Trump, and Britain’s consequent unqualified dependence on the United States in an era when the US is heading straight down the road to institutional racism and neo-fascism, is an unmitigated clusterfuck bar none." Very good book
James Oswald Nothing to Hide, 2019. Book two of his new series. Constance Fairchild. pretty good, but think I prefer his Maclean series.
It's also very funny. And she likes dogs.
The Body A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson, 2019. Really interesting, easy to follow and informative with good references.
Good book, worth reading.
Your House Will Pay, 2019, by Steph Cha. Listed as a mystery but really a good novel. She write about race and living in LA and she is very perceptive and forgiving of her characters. Good book, good writing.
The Godmother,
by Hannelore Cayre , 2019. Translation. Did not like this book at all - the reader was very irritating. The story not interesting.
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan, 2019. A novel, but based on fact. Interesting book, interesting woman.
The Ministry of Truth, The biography of George Orwell's 1984 by Dorian Lyndkey, 2019. Very interesting book, about how he wrote it. It took many years, and all the links to things that were happening in his life and in the world. Good book.
We the Survivors, by Tash Aw. Very good novel. 2019. as they say on Amazon "A murderer's confession--devastating, unblinking, poignant, unforgettable--which reveals a story of class, education, and the inescapable workings of destiny." interesting perspectives, good characters.
Agent Running in the Fiels John le Carre 2019. The best mystery writer, it is so much more. my favourite quote from the book "It is my considered opinion that for Britain and Europe, and for liberal democracy across the entire world as a whole, Britain’s departure from the European Union in the time of Donald Trump, and Britain’s consequent unqualified dependence on the United States in an era when the US is heading straight down the road to institutional racism and neo-fascism, is an unmitigated clusterfuck bar none." Very good book
James Oswald Nothing to Hide, 2019. Book two of his new series. Constance Fairchild. pretty good, but think I prefer his Maclean series.
Friday, June 21, 2019
mediocre mystery and great novel
The Taking of Annie Thorne by C J Tudor, 2019. Not a likeable character in the book. Engaging plot, but that's about it. Dark and dreary mystery. Glad it's over.
Great novel by Australian writer, Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe, 2019. Characters you love, story told from the heart. Really good book. Fallible people dealing with life in Brisbane as best they can. Told from the main character's perspective, Eli Bell, age 12 to start with.
Great novel by Australian writer, Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe, 2019. Characters you love, story told from the heart. Really good book. Fallible people dealing with life in Brisbane as best they can. Told from the main character's perspective, Eli Bell, age 12 to start with.
Saturday, May 4, 2019
2 non fiction books
Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home, 2018, by Nora Krug. Interesting graphic novel, she investigates her family, tries to find out how guilty any of them may have been of being linked to Nazi activities. Interesting perspective, honest investigation. Worth reading.
Forgiveness, 2015, by Mark Sakamoto. Very interesting content, two families and how they were mistreated in the war, but badly written. Very patchy, much left out it feels like half a book.
Forgiveness, 2015, by Mark Sakamoto. Very interesting content, two families and how they were mistreated in the war, but badly written. Very patchy, much left out it feels like half a book.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
excellent non fiction
Land of Lost Border: Out of Bound on the Silk Road, 2018, Kate Harris. Riding in snow and rain on awful roads, 11 months with one friend, an amazing journey. But the best parts of the book are her thoughts on the environment, on the meaning or lack of meaning in the borders we create. Very good book, deserved to win the award she won, The Taylor Award.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Stiff,by Mary Roach. 2004. Very interesting book about corpses, what people do with them, how they are used, historically where they came from. She's a witty writer and finds out interesting things.
Thick and other essays, 2019, by Tressie McMillan Cottom. Good writer, great essays, written by a scholar, author and sociologist with a decade-long track record of exceptional work. Amazon reviewer says these essays are "crammed full of striking observations about America’s current and historical racial/economic/class schisms," And they are.
Cara Hunter, In the Dark, 2019. Pretty good mystery. not much more to say
Peter May, I'll Keep you Safe, 2019. Not as good as his many other books, but very descriptive of the Hebrides, and weaving and textiles and the business behind it all. Interesting to read about looms and weavers. The murder not so interesting.
James Oswald, Cold as the Grave, 2019. #9 of his Inspector McLean series, very good mystery.
Elly Griffiths, The Stone Circle, 2019. Another very good mystery in her Ruth Galloway series, with DCI Nelson. Thoroughly enjoyable characters, great setting, good mystery.
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza 2018. Very good novel. How a family deals with life in America. Good writer.
The wife Between Us, 2019 by Greer Hendricks (Author), Sarah Pekkanen . Irritating mystery. Women too flaky for me. inventive plot, and not badly written but not a single character I liked at all.
Thick and other essays, 2019, by Tressie McMillan Cottom. Good writer, great essays, written by a scholar, author and sociologist with a decade-long track record of exceptional work. Amazon reviewer says these essays are "crammed full of striking observations about America’s current and historical racial/economic/class schisms," And they are.
Cara Hunter, In the Dark, 2019. Pretty good mystery. not much more to say
Peter May, I'll Keep you Safe, 2019. Not as good as his many other books, but very descriptive of the Hebrides, and weaving and textiles and the business behind it all. Interesting to read about looms and weavers. The murder not so interesting.
James Oswald, Cold as the Grave, 2019. #9 of his Inspector McLean series, very good mystery.
Elly Griffiths, The Stone Circle, 2019. Another very good mystery in her Ruth Galloway series, with DCI Nelson. Thoroughly enjoyable characters, great setting, good mystery.
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza 2018. Very good novel. How a family deals with life in America. Good writer.
The wife Between Us, 2019 by Greer Hendricks (Author), Sarah Pekkanen . Irritating mystery. Women too flaky for me. inventive plot, and not badly written but not a single character I liked at all.
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