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 :-)

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.