January and February Books
I forgot at the end of January, and was offline at the end of Feb, so here are 2 months books, before it turns into 3 months ...
1: The Santa Klaus Murder Mavis Doriel Hay
Not the best one of the British Library Crime Classics that I have read, and very revealing of the attitudes of the time. Still it was a reasonable seasonal read.
2: The Art of Hygge: how to bring Danish cosiness into your life Jonny Jackson
This was a lovely little book to read - the layout is so pretty. Lots of inspiration to make my house a nicer place to be.
3: We Yevgeny Zamyatin
This was the January book for the book group - we delayed the meeting for a week to allow people to get back from Christmas - and also we had the long meeting with a meal, to discuss our year's reading.
For me this book started well, but as the 'madness' of the main character took hold, the style of the book went too much with that, and it became very hard to read. It was a very interesting premise for a story, but there were some glaring plot holes.
4: The Quiet American Graham Greene
February's book group choice. A very interesting and thought provoking book. Very well written, and a good plot. The characters were written in an interesting way, and we all had issues with the way he wrote the sole female character, Phuong. Still, I would probably read more by Greene, now that I have tried one by him.
5: The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak
Really excellent. I didn't expect the twists at the end until just before they were revealed. I loved the range of characters and how they were written, and also the conflicts between past and present, and between the Armenians in the diaspora, and those (both Turkish and Armenian), in Istanbul. I had been wanting to read this for ages, and I am so glad that I did.
6: The Moth Catcher Anne Cleeves
Although I have been a fan of Vera on the TV for a while, this is the first one of the novels that I have read. I enjoyed it a lot. I didn't work out whodunnit at all. Vera is a little different from how she is on TV, but not so much that either version will jar with me at all. Good mystery, and good other characters.
7: A history of the wortld in 1 1/2 chapters Julian Barnes
This was the March choice for the book group. It was very odd. Quite a few of the interlinked stories were interesting and amusing, particularly those about woodworm and the ark, but there was a long essay-like piece and a very weak story about heaven towards the end, and they really lowered my overall reaction to the book. Wouldn't read him again on this basis.
1: The Santa Klaus Murder Mavis Doriel Hay
Not the best one of the British Library Crime Classics that I have read, and very revealing of the attitudes of the time. Still it was a reasonable seasonal read.
2: The Art of Hygge: how to bring Danish cosiness into your life Jonny Jackson
This was a lovely little book to read - the layout is so pretty. Lots of inspiration to make my house a nicer place to be.
3: We Yevgeny Zamyatin
This was the January book for the book group - we delayed the meeting for a week to allow people to get back from Christmas - and also we had the long meeting with a meal, to discuss our year's reading.
For me this book started well, but as the 'madness' of the main character took hold, the style of the book went too much with that, and it became very hard to read. It was a very interesting premise for a story, but there were some glaring plot holes.
4: The Quiet American Graham Greene
February's book group choice. A very interesting and thought provoking book. Very well written, and a good plot. The characters were written in an interesting way, and we all had issues with the way he wrote the sole female character, Phuong. Still, I would probably read more by Greene, now that I have tried one by him.
5: The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak
Really excellent. I didn't expect the twists at the end until just before they were revealed. I loved the range of characters and how they were written, and also the conflicts between past and present, and between the Armenians in the diaspora, and those (both Turkish and Armenian), in Istanbul. I had been wanting to read this for ages, and I am so glad that I did.
6: The Moth Catcher Anne Cleeves
Although I have been a fan of Vera on the TV for a while, this is the first one of the novels that I have read. I enjoyed it a lot. I didn't work out whodunnit at all. Vera is a little different from how she is on TV, but not so much that either version will jar with me at all. Good mystery, and good other characters.
7: A history of the wortld in 1 1/2 chapters Julian Barnes
This was the March choice for the book group. It was very odd. Quite a few of the interlinked stories were interesting and amusing, particularly those about woodworm and the ark, but there was a long essay-like piece and a very weak story about heaven towards the end, and they really lowered my overall reaction to the book. Wouldn't read him again on this basis.