Top Twenty 20 Books of 2020

 What a year 2020 has been for everyone around the globe! It has certainly been a year that we will never forget. In the same way that my parents generation would talk about their experiences as children during WWII, those of my sons generation will be telling their grandchildren what it was like to live through 2020. 

Reading has played an enormous part in keeping me sane this year and, up to a point, I have been able to read my way through the chaos. Thank goodness for the escapism that books have given us all. 

Thank you for following my blog this year. It means so much to me to know that you are sharing in my reading experience. If you would like to read my reviews of the books that I have selected just click on the underlined titles and it will take you directly to the review page.

I want to wish you all a happy New Year and hope that we can approach 2021 with optimism.

In no particular order here are my favourite 20 books of 2020:

The Temptation of Gracie by Santa Montefiore - I am a big fan of this author and have enjoyed all of her books.

The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason - This is an excellent book set during WWI and I highly recommend it.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams - I have yet to write my review of this excellent book. I veered from not liking it much to thinking that it was one of the best books I have ever read.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - A wonderful book which tells the story of a researcher who goes to the Amazon jungle in search of a colleague.

The Power by Naomi Alderman - I read this book with my book group via a virtual meeting and it got very mixed results. Personally, I thought it was a brilliant book.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - This was a re-read for me and I think I enjoyed it even more second time around.

A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville - This is the first book I have read by this author and I thought it was exceptional.

Girl by Edna O'Brien - A story of the the girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria. An incredibly powerful book.

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell - I have loved all of the books that I have read by this author and this one was no exception.

Focus by Arthur Miller - written in 1945 this was the author's first novel. An interesting and enjoyable read.

Witches: James I and the English Witch Hunts by Tracy Borman - this excellent non-fiction title gave a fascinating insight into the 17th century witch hunts.

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd - this book was written from the perspective of the wife of Jesus. A very enjoyable fictional account.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - this is an author which I had been wanting to try for ages. I loved this book and will definitely be reading more by him.

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold - I had this book on loan from the library and found it so interesting that I bought myself a copy before I had even finished reading it. A remarkably different non-fiction account of the Ripper's victims.

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier - I have read almost all of the books written by this author and loved each and everyone. This was a wonderfully gentle story which hit absolutely the right note for me during such troubled times.

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier - this was my second reading of this novel and just as good a reread as it was the first time around.

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith - this is the fourth in the Cormoran Strike series. Having read the previous three I thought this was particularly good.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I have lost count of how many times I have read this novel. It is definitely my favourite of the novels written by the collective Bronte sisters. A controversial view perhaps?

Momento Park by Mark Sarvas - an interesting story about the complex relationship between the protagonist and his father. It was the first book I read in 2020 and was thrilled that my reading year had got off to such a good start.

Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner - when this was first published in the UK in June 2019 I really wanted to read this. However, I made myself wait until it was published in paperback. Not only was it worth the wait but it exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend this book.

Reading for December 2020

 

"Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat," etc (she sings, very badly indeed.)

I can hardly believe that the holiday season is just around the corner and here we are at the first of December already. What a bonkers year it has been and will continue to be for a while yet. However, here in England we are being given a restrictions holiday for a few days which we are all grateful for.

This month my list of books that I hope to read will be shorter than usual as I usually treat myself to a long read over the holidays which consequently means that I am not able to read so many individual books. Without any further ado, here is my list.

* * *

London by Edward Ruthurford - this is the long novel that I plan on reading. At just under 1300 pages in the edition that I have, I am not sure how much else I will get to read.

The Woman of the Wolf and Other Stories by Renee Vivien

Snow Blind by Ragnar Jonasson

Dark Water by Elizabeth Lowry

East Lynne by Mrs Henry Wood

The Dollmaker by Nina Allen

The Dark Angel by Nina Allen

Books to Finish

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

November 2020 Reading Roundup

 

 

As I sit at my desk writing this post with a cup of coffee by my side the weather is grey and wet outside. I do not dislike the rain, particularly when I am warm and toasty inside my home. However, I so much prefer the autumn sunshine which has been replaced with grey skies this past few days.

As I reflect on this last month which, somehow, has whizzed past again, my thoughts are those of being in lockdown once again. I am desperately missing my family and because of social distancing restrictions, even prior to this latest lockdown, I was not able to hug my children or grandchildren and have not done so since the first lockdown began on 23rd March. I am sure that many of you are in the same position so I am sending you all a virtual hug along with this post. 

So, what have you all been reading during November? Have you read a book this month that you would recommend? Here is my roundup of the books that I have read this month.

Books I have Read 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - although this was entertaining I did not think that he quite lived up to the hype surrounding it. If you enjoy this type of book then The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths is much better (only my opinion of course).

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - this was my book group read for this month and we all enjoyed it very much. It has been my favourite novel this month.

A History of Death in 17th Century England by Ben Norman - a well researched book on death and it's mourning practices during the seventeenth century. My review will be up in the next day or two.

Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson - this did not live up to my expectation of the book but nice to read about a knitting shop.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - re-reading this it is easy to see why it has become an enduring classic and was well worth reading again.

Books I am Partway Through

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

Costa Book Awards Shortlist 2020

 I was so excited to see the Costa Book Awards shortlist published yesterday. There are some great titles and I have not read any of them to date but I really hope to get at least a couple under my belt before the category winners are announced on the 4th of January. 

Have you read any of these titles? I would love to hear your thoughts.

First Novel Award

                                                              Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen

The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain

Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud

All the Water in the World by Kanen Raney

 

Novel Award

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Peace Talks by Tim Finch

The Less Dead by Denise Mina

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

 

Biography Award

 The Man in the Red Coat by Julian Barnes

Dear Life by Rachel Clarke

The Louder I Will Sing by Lee Lawrence

Ghost Town by Jeff Young

 

Poetry Award

 

The Air Year by Caroline Bird

The Historians by Eavan Boland

My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long
Citadel by Martha Sprackland

Children's Book Award

 

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant

The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson

The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff

 ***

 Category Winners announced: Monday 4th January 2021

Costa Book of the Year announced: Tuesday 26th January 2021

Upcoming Read Along - Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson

 

I am so excited to announce that we are going to be launching our very first Read Along next week. This book featured as my Tuesday Teaser a short while ago and if you would like to read that before deciding on whether or not to join us (I really hope you do) you can read about the book here.

It looks like it will be a fun, light-hearted and entertaining book to read. I do not know about you but with all that is going on in the world at the moment I am very much in need of something fun to cheer me up. 

We plan to start reading this next Monday 16th November over on the blog Facebook page which can be accessed here.

I do hope you will join us and feel free to leave a comment here if you will be joining us.

Unspoken by T. A. Belshaw - #BookBlitz

 

A heart-warming, dramatic family saga. Unspoken is a tale of secrets, love, betrayal and revenge.

Unspoken means something that cannot be uttered aloud. Unspoken is the dark secret a woman must keep, for life.

Alice is fast approaching her one hundredth birthday and she is dying. Her strange, graphic dreams of ghostly figures trying to pull her into a tunnel of blinding light are becoming more and more vivid and terrifying. Alice knows she only has a short time left and is desperate to unburden herself of a dark secret, one she has lived with for eighty years.

Jessica, a journalist, is her great granddaughter and a mirror image of a young Alice. They share dreadful luck in the types of men that come into their lives.

Alice decides to share her terrible secret with Jessica and sends her to the attic to retrieve a set of handwritten notebooks detailing her young life during the late 1930s. Following the death of her invalid mother and her father’s decline into depression and alcoholism, she is forced, at 18 to take control of the farm. On her birthday, she meets Frank, a man with a drink problem and a violent temper.

When Frank’s abusive behaviour steps up a level. Alice seeks solace in the arms of her smooth, ‘gangster lawyer’ Godfrey, and when Frank discovers the couple together, he vows to get his revenge.

Unspoken. A tale that spans two eras and binds two women, born eighty years apart.

Author Bio

T A Belshaw is from Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Trevor writes for both children and adults. He is the author of Tracy's Hot Mail, Tracy's Celebrity Hot Mail and the noir, suspense novella, Out Of Control. His new novel, The family saga, Unspoken, was released in July, 2020

His short stories have been published in various anthologies including 100 Stories for Haiti, 50 Stories for Pakistan, Another Haircut, Shambelurkling and Other Stories, Deck The Halls, 100 Stories for Queensland and The Cafe Lit anthology 2011, 2012 and 2013. He also has two pieces in Shambelurklers Return. 2014

Trevor is also the author of 15 children's books written under the name of Trevor Forest. The latest. Magic Molly The Curse of Cranberry Cottage was released in August 2015

His children's poem, Clicking Gran, was long-listed for the Plough prize (children's section ) in 2009 and his short poem, My Mistake, was rated Highly Commended and published in an anthology of the best entries in the Farringdon Poetry Competition.

Trevor's articles have been published in magazines as diverse as Ireland's Own, The Best of British and First Edition.

Trevor is currently working on the sequel to Unspoken and the third book in the Tracy series; Tracy's Euro Hot Mail.

Reading for November 2020

 

As we begin the new month of November those of us in England are facing a new national lockdown situation from Thursday. It is hard to say anything positive or cheerful about it knowing that I will not be able to see my family and friends again for a while but we all need to do whatever we can to keep ourselves and others safe and well. 

If that means another lockdown then so be it and I will hunker down with a pile of books and just make the best of the situation. Keep well, my friends, and do let me know what you are planning to read this month.

***

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson (you are welcome to join us in reading this book over on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/leftontheshelf1) This book featured as the Tuesday Teaser a short while ago and you can read that here if you would like a little taste of the book.

The Warden by Anthony Trollope

The Snow Song by Sally Gardner

The Art of Figure Drawing for Beginners by Gecko Keck

Blackberry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton

The Last Secret of the Deverills by Santa Montefiore

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

Books to Finish

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

A History of Death in 17th Century England by Ben Norman

October 2020 Roundup

 

Here in the UK Halloween is not celebrated on the same scale as it is in the US. However, I really missed seeing the children all dressed up in their costumes this year and knocking on the door for their treats. There did seem to be several people letting off fireworks though which was nice to watch from the warmth and comfort of home. However, my dog was singularly unimpressed and I did not quite have the heart to explain to him that fireworks will probably be a feature now until after 5th November. He did settle down for a biscuit and a tummy rub so it was all good.

I suppose I could have celebrated Halloween by reading scary books. It's confession time - horror is probably the only genre that I do not read. Neither do I watch scary films. I am a complete coward when it comes to reading or watching anything that will scare me.

Instead, I read books that I found I could absorb myself in. Goodness knows, we certainly need some distraction at the moment. How about you, did you read anything scary this month?

I would love to hear which books have been reading this month.

Books I Have Read This Month

The Weaker Vessel, Woman's Lot in Seventeenth Century England: Part One by Antonia Fraser - This book took me ages to read but was extremely good. I have Part Two sitting on my shelf which I will progress to quite soon.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri - I enjoyed this very much.

The Power by Naomi Alderman - I read this book with my book group and opinions were polarised. For me, it was a brilliant book and I highly recommend it.

A Village Vacancy by Julie Houston - I love this author's books and this one was no exception. My reviews of her previous novels Goodness, Grace and Me can be found here and Sing Me a Secret here.

The Night of the Burning: Devorah's Story by Linda Press Wulf - This Young Adult novel was well worth reading.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - This was my favourite novel this month. Every word had meaning and it was beautifully written.

Surgeon's Hall  by E. S. Thomson - This is part four of the Jem Flockhart series. I have read the previous three novels in the series, all of which have been good. My review of Beloved Poison which is the first in the series (and worth reading as it explains the background of Jem) can be found here.

Books I Did Not Finish

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - I have been wanting to read this for such a long time and finally got to it. However, I just could not get into it and I may well give it another try sometime.

Books I Am Part Way Through

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

A History of Death in 17th Century England by Ben Norman

How's the Pain? by Pascal Garnier - Translated by Emily Boyce - #BookReview

 

"The sound coming from somewhere in the darkness was barely audible, but it was enough to shatter his sleep. The drone of the moped grew louder until it was directly beneath his window, grating on his nerves like a dentist's drill boring into a decayed tooth. Then it faded into the distance, leaving nothing behind but a long rip through the fabric of the sleeping city. He hadn't opened his eyes or moved except to twitch his mouth in annoyance at the buzzing mechanical insect."

My past is a joke, my present's a disaster, thank goodness I have no future

Death is Simon's business. And now the ageing vermin exterminator is preparing to die. But he still has one last job down on the coast, and he needs a driver.

Bernard is twenty-one. He can drive and he's never seen the sea. He can't pass up the chance to chauffeur for Simon, whatever his mother may say.

As the unlikely pair set off on their journey, Bernard soon finds that Simon's definition of vermin is broader than he'd expected...

Veering from the hilarious to the horrific, this offbeat story from master stylist Pascal Garnier is at heart an affecting study of human frailty.

***

This book was a detour from my usual reading fare and I really enjoyed it. It is rather bizarre at times and the characters were eccentric but the story really drew me in from the very beginning.

It is a short novel with only just over 170 pages but it has much to commend it within it's covers. It is a gloomy and unconventional story and brings together characters who are very much at odds with one another which I think brings a unique quality to this story. Simon, Bernard and Fiona are far from characters who sit comfortably on the page with one another but it is this that gives the novel a real spark.

It is a novel which is simultaneously dark and humorous and is very cleverly written.

First published in France in 2006 and then in the UK six years later, this short novel has much to offer the reader. 

Have you read any of Garnier's books. I am very tempted to read more of this author's work in the near future.

ISBN: 978 1910477922

Publisher: Gallic Books

About the Author:

Pascal Garnier was born in Paris in 1949. The prize-winning author of over sixty books, he remains a leading figure in contemporary French literature, in the tradition of Georges Simenon. He died in 2010.

About the Translator:

Emily Boyce is an editor and in-house translator at Gallic Books. She lives in London.

Library Lowdown - 26th October 2020

 It is such a long time since I posted about my library books. This weekend saw my first visit to my library since it was closed at the beginning of lock down. Things were different in there and the staff have obviously worked incredibly hard to make it possible that we can all visit the library safely once again.

I borrowed three books which I think will be amazing and I can not wait to read them.

Renia's Diary by Renia Spiegel

Renia is a young girl who dreams of becoming a poet. But Renia is Jewish, she lives in Poland and the year is 1939. When Russia and Germany invade her country, Renia's world shatters. Separated from her mother, her life takes on a new urgency as she flees Przemysl to escape night bombing raids, observes the disappearances of other Jewish families and, finally, witnesses the creation of the ghetto.

But alongside the terror of war, there is also great beauty, as she begins to find her voice as a writer and falls in love for the first time. She and Aygmunt share their first kiss a few hours before the Nazis reach her hometown. And it is Zygmunt who writes the final, heartbreaking entry in Renia's diary.

Recently rediscovered after seventy years, Renia's Diary is already being described as a classic of Holocaust literature. Written with a clarity and skill that is reminiscent of Anne Frank, Renia's Diary also includes a prologue and epilogue by Renia's sister Elizabeth, as well as an introduction by Deborah Lipstadt, author of Denial. It is an extraordinary testament to both the horrors of war, and to the life that can exist even in the darkest times.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Meet Queenie, journalist, catastrophist, expressive, aggressive, loved, lonely. Enough?

A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, race and family. Queenie will have you nodding in recognition, crying in solidarity and rooting for this unforgettable character every step of the way.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Elwood Curtis knows he is as good as anyone - growing up in 1960s Florida, he has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart. He is about to enrol in the local black college, determined to make something of himself. But given the time and the place, one innocent mistake is all it takes to destroy his future, and so instead of college, Elwood arrives at the Nickel Academy, a segregated reform school claiming to provide an education which will equip its inmates to become 'honourable and honest men'.

In reality, the Nickel Academy is a nightmarish upside-down world, where any boy who resists the corrupt depravity of the authorities is likely to disappear 'out back'. Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, "Throw us in jail, and we will still love you." But Elwood's fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks Elwood naive and worse; the world is crooked, and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors.

When Elwood's idealism and Turner's scepticism collide, the result has decades-long repercussions. The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven novel by a great American writer whose clear sighted and human storytelling continues to illuminate our current reality.

Reading for October 2020

 

Where is this mad and crazy year that we call 2020 disappearing to? I think it is safe to say that autumn has begun here in the UK. I rather like the autumn months; natures colours are beautiful, the intensity of summer has passed and yet temperatures are cooler and remind us that winter is not far away. 

Having said that, as I look out of my office window this morning, the skies are grey and the rain heavy. People are in a rush as they go about their business and it is like watching a conveyor belt of rain coats and umbrellas pass before me.

By contrast, I am planning to sit in my nice dry house today and dream of all the books that I want to read this month, as well as quite a few that I will not manage to squeeze into my reading schedule. However, some gorgeous little book usually seduces me away from my planned books, whispering "read me, you know you want me," and before I know what has happened it is the end of the month again and I consider all of the books that I had planned to read but did not.

Whatever you are planning to read this month, keep safe, keep warm and enjoy.

***

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Call the Vet by Bruce Fogle

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Her Mother's Secret by Rosanna Ley

Antkind: A Novel by Charlie Kaufman

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers

A Village Vacancy by Julie Houston

The Night of the Burning by Linda Press Wulf

***

Books to Finish

The Weaker Vessel, Woman's Lot in Seventeenth Century England: Part One by Antonia Fraser.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths - #BookReview #socialblast

 

"The two men have been standing there for eighteen minutes. Peggy has been timing them on her stopwatch. They parked on the seafront just in front of Benedict's cafe. A white Ford Fiesta. Annoyingly she can't see the registration but, if she uses her binoculars, she can see a dent on the nearside door. If they have hired the car, the company will have taken a note of this. Peggy makes a note too, getting out her Investigation Book which is cunningly disguised as 'A Seaside Lady's Diary', complete with saccharine watercolours of shells and fishing boats."

PS: Thanks for the murders.

The death of a ninety-year-woman with a heart condition should absolutely not be suspicious. DS Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing to concern her in carer Natalka's account of Peggy Smith's death.

But when Natalka reveals that Peggy lied about her heart condition and that she has been sure someone was following her.....

And that Peggy Smith had been a 'murder consultant' who plotted deaths for authors, and knew more about murder than anyone has a right to...

And when clearing out Peggy's flat ends in Natalka being held at gunpoint by a masked figure...

Well then DS Harbinder Kaur thinks that maybe there is no such things as an unsuspicious death after all.

From the sleepy seaside town of Shoreham, to the granite streets of Aberdeen and the shores of Lake Baikal, The Postscript Murders is a literary mystery for fans of Antony Horowitz, Agatha Christie and anyone who's ever wondered just how authors think up such realistic crimes...

***

Whenever I hear that Elly Griffiths has a new book coming I am filled with joy and my heart sings a little song. Every word she writes is wonderful and the anticipation is only excelled by the actual reading experience.

This book is the second in the Harbinder Kaur series. In fact, I have not read the first, The Stranger Diaries, (shock and horror from those of you who know my compulsion for reading a series in order!) However, this book reads perfectly well as a standalone novel but I will definitely be getting my hands on a copy of The Stranger Diaries at the first opportunity.

DS Harbinder Kaur is a character who I would really like to spend more time with and I sincerely hope that there will be more books in this series. Ms. Griffiths has a real skill in portraying her characters in a way that by the end of the book you feel as though you have made a friend.

Another thing I really like about her books is that they are never full of blood and gore but meander along at an appropriate pace which allows the reader to really get to know the endearing characters. It is coupled with a terrific plot that kept me turning those pages well past my bedtime.

I have read all but the most recent of the author's Ruth Galloway series. You can read my review of Dying Fall, The Dark Angel, The Janus Stone, The Woman in Blue and Ruth's First Christmas Tree by clicking on the title links. If you have not yet discovered this lovely series then I highly recommend them.

Happy reading.

ISBN: 978 1787477636

Publisher: Quercus

About the Author:

Bestselling crime author Elly Griffiths worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer.

Her series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist, are set in Norfolk and regularly hit the Sunday Times top ten in hardback and paperback. The series has won the CWA Dagger in the Library and has been shortlisted three times for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year. There are twelve books in the series so far with number thirteen to be published in February 2021.

Her Brighton-based mystery series set in the 1950s and 1960s is inspired partly by her grandfather's life on the stage and the war magician Jasper Maskelyne, who claimed to have spent the war creating large scale illusions to misdirect the enemy. One of the two leading characters in the series, Max Mephisto, is based on Maskelyne. 

In 2017 she was Programming Chair of Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Festival in Harrogate, the oldest and best-established crime fiction festival in the UK.

In 2018 Elly wrote her first standalone novel The Stranger Diaries. The novel was a top 10 paperback bestseller, selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club and as a summer 2019 Richard and Judy book.

In 2019 Elly published her first children's book in spring 2019 to great reviews with a second following in 2020.

Elly Griffiths lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist, and their two grown children.

September 2020 Roundup

 

As September draws to a close here in the UK, we have many counties in local lock-down once again. When we celebrated the New Year in January, we could never in our wildest imaginations predicted what this year would have in store for us all across the globe.

In the South East of England, where I am fortunate enough to live, we have no further restrictions at present. With the 'rule of six' that was recently introduced it meant that six members of my book group could meet in person. We met up in a local park and it was so wonderful to see everyone again and to discuss our monthly book. Alas, I am pretty certain that will be our final outdoor meeting this year as the weather already has an autumnal feel.

I have enjoyed all the books that I have read this month and hope that you have enjoyed your reading too.

Books I have read this month

This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You by Jon McGregor - I love Jon McGregor's books and this volume of short stories was no exception. I was fortunate enough to meet him years ago at a readers and writers conference and he was such a nice man...... sigh.... bit of a fan girl moment for me.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - this is the book that I read along with my book group. This was it's second outing for me and I enjoyed it just as much.

Spirited by Julie Cohen - this was a very enjoyable read and I will be posting my review of this very soon.

A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear - this is number 11 in the Maisie Dobs series. I have read all of the previous 10 and you can find my review of the third in the series, Pardonable Lies, by clicking on the title.

The Story of Babushka by Catherine Flores - this adorable children's book has lovely illustrations by Ana Beatriz Marques and would be lovely to share with children. You can read my review here.

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner - I really enjoyed this book and my review will be up very soon.

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths - my review of this book can be found here.

Books I Did Not Finish

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes - I will return to this book at some point.

Books I Am Part Way Through

The Weaker Vessel, Woman's Lot in Seventeenth Century England: Part One by Antonia Fraser - I am really not sure why it is taking me so long to get through this book as it is highly interesting and accessible to read. 

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri - I only started this one on Tuesday and am enjoying what I have read so far.

The Story of Babushka by Catherine Flores - #BookReview #BookTour

 

"In the light-flooded forest where the birds sang, the brook rippled, and the wind swept through the trees, there lived a beautiful matryoshka called Babushka."

The Babushka doll, also known as a "Matryoshka" or "Russian Nesting Doll," is a traditional Russian toy first made over 100 years ago. The doll has come to symbolize Russian folk culture, as well as the complex and beautiful layers of women.

Babushka dolls are made of wood and painted in bright colours and patterns. Each Babushka is made in a set of many round dolls, each a little smaller than the last. They separate at the middle so that each doll can be placed inside the one before it. There are some Babushka dolls with as many as fifty dolls nexted inside her.

This is the story of one very special doll, with five bodies that together make the Babushka.

***

This is such a lovely book for children and I cannot wait to share it with my grandchildren.

Before I even began reading I was impressed by the beautifully stylised illustrations by Ana Beatriz Marques. In that aspect, even a pre-reader will enjoy poring over this book and it would be a lovely book to read to children too. It is also ideal for slightly older children to read for themselves.

Each one of the dolls represents a different personality feature and has an individual name. The outermost body, called Antonia, represents beauty, the second body, Loretta, wealth, the third body, Paula, represents talent, the fourth, Viola, wisdom and the innermost body, Mary, represents compassion and understanding.

As each individual body goes out into the world  to seek the meaning of life they learn that there are no easy answers. Acutely observed, Ms Flores has depicted an age old desire whereby, at some point in our lives, we ask ourselves who we really are and seek to find an answer to that question? 

The moral of this story is that, actually, we were there all the time and that we have to look into ourselves for an answer to that question.

This is a lovely book which I highly recommend.

ISBN: 978 1527260290

Publisher: ACL Creative Studio

About the Author:

Catherine Flores is a children's author and graphic designer. As she wrote about Babushka's journey, she was embarking on her own, which delayed the completion of this book for some time.

In October 2017, she emigrated with her partner Aaron to Portugal. In March 2018 their son Kiasmos was born. And after three years, Babushka is finished in early 2020 allowing Catherine to begin planning her next adventure.

 

Book Tour Tomorrow - The Story of Babushka by Catherine Flores

I am delighted to be part of the Book Tour for this lovely book. Please do drop by the blog tomorrow to read my review.

The Sleeping Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot - Translated by Francis Price - #BookReview

"This is the Way it Began .......... The train was coming in from Marseille. To the man whose job it was to go through the corridors and check the empty compartments, it was 'the Phonceen - ten minutes to eight; after that, breakfast'. Before that, there had been 'the Annecy - twenty-five minutes to' on which he had found two raincoats, an umbrella, and a leak in the heating system. When he saw the Phoceen pull in on the other sice of the same platform, he was standing by a window, looking at the broken nut on one of the valves."

A beautiful young woman lies sprawled on her berth in the sleeping car of the night train from Marseille to Paris. She is not in the embrace of sleep, or even in the arms of one of her many lovers. She is dead.

The unpleasant task of finding her killer is handed to overworked, crime-weary police detective Pierre 'Grazzi' Grazziano, who would rather play hide-and-seek with his little son than cat and mouse with a diabolically cunning, savage murderer.

Sebastien Japrisot takes the reader on an express ride of riveting suspense that races through a Parisian landscape of lust, deception and death. With corpses turning up everywhere, the question becomes not only who is the killer, but who will be the next victim.

***

This book was first published in France in 1962 and in the UK two years following. This re-publication will delight readers who enjoy classic crime fiction as the characteristic format of the story will be recognised as familiar. It reminded me of novels by Simenon, Christie and their ilk.

It was adapted for film in France in 1965. I have not seen the film but I would imagine that it would lend itself to a cinematic adaptation extremely well.

I really enjoyed the atmospheric quality of this book and the author did a really good job of describing both place and character. 

As well as the two detectives investigating this case, we learn much about the several victims and travellers in the titular railway sleeping car and the author has made even these more minor characters relatable.  However, it is the detective, Grazziano, and his quirky assistant, Jean-Loup, who have been so expertly drawn.

I would read other books by  the late Sebastien Japrisot as he was a good storyteller, and whats more, I did not figure out who had committed the murders, so the reveal was exciting for me. It's narrative twists and turns and each time I thought I had worked out who the murderer was there was another spin of the narration and I had to rethink. I so very much enjoy a book that can do that.

It is a short book with a big story within it's pages and I think anyone who enjoys a murder mystery will really enjoy reading this book.

ISBN: 978 1910477939

Publisher: Gallic Books

About the Author:

Sébastien Japrisot, an anagram of his real name, Jean-Baptiste Rossi, was born in Marseilles, France in 1931 and died in Vichy, France in 2003. 

He was a French author, screenwriter and film director, and has been nicknamed "the Graham Greene of France".

Famous in the Francophony, he was little known in the English-speaking world, though a number of his novels have been translated into English and have been made into films.

His first novel, Les mal partis was written at the age of 16 and published under his real name, Jean-Baptiste Rossi.  

 

Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson - #TuesdayTeaser

 I can never resist a book about knitting and am pleased to be including this one as my Tuesday Teaser today. So here is some information about the book and it's beginning. What do you think? Are you tempted to read it with me?

When his adoptive mother, Joy, unexpectedly passes away, Jesse Strong is determined that her Harlem knitting shop, Strong Knits, should stay open. But his brothers - unsure if the flaky playboy Jesse can handle this responsibility - want to tie off loose ends and close shop.

Enter Kerry Fuller. Kerry has worked at Strong Knits for years and she's harboured a secret crush on Jesse for even longer. Soon, she's teaching Jesse and his brothers the knitty-gritty parts of the business they need to know - while trying to keep her heart from getting broken.

The more time they spend together, the stronger the chemistry builds between them. Kerry, knowing Jesse's history, doesn't believe their relationship can last longer than she can knit one, purl one. Can Jesse prove to Kerry that he is the right man for her - and that only real men knit?

***

"There was nothing cute about the first time Kerry Fuller met Jesse Strong.

He broke her glasses; she bloodied his nose and they both ended up in a tangle of yarn on the floor in the loft space of Strong Knits being scolded by Mama Joy.

What she wouldn't do to be scolded one more time, Kerry thought as she adjusted her dark framed glasses as she pushed aside the almost long-forgotten childhood memory. She glanced over at the front window of Strong Knits, the Harlem yarn shop that had been such a part of her life growing up.

Any other day Kerry loved walking through the doors of Strong Knits. It had been that way since she first stepped foot in the little knitting shop where she'd worked part time for the better part of the last ten years and pretty much just hung out for most of her childhood years before that, making it her unlikely sanctuary. A place of calm in the midst of the chaos that was the concrete jungle of upper Manhattan. But this day was anything but normal......"

ISBN: 978 0008435233

Publisher: Harper Collins

A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville - #BookReview

"My Dear Son, James, has given me a task for my last years, or months, or whatever time I have left beyond the many years I have lived so far. It is to compile an account called 'The History of the Macarthurs of Camden Park.' Meaning myself and my late husband John Macarthur. He was barely cold in his grave when they began lauding him as a hero, even the ones who loathed him in life."

It is 1788. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth is hungry for life but, as the ward of a Devon clergyman, knows she has few prospects. When proud, scarred soldier, John Macarthur, promises her the earth one midsummer’s night, she believes him.

But Elizabeth soon realises she has made a terrible mistake. Her new husband is reckless, tormented, driven by some dark rage at the world. He tells her he is to take up a position as Lieutenant in a New South Wales penal colony and she has no choice but to go. Sailing for six months to the far side of the globe with a child growing inside her, she arrives to find Sydney Town a brutal, dusty, hungry place of makeshift shelters, failing crops, scheming and rumours. 

All her life she has learned to be obliging, to fold herself up small. Now, in the vast landscapes of an unknown continent, Elizabeth has to discover a strength she never imagined, and passions she could never express. 

***

I loved every word of this book. It was beautifully written and when I got to the end I could have happily gone straight back to the beginning and started it all over again.

The book is narrated by Elizabeth, the wife of John Macarthur, and is inspired by her letters to family and friends in England. Ms. Grenville has taken those documents and given Elizabeth a voice of her own from a time when the voice of women was very rarely heard. This is the memoir that Elizabeth never wrote but the author has such acute understanding of what Elizabeth's life was probably like that this reads as an extremely believable account.

The author's description of New South Wales was highly evocative and she describes the brutality towards the indigenous population and the transported convicts with perceptive skill. This is a brilliantly imagined account, of the lives of the first settlers in Australia.

This is the first book I have read by Kate Grenville and it certainly will not be my last. Thankfully, she has already published several novels for me to choose from. I highly recommend this book. I would be surprised if it does not make it into my Top 2020 Best Books at the end of this year.

Have you read anything by this author? Which of her novels do you suggest I read next?

ISBN: 9781838851231

Publisher: Canongate Books

About the Author

Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known authors. She's published eight books of fiction and four books about the writing process. Her best-known works are the international best-seller The Secret River, The Idea of Perfection, The Lieutenant and Lilian's Story. 

 Her novels have won many awards both in Australia and the UK, several have been made into major feature films, and all have been translated into European and Asian languages.