Reading Roundup May 2021

 

When I posted last month I was eagerly anticipating being able to sit in the garden and read. How disappointed I am as it has rained virtually every day during May and, furthermore, the lawn is about a foot high as it has been far to wet to mow it.

So, my reading has continued to be an indoor activity. There is something very comforting about snuggling down on the sofa with a book, while the rain is hammering at the windows and my dog is asleep by my feet.

I also managed to get a few days away this month and we had a lovely stay in Berkshire. It was so nice to be away from the house for a few days having been in lockdown for such a long time. Of course, I managed to visit the local bookshops which was wonderful and was surprisingly restrained in only buying a couple of books.

I have read some good books this month which are listed below. How about you? Have you read anything this month that you would recommend?

Books I Have Read This Month

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout - This was the choice for my book group this month. I liked it better than her previous book, Olive but still not a big fan of this author.

Dear Fahrenheit 451: A Librarian's Love Letters and Break Up Notes to Her Books by Annie Spence - This was an interesting little book. At times it was really funny. At other times it was rather repetitive but worth reading nonetheless. 

Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar - I am not sure why I read this right through to the end as I was not impressed by it.

The Letter by Ruth Saberton - This was a wonderful book to read and my review of it will be up next week.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - I enjoyed this very much and you can read my review by clicking here.

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama - A beautifully written book which I highly recommend.

Broken Ground by Val McDermid - This is the fifth in the Karen Pirie series and an enjoyable read.

Books I am Partway Through

The Darlings by Angela Jackson

(photo courtesy of Carli Jean)

New Book Releases in June 2021

 Upcoming Book Releases That Have Caught My Eye This Month.

Yours Cheerfully by A. J. Pearce

From the author of Dear Mrs Bird this highly anticipated sequel is due to be published on the 24th June.

London, September, 1941.

Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Henrietta Bird, from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, is still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, but bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma between doing her duty, and standing by her friends.

Every bit as funny, heartwarming, and touching as AJ Pearce's debut, Dear Mrs Bird, Yours Cheerfully is a celebration of friendship, a testament to the strength of women and the importance of lifting each other up, even in the most challenging times.

***

Suspects by Lesley Pearce

Publishing in hardback and kindle on the 24th June, Suspects, is from one of the nation's favourite storytellers'.

Welcome to Willow Close, where everyone is a suspect . . .

On the day Nina and Conrad Best move into their new home in picture-perfect Willow Close a body is discovered.

Hurrying inside with their belongings, they see horrified neighbours gather by the police cordon - one of the residents has been attacked and brutally killed in the woods.

Believing someone must have seen the murderer, the police interview all the residents of the Close. They soon find out that each neighbour harbours their own secrets.

The residents of Willow Close are far from what they initially seem and strange, even dark, things happen behind their closed doors.

Nina and Conrad had thought they'd found their dream neighbourhood. But have they moved into a nightmare?

***

The Book Club by Roisin Meaney

A tragic accident leaves the tight-knit book club in the small seaside town of Fairweather reeling. Then stranger Tom McLysaght arrives in the community, and the members of the club find their lives changing in ways they never could have imagined.

None of them realise that Tom is hiding a secret. On the surface, his move to Fairweather was to escape his highflying life in London and to put some much-needed distance between him and his ex-fiancée - but deep down Tom knows that there are some things he cannot run from.

As the months pass with book club gatherings, secrets are shared and hurts begin to heal. New friendships might be the last thing on their minds but the members of the book club are about to discover that opening themselves up to other people might be the only thing that will help them all to live, and to love, again.

Publishing on the 10th of June in hardback, audio and kindle.

***

Violeta Among the Stars by Dulce Maria Cardosa

Violeta is driving along a lonely stretch of late-night motorway, in the midst of a fearsome storm. When her tired eyes close for just a second, her car veers off the road, rolls down a muddy embankment, over and over, and comes to rest on an empty stretch of sodden ground.

And as she lies amid the wreckage of her car, suspended between this world and the next, Violeta's life will quite literally flash before her eyes . . .

Scenes from her past overlap with what happened right before the accident: her upbringing with her distant, critical mother; her father's mysterious double-life; her troubled relationship with her daughter; her life on the road as she drives between waxing product-selling appointments with breaks at motorway service stations, the abuse from other travellers mocking her size, the alcohol, the risky encounters with lorry drivers on filthy public toilet floors...

Violeta Among the Stars weaves memories and feelings as Violeta reflects on her death, her life, her reality and her dreams. An astonishing portrait of a seemingly insignificant life, from one of Portugal's greatest living writers.

Translated from the Portuguese by Ángel Gurría-Quintana, the book is published on 24th June.

***

The Broken House by Horst Kruger

In 1965 the German journalist Horst Krüger attended the Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, where 22 former camp guards were put on trial for the systematic murder of over 1 million men, women and children. Twenty years after the end of the war, this was the first time that the German people were confronted with the horrific details of the Holocaust executed by 'ordinary men' still living in their midst.

The trial sent Krüger back to his childhood in the 1930s, in an attempt to understand 'how it really was, that incomprehensible time'. He had grown up in a Berlin suburb, among a community of decent, lower-middle-class homeowners. This was not the world of torch-lit processions and endless ranks of marching SA men. Here, people lived ordinary, non-political lives, believed in God and obeyed the law, but were gradually seduced and intoxicated by the promises of Nazism. He had been, Krüger realised, 'the typical child of innocuous Germans who were never Nazis, and without whom the Nazis would never have been able to do their work'.

This world of respectability, order and duty began to crumble when tragedy struck. Krüger's older sister decided to take her own life, leaving the parents struggling to come to terms with the inexplicable. The author's teenage rebellion, his desire to escape the stifling conformity of family life, made him join an anti-Nazi resistance group. He narrowly escaped imprisonment only to be sent to war as Hitler embarked on the conquest of Europe. Step by step, a family that had fallen under the spell of Nazism was being destroyed by it.

Written in accomplished prose of lingering beauty, The Broken House is a moving coming-of-age story that provides an unforgettable portrait of life under the Nazis. Yet the book's themes also chime with our own times - how the promise of an 'era of greatness' by a populist leader intoxicates an entire nation, how thin is the veneer of civilisation, and what makes one person a collaborator and another a resister.

Published on the 17th of June and will be available in hardback, paperback and kindle.

***

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas

The Salpêtrière asylum, 1885. All of Paris is in thrall to Doctor Charcot and his displays of hypnotism on women who have been deemed mad or hysterical, outcasts from society. But the truth is much more complicated - for these women are often simply inconvenient, unwanted wives or strong-willed daughters. Once a year a grand ball is held at the hospital. For the Parisian elite, the Mad Women's Ball is the highlight of the social season; for the women themselves, it is a rare moment of hope.

Geneviève is a senior nurse. After the childhood death of her sister, she has shunned religion and placed her faith in Doctor Charcot and his new science. But everything begins to change when she meets Eugénie, the 19-year-old daughter of a bourgeois family. Because Eugénie has a secret, and she needs Geneviève's help. Their fates will collide on the night of the Mad Women's Ball...

Published in hardback and kindle on the 17th June.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - #BookReview

 

"When we were new, Rosa and I were mid-store, on the magazines table side, and could see through more than half of the window. So we were able to watch the outside - the office workers hurrying by, the taxis, the runners, the tourists, Beggar Man and his dog, the lower part of the RPO Building. Once we were more settled, Manager allowed us to walk up to the front until we were right behind the window display, and then we could see how tall the RPO Building was. And if we were there at just the right time, we would see the Sun on his journey, crossing between the building tops from our side over to the RPO Building side."

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

***

This highly original and exceptional read was given to me as a gift for Mother's Day when we celebrated it in March. I was not sure what to expect of it, as I never do with Ishiguro, but I enjoyed it very much.

The unusual narrative is told by Klara who is known throughout the book as an AF (artificial friend). We follow her story from the start of her 'life' in a shop through to her latter days. It provides the reader with an indication as to how a subsequent time could evolve if we fully embrace the use of artificial intelligence in order to provide companionship as well as technological and practical tasks.

Klara has a clear voice throughout the novel and I found her to be an endearing character. Her willingness to learn and understand how the humans around her interact was excellently portrayed. For all of her technological advances she had a naivety that ensured she was a very special protagonist. 

I have read other books by Mr. Isiguro and they are all written with a touching understatement and Klara and the Sun is no exception to this. The narrative is tenderly expressed and, thus, was a joy to read.

I highly recommend this book and would welcome your thoughts.

ISBN:  978 0571264879

Publisher: Faber

About the Author:

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 and moved to Britain at the age of five. His eight previous works of fiction have earned him many honours around the world, including the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Booker Prize. His work has been translated into over fifty languages and The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, both made into acclaimed films, have sold over a million copies each in Faber editions.

He was given a knighthood in 2018 for Services to Literature. He also holds the decorations of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from Japan.

Library Lowdown - 15th May 2021

Now that the libraries have reopened their doors for browsing I am full of excitement and anticipation at the thought of all those books that I can now access. A quick visit yesterday saw me collect two books that I thought I would like to read.

Have you been back to the library yet? 

Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence

Have you ever wished you could tell your favourite books just what they mean to you? Or wanted to give a piece of your mind to the 'must-read' book that you wish you hadn't?

Librarian Annie Spence has done just that, writing letters to the books under her care, from love letters to Matilda and The Goldfinch, to snarky break-up notes to Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hobbit.

Annie's letters will make you laugh, remind you why you love your favourite books, and give you lots of new entries for you reading list. She's also on-hand to help out with your bookish dilemmas; recommendations for lazy readers; excuses to tell your friends when you'd rather stay home reading; and how to turn your lover into a reader.

Hilarious, compassionate, and smart, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is the consummate book-lovers book.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Empire Falls, Maine: once a thriving hub of industry, this small town nestles in a bend of the vast and winding Knox River, and has always been the empire of the wealthy Whiting family. Now the last Mrs Whiting presides like a black widow spider over its declining fortunes. She harbours a grudge against her employee Miles Groby, who runs the Whiting-owned Empire Grill, but hopes one day to own it himself.

Miles, gentle and hopeless, has other problems: his wife has run off with his worst customer, he frets about his adored teenage daughter, and his drunken father sponges off everyone.

As the novel builds to a shocking climax, Russo constantly surprises with characters who will disarm you, a plot with as many twists and falls as the Knox River itself, and an ending that will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

Silence by Shusaku Endo - #BookReview

 

"News reached the Church in Rome. Christovao Ferreira, sent to Japan by the Society of Jesus in Portugal, after undergoing the torture of 'the pit' at Nagasaki had apostatized. An experienced missionary held in the highest respect he had spent thirty-three years in Japan, had occupied the high position of provincial and had been a source of inspiration to priests and faithful alike."

It is 1640 and Father Sebastian Rodrigues, an idealistic Jesuit priest, sets sail for Japan determined to help the brutally oppressed Christians there. He is also desperate to discover the truth about his former mentor, rumoured to have renounced his faith under torture. Rodrigues cannot believe the stories about a man he so revered, but as his journey takes him deeper into Japan and then into the hands of those who would crush his faith, he finds himself forced to make an impossible choice: to abandon his flock or his God.

The recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, Silence, is Shusaku Endo's most highly acclaimed work and has been called one of the twentieth century's finest novels. As empathetic as it is powerful, it is an astonishing exploration of faith and suffering.

***

I can honestly say that I have never read a book quite like this one and I am finding it difficult to find the words with which to review it as it is so different to my usual reading fare. I probably would never have picked this up in a bookshop or library but it came to me on loan from my son who had read and enjoyed it.

It was originally published in 1966 in Japanese and it has been excellently translated by William Johnston. 

It is an interesting consideration of the early days of Christian missionary work in Japan. Although fictionalised, it is based on 17th century accounts of such work when missionaries secretly entered Japan in order to minister to a hidden Christian community.

Although this book is based within a Christian perspective, I believe that it is much more about humanity than faith. We see the lengths which the Japanese are prepared to go to in order to protect their own culture and belief system. Equally, we witness the similar extent of the Christian missionaries in their attempt to introduce and progress their own beliefs to a people whose authority does not seek any such religious or cultural change.

There are several occasions in which the main character, Father Rodrigues, aligns his own situation with that of both Christ and Judas. However, reading this book as a non Christian it raised some very thought provoking questions in my mind. 

Rodrigues was expecting to suffer and to be tortured for his attempts to support the Christian community. However, what struck me as shocking in this book was that he was able to stand by his beliefs whilst watching others being brutally tortured or executed in his name.

As always, I will not be giving any spoilers here but suffice to say that the book has an interesting conclusion.  I am very glad that I read this book and even though it was not a comfortable read, I do recommend it.

ISBN@ 978 1447299851

Publisher: Picador Classic

About the Author:

Shusaku Endo was  born in Tokyo in 1923 and was raised by his mother and an aunt in Kobe where he converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of eleven. At Tokyo's Keio University he majored in French literature, graduating with a BA in 1949, before furthering his studies in French Catholic literature at the University of Lyon in France between 1950 and 1953. 

A major theme running through his books, which have been translated into many languages, including English, French, Russian and Swedish, is the failure of Japanese soil to nurture the growth of Christianity. 

Before his death in 1996, Endo was the recipient of a number of outstanding Japanese literary awards: the Akutagawa Prize, Mainichi Cultural Prize, Shincho Prize, and Tanizaki Prize.

Books to Read in May 2021

 

Isn't it wonderful that bookshops and libraries are open once again? There are certain online retailers (mentioning no names) who have done very well out of this pandemic. That is not a criticism as shopping online has never been so vital but I am very happy that we can now visit our local shops and start investing money back into the local economic system. 

I hope the merry month of May will bring you good things and we can all look forward to the future with optimism.

Books that I want to read this month are:

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar

The Darlings by Angela Jackson

The Tower is Full of Ghosts by Alison Weir

Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir

Winter in Thrush Green by Miss Read

Veil of Time by Claire B. McDougall

The Break by Marian Keyes

Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson

Books I am Partway Through

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro