Reading Roundup for April 2023

 April has definitely begun to feel more like spring. There has been a good mixture of sunshine and rain. It is making everything in the garden grow like crazy and we have even had a few days when the weather has been kind enough to enable us to get out and tackle the weeds which are making themselves known.

The highlight of my month was going to the theatre in Eastbourne to see author, Tracy Borman, in her roadshow, How to Be a Good Monarch. It was a fantastic show and if it is showing anywhere near you then I highly reccomend it.

Have you done anything exciting or interesting this month?

Have you read any good books? I have read a mixture of the great, the good and the average this month.

Books I Have Read

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart - This was a re-read for me and it was every bit as brilliant as the first time I read it.

Ascension by Oliver Harris - This was the choice of my book group this month. The majority of the group really liked it. It was a good book, well written for it's genre but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

The Little Venice Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin - I read this as part of the book tour and enjoyed it very much. You can read my review by clicking here.

Night Wherever We Go by Tracy Rose Peyton - This was an excellent book, set in Texas in 1852. Well worth reading and you can read my review by clicking here.

The Wonderland Murders by Millie Ravensworth - This cosy crime mystery was an easy read and part of another book tour. You can access my review by clicking here.

The Viscount's Daring Miss by Lotte R. James - A lovely bit of escapist reading and you can access my review by clicking here.

The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen - This non-fiction title was really interesting. It's difficult to describe in a few words so please read the full review by clicking here.

Ada's Realm by Sharon Dodua Otoo - This was a complex novel which took a little working at. It was extremely good though and you can read my review by clicking here.

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed - This was my favourite book this month and I cannot say enough good things about it. Please read my full review by clicking here.

Foxash by Kate Worsley - I only finished reading this yesterday but I plan to get my review written today ready for uploading tomorrow.

Caring Conservationists by Kate Peridot - Another book I finished only yesterday and my review will be up by the end of the week.

Books I Am Partway Through

Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown by Alison Weir

Through Three Rooms by Sven Elvestad

James I: The King Who United Scotland and England by Keith Coleman

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed - #bookreview

 

'The King is dead. Love live the Queen.' The announcers voice crackles from the wireless and winds around the rapt patrons of Berlin's Milk Bar as sinuously as the fog curls around the mournful street lamps, their wan glow barely illuminating the cobblestones.

The noise settles as milkshakes and colas clink against Irish coffees, and chairs scrape against the black-and-white tiled floor.

Berlin hammers a spoon against the bar and calls out with his lion tamer's bark, 'Raise your glasses, ladies and gentlemen, and send off our old King to Davy Jones's Locker.'

***

Mahmood Mattan is a fixture in Cardiff's Tiger Bay, 1952, which bustles with Somali and West Indian sailors, Maltese businessmen and Jewish families. He is a father, chancer, some-time petty thief. He is many things, in fact, but he is not a murderer.

So when a shopkeeper is brutally killed and all eyes fall on him, Mahmood isn't too worried. It is true that he has been getting into trouble more often since his Welsh wife Laura left him. But Mahmood is secure in his innocence in a country where, he thinks, justice is served.

It is only in the run-up to the trial, as the prospect of freedom dwindles, that it will dawn on Mahmood that he is in a terrifying fight for his life - against conspiracy, prejudice and the inhumanity of the state. And, under the shadow of the hangman's noose, he begins to realise that the truth may not be enough to save him.

***

This compelling novel, which is based on factual events, is an outstanding book and one of the best I have read this year. Set in 1950's Tiger Bay, Cardiff it exudes with atmosphere and highlights the racial injustice suffered by the main character, Mahmood Mattan and his contemporaries.

I particularly enjoyed reading about this melting pot of characters who have settled in Tiger Bay from other parts of the world. This mixture of nationalities and faiths culminated in the occurrence of racial tensions, and it was this that led Mahmood to come to be in the position he did.

This character driven novel permits the reader to follow Mahmood through his time living and working in Tiger Bay, to his imprisonment for a murder which he did not commit. Despite his life experience, Mahmood seemed to have a naivety about him and had complete faith that the British justice system would come to recognise the truth of his situation.

I found this to be a heartbreaking read, written with sensitivity, intelligence and humanity. It was a calm, appropriately paced, devastating novel.

Every now and then, a novel comes along which I feel privileged to have read. This was one such book and I applaud the author for bringing this miscarriage of justice to prominence in the form of her novel.

It is no surprise to discover that the book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Costa Novel Award in 2021, as well as the Wales Book of the Year Award in 2022.

I can foresee myself re-reading this book again in the future, and I most definitely want to read other titles from Ms. Mohamed.

I thoroughly recommend that you read this book and hope that you enjoy the reading experience as much as I did.

ISBN: 978 0241466957

Publisher:  Viking

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  384 (paperback)

Purchase from Bookshop.org

About the Author:

Nadifa Mohamed was born in Hargeisa (now in the Republic of Somaliland) in 1981 and moved as a child to England in 1986, staying permanently when war broke out in Somalia.

She lives in London and her first novel, Black Mamba Boy, based on her father's memories of his travels in the 1930s, was published in 2010. It was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Dylan Thomas Prize and shortlisted for the John Llewellyn-Rhys Memorial Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. It won the 2010 Betty Trask Prize.

(author photo and bio. info. courtesy of GoodReads)

Reading Roundup for March 2021

 

I have been taking a short break from blogging. I find it necessary every once in a while just to keep my writing and reviewing fresh and to focus my mind.

However, I am back now and raring to go. Although I have not been reviewing I have been doing plenty of reading and I thought you might be interested in seeing what I have read during this month. There are no review links for these book but keep an eye out from the first of April when I will be reviewing again.

I make no apology for the photo of the cute little bunny rabbits above (courtesy of istockphoto.com). I know there must be a bookish link somewhere but the truth is, I just could not resist posting this picture. I hope it makes you smile as much as it has me.

Books I Have Read This Month

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart - this was my favourite book for March. A worthy winner of the 2020 Booker Prize.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - another excellent book from Matt Haig and it came a very close second as my favourite read of the month. I have previously read his book How to Stop Time and you can read my review by clicking on the title.

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths - This is number 13 in the Ruth Galloway series and it remains my favourite series of the moment. I have read the previous 12 books and have reviewed The Janus Stone (#2), Ruth's First Christmas (#4.5 a novella), Dying Fall (#5) and The Woman in Blue (#8). Just click on the title to read my reviews. 

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead - Another excellent book from the pen of the Booker Prize winning author of The Underground Railroad.

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher - This is the first novel I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it.

Not in America: Book 1 in a Jewish Family Saga by Roberta Kagan - I enjoyed this book. It is the first in a four part series and I have already have the second book, They Never Saw it Coming, on my kindle. All four books are available for free if you have kindle unlimited.

The King's Witch by Tracy Borman - This is the first in a trilogy by the amazingly talented Tracy Borman. I am definitely planning on reading the second book in the series, The Devil's Slave.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris - I really disliked this book. I know it was hugely popular and many people like it but it was not for me.

Books I Did Not Finish

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff - This was the book chosen for my physical (yet virtual) book group. I really did not like it. It read more like a text book than a biography. Only one person in the group managed to finish it. I shall say no more!

Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen - I was just not in the mood for this book once I started it. I have heard many good things about it. It was shortlisted for several awards so I may well give it another try at some point.