A story of 3 women, friends, whose story stretches from university to late 30s. It explores the tensions in the relationships, struggles with small children, infertility, thwarted ambition, hopeless male partners, ailing parents and more. It felt like the author was expressing personal experience and was a compelling read. It's a while since I read 'wake' so I'll definitely try and read 'the ballroom' next year.

My rdg grp's bk this month × I struggled with the story which was a must read some 20 yrs ago. Henry + Claire meet when 30 yrs separate them but again later when the gap is only 8. Henry's genes mean he time travels mtg himself and his wife repeatedly thru time. I'm afraid I struggled with the love story at the heart + while some nice bits felt at times the relationship was too weird and creepy. Not a hit maybe I shd have rd it back in the day 👇

The 4th outing in the Dublin series was a cracker and the storytelling gets better + better. In this Mikey Kennedy is a lead detective back from a divorce + teamed with a rookie to investigate what appears to be a domestic family killing. With a troubled history + problematic sister the bk brilliantly mirrors Kennedy breaking down with the victim father's slide into paranoia. With the rookie Ritchie being morally judgemental a great climax ensues

The story of Cyril avery from 1945 when his 16 yr old mother is hauled out of her pew by a priest + publicly humiliated as a whore in mass, through to hid final days had me at times laughing out loud to blubbing + wiping my eyes. A wonderful book that highlights the hypocrisy of religion, the definition of love,+ the fragility of humanity. I cld talk abt it for days 5*.
#Blackjack21 #booked2021 @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft

6th outing of Charlie Parker finds him hired to protect a woman, daughter of a child psychologist who has disappeared, from a nasty villain. The subsequent plot involves Charlie as ever in jeopardy as supernatural forces threaten and he turns to Angel and Louis for help. Grim subject matter but the usual great storytelling.

This is a very enjoyable series of crime novels set in the North East in the mid 1990s, thus one 1997 on the eve of the election. There are 3 main characters, a police detective and 2 journalists who combine to resolve cases where investigations stall. Here young women are going missing echoing a similar event 20 years before. It's definitely a page turner with a great sense of place and time. Is 1997 really so long ago !!!

#lesserknownbook #booked2021 @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft
I saw this had won the Petrona prize + then saw no one had reviewed it here so fits this thread. Set in 1852 Sweden it uses the real preacher Lars levi laestadius in a crime context as he uses forensic techniques to investigate the murders of women in the parish where he preaches. With his Sami apprentice jussi, he runs up against the local sherriff who with local ⬇️

It is a while since I read bk 7 so had forgotten the very black humour in this very good series set in Aberdeen so it took me 100 pages to get really back into the world but once I did I was away again as DI Mcrae aided (?) by the wonderfully crude DCI Steele finds that when a satanic film is being produced in the city murders start mirroring the plot line. Definitely a favourite Scottish series so won't be as long to get to bk 9.

At my reading group last night we discussed the quartet of bks. It was ages since I started with autumn so it was great to realise the connections through the series + it made me want to start reading again.
Ali Smith is a wonderful writer who creates imaginative and well drawn characters esp children with great dialogue. Add focus on art and a political voice this is a unique picture of a country over 5 years far from at peace with itself.

Book 6 in the Ruth Galloway series finds her excavating a body which appears to be that of a notorious 19th century child killer, while DI Nelson is investigating the mysterious death of a child. These books are an easy read with characters who I enjoy. You don't need to think too hard and while it is becoming a little formulaic plot wise there is usually a climactic ending which is enjoyable.

I've read the DI Rebus bks for many yrs +with bk 21 rebus, retired + in poor health finds himself again part of an investigation involving the Edinburgh criminal World as an historic murder links to money laundering. Thru the series villain Big Ger Cafferty + Rebus have fought each other, in retirement they still hate each other but there grudging respect - frenemies??
#booked2021 #frenemies @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft

Attica Locke uses her writing to poke at the establishment and race, here as trump comes to office knowing there will be a backlash , federal law enforcement look for a crime against whites by a black person to temper the flood. Black Texas ranger Darren Matthews goes to investigate the disappearance of a white boy, child of a racist family. When the finger points at a black man Darren is suspicious. Great relevant writing, brilliant author.

This was a really riveting story which had me very disorientated never really being sure of time place or the reliability of the narrator July , one of a pair of sisters, the other September having been born 10 months before her. Set in a very run down run down coastal Yorkshire Holiday cottage and with a depressed mother the siblings tale emerges. I can't say any more as it is haunting and unsettling and definitely a book fora cold October night

Ali Smith is seething with righteous anger at the state of our nation and in the 3rd of the seasonal novels her target is our treatment of immigrants as well as a lyrical attack about social media + the hate it creates. The story itself is abt a TV director who loses his close friend/confidant as he embarks on a new project + somehow finds himself stranded in Scotland where he chances on 3 unique women incl a magical teenager. Brilliant writing.

I finally read the 3rd of this remarkably imaginative trilogy + if anything can draw me into science centred fiction it is this story which is unfortunately too close to the truth of the planets future. The story ties the previous 2 together + centres on Toby + zeb as a final confrontation looms. The Crakers add a lighter side + the characters overall are engaging. I can't think of a writer so diversely brilliant who must surely be due the Nobel.

This was a very atmospheric story capturing both the isolation and claustrophobia of life on a lighthouse in 1972 when the 3 inhabitants disappear without explanation. 20 yrs on a writer interviews their wives and slowly secrets emerge. A perfect story as the nights draw in and the air gets a little chillier.
#Newin2021 #booked2021 @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

This was a short but difficult read, not because of the quality but the subject matter. Its the narration of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a self absorbed and controlling man and how this breaks her individuality. This relationship is also described with that with an abusive father, very needy mother, and other men who seem to want more than they give. Troubling but a powerful insight into what these relationships do to an individual

Brilliant storytelling in this tale about a protestant family in Glasgow. When shy Graham, drummer in a marching band meets lindsay in NI on a band trip a romance develops but the secrets and tensions in their families ripple across 20 yrs as we follow them and their son Stephen' tale. A generational tale of fathers/sons, religion, + lost hopes. A bk that I put down having loved the characters & as with great writing sorry to leave their world.

It is a few years since I did a readalong of this brilliant book via litsy so was really pleased to listen today to this week's episode of 'in our time' which is a very interesting analysis of the book and Anne bronte.
I know that there are lots of fans out there so the link is below- highly recommended
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00100bw#:~:text=It%20examin....

Paddy meehan is a great creation +like the garnethill books by denise mina only appears in a trilogy. In bk 2 we left paddy discovering she was pregnant +on the brink of a major scoop about her criminal namesake. 5 years on a character from bk 1 is coming out of prison and an ex boyfriend has been violently killed. Paddy with problems at home +with her family sets out to investigate and is soon at risk. A great end to a good character and series.

Starting fall now #booked2021 #jewishauthor
With this very interesting essay by British comedian David baddiel about anti semitism and that it is a racism ignored at a period when society is very aware of discrimination in all forms but the stereotypes from Fagan to greedy bankers which informed the historic dislike +persecution of Jewish people still influences the language of politics +media.
@4thhouseontheleft
@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage

I put this brilliant book down exhausted by this sad story of the effect of alcoholism upon a family. In Agnes, mother of shuggie and his 2 half siblings, we meet a woman who is lively, funny, and beautiful but humiliated by the men in her life who even when she seems to escape from her addiction at one point is drawn back in by a man's stupidity. The impact on shuggie is inevitable with the story book ended by his sorry circs after leaving home.

The @ReadingEnvy readalong allowed me to delve into a 300 yr history of North America + the relationship of man with the forest/nature. The story is of 2 families, the Dukes from a French immigrant, + the Sels from the indigenous mikmak people. As the stories alternate we see how colonialism and the race for profit destroys the land + people with consequences still being faced. At times dickensian, natural + social history, this was a unique read.

This v short book is 9.5 in the wallander series + the final book is next. I'll be sorry to see the back of one of my favourite grumpy police officers so this mini episode has prepared the way. Here our hero views a house to possibly buy + finds a human hand reaching out of the soil. The ensuing investigation is a quick story which also involves linda. The book has an end piece in which the author reflects on his relationship with his character.

What a brilliant read and after having heard only recently about this author on the TLS podcast I can't wait to dive into his many other works. A painter Kevin Pace tells a story of his life in 3 parts, 1979 el Salvador, the present, and a week in Paris. The intertwining tales explore the nature of love, trauma, parenting and most of all the character of a flawed man, a friend, husband, and father. Wonderfully written I could not put it down.

I hadn't tried this Scottish author but I will definitely reading him again as this was a very enjoyable story about a Scottish Island. Reporter Rebecca Connolly returns to the Island where her father grew up to report about the return to the Island of a man found 'not proven' for the murder of his girlfriend for the funeral of his mother. The claustrophobia of an Island where secrets are kept makes for a good page turner.

I realised I took this last Fri night and forgot to post but a return to the library found me returning to an old favourite in now DCI McLean whose investigations always have a supernatural element to them but done with great storytelling. Here a djinn appears to be stalking the Edinburgh streets and McLean with problems at home is on its tail.

All done with this beautiful story of a reclusive man who cares for birds ,develops a friendship with a young girl who brings an injured goose to him. When Dunkirk needs boats he goes to save many lives + a legend emerges of a boat + goose. With another short tale equally moving I was wiping my eyes.
I love a 2nd hand bk with a message, but wonder who Eric was !

#booked2021 #under150pages
@Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

My IRL are doing this with 'the vanishing half'. Set in 20's harlem a chance meeting of two women, childhood friends, in a high class hotel's coffee lounge where both are passing as white leads to Irene drawn back into charismatic clares Web even though clare is married to an evident racist but Irene a black man.
A story of race but more compelling the pressures in a marriage that can explode quickly with dramatic results. A very remarkable book.

Im not sure if anyone is doing the readalong but it's not too late to start. Even tho this is a big book it is v readable, I'd say similar to Homegoing in that each section tells a story about families in the creation of Canada starting in the 17thc. As I put part 3 down today I had marvelled at the beauty of an untouched landscape but horrified at the steady destruction of the same and the indigenous people.
#readingenvyreadalong @ReadingEnvy

Picked this Argentinian novel for the thread and its an interesting read. Part crime/psychological thriller an architect is in a mid life crisis but also preoccupied with event 3 yrs earlier when a resident in a flat alleges that building work has created a massive crack in his wall. There's something distinct abt the S Am style that is distinct but compelling, enjyd it.
#booked2021 #latinxauthor
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft

For fathers day I received 'If it bleeds' but saw it carried on the story from this bk so being a completist had to go to this one 1st +was pleased to revisit Holly gibney from the Mr Mercedes books, a great character.
The initial crime is disturbing and I'd avoid if violence to children in novels causes distress. The bk itself however is unsettling with a doppelganger idea + at times I was definitely checking that the door was locked, scary ⬇️

Friday phew !
Another jack parlabane book and one of my favourite characters now takes on spiritualism. When an a apparently genuine American psychic arrives in Edinburgh convincing the Great + good to create a chair at the uni for research in the unknown. He appears genuine but sceptic Jack gets involved to test the claims. The story was as usual alive with wit, cynicism, and great plot. My only negative was the ending but it didn't spoil the fun

Ive found a villain to match the greats in Louise Lanier. This 26 yr old French woman answers an ad for a companion to elderly Mrs North in Eng. Avery (the son) +Ellen North have a happy 20yr marriage with 2 children and idyllic house in the countryside albeit Mrs North is a handful. The introduction of Louise into this causes untold repercussions which Dorothy Whipple explores with wonderful prose and skill. I couldn't put it down.

My previous reading of william gay 'twilight' was an incredibly unsettling tale and Ive been looking fwd to trying him again. This was published posthumously +the end is ambiguous but the overall tale of a writer moving bk to tenessee w wife + dtr to use the 'Bell witch' legend as inspiration for a horror, +staying on the haunted farm allowed for some v unsettling scenes. I just wished there had been 50 pages more.
#AppalachianNoir #booked2021

An opportunity to pick up a bk languishing in my tbr pile and what a wonderful read.
A chance meeting in a antwerp station allows the narrator to recount conversations of many yrs with jacques austerlitz. A moving tale of a child adopted in 1939 by a childless welsh couple, who as an adult realises he was part of the kinder transport. This triggers a dislocation ⬇️
#ContainsPhotos #booked2021 @4thhouseontheleft @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage

Back to work tomorrow so my last bk of hols and an apt photo from our last day and a puffin cruise (1 hr ride around island, v windy, no puffins but fun)
I really enjoyed this story set around a wedding on a remote Irish island, with very rich hedonistic bride/groom and guests. Thru different voices tension increases until a climax that allows much speculation on the killer. Definitely a writer I will try again.
Bk 5 for #Awesome August.

#awesomeaugust bk4
If I had come away from a holiday without a bookmark I wd have been disappointed and here is my first wooden one ever to mark a very beautiful part of the world.
My holiday has been all thriller reading from my stacked past purchases and this non Eddie Flynn stand alone was as it says on the title suitably full of twists and turns and again perfect holiday reading.

#AwesomeAugust bk3
An English summer so hot chocolate+ toasted teacake is apt as I finished this one. If you can suspend belief in part 1 it turned into an ok thriller as we see 3 sides of a story in which a yng woman maggie lonely in London is drawn by a man she meets in a park to apparently work for MI5 but is Harvey all he seems which we find out thru Maggie, Harvey, and maggies's sister meredith.
Not quite Slough house but good holiday read.

After the gentle sleuthing of my last bk this was a punch in the stomach, the dark porter in a local micro brewery we found matching the very bloody theme.
Set in 1935 czhechoslovakia a yng psychiatrist goes to his job in a gothic castle asylum housing 6 of the worst killers in the country. His exploration of their psyche triggers terrible tales +secrets as a brutal monster stalks the Prague streets. Definitely avoid if squeamish.
#AwesomeAugust

When I picked my reading for this week I found this unread & a perfect start as the author takes the classic murder mystery and mirrors it with a modern investigation as an editor has to solve both a missing last chapter of the whodunnit as well as the apparent suicide of the famously unlikeable writer. Anthony Horowitz brilliantly nods and winks at classic bks with joyous skill.
#AwesomeAugust with a wk off work I aim to finish 4 bks this wk.

Barney is going to kennels today before we go to Northumberland tomorrow so I'm bracing myself for lots of crying by finishing this in order to choose my holiday reading.
The 5th in the frieda klein series is another great page turning story with the psychotherapist accused of a murder and going on the run. With help from friends she tries to find the real killer with as always a cracking climax and the last few pages leaving you wanting more.

An Iranian widow leaves her child in a birdcage til Zal is released age 10 + moved to NY in care of a pr of child psych who becomes his 'father'. Skip to 31/12/99 with threat of calamity and Zal meets anorexic asiya and a bizarre coupling is created. Add in a strange magician & asiya prophesying a disaster the countdown to 9/11 becomes an imaginative piece of writing.
#relatedto911 #booked2021
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft

Started summer with this classic 1st Easy Rawlins in which the ww2 veteran is asked to find a mysterious woman by an obviously dodgy villain. It takes him into the underbelly of LA where violence triggers memories of the war. A great start to a series which noir with reflection on race .I plan to keep reading.
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft
#booked2021 #colorintitle

My irl bk was another (form v like silver sparrow) interesting story in which the theme of race is told with well crafted storytelling. The story of twins who live in a small town where light skin is lauded and where Stella chooses 'passing' to escape her colour leaving desiree behind allows for a gr8 tale of identity, mother/daughter relationship,&racism. It moves the race story forward featuring on prejudice as well as the individual experience

I've had this unread on a shelf for a long time and found it a v readable story which alternates accounts of Marie and werner as ww2 envelops them. M blind teenage dtr of a museum worker who escapes to St malo as the Germans occupy, and W a gentle orphan whose radio talent draws him into the army.
The stories collide eventually which makes for an enjoyably tense read although w/o the depth of other stories abt the conflicts impact on individuals

Another enjoyable outing for detective erlendur which leads the reader into an investigation of a dead body found when a lake begins to lose water and takes us back to 1950's east Germany for the origins of the crime. Erlendur is struggling with personal problems as his wayward daughter sinks further into addiction and he cannot escape from his obsession with missing persons. I love grumpy police officers so thoroughly enjoy thus series.

Spanning the 19c this bk evokes the beauty + harshness new Mexico , the diocese of newly appointed French Bishop Jean Latour, assisted by his friend Fr Vaillant. The descriptions of landscape, friendship, faith, and the lives of the indigenous people is told with such sensitivity and craft that I was transported to a world where visits to their flocks takes weeks by mule and i could feel the heat, cold, and was touched by the stories. A brill rd.

I finished my work lunch read today after several months. Its not that it was a dense read,in fact the opposite, but I very rarely actually do sit and read with a sandwich. Anyway these are very gentle vignettes of middle class Edinburgh life with short sections about the curious characters but a far cry from my normal Edinburgh fayre based on which I would assume that beautiful city to be awash with villains and the police who pursue them.

3rd in the inspector devlin series finds the garda officer involved in an investigation spanning possible exploitation of gold by a big american business with a polluted river, illegal immigrants, an old uni friend, a bog body discovery, and cross border shenanigans plus with a new boss not keen on him devlin is on the ropes.
A well told story and enjoyable character.