Margaret

Book Beginnings on Friday & The Friday 56: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Published on July 28, 2023 by Margaret5 Comments

Every Friday Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader where you can share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading. You can also share from a book you want to highlight just because it caught your fancy.

I’m featuring The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood this week. It’s the second in the Maccadam trilogy. According to Wikipedia this book focuses on a religious sect called the God’s Gardeners, a small community of survivors of the same biological catastrophe depicted in Atwood’s earlier novel Oryx and Crake, which I read soon after it was first published in 2003.

In the early morning Toby climbs up to the top of the rooftop to watch the sunrise. She uses a mop handle for balance: the elevator stopped working some time ago and the back stairs are slick with damp, and if she slips and topples there won’t be anyone to pick her up.

Also every Friday there is The Friday 56, hosted by Freda at Freda’s Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Page 56:

‘Get rid of that scalped look. We Gardener women all wear our hair long’. When Toby asked why, she was given to understand that the aesthetic preference was God’s.

Description from Goodreads:

The sun brightens in the east, reddening the blue-grey haze that marks the distant ocean. The vultures roosting on the hydro poles fan out their wings to dry them. The air smells faintly of burning. The waterless flood – a manmade plague – has ended the world.

But two young women have survived: Ren, a young dancer trapped where she worked, in an upmarket sex club (the cleanest dirty girls in town); and Toby, who watches and waits from her rooftop garden.

Is anyone else out there?

~~~

What do you think, does it appeal to you? What are you currently reading?

Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan-Erskine

Published on July 23, 2023 by Margaret7 Comments

Description

It’s the 1930s and a mysterious illness is spreading over Scotland. But the noble and ancient family of Inverkillen, residents of Loch Down Abbey, are much more concerned with dwindling toilet roll supplies and who will look after the children now that Nanny has regretfully (and most inconveniently) departed this life.

Then Lord Inverkillen, Earl and head of the family, is found dead in mysterious circumstances. The inspector declares it an accident but Mrs MacBain, the head housekeeper, isn’t so convinced. As no one is allowed in or out because of the illness, the residents of the house – both upstairs and downstairs – are the only suspects. With the Earl’s own family too busy doing what can only be described as nothing, she decides to do some digging – in between chores, of course – and in doing so uncovers a whole host of long-hidden secrets, lies and betrayals that will alter the dynamics of the household for ever.

Loch Down Abbey is a light, quick and easy read that kept me entertained. The pun in the title suggested to me that it would be an amusing novel and the publishers describe it as a playful, humorous novel set in 1930s Scotland. I think it’s quite like a cross between a P G Wodehouse novel and a country house mystery, with elements of farce.

Loch Down Abbey, is a large rambling house with 125 rooms, not including the servants’ quarters, and 5 thousand acres of land on the shores of Loch Down. It has been the home of the Ogilvy-Sinclair Clan for six centuries. I found it quite bewildering at first as there are so many characters. I had to keep going back to the List of Characters to remind myself who they all were.

It’s partly a cozy, historical murder mystery, but mostly a family saga. Lord Hamish Inverkillen is found dead, and at first it looks like an accident, but the housekeeper Mrs MacBain thinks it could be murder. It becomes clear that the Abbey, as well as their whisky distillery is in debt, so much so that the only way they can survive is to sell the house, the distillery and land. There’s a mysterious illness known as Virulent Pernicious Mauvaise spreading around the country. Loch Down Abbey has to go into lockdown! Most of the servants catch the disease and have to be isolated away from the family, meaning that the family have to make their own breakfasts, light the fires in the bedrooms and make their own beds – unheard of for aristocrats! And as Nanny has died the children run wild causing all sorts of mayhem.

As Mrs MacBain and Inspector Jarvis investigate Hamish’s death, lots of secrets and scandals are revealed. I really liked the descriptions of the Abbey itself complete with secret passages, reminding me of Enid Blyton’s novels and I thought the ending, though a bit unbelievable, was inevitable.

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley.

Empire by Conn Iggulden

Published on July 19, 2023July 19, 2023 by Margaret2 Comments

Pericles is more than a hero. He’s the leader of Athens. The empire’s beacon of light.

But even during times of peace, the threat of Sparta – Athens’s legendary rival – looms large on the horizon. When a sudden catastrophe brings Sparta to its knees, Pericles sees a golden opportunity to forever shift the balance of power in his city’s favour.

For sometimes, the only way to win lasting peace is to wage war. Sparta may be weak, but their power is far from extinguished. Soon a ruthless young boy steps forward to lead the Spartans back to greatness.

As the drums of battle draw closer, can Pericles rise once more?

Or will the world’s greatest empire fall under his watch?

My thoughts

Empire is the second in the Golden Age series, continuing the story told in Lion. Pericles is the main character, now the leader of Athens, appointed as a strategos (a military general). Iggulden brings the period to life as he details the continuing struggle for power between Athens and Sparta. The earthquake that struck around 464 BC destroyed most of the city of Sparta. After the Spartans rejected the Athenians’ offer of help Pericles realised that war between them was inevitable and he decided to rebuild the walls around the city to keep it safe. When the Spartans heard that the walls were rising they demanded they be taken down. The Athenians ignored this demand which, of course, led to war, with the Spartans laying siege to Athens.

Lion is an action packed and a gripping story. Iggulden tells the story, seamlessly incorporating his research into the narrative so that this doesn’t read like a textbook but as a fascinating and gripping epic tale of war and death between the states of Athens and Sparta. It’s an amazing tale of political intrigue and bloodthirsty battles. Equally as fascinating as the story is Iggulden’s Historical Note, in which he expands on the background and detail of the historical record. He also explains how he has compressed some of the years and has omitted some ‘actions, skirmishes, insults and general breakdown of good relations between the two states and their allies.’

I think it’s an entertaining and very readable book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with One-Word Titles

Published on July 18, 2023 by Margaret23 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For the rules see her blog. The topic this week is Books with One-Word Titles. I last did a Top Ten post on this topic in March 2020, so the books I’ve chosen are all books I’ve read since then.

Nucleus by Rory Clements – the second book in his Tom Wilde spy thriller series. This one is set in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War. It is a fast-paced and gripping book, involving murder, IRA bombers, and espionage, with many twists and turns.

Undercurrent by Barney Norris, a novel telling the story of a family’s grief and loss as well as love. This is a quiet thoughtful book that explores the nature of our relationships and emotions.

Foster by Claire Keegan, a novella about a young girl who is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home. Claire Keegan’s style of writing is precise, focused, and beautifully written bringing her characters to life – these are real, ordinary people, living ordinary lives.

Exit by Belinda Bauer – what initially looks like a novel considering the ethics of assisted suicide this turns into crime fiction and becomes a borderline ‘cosy’ murder mystery, verging on farce in places. The ending is bitter sweet. I began not sure I really wanted to read Exit and ended it feeling I’m glad I did. It’s unlike anything else I’ve read!

Orlando by Virginia Woolf is a fictionalised biography of Vita Sackville-West, based on her life. It tells the tale of an extraordinary individual who lives through centuries of English history, first as a man, then as a woman; and his/her struggle to find fame and immortality not through actions, but through the written word.

Prophecy by S J Parris is the second book in her Giordano Bruno series of historical thrillers. Giordano Bruno was a 16th century heretic philosopher and spy. It begins in the autumn of 1583, when Elizabeth the First’s throne is in peril, threatened by Mary Stuart’s supporters scheme to usurp the rightful monarch.

Breathtaking by Rachel Clarke. She is a palliative care doctor and her book recounts her experiences during the first four months of 2020, when she worked on the Covid-19 wards in the Oxford University Hospitals system. It records the compassion and kindness of numerous people, and pays tribute to both NHS staff and volunteers in dealing with such a distressing and immensely horrific situation.

Fludd by Hilary Mantel, a fantasy, a fairy tale, told with wit and humour with brilliant characterisation. It is 1956, set in the north of England in the fictional village of Fetherhoughton, which is loosely based on the village where Mantel grew up. She was brought up as a Catholic and the idea for the story came from a conversation with her mother about her childhood.

Inland by Téa Obreht is a book of two halves, alternating between two storylines. The first story about Lurie is slow and meandering as he makes an expedition across the American West. The second story of Nora Lark and her family, which is more interesting. They are living in Arizona in a homestead. There’s been no rain for months and their water supply is nearly exhausted.

Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu – set in Romania where a serial killer is on the loose. This is a complex novel, a political thriller focusing on the political and social dimensions of the racial conflict between the Romanians and the Roma or ‘gypsies’.

Six in Six: The 2023 Edition

Published on July 15, 2023 by Margaret5 Comments

I’m pleased to see that Jo at The Book Jotter is running this meme again this year to summarise six months of reading, sorting the books into six categories – you can choose from the ones Jo suggests or come up with your own. I think it’s a good way at looking back over the last six months’ reading.

Six Crime Fiction

Underworld by Reginald Hill
The Shadows of London by Andrew Taylor
The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves
Aftermath by Peter Robinson
Shroud of Darkness by E C F Lorac
A Death in Tuscany by Michele Giuttari

Six Authors New to me

The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel
The Dancing Bear by Francis Faviell
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
How to Save a Life by S D Robertson
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas

Six books from the past that drew me back there

Lion by Conn Iggulden
The City of Tears by Kate Mosse
Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks
The Light Between the Oceans by M L Stedman
Elizabeth Macarthur: A life at the edge of the world by Michelle Scott Tucker
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Six Books I Read from My To Be Read List

The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson
Ghost Walk by Alanna Knight
This Nowhere Place by Natasha Bell
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Summer That Never Was by Peter Robinson
Not Dead Yet by Peter James

Six authors I have read before

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Asking for the Moon by Reginald Hill
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
The Driftwood Girls by Mark Douglas-Home
The Man With No Face by Peter May

Six books recently added to my wish list

The Birthday Girl: (A Mallory Dawson Crime Thriller Book 1) by Sarah Ward
As the Crow Flies (DI Nick Dixon Crime Book 1) by Damien Boyd
The Last Remains: The 15th in the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries by Elly Griffiths
The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

How is your reading going this year? Do let me know if you take part in Six in Six too

Catching Up … Books Read in May

Published on July 10, 2023 by Margaret5 Comments

I am now so far behind with writing about the books I’ve read this year that the only way to get back on track is to write just a few notes about the books I’ve read recently.

I read 7 books in May and only wrote about one – The Light Between the Oceans (linked to my post) by M L Stedman, the story of Tom, a lighthouse keeper on an isolated island, Janus Rock, and his wife Isabel. Janus Rock is nearly half a day’s journey from the coast of Australia, where the Indian Ocean washes into the Great Southern Ocean. When a boat washes up on the shore of the island it holds a dead man – and a crying baby. Tom and his wife have a devastating decision to make.

The other 6 books are:

Put on by Cunning by Ruth Rendell – a Chief Inspector Inspector Wexford mystery, this was a re-read. The link takes you to my post written in 2014. I didn’t realise at first that I’d already read this book. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first time I read it. It’s a tale of great complexity, of murder and conspiracy to murder. A wealthy old man, Sir Manuel Camargue, one of greatest flautists of his time is found dead. Ankle deep in snow he had lost his footing in the dark and slipped into an icy lake and became trapped. Although it seems a straight forward death, Camargue’s much younger fiancée, puts doubts in Chief Inspector Wexford’s mind and he wonders if it was murder.

Before the Poison by Peter Robinson is a standalone novel and another re-read. It’s about Chris Lowndes, a widower who has bought a house in the Yorkshire Dales. Sixty years earlier a man had died there and his wife Grace was convicted of his murder and hanged. Chris wants to discover whether she really was guilty. This is a convincing mystery, told alternating between the present day and the past.

A Deadly Thaw by Sarah Ward – I read her first book In Bitter Chill years ago and had been meaning to read more of her books, but only got round to it this year. It’s the second in the Francis Sadler series set in the fictional town of Bampton in Derbyshire, and it is just as good as the first. In 2004 Lena Fisher was arrested for suffocating her husband, Andrew. In 2016, a year after Lena’s release from prison, Andrew was found dead in a disused mortuary. Who was the man Lena killed twelve years ago, and who committed the second murder?

The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas – I thoroughly enjoyed this book, a complete and welcome change from crime fiction. It’s about the friendship between Cassandra and Noah, two retired people who had first met in their youth. They were reacquainted when they moved to Clarion Court an ‘an independent living community’. Noah invites Cassandra to rough it with him at his Cape Cod cottage, and their relationship unexpectedly blossoms after several ups and downs

The Hairy Bikers Blood, Sweat & Tyres: The Autobiography by Si King and Dave Myers – a fascinating book written in alternate chapters by Si and Dave. It’s funny, informative, sad and happy, revealing the tough times they went through, their health issues, family losses, how they came to work on TV and above all their friendship.

Empire by Conn Iggulden – historical fiction, the 2nd book in The Golden Age series , a thoroughly entertaining book that brings the ancient history of Athens, Sparta and Persia to life. I’ll write about this in more detail in a later post.