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European Reading Challenge 2019: Wrap Up Post

Published on December 17, 2019December 18, 2019 by Margaret6 Comments

ERC Map 2019

I don’t think I’ll be reading any more books that qualify for Gilion’s European Reading Challenge by the end of the year. The challenge was to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from).

Here are the 8 books I’ve read (with links to my posts on them):

Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell – Cyprus (see also this post)
Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain – Ireland
The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea – Iceland
Fallen Angel by Christopher Brookmyre – Portugal

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris – Germany
Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop – Greece
Concerto by Hannah Fielding – Italy
The Riviera Set by Mary S Lovell – France

The one I enjoyed the most is Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop.

Added on 18 December – oops, I forgot to add a book for the United Kingdom! We’re not leaving Europe even if we are leaving the EU!!!

So, here is my entry for the UK – so many to choose from, but I’ve settled on:

The King's Evil

The King’s Evil by Andrew Taylor. This is historical fiction at its best, full of suspense and tension, an intricate and tightly plotted murder mystery, enhanced by the intrigue of a royal scandal. I loved it.

I also forgot to say that I reached the FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE) stage of this challenge, which is to: Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Winter 2019-2020 To-Read List

Published on December 17, 2019December 20, 2019 by Margaret6 Comments

TTT christmas

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.

Here are some of the books I’d like to read this winter. Realistically I know it’ll take me longer than that (some are long) and that there’ll be some I won’t get round to and others that I’ll read instead.

Winter by Ali Smith – 4 four people, family and strangers spend Christmas in a fifteen-bedroom house in Cornwall but will there be enough room for them all? This is a library book, so I’ll probably read this first.
The John Lennon Letters edited by Hunter Davies. This is a long book and one that I’ll take my time reading.
Peterloo: the English Uprising by Robert Poole about the rally of around 50,000 people held in St Peter’s Field in Manchester on 16th August, 1819, to demand greater representation in Parliament. They were attacked by armed cavalry and 18 people were killed and some 700 injured. This is another long-term read as it looks so detailed and comprehensive.
The Dressmaker of Dachau by Mary Chamberlain, a WW2 novel about a young English seamstress who is taken prisoner and sent to Germany as slave labour. I really must read this one soon as a friend lent me this book months ago.
The Lady of the Ravens by Joanna Hickson, historical fiction set in the late 15th century, set in the Tower of London. Joan Veaux is lady in waiting to Elizabeth of York, who is married to Henry VII. She is the Lady Of The Ravens, who cares for and protects the famous ravens. Due to be published in January this is one of my NetGalley books.
Hitler’s Secrets by Rory Clements, another NetGalley book to be published in January. This is historical fiction and a spy thriller, featuring American Cambridge don Tom Wilde, beginning in autumn 1941 when the war is going badly for Britain and its allies.

Giant’s Bread by Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott. This is not one of her crime fiction novels. Last year I enjoyed Absent in the Spring another book she wrote as Mary Westmacott.
The Butcher’s Hook by Janet Ellis, historical fiction set in Georgian London in the summer of 1763. Anne Jaccob, the elder daughter of well-to-do parents, meets Fub the butcher’s apprentice and is awakened to the possibilities of joy and passion.
A Killing Kindness by Reginald Hill, the 6th Dalziel and Pascoe novel. I’m currently reading the Dalziel and Pascoe novels in the order of publication and have nearly finished the 5th book.
Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert or whichever book comes up for me in the Classics Club Spin. I hope it’ll be this one but will have to wait and see … if it isn’t I’ll definitely be reading it some time next year.

The Classics Club Spin – My List

Published on December 16, 2019 by Margaret6 Comments

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin. Before next Sunday 22nd December 2019 compile a Spin List of twenty books that remain ‘to be read’ on your Classics Club list.

On that day the Classics Club will randomly pick a number and that will be the book to read. You then have until the 31st January 2020 to finish your book and review it.

I have only 10 unread books left on my list so, I’ve repeated the list to make the numbers up to 20.

The Riddle of the Third Mile by Colin Dexter
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Parade’s End by Ford Maddox Ford
Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
The Riddle of the Third Mile by Colin Dexte
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Parade’s End by Ford Maddox Ford
Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope
Orlando by Virginia Woolf

There are several long books on my list, but for the beginning of next year I think I’d prefer one of the shorter books. What do you think?

Looking back at last year’s Top Ten post ‘Winter 2018 TBR’

Published on December 15, 2019 by Margaret10 Comments

In advance of this coming Tuesday’s Top Ten post on our Winter TBRs I thought I’d look back at last year’s Top Ten post Winter 2018 TBR to see how many of those books I actually read. (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.)

Links from the book titles will take you to my reviews or to Goodreads.

I finished 6 of them!

Greenmantle by John Buchan – from my Classics Club list. Yes

It’s the second of five novels featuring the character of Richard Hannay and is an adventure and spy story with a highly improbable plot. It’s pure escapism.

Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell – Yes

I read this nonfiction about Durrell’s time in Cyprus, during the 1950s Enosis movement for freedom of the island from British colonial rule. His writing is richly descriptive and made me wish I could have seen Bellapaix in the 1950s.

The Accordionist by Fred Vargas – Yes

It’s the third book in The Accordionist (Three Evangelists 3) the Three Evangelists series and it’s probably the most puzzling of the three. They are quirky crime fiction novels, with eccentric characters and intricate plots.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway – No

I gave up on this book. It just didn’t appeal to me.

Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves – No

I am amazed, I thought I had read it! It’s the 8th and last book in her Shetland series. I will read it soon.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper – Yes

This is a powerful book, a family drama, set in an isolated part of Australia hundreds of miles from anywhere, revolving around the death of Cameron Bright. I loved it.

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield – Yes

Once Upon a River

An intriguing and mystifying book, historical fiction with a touch of magic that completely beguiled me with its mysteries and fascinating characters. A badly injured stranger enters the Swan Inn at Radcot carrying the drowned corpse of a little girl. Hours later the dead child, miraculously it seems, takes a breath, and returns to life.

The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea – Yes

The Glass Woman Set in Iceland in 1686, this has a dark atmosphere, saturated in sadness, fear and superstition. It’s a story of suspicion, love and violence, as a body surfaces from the ice-crusted sea, a body that had been weighted down with stones. It was too long, too drawn out and slow, especially in the first half of the book for me.

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

Mythos: the Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry – No

I began it but put it aside for a while, can’t think why that was. I will get back to it.

The BrontÃ«s The Brontës by Juliet Barker – No

I did start it, but I found the sheer size of it and the small font made it difficult to read, but I shall persevere.

Fell Murder: a Lancashire Mystery by E C R Lorac (British Library Crime Classics)

Published on December 14, 2019 by Margaret4 Comments

‘…this crime is conditioned by the place. To understand the one you’ve got to study the other.’

Fell Murder was first published in 1944. This edition, published in association with the British Library, has an introduction by Martin Edwards and also includes a rare E.C.R. Lorac short story ‘The Live Wire‘. It’s the 25th book featuring Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald, a shrewd detective, not easily ruffled or fooled.

E C R Lorac was a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett (1894-1958) who was a prolific writer of crime fiction from the 1930s to the 1950s, and a member of the prestigious Detection Club. She formed her pseudonym by using her initials and for the surname, the first part of her middle name spelled backwards. She also wrote under the name of Carol Carnac.

My thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed Fell Murder. I’ve read three other books by E C R Lorac, Bats in the Belfry, Fire in the Thatch, and Murder by Matchlight, all of which I enjoyed. Fell Murder is rather different. Set in Lunesdale in Lancashire towards the end of the Second World War, it has a slow start as Lorac takes 25% of the book to describe the landscape and introduces the characters. She obviously loved the area, just south of the Lake District, and describes in detail not just the scenery but the way of life of a close-knit community of farming folk. She also describes the changes to the traditional farming methods forced by wartime regulations and the uncertainty of living in an unstable and changing world.

Then the mystery begins with the discovery of the body of old Robert Garth – found dead–’dead as mutton‘–in the trampled mud of an ancient outhouse. The Garth family, live at Garthmere Hall, ruled by Robert with a rod of iron. The Hall is a gloomy medieval building, with mullioned windows, dating from Jacobean times but with a ‘new wing’ added in Queen Anne’s reign.

When the local police officer, Superintendent Layng, investigates the murder he doesn’t get very far, failing to win the confidence of the local people, finding their slowness in answering his questions frustrating and bewildering. So Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald from Scotland Yard is called in. There are a number of suspects, the main one being Robert’s eldest son Richard who had only just returned to the area, although not to his family, after an absence of twenty five years. Richard has a sister, Marion who helps run the farm, and two brothers, Charles, and Malcolm who all live at Garthmere Hall.

Macdonald’s understanding of the ways of the community helps him get to the bottom of the mystery. I had little idea who the culprit could be and think the ending was a bit rushed. What I enjoyed the most about this book are the characters and the way Lorac has captured the essence of that particular place and time during the War.

I also enjoyed the excellent short story, The Live Wire, which I thought was amusing and most original.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for a review copy via NetGalley.

Snow on the Cobbles by Maggie Sullivan

Published on December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 by Margaret5 Comments

snow on the cobbles

I’ve been watching Coronation Street for years so when I saw Snow on the Cobbles, a Coronation Street story on NetGalley described as ‘perfect for Coronation Street fans’ I requested it. It’s the third book in the Coronation Street series. It’s set in 1945 as the Second World War is coming to an end with some of the familiar Street characters – the main one being a young Hilda Ogden, with minor roles for others such as Elsie Tanner, Albert Tatlock, Ena Sharples and the young Ken Barlow. But there are also other characters who have never appeared in the TV soap.

The story centres around Hilda Ogden and new characters, Lizzie Doyle, her mother and her brothers, who have recently moved into No. 9 (currently home to Tyrone Dobbs, his daughter Ruby Dobbs, Fiz Stape and her daughter Hope Stape). Their new neighbour, Elsie Tanner, tells them that the house is said to have bad luck and they are worried about strange noises from the loft. Lizzie makes friends with Hilda when they both start working at the Pride of Weatherfield, a pub that had recently reopened in competition with the Rovers Return, where Annie Walker is in sole charge whilst her husband Jack is away at the war.

The story is of their daily lives, struggling to make ends meet and their joy and celebrations as the war comes to an end and the men return from the war. Lizzie, however, has a secret that threatens her relationship with Steve, the barman at the Rovers Return. And the new manager at the Pride of Weatherfield is involved in some very dodgy dealings.

I read it quickly and enjoyed it as I liked the setting and the historical details about the end of the war. I also liked the biography of Jean Alexander, who played the role of Hilda Ogden and I think Maggie Sullivan has captured the essence of Hilda in this book.

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