Vestafan - back in the swing, she hopes

I have done this challenge for several years but last year fell well short due to a combination of family illness and bereavement. I also decided to read War and Peace which took over a month (I'd treated myself to a lovely edition which I couldn't bear to throw into a bag and carry all over the place). I hope this year to get back into more systematic reading. I'm not organised enough to go in for a category challenge, but I have a few vague aims in mind: I seem to have acquired quite a few books by Patricia Highsmith, Mary Renault and Arnaldur Indridason which I would like to work my way through during the year. I've also discovered the crime writer Louise Penny, and would like to read her books in order (having unwisely read no 9 first). I also love the Persephone imprint and try and pick up these at second hand shops whenever I can, so would like to read a few more of these. Apart from second hand bargains I've resolved not to buy any new books until Easter. So, lots of vague resolutions with some scope to follow my interest when something unexpected crops up.

My first read of the year comes into none of the above categories; it's Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig. It's the author's account of his experience of depression and anxiety, particularly bad in his twenties. I definitely learned from this book, particularly the physical manifestations of depression. I think its essential message is that it is possible to get through depression and get to a better place. A book that's both accessible and enlightening.

Welcome back!

Hi, Sue! I recently bought the first Louise Penny book myself, because of all the folks here who love her stuff.

Thanks for your greetings! I'm enjoying the Louise Penny so far, but having read the 9th in the series I can see how much the books develop over the series.

Dropping a star so I can follow along!

I've read three books since my last post:

Still Life by Louise Penny
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
and
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Louise Penny is the first in what promises to be an enjoyable series of crime novels. I hadn't read any Anne Tyler for ages and loved this novel about the illusions, secrets and muddles of family life. I'd put off reading The Kite Runner for ages, as seemingly insoluble political situations and childhood loss of innocence are two subjects I find it difficult to deal with. With this book I did find myself having to put the book down a few times, not because of gruesome detail (although one scene near the end approaches this point), but because the narrator's honesty about his actions is quite shocking. A couple of coincidences too many perhaps, but I'm glad I read it.

I've just finished Every Eye by Isobel English, a short novel from the Persephone imprint. Perceptively written and with a surprising, but in retrospect completely explicable conclusion.

My two latest reads are both crime:

The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith
and
Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason

My most recent reads:

Eeny Meeny by M J Arlidge - a compulsive but luridly horrible crime novel.
Purposes of Love by Mary Renault - a surprising novel by the author who I had only associated with novels about Ancient Greece. Published in 1939 it has frank, but not graphic accounts of premarital sex, gay affairs and procurement of abortion. It also portrays the highly regimented life of the nurse at this period.
Dead Cold by Louise Penny - the second in the Armand Gamache series set in Canada which I am enjoying. However, having read a later book in the series first, I know that a certain group of recurring characters cannot be responsible for any serious crime, which tends to reduce the number of suspects.

I've just finished Tell It to a Stranger by Elizabeth Berridge, a Persephone reprint of a selection of short stories originally published in the 1940s. Thoroughly recommended, and more varied than the usual 'trouble getting domestics during the war' in subject matter.

I've just finished The Glass Cell by Patricia Highsmith. Without being an 'issue' novel, it does show the negative effects of prison on an innocent man, whose attitudes change over his 6 year sentence and even more on his release.

I've finally finished The Grapes of Wrath - a book I've had for so long that my pre-marriage surname is on the flyleaf and its my ruby wedding this year. It was a bit of a struggle - during the first third I felt that the regular misfortunes of the Joad family bordered on bathos rather than pathos, and I thought some of the female characters are rather stereotypical. However, it is hard to resist Steinbeck's portrayal of social injustice, particularly because similar injustices exist so many years later.

So far this month I've read three books:

The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker
Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason
and
Latest Readings by Clive James

The first two are series crime novels set in France and Iceland respectively, and the third is a book of literary commentaries written by the author since his 2010 leukaemia diagnosis. Having first wondered if it was worth embarking on any substantial reading, he later came round to the opinion that 'if you don't know the exact moment when the lights will go off, you might as well read until they do'. As I read the book, I was amazed by his wide-ranging reading and interests and inspired to continue reading some more challenging books. As an added bonus, the book is very well produced: a pleasure to hold and read with creamy smooth white paper. If you enjoy books about reading, this would be well worth picking up.

Three more books read since my last post:

Kind Are Her Answers by Mary Renault
The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny
and
The Casino by Margaret Bonham

The Mary Renault was not as interesting as Purposes of Love which I read last month. It seemed like a more conventional romance, but made unconvincing by the two central characters, a married doctor and an aspiring actress. I couldn't believe in their relationship.
The Louise Penny was an enjoyable episode in her Gamache series, and The Casino was a collection of short stories, which I found rather 'samey', many of them seeming to feature rather self-consciously unusual women. Possibly one of them read in a collection by assorted authors might be more enjoyable.

I've just had a quick read of Before I Go To Sleep, something I'd read previously but was being discussed at a reading group I've just joined.

>13 vestafan: You've convinced me to pick up the new Clive James. I love Unreliable Memoirs and his column in the weekend magazine regularly impresses me. Thank you!

I'm sure you won't regret it!

I've just finished Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse. That's definitely enough domestic noir for the time being!

This month I have read the following so far:

Voices by Arnaldur Indridason
An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell
Gods and Beasts by Denise Mina (a re-read for my reading group)
The Friendly Young Ladies by Mary Renault
Black Diamond by Martin Walker
and
In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

I would particularly recommend the Martin Walker book - one of a series about a policeman in rural France. The series is an easy read with an appealing portrayal of French life.

I've just finished this months Louise Penny - The Murder Stone - a slight relocation out of Three Pines, which s quite refreshing.

So far this month I've read:

Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
and
Think Like an Artist by Will Gompertz

And another crime novel:

Time of Death by Mark Billingham - a definite improvement on his previous Tom Thorne novel.

Two more crime novels read (I'm reading some of the long list for Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year as I'm off to Harrogate for the festival in July):

The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves
and
Splinter the Silence by Val McDermid

I really need to try Cleeves' Stanhope series. I loved her Shetland Islands books.

I prefer the Vera books myself, although I've enjoyed both. The TV series can't quite bring itself to make Vera as frumpy in appearance as she is in the novels!

As a change from crime I've just read The Children Act by Ian McEwan. A judge whose marriage is in crisis has to rule in the case of a young Jehovah's Witness refusing treatment for leukaemia on religious grounds. Perhaps its the legal background, but there's a coolness to the book that makes it hard to become emotionally engaged with. I did identify with the central character's enjoyment of living in central London, something I occasionally fantasise about from a distance.

So far this month I've read:

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
A Suspension of Mercy by Patricia Highsmith
Letters to my Daughter's Killer by Cath Staincliffe
and
5,000-1: the Leicester City Story by Rob Tanner

The Julian Barnes book was read for my book group, and was an interesting if slightly underwhelming read about history and memory. I enjoyed the Galbraith book and was gripped by it and look forward to the next in the Cormoran Strike series. The Highsmith starts as more of a black comedy than some of her earlier books, but ends up in typical uneasy style. Letters to My Daughter's Killer is the first Cath Staincliffe book I've read and I found it enjoyable and very moving. Finally as a bona fide Leicester City fan I've enjoyed reliving the most sensational season in the club's history - I still haven't quite stopped smiling!

Since my last post I've read:

Disclaimer by Renee Knight
The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason
and
Mrs Rosie and the Priest by Giovanni Boccacio

My first book read in July is

The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker

This is the fourth in his enjoyable series about Bruno Courreges, this time looking at foie gras and Basque separatism. I'm beginning to wonder how Bruno keeps fit, given the amount of red wine and locally produced cheese he consumes, but I'm willing to suspend disbelief!

I've since read

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
and
The Reckoning by Rennie Airth

I found the Penny book slightly unsatisfying in that I didn't believe the resolution. The Airth, the fourth in the infrequent John Madden series takes place after the Second World War, but shows how events in World War I still cast a shadow over the population.

I've just finished Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn, a crime novel set in the 1930s, although there is as much about London's gay subculture and crypto-fascist organisations as crime-based plot. Thoroughly enjoyable, only let down slightly by an abrupt ending.

I've just finished two further crime novels:

Dead in the Water by Carola Dunn

and

Ashes to Dust by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

The first is a very slight and frothy Daisy Dalrymple tale, and the second is a crime novel set in Iceland with pleasantly dark humour.

Most recently read are Solar by Ian McEwan, for my reading group, followed by Pop Goes the Weasel by M J Arlidge.

I enjoyed the McEwan, finding more humour in it than in many of his works I have read before, while the Arlidge was grisly but compulsive.

My first two reads of this month were:

Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason
and
Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin

Both were excellent - the Rankin in particular was well up to standard.

Two more books since then:

An Academic Question by Barbara Pym (a reread for my reading group)

and

No Other Darkness by Sarah Hilary, a harrowing crime novel.

First read of September is The Devil's Cave by Martin Walker, another in the formulaic but extremely enjoyable Bruno series.

I've read two more books since my last post:

Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason
and
The Crossing by Michael Connelly

These are both books from crime series that I very much enjoy. The Indridason books are more reflective and concentrate much more on the central character Sveinson. The Connelly series is a more conventional crime series but I found the story involving. Like all long-running series, Bosch has his high and low points, but I thought this was better than average.

Two books from my Kindle read recently:

The Missionary Position by Christopher Hitchens, a useful corrective to some of the recent publicity

and

Still Waters by Viveca Sten, the first in a crime novel series set in Sweden.

I've just finished The Farm by Tom Rob Smith, an intriguing novel where a man with his own secrets has to choose which of his parents to believe in a crisis situation. I only found out after finishing it that it was based on the author's own experience, which adds an extra level of interest.

I've just finished Breakdown by Jonathan Kellerman, his latest Alex Delaware novel.

Only two books read so far this month:

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
and
London Rain by Nicola Upson

I'm about to set off on a long-anticipated holiday to Japan so I think I've been rather distracted. I'm hoping to get some Haruki Murakami read while I'm away.

Back from my Japanese holiday and due to disrupted sleep through jetlag managed to get quite a lot of reading done. Books read were:

Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French
Murder 101 by Faye Kellerman
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Love Nina by Nina Stibbe
and
Sanctus by Simon Toyne

The Dawn French book was for my reading group and I have to say, much better than I was anticipating, as I tend to be wary of novels written by celebrities. A woman lies in hospital in a coma after a fall, and her life and the circumstances leading to her 'accident' become apparent through the thoughts and actions of her visitors. There are one or two very funny scenes featuring Silvia's new age sister, but the rendition of Afro Caribbean speech got rather wearing.

The Faye Kellerman book was a very acceptable part of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series. The Joel Dicker book is a lengthy and complicated crime novel which I did wish would hurry up in its storytelling, but kept me reading to the end.

At Heathrow, waiting for the plane to Tokyo, I picked up Six Four, a lengthy Japanese crime novel. The reading of it was really enhanced for me by being in Japan at the time, having lengthy accounts of the power struggles and protocols in the police service, and some of the cultural influences on the behaviour of the characters. Because of the emphasis on internal police politics, readers might not find it compelling (there aren't many action sequences) but I found it very satisfying.

Norwegian Wood is a dreamy novel looking back to student life in Japan in the 1980s. To me it had a melancholy feel, with an inevitability about the concluding events.

I followed this by reading Love Nina, a collection of letters sent by the author to her sister when she was a nanny in North London in the 1980s. This is a very funny collection, which left me with a warm feeling.

Finally, sitting in bed last night, unable to sleep for coughing with the chest infection I picked up on holiday, I finished Sanctus. This is the first in a trilogy, featuring a fairly epic conspiracy. I'm not sure if I'll take the trouble to read the next two, despite the many threads left unresolved.

My first read of November is Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason. This is another in the Erlendur Sveinson series, but the main character in this novel is Elinborg, Sveinson's female associate. I like the characters more and more as I read through this series.

I've read two more books since my last post:

The Resistance Man by Martin Walker
and
The Slaughter Man by Tony Parsons

I love the 'Bruno' series as much for its portrayal of French rural life as the detection. I also enjoy Tony Parsons' Max Wolfe series, although I occasionally think it can be gratuitously gruesome.

During the last part of the month I've read:

Buried by Jussi Adler-Olsen
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Tragedy at Law by Cyril Hare
and
Closed Circles by Viveca Sten

Three reads completed so far this month -

The Way of the Runner by Adharanand Finn
The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton
and
Map of a Nation by Rachel Hewitt

The first is an account of a journalist's visit to Japan to investigate the success of their long distance runners. Although I found this quite interesting, I found the incidental detail of everyday Japanese life even more so, having recently spent a holiday there. It's not deeply analytical but very readable.

The Secret of High Eldersham is a vintage crime novel with all the literary style and attitudes implied by this genre.

Map of a Nation is the reason I haven't has anything to add to Librarything for 2 weeks. It's a read for my book group, a biography of the Ordnance Survey. Around Christmas, I tend to prefer something you can pick up, read a few pages of, and not have too much trouble getting back into the plot. This is not such a book, and although it contained some interesting anecdotes, I was definitely not gripped. Maybe its not a good book club read, particularly when we had one week less than usual.

Since my last post, I've read four more books:

Bruno and Le Pere Noel by Martin Walker
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear
and
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

The first three are enjoyable reads in crime fiction series I like, but the Ronson book was a fascinating look at the often disproportionate criticism and/or abuse received by people on Twitter. He looks at possible equivalents in history and how individuals have coped or not.

Wouldn't it be nice if 2017 was a year of peace and goodwill.
A year where people set aside their religious and racial differences.
A year where intolerance is given short shrift.
A year where hatred is replaced by, at the very least, respect.
A year where those in need are not looked upon as a burden but as a blessing.
A year where the commonality of man and woman rises up against those who would seek to subvert and divide.
A year without bombs, or shootings, or beheadings, or rape, or abuse, or spite.

2017.

Festive Greetings and a few wishes from Malaysia!

My last read of this year - Return to Night by Mary Renault. I'm trying to read her novels in chronological order and find her contemporary novels remind me of the clipped anguished repression of Noel Coward - every remark no matter how trivial has enormous emotional weight.