Kerry (avatiakh) has a reading project

Welcome to my category challenge. I've been doing this since 2009 and some years i've been more successful than others. Last year I read a lot of books but didn't reach most of my reading goals as I tend to go astray easily.

Quick overview of my categories:

1) English Children's Classics
2) Other Worlds: Fantasy & Scifi
3) Israeli Literature General Fiction
4) The Grand Tour: European Literature
5) Focus Group: 3 writers
6) Clear the Shelves
7) Crime, mystery & thrillers
8) Young at Heart - YA & childrens
9) Reality: Nonfiction
10) New Zealand & Australian Literature
11) Exotic: Asian, Latin American & Middle Eastern Literature
12) Illustration: Graphic Novels, Manga etc

English Classics for Children

1) Time of Trial by Hester Burton (1963)
2) The Radium Woman: A Life of Marie Curie by Eleanor Doorly (1939)
3) Thunder and Lightnings by Jan Mark (1976)
4) The writing on the hearth by Cynthia Harnett (1971)
5) The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris by Leon Garfield (1978)
6) The Great House by Cynthia Harnett (1949)
7) The Load of Unicorn by Cynthia Harnett (1959)
8) The Fourteenth of October by Bryher (1954)
9) John Diamond by Leon Garfield (1980)

Books by Rosemary Sutcliff, Leon Garfield, Peter Dickinson, John Christopher and others. I own quite a number of children's classics and need to get them read. I'm also reading the Carnegie (UK) Medal winners and try to read about 6 or so each year, I have 22 books left to read though the 2025 winner needs to be added in a few months time.

Other Worlds: Fantasy & Scifi

1) The Practice, the Horizon and the Chain by Sofia Samatar (2024)
2) The Familiar by Leigh Bardago (2024)
3) The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (2020)
4) The Book Censor's Library by Bothayna Al-Essa (2019)
5) The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey (1990)
6) Supercute Futures by Martin Millar (2018)
7) The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry (2023)
8) Dragonclaw by Kate Forsyth (1997)
9) Some desperate glory by Emily Tesh (2023)
10) Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik (2007)
11) The Magicians by Lev Grossman (2009)
12) Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik (2008)
13) The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar (1992)
14) The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar (2025)

Reread needed of Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn series so I can read the last book.
Read for the first time: H.G. Parry, Octavia Butler, Lev Grossman

General Fiction

1) The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
2) The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons (2023)
3) Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim (2019)
4) Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid
5) Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid (2014)
6) The Castle on the Hill by Elizabeth Goudge (1941)
7) The Liar's Gospel by Naomi Alderman (2012)
8) The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (2024)
9) How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley (2024)
10) Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley (2022)
11) The Journey of Simon McKeever by Albert Maltz (1949)
12) Cat's People by Tanya Guerrero (2025)
13) My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal (2017)
14) Isola by Allegra Goodman (2025)
15) Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021)
16) Autocorrect: stories by Etgar Keret (2025)
17) Swept Away by Beth O'Leary (2025)
18) A guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson (2008)
19) A Dog's Life by Peter Mayle (2013)
20) The Best of Everything by Kit de Waal (2025)
21) We were the lucky ones by Georgia Hunter (2017)
22) Happy New Years by Maya Arad (2023 Hebrew)
23) The Seventh Well by Fred Wander (1971 German) (2008 English)

Changing this category from israeli to General so I have a home for all my reading on this thread.

The Grand Tour - European Literature

1) Tales from the Saragossa Manuscript: Ten Days in the Life of Alphonse Van Worden by Jan Potocki (1814)
2) Tell Them of Battles, Kings & Elephants by Mathias Énard (2010 French) (2019 Eng)
3) The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis (1903)
4) The Forty Days Of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel (1933)
5) The Abyssinian by Jean Christophe Rufin (1997)
6) The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1960)
7) Confessions of a Lapsed Standard-Bearer by Andreï Makine (1992)
8) Game for Five by Marco Malvaldi (2007)
9) The Silence of the Sea by Vercors (1942)
10) The Siege of Isfahan by Jean Christophe Rufin (1998)
11) An Empty House by Marga Minco (1966)
12) Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov (1996)
13) Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki (1946 Greek)
14) War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (2013 Belgium/Flemish)
15) Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009, Poland)
16) Live Fast by Brigette Giraud (2022 French)
17) The Dumas Club by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (1993)
18) With a sword in my hand by Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem & Pat van Biers (2009)

Set up for Paul's Grand Tour challenge over on the 75 Books group

Focus Group: spotlight on 3 writers:

Mario Vargas Llosa
1) The Storyteller (1987)
2) The Feast of the Goat (2001)
3)
4)
5)

Lavie Tidhar
1) Adama
2)
3)

Naomi Jacobs
1)

I want to read at least 5 of the Mario Vargas Llosa books that I own. Lavie Tidhar has just come onto my radar after enjoying his Maror so want to read 2 or 3 or his latest books.
Naomi Jacobs was one of my grandmother's favourite authors, so would like to discover her works through the Gollantz Family Saga books. hope to read at least the first one.

Clear the Shelves - Reading from my own books

1) The Whistlers' Room by Paul Alverdes (1929) - Germany
2) Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front, 1939-1942 by Joyce Dennys (1985) - UK
3) The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1974)
4) Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart (1958)
5) The Wind Off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart (1968)
6) Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen (2021)
8) King of the Vagabonds by Neal Stephenson (2004)
9) Deception by Joan AIken (1987)
10) My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor (2023)

Like everyone else my home is overflowing with unread books and yet I read so many library books. Includes my digital library as well.
The Open Book is a used bookshop in my city of Auckland. I used to live around the corner, though long ago before this was a bookshop.

Crime, Mystery & Thrillers

1) No one will know by Rose Carlyle (2024) - Australia
2) The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie (2022) - Australia
3) A Case of Matricide by Graeme Macrae Burnet (2024)
4) Singapore Black by William L. Gibson (2013)
5) Panic by Catherine Jinks (2025) - Australia
6) When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole by Geoff Parkes (2025) - New Zealand
7) The Case of the Lonely Accountant by Simon Mason (2024) - UK
8) Missing Person: Alice by Simon Mason (2024) - UK
9) Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz (2025) - UK
10) Foul Deeds and Fine Dying by Marco Malvadi (2020 Italian) (2024 English)
11) Crows Nest by Nikki Mottram (2023) - Australia
12) The woman who laughed by Simon Mason (2025) - UK
13) Vanish by Shelley Burr (2025) - Australia
14) Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (2023) - Australia
15) Gone by Glenna Thomson (2024) - Australia
15) The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (2021) - UK
16) The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling (2025) - UK
17) Taken by Dinuka McKenzie (2023) - Australia
18) Death comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood (2023) - UK
19) Tipping Point by Dinuka McKenzie (2024) - Australia
20) Mischance Creek by Garry Disher (2025) - Australia
21) Murder in Constantinople by A E Goldin (2024)
22) Lucky Thing by Tom Baragwanath (2025) - New Zealand

Young at Heart - YA & Children's Books

YA
1) The One Dollar Horse by Lauren St John (2012)
2) The Long Night Watch by Ivan Southall (1983)
3) The Button War: A Tale of the Great War by Avi (2018)
4) Where the heart should be by Sarah Crossan (2024)
5) Never tell anyone your name by Federico Ivanier (2023)
6) Freedom Swimmer by Wai Chim (2016)
7) The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb (2024)
8) Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan (2016)
9) When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb (2022)
10) Trajectory by Canbria Gordon (2024)
11) Under the Domim Tree by Gila Almagor (1992 Hebrew)
12) Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald (2024)
13) The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero (2022)
14) Summer of Aviya by Gila Almagor (1986 Hebrew)
15) A thousand shades of blue by Robin Stevenson (2008)
16) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1967)
17) Kata & Tor by Kevin Crossley-Holland (2025)
18) Bear by Kiri Lightfoot (2025)
19) The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr (2014)
20) Ride North by Maria De Jong (2025)

Children
1) Cobweb by Michael Morpurgo (2024)
2) Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee (2020)
3) Healer & Witch by Nancy Werlin (2022)
4) The Key is Lost by Ida Vos (2000)
5) The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine by Katherine Marsh (2023)
6) When Fishes Flew: The Story of Elena’s War by Michael Morpurgo (2021)
7) Long Journey of Lukas B. by Willi Fährmann (1981)
8) GolemCrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen (2024)
9) Like Water on Stone by Dana Walrath (2014)
10) All He Knew by Helen Frost (2020)
11) The War Between the Pitiful Teachers and the Splendid Kids by Stanley Kiesel (1980)
12) Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz (2024)
13) Escape from Shangri-La by Michael Morpurgo (1998)
14) Max in the Land of Lies by Adam Gidwitz (2025)
15) The Way of Dog by Zana Fraillion (2022)
16) The house with a dragon in it by Nick Lake (2023)
17) Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz (1988)
18) Hurry home, Candy by Meindert DeJong (1953)
19) Robinson Daniel Crusoe by Prudence Andrew (1978)
20) Bandit's Daughter: Kung Fu Girl in Ancient China by Simon Mason (2020)
21) A Gift fom the Birds by Caroline Stills (2025)
22) The Chieftain's Daughter by Sam McBratney (1993)
23) Star without a sky by Leonie Ossowski (1978)
24) Surviving Hitler: a boy in Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren (2001)
25) Across so many seas by Ruth Behar (2024)
26) Day of the Dead by Anthony Masters (1998)
27) The Horse Dreamer by Holly Surplice (2025)

Picturebooks
1) Mishka by Victor Ambrus (1975)
2) The cat at night by Dahlov Ipcar (1969)
3) All cats are on the autism spectrum by Kathy Hoopmann (2021 edition)

I read a lot of childrens and YA, though less than earlier years. WIll try to clear some of my own books rather than relying on the library.

Reality - Nonfiction books

1) Darkness Visible: a memoir of madness by William Styron (1990)
2) My Israeli Journey by Shaul Mofaz (2024)
3) In the Shadow of Papillon Seven Years of Hell in Venezuela's Prison System by Frank Kane (2006)
4) Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books by Cathy Rentzenbrink (2020)
5) Here is New York by E.B. White (1949)
6) By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart (1945)
7) Three Wild Dogs and the truth by Markus Zusak (2024)
8) Singapore Dream And Other Adventures: Travel Writings from an Asian Journey by Herman Hesse (2018 English)
9) Hostage by Eli Sharabi (2025)

I usually end up reading some nonfiction, just what I come acros through the year

New Zealand & Australian Fiction

1) The Odd Angry Shot by William Nagle (1975)
2) The Star on the Grave by Linda Margolin Royal (2024)
3) The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman (2025)
4) Going Zero by Anthony McCarten (2023) - NZ
5) The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (2022)
6) The Wild Date Palm by Diane Armstrong (2024)
7) The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (2025)
8) The Secret Familiar by Catherine Jinks (2006)

Try to read some New Zealand fiction through the year though lately it's usually ended up being crime novels which I add to the crime category.

NB: Wee Bookshop is owned by Ruth Shaw who wrote The Bookseller at the End of the World

The Exotic - Books from Asia, Latin America and the Middle East

1) The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki (2020 Japanese) (2024 English)
2) Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jijun (2024 Eng) - Korea
3) Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum (2022) - Korea
4) The Boy and the Dog by Hase Seishū - Japan
5) The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa (1980) - Pakistan
6) The Monkey and the Tiger by Robert van Gulik (1965)
7) American Visa by Juan de Recacoechea (1994 - Bolivia)
8) The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-ran (2021 Korean)
9) You dreamed of empires by Álvaro Enrigue (2025 English) - Mexico

I seem to read quite a bit of Japanese fiction, those cozy coffee shop or cat ones.

Illustrated Books - Graphic Novels, Manga etc

1) Hakim's Odyssey, Book 3: From Macedonia to France by Fabien Toulmé (2020 French) (2022 English)
2) The Apothecary Diaries vol. 12 by Natsu Hyuuga
3) The Apothecary Diaries vol. 13 by Natsu Hyuuga
4) The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman (2007)
5) The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 14 by Natsu Hyuuga

No one will know by Rose Carlyle (2024)
crime
Carlyle's books are very popular and widely promoted but for me, they are forgettable reads that just don't reach the level of a great crime read. I've now read her two books but won't read her next one.
This was set in Tasmania and featured a recently bereaved young woman who has just found out she's pregnant and thinks she's applying for a job as a nanny for a rich couple living on an isolated island.

Happy New Year and good luck with your reading.

>15 lowelibrary: Hi April, thanks for visiting.

>6 avatiakh: Conversation in the Cathedral is on my shelves and I will read it! Good luck with the Mario Vargas Llosa pile, and happy reading in 2025.

I love your bookshops pictures, and your categories! Hope you have a good year of reading in 2025!

Hope you have a great reading year! Happy new year!

>17 pamelad: I have Conversations in the Cathedral on my shortlist but starting with The Storyteller as it fits a challenge over on the 75 Books group.

>18 Charon07: Hi, I had lots of fun trying to find suitable bookshops, most images are of the interiors.

>19 thornton37814: Hi Lori - Happy New Year back to you!

The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie (2022)
crime
Kate Miles #1. Dinuka McKenzie was on a list of newish Australian crime writers that LT75er Paul shared with me last year and I thought I'd try one of her books. This was quite a good read and I'll keep her in mind. Kate Miles is close to giving birth and in her last couple of weeks working as a Detective Sergeant in a rural area. There's a nasty robbery at a McDonalds and she's also asked to look into a closed case of a drowning during the recent floods.

I always love pictures of bookshops. Hope you have a good reading year.

I love your categories and am looking forward to following along! Happy reading in 2025!

>21 avatiakh: Is that list online somewhere? I'd really like to see it as I am looking for more Australian books!

>23 MissBrangwen: Wow I found the article! https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/aussie-crime-2024-recent-australian-crime-no...
Ooh, now I'm reading their other posts about 2025.

>24 avatiakh: Thank you so much, I'm diving right in!

Darkness Visible: a memoir of madness by William Styron (1990)
nonfiction
Only 84 pages but a moving account on how he descended into deep depression, how it felt and how he survived. He discusses the use of medication, the stigma of hospitilisation and the value of support from friends and family.

Time of Trial by Hester Burton (1963)
YA / Englsih Classics for Children
Carnegie (UK) Medal 1963. This was an enjoyable read for me. Historical fiction set in 1801, the background is the war against the French and so the English government does not want disorder on the homefront. Desperately needed social reform is not going to happen even when well meaning men such as Margaret's father writes his provocative New Jerusalem pamphlet that sends the family's lives into turmoil.
The book is full of lillustrations by Victor Ambrus. I saw some discussion of Ambrus on a review and so googled him. He came to the UK after taking part in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution as a student. He was able to study art despite not speaking English at the time, winning a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of Art and eventually became a book illustrator. He was an original member of the tv series Time Team, illustrating archaeological scenes, recreating the past.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/mar/10/victor-ambrus-obituary
Time Team tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAIdU8uILek

The Practice, the Horizon and the Chain by Sofia Samatar (2024)
scifi
This novella length story is quite dark, taking place on a spaceship, part of a fleet. There are three classes of inhabitants, the upper classes, then those with anklets who could at any time be denounced and sent to the Hold. Those in the Hold are chained and spend their lives doing hard labour, living in the dark. A researcher rescues a boy from the Hold, he's a skilled artist but finds it hard to acclimatise to the upper decks.
Not sure where I heard about this book but I did put in a library request for it. While I enjoyed the story, it was not pleasant reading about the suffering in the Hold so I'm glad it was a short read and I can now put it behind me.

The Whistlers' Room by Paul Alverdes (1929)
novella
Four WW1 soldiers share a room in a German hospital where they are recovering from throat injuries. They all have tubes inserted in their necks through which they breathe, hence the whistling noise. A sensitive story about the casualties of war rather than warfare itself. The introduction by Dr Emily Mayhew, a military medical historian specialising in the study of severe casualty, is an interesting read as well. Alverdes volunteered to fight when just 17 years old and was hospitalised with a severe throat injury for some years.
The edition I read was from the Casemate Classic War Fiction series, there are 11 books. https://www.casematepublishers.com/search-results-grid/?series=casemate-classic-...

The Radium Woman: A Life of Marie Curie by Eleanor Doorly (1939)
children's nonfiction
Carnegie (UK) Medal 1939. A wonderful biography on the life of Marie Curie, adapted for younger readers from Eve Curie's biography of her mother. I wasn't aware of the tireless work Curie did during WW1, making sure that portable x-ray stations could be set up to serve the doctors and wounded at the many war fronts.

Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front, 1939-1942 by Joyce Dennys (1985)
fiction
Rather a fun read. A series of letters from Henrietta in Devon to her childhood friend, Robert, who is in the army. It describes life on the home front with the fear of a German invasion. This has been a long time resident on my tbr shelves.

>31 avatiakh: I really enjoyed that one too!

Looking forward to following your reading, Kerry, you always find such amazing books. Happy reading!

The One Dollar Horse by Lauren St John (2012)
YA
One Dollar Horse #1. First of a trilogy about Casey and her horse, Storm Warning. A great horse book for fans of these sorts of reads. Casey is 15 yrs old, lives in one of London's poorer suburbs in an infamous residential block with her Dad who recently came out of jail. She has a burning ambition to be part of the showjumping world and compete at Badminton Horse Trials.

Mishka by Victor Ambrus (1975)
picturebook
Fun story of a young boy who joins the circus after learning to play a song on the violin. The illistrations reflect Ambrus's Hungarian upbringing. I requested several of Ambrus's books after reading about him when I came across his illustrations in Time of Trial.

Michael Foreman: A Life in Pictures by Michael Foreman (2015)
nonfiction

Not counting this one as I did not read all the text. I'd have loved to have this book in my collection but missed it when it came out and now it's quite scarce. Foreman is mostly known for his wonderful illustration work on Michael Morpurgo's books but he has done a wealth of other work too. Here is a chronological look at his development as an artist and his work through the years. Beautiful.

Hakim's Odyssey, Book 3: From Macedonia to France by Fabien Toulmé (2020 French) (2022 English)
graphic biography
This is the final volume of Hakim's journey from the Syrian Civil War to his new home with his wife and child in France. Toulmé interviewed Hakim with the help of an interpreter and then proceeded to create these books. The first volume was probably the most interesting as it covered Hakim's life in Syria where he owned a tree nursery business and also his time in Lebanon. This volume was mainly about his journey through Europe with his 1 yr old son, his wife was already in France with her family but Hakim and son did not have the right documentation.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki (2020 Japanese) (2024 English)
fiction
Another in the cozy weird cat or cafe type Japanese reads. This one was quite enjoyable and I liked how by the end all the different characters linked back to each other. Each one ends up at a dreamlike popup cafe run by human sized cats that morph into human shape and back again. They get helpful advice from a horoscope reading and the food & drink has out of this world qualities.
Definitely a genre that I need to stop reading, I have a Korean book out from the library, Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat which sounds like more of the same though without cats.

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (2024)
fiction
Not reality as we know it but once you accept the premise that Lauren's attic provides an ongoing supply of husbands then this turns into an entertaining read. Who will she end up with? How can she stop the endless flow of husbands once she finds the one?

Tales from the Saragossa Manuscript: Ten Days in the Life of Alphonse Van Worden by Jan Potocki (1814)
fiction
This is the Dedalus edition that covers only 10 of the 65 days that The Manuscript found in Saragossa covers. I found it when sorting through books a few weeks back and put it aside to read for Paul's European Tour January read challenge in the LT75books group - to read a 19C European book. I'm pleased that I only had to read 10 days worth of these fantastical ghostly tales of robbers, vagabonds, and other weird beings. I might eventually continue with my Penguin Classics edition that I came across even more recently but wouldn't like to contain my reading to finish in the next couple of weeks.
Recommended for those who like a touch of the grotesque in their reading, several characters wake up between the same two hanged corpses after experiencing a dreamlike evening in an abandoned inn.

Dedalus Books has quite an interesting catalogue of more obscure European writers: http://www.dedalusbooks.com/

A Case of Matricide by Graeme Macrae Burnet (2024)
crime
Georges Gorski #3. The final in the trilogy and a delightful crime read. This one is more about Gorski than the crimes he's investigating as he ponders on the direction his life has taken where he now lives with his ailing mother above the shop that once held his late father's pawnbroking business and now houses a florist. He's investigating possible crimes, a man whose mother thinks is slowly poisoning her after killing her dog and a suspicious stranger staying at the local hotel.
These books are presented as metafiction with Burnet posing as the English translator of Raymond Brunet, an obscure French writer who died in 1992.

Now I must absolutely finally finish reading His Bloody Project which is Burnet's most well known book.

The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa (1987)
fiction
My first read of Llosa for the year. I read a couple of his books a long way back and then collected his works when visiting used bookshops but didn't get on with reading them. This year I'm focused on reading at least five Llosa books. This one fit Madeline's TIOLI challenge to read a book which has a least one set of double letters in both the title and the author's name.
This was a tad difficult to read as the topic was far from my usual fare, it was also rewarding. The narrator is telling us about the clash between the modern world and the primitive tribes still living in the Amazon region. How they were hunted by Incas and then the rubber barons for free labour, the efforts of the missionaries and now the linguists seeking their languages before they become extinct. The tribal storytellers weave creation myths and stories in alternate chapters. The common thread is his long lost Jewish friend from his time at university who felt a bond with these tribes on his extensive visits to the rainforests. Fascinating.

Cobweb by Michael Morpurgo (2024)
children's fiction

This is another delightful story from Morpurgo, centering around a young corgi/sheepdog named Cobweb. Set during the time of the Battle of Waterloo, Cobweb and his new owner and an older more experienced sheepdog take a large number of sheep and cows along a Drover's Way from coastal Wales to the London markets. It's a journey of several weeks and once there the farmer remains for business and tells the dogs to go on home, which they do. The innkeepers have all been prepaid to give the dogs their meals and they meet up with and travel for some way with two brothers, returned from the Battle of Waterloo, and also on their way home in the north.
Not sure if it was the done thing to send sheepdogs off on their own like this, but it did make for a heartwarming tale and enabled Cobweb to come full circle back to his rightful owner and save her family farm.
More on the Drover's Way: https://www.countrylife.co.uk/articles/drovers-routes-the-ancient-trails-from-fa...

18) The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1974)
historical fiction

What a fantastic read. I took my time reading this after starting it for last year's LT75books group War Room read on the American Civil War. I was keen to read this after briefly visiting Gettysburg in September 2023. My son and I also visited the American Civil War Museum in Richmond and the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg.
The book covers the Gettysburg Battle from the pov of numerous generals from both sides and conveys majestically how it all unfolds. You take away from the book how battle fatigued everyone was. Brave men on both sides, worn out by the endless pursuit of victory.

>38 avatiakh: Taking a BB for this one.

>41 avatiakh: I picked up a copy of this recently because I've really liked His Bloody Project and Case Study, but I didn't know it was the third in the series. Do I need to read the first two first?

>46 RidgewayGirl: I think that you need to read books 1 & 2 to fully appreciate Gorski and his daily routine.

Tell Them of Battles, Kings & Elephants by Mathias Énard (2010 French) (2019 Eng)
novella
Beautiful writing here. Taking the supposition that Michaelangelo went to Constantinople in 1506 to design a bridge over the Bosphorus. He lacks inspiration and so spends much time just taking in the sights and thinking about a mysterious singer that he encounters at a noisy party one night. The title comes from the first line in Rudyard Kipling's Life's Handicap. Quite a joy to read.
Will be seeking more work by Énard.

>37 avatiakh: I'm adding this one to my WL. I wish to read more graphic novels in the future and this is such an important topic. I have many students who fled from Syria to Germany and I cannot even imagine what they went through.

>49 MissBrangwen: I enjoyed reading about Hakim's journey, it was a typical migration story forced on him due to the lack of opportunities in all the places he went to. There were a number of times when Hakim has to place trust in people he's not sure of but his situation is dire.

>45 lowelibrary: Some of these Japanese cat/coffee books can be quite delightful. I'm currently reading Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat which fills my 'relax in a book' slot but does not have either cats or coffee!

Thunder and Lightnings by Jan Mark (1976)
childrens
Carnegie Medal (UK) 1976. Well written story about two boys becoming friends. One has newly arrived to Norfolk and the other is a local and crazy about fighter aircraft, especially his favourite the Lightning. There are several busy airfields in the area they live in.
From wikipedia: 'The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s'

Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jijun (2024 Eng)
fiction
Heartwarming read about the locals who end up at this special laundromat where a community of friends builds up, story by story. Each has a difficulty that becomes more bearable after confessing in a notebook left on a table, the responses helping each one. A debut novel.

Singapore Black by William L. Gibson (2013)
historical crime fiction
Detective Hawksworth Trilogy #1. The book is set in 1892 Singapore and is a very different place to modern Singapore. The story was not too great and Hawksworth is not too likeable but gets the job done. What's interesting is the melting pot of people that make up Singapore, the gang wars between the various groups, the various religions and cultures.
A newly arrived American has been murdered and Hawksworth has the task of uncovering the killer and his motive.
I'll probably read the other two books as I enjoyed the peek into this time period.

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart (1958)
fiction
I read a couple of Stewart's novels set in Greece about a year ago and enjoyed them. I had this one on my own stacks, bought mainly as I really liked the book cover. This was an ok read about a young English woman taking a job in France as a governess. There's a lot of intrigue as her charge is an orphan who will inherit the main estate when he comes of age and the family plots to make sure he doesn't stay alive till then.
The book's wikipedia page is quite interesting once you've read the book, telling of all the literary references Stewart used in writing the book.

Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee (2020)
children's
I read this in one sitting, staying up till the early hours. It was on a list of historical fiction for young readers that I looked through a few weeks ago and requested the book from the library. I think The Button War was another from the list.
Lee has taken her mother's story and reinvented it for this survival story of a twelve year old girl, Sora, and her younger brother journeying from North Korea to Busan in South Korea during the Korean War. They lose their parents and baby brother on the first day of travel when an enemy plane bombs a hillside.
Compelling reading with the first few chapters covering life in the north under Communist rule. Recommended.

The Long Night Watch by Ivan Southall (1983)
YA
This won the Phoenix Award (USA) in 2003 which is why I picked it up.
Phoenix Award is for children's literature originally published in English that twenty years previously did not receive a major award at the time of its publication.
Anyway according to GR I read this in 2016, though I never mentioned it on LT and I didn't recall anything as I read it. Quite an interesting read, though I can't recommend it.
An Australian religious cult by the name of SWORD (Society for World Order under Divine Rule), led by a Brigadier, a WWI army hero journeys to a remote South Pacific island to await the coming of the glory. One hundred souls made up mostly of young families wait on the island for almost a year. Unfortunately they set out in 1941 and now the Japaese have come across intelligence about the Brigadier and his SWORD battalion, an advance force north of Australia, so they advance with full strength military to the island.
The teen boy on the night watch, sees the lights advancing and warns of the coming of the glory.
I can imagine this to be a difficult read for the average teen as there are several chapters of back story to why and how SWORD was formed and about the leaders' aims and much less of life on the island.

The Button War: A Tale of the Great War by Avi (2018)
YA
Set in a Polish village under Russian control during WW1. A group of boys under a bully leader agree to a competition to see who can procure the most magnificent button off a soldier's uniform. The game gets deadly as the Germans advance and take over the village.
This was an edge of the seat sort of read as taking a button from a living soldier's uniform is not the easiest task and apart from Jurek the leader, the others aren't so into the game except that they don't want Jurek to win.

I'm a fan of the films made from the 1912 French children's book, The War of the Buttons so was intrigued to find another book about buttons. I've not been able to read Pergaud's book as I haven't found a copy translated to English as yet. I think there's been 3 films made and they are all excellent.

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons (2023)
fiction
Read for the GR Kiwi Bookpool challenge. A lighter read set in London during WW2. Widow & bookshop owner, Gertie, is encouraged to take in a newly arrived Jewish girl who has come in a kindertransport from Germany. Together and with the local community they both start to thrive, relying on books and shared reading to build rapport with those around them.
Not my usual fare, I've seen lots of these types of books on the shelves at my local bookshop.

Adama by Lavie Tidhar (2023)
fiction
I'm impressed once again. This book is a follow on from Maror and will be completed with the publication of 'Golgotha' later this year. The books are stand alone reads and cover Israel's gritty history since the founding of the state. Tidhar touches on the underbelly world of gangsters and drug deals and here we have the story of a kibbutz and the legacy of one of its founderss, Ruth. The price this family pays for the kibbutz, and the country is high.

I have Six Lives by Tidhar out from the library and hope to get it read this coming month.

Panic by Catherine Jinks (2025)
crime
Not my favourite adult read by Jinks. Focus is on cyber bullyed and doxxed young woman who takes up a job offer in a rural setting only to be confronted with a cult of conspiracy theorists who want to live by their own rules.
I almost abandoned this after 80 or so pages but kept reading as the action intensified. Overall not one of her best though better than others on offer.
My next crime read is a NZ one, When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole.

Where the heart should be by Sarah Crossan (2024)
YA, historical fiction

As usual Crossan excells again in this verse novel set during the 1840s potato famine in Ireland. Nell has just started as a scullery maid in the stately home of the land owner. While all the tenant farmers have no money, no food and blighted potatoes mouldering in the fields, Nell overhears the plans to turf the tenants in favour of cattle farming. There's a love story as well.

Never tell anyone your name by Federico Ivanier (2023)
YA novella
Read this because it was by an Uruguayan writer for children & teens. Don't come across that many Uruguayan writers in my travels. This one was quite suspenseful, you know something is going to happen, just not what or when. A 16 year old boy is travelling from Bordeaux to Madrid by train, his connection means an 8 hour stop in a border town where he meets a girl who seemingly captivates him, though it's clear he is still getting over his previous romantic involvement.

Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim (2019)
fiction
Not sure how I came across this one, but it was an enjoyable lighter read. Natalie has come home to San Francisco's Chinatown on the death of her mother after seven years travelling the world. She determines to re-open her grandmother's tiny restaurant and help revitalise her corner of Chinatown before it gets swallowed up in gentrification.
There's some magical elements to the story and a romance but it's more a story about family and friends and quite delightful.

Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid (2024)
novella
Darkland Tales series: 'In Darkland Tales, the best modern Scottish authors offer dramatic retellings of stories from the nation's history, myth and legend. These are landmark moments from the past, viewed through a modern lens and alive to modern sensibilities. Each Darkland Tale is sharp, provocative and darkly comic, mining that seam of sedition and psychological drama that has always featured in the best of Scottish literature. '

I've read & enjoyed Rizzio by Denise Mina so thought I'd try another in the series. This one tells the story of Macbeth's queen along two timelines. The first is in the aftermath of the Battle of Lumphanan where Macbeth met his end and the other is how Gruoch first meets Macbeth and then their life together. I've read King Hereafter which is the story of Macbeth a few years back so it was interesting to re-enter his story once again.
I also have Alan Warner's Nothing left to Fear from Hell out from the library, this is the tale of Bonnie Prince Charlie's final journey across Scotland.

The Odd Angry Shot by William Nagle (1975)
novella
This is an Australian classic, a dark tale of four young men barely out of their teens and sent to fight in the Vietnam War. Not all make it back home. This deals with the drinking bouts, the skin complaints, boredom, the letters from girlfriends breaking up with them, the easy deaths of too many of their comrades, the young girls selling themselves in bars when the soldiers make leave.
Very honest and the dialogue rings true if at times rather coarse. Nagle served two years in Vietnam, starting as a cook and then moved into the infantry when he refused an order to make egg custard. The introduction by historian Paul Ham is well worth reading.

When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole by Geoff Parkes (2025)
crime

A debut crime novel set in New Zealand's King Country. I enjoyed this though I was prepared to take it back to the library when I was about 80 pages in as it was due back and had over 200 holds on the book. I decided to read it quickly as I didn't want to wait through a 200+ queue for the book.
There is some criticism about the characters but the reader must bear in mind that the book is set in the early 1980s when we didn't tend to be so precious about gender issues. What I liked about the book was how Parkes manages to make so many characters suspicious and likely suspects in the case of a missing backpacker who has just finished working in a shearing gang.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardago (2024)
historical fantasy
Set during the time of the Inquisition a lowly kitchen maid's slight magical ability is discovered by the lady of the house who sets to use it to her own advantage.
Quite an interesting read featuring Hidden Jews, the Inquisition and heresy.

>55 avatiakh: I can't get over that cover of Nine Coaches Waiting -- totally misrepresents the content of the book (at least in my opinion)!

>69 christina_reads: I really liked the cover when I bought it, part of a set of her books republished, but agree that it has nothing to do with the actual story. lol

>70 avatiakh: It is a very cute cover, I agree!

Freedom Swimmer by Wai Chim (2016)
YA
Chim based this on her father's story. Freedom swimmers as they were known were desperate young people hoping to swim through shark infested and patrolled waters from Mao's China to Hong Kong in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Mostly the book is about young Ming's life in a rural village after Mao's Great Leap Forward.

The Case of the Lonely Accountant by Simon Mason (2024)
crime
The Finder #2. I had to rush read this one as it was overdue by a couple of days. The Finder is a retired cop who gets called in all across the UK to investigate missing person cases that police don't have time for. In this one a missing person case from the past where a new piece of evidence needs to be explored. Set in Bournemouth the book also touches on Robert Louis Stevenson's time there and his writing of Jekyll and Hyde. Quiet but interesting read.
I have book #1 out from the library and looking forward to reading that one., Missing Person: Alice

Healer & Witch by Nancy Werlin (2022)
children's
Really liked this one. Sylvie is only 14 yrs old and while her mother and grandmother are healers, Sylvie's gift is even more. Set in 16th century France, during the time of Inquisitions, when it's dangerous to not be ordinary. Sylvie doesn't know how to use her gift and that makes it dangerous, she's already ruined her mother's life so decides to run away and find someone who can teach her about her gift.
I enjoy every book by Werlin that I read.

The Key is Lost by Ida Vos (2000)
children's
Another Holocaust story from Ida Vos that reflects her own experience in hiding in Holland during the war. The two young girls spend five years in hiding, moving from house to house as their circumstances change. At first with their parents and then just the two girls, they end up living with an older man, an artist puppeteer that they had befriended once when on holiday and staying next door to.
The book is interesting as we see what is happening from a child's POV and so what's important to her is not what perhaps we would expect. The girls are given a poem by their mother as they separate, this poem was written by Vos's mother during the war.

Missing Person: Alice by Simon Mason (2024)
crime
Finder #1. A darn good read about re-opening a cold case into a missing 12 year old girl. When Mason's investigator known as the Finder looks into the disappearance of Alice nine years earlier he not only uncovers more details missed by the original investigation but also notes how her disappearance has changed those who knew her.

This time the Finder is reading Henry James' What Maisie Knew which helps him reflect on Alice's perspective on her life. I really like this additional note of the investigator reading a classic book alongside his investigation. In the other Finder book it was Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.

My Israeli Journey by Shaul Mofaz (2024)
memoir
I was given a review copy by Gefen publishers completely out of the blue. Anyway this was an absorbing read. Mofaz was born to a prosperous Jewish family in Iran and in the 1950s the father decided to make aliyah to Israel with his young family. At the suggestion of others the family ended up living in Eilat which back then was a small town not the resort it has grown to be. Trying to establish a factory was a disaster and the father ended up as the town's gardener with the family living on the poverty line. Still they pulled together, sent Mofaz to the north to an agricultural boarding school. He excelled and really became an Israeli during these education years here.
On joining the army for his IDF service he persevered to join the ranks of an elite paratrooper brigade, usually the preserve in these years for sons of the kibbutz. This early time of Mofaz's IDF service is full of action as he joined in 1966 and so served through several wars while climbing through the ranks. In 1998 he became IDF Chief of Staff and after he left the army in 2002 he entered politics and became the Minister of Defense for Ariel Sharon's Kadimah party. Later he served as Minister of Transport.
Both in the IDF and in government Mofaz was focused on reforming the institutions he was in charge of. He found politics quite hard work with the various factions all trying to rise to the top.
So many historic moments in this book including Mofaz leading the Sayeret Matkal force during the Entebbe rescue. Mofaz covers the Intifada years when he was Minister of Defense and the difficulty of dealing with Arafat while also being entwined in Israeli politics where he felt left out of major decisions by his PM Ehud Barak.
I found this to be an excellent read, Mofaz during his time in the IDF always made time to visit the serving soldiers and listen to their concerns, his reforms helped transform the IDF for future years. As always the frustrations of political service come across once he left the IDF and became a politician.
There is a bonus chapter which covers the October 07 event.

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb (2024)
YA
I enjoyed this one. A young Jewish girl runs away on the night of her wedding to the Rabbi's son. The story is rich in Jewish folklore and set in 19th C East Europe. There are dybbuks and angels, ghosts and a varied assortment of characters all seeking to understand the mystery of a missing thief and the book he has stolen.
I'm now reading Lamb's debut fiction When Angels left the Old Country.

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum (2022)
fiction
A delightful read about the woman who opens a bookshop and then doesn't seem to run it that well to begin with. This one doesn't feel sentimental, the characters are too well drawn. The barista she hires for the coffee kiosk, the regular customers and friends that drop in and then the book events she starts all add to the charm.

Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid (2014)
fiction
A modern day setting for the story of Northanger Abbey, this time instead of Bath it's off to the Edinburgh Festival for the naive, homeschooled Cat. With all the young people posting on facebook it does already feel dated. I found it fairly fun at times, but the Abbey sequence was fairly difficult for both the writer and the reader.

The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine by Katherine Marsh (2023)
children's

Well written fiction based on the writer's own family story to bring attention to Ukraine's Holodomor famine from the 1930s. Matthew is stuck at home during the Covid lockdowns with his mum and his 100 year old great grandmother. While helping to tidy up he comes across a photo and so his great grandmother tells a story and the secret she's kept all these years.

The Castle on the Hill by Elizabeth Goudge (1941)
fiction
I think this is my first book by Goudge. She wrote this in 1940 during the frequent bombings by German aircraft. The setting is an old English castle in the countryside, almost continuously inhabited by the same family over hundreds of years, now an old historian and his two grandsons, one is a fighter pilot and the other is about to register as a conscientious objector. Goudge keeps reflecting on past battles fought by the family, their crusades and then religious glory as part of the story. She brings to the castle a spinster who has lost her home in a bombing to be the latest housekeeper, also two little girls evacuated from the London Blitz. There's also a Jewish musician who ends up in the town who is known to the girls.
I found this quite dated in style but still happy to have read it.

When Fishes Flew: The Story of Elena’s War by Michael Morpurgo (2021)
children's

This one has an awkward structure. An Australian-Greek girl travels to Ithaca to surprise her great aunt but she isn't there when she arrives. While waiting for her to turn up the neighbours take her in and she finds out her family story, helped by a magical flying fish.

The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis (1903)
fiction
I read this one for Paul's Grand European Tour Challenge: April : Ottoman Empire
Set on the Greek island of Skiathos, this was quite a bleak read. The island and its people are described so well, also the plight of having daughters when living in poverty. The book was recently made into a film.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXgUUb-UeCo

The Liar's Gospel by Naomi Alderman (2012)
fiction
Quite engaging, set a year after the death of Jesus, four different stories that dance around the stories of Jesus that we have come to know.

I enjoyed reading Polaris' review of the book when I finished reading. Paul is missed in the 75er LT group.

Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan (2016)
YA
This one was mentioned by several Irish YA writers in a 'Best of' column in the Irish Times a few years back, so I took note. Not my favourite fare, this is the story of an abused teen. I didn't enjoy reading it though the last couple of chapters made the book a worthwhile read. The girl wants to be a tattoo artist and there are tattoo quotes throughout the text.

The Forty Days Of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel (1933)
historical fiction
Read for Paul's Grand European Tour challenge: March : Warsaw Pact
Werfel was a Czech writer. This is about the Armenian genocide which took place during WW1. The Armenians of Musa Dagh, an area near Aleppo, knew what was going to happen so took to the mountainous area above their seven villages. Their hastily built fortifications held off the military for forty days and they were eventually rescued by a French warship.
The novel follows along similar lines and is well worth reading.
One of my top reads of the year.

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (2024)
fiction
I didn't totally fall for this novel but but did like how it was written. The bedroom scenes were quite intense and there were some quite unfriendly scenes. Isabel has lived alone in the family home for years after the death of her mother. Her quiet world is broken open when her brother's girlfriend asks to stay for a few days.

How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley (2024)
fiction
A fun read with a diverse cast of characters. Not your average bunch of senior citizens by any means, coming together three times a week to create mayhem for the newly appointed director. When the roof falls in, killing one of her group on her first day, the closure of the council hall is threatened.
Finishing this one I immediately requested more Pooley from the library.

Long Journey of Lukas B. by Willi Fährmann (1981)
children's

An interlibrary loan and finally I could read this award winning German book. It's the 1870s and Lukas has grown up without his father who left when he was small. His grandfather runs a carpentry business but times are tough in their small Prussian village and there is a large debt owed to the local Baron by Lukas' father, guaranteed by the grandfather. So he decides to take his carpentry crew to the United States for a couple of years to make their fortunes and Lukas comes along as a young apprentice hoping to follow the clues left behind by his father.
A good read. There are another 2 or 3 books each set a generation or so later following the fortunes of various family members in times of war.

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz (2025)
crime
Susan Ryeland #3. I enjoyed this just as much as I loved the first two books. Can't say anything, just that you get two books for the price of one with these.

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley (2022)
fiction
Alternate title: The People on Platform 5. I wasn't taken at first by this but ended up enjoying this almost as much as her How to Age Disgracefully. Another diverse cast of characters, people who are regulars on the train into London and never speak to each other but have daydreamed all sorts of stories about one another. Most can't help but to have noticed a crazily dressed oddball older woman and her dog, a regular on the train, her past is a total revelation.

The Journey of Simon McKeever by Albert Maltz (1949)
fiction
Not sure how I came across this book but it was a great read. McKeever is old and crippled by arthritis. He lives in a home for the aged which offers the bare minimum of food and care. When he hears about a miracle doctor in Los Angeles who can cure athritis he decides to hitchhike there. This should be a classic.

The film version of the book was never made, it kept falling through despite some major stars backing it. The writer was a well known scriptwriter in the film industry and was one of the Hollywood Ten.

GolemCrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen (2024)
children's
Golem crafting is an art passed down in the family. It sometimes skips a generation which is one of the reasons the children are sent off to stay with their reclusive grandfather. They have dream-like adventures, learn to craft small golems and meet ghost-like family members from through out history. They also learn how to deal with being bullied. I got a tad lost at one stage but it is a good Jewish read. Like the author, the two children have a Jewish father and a Japanese mother.

The Boy and the Dog by Seishū Hase (2020)
fiction
A Japanese story featuring a dog (not cat this time) passing through the lives of various people. The dog lost its owner in a tsunami but as he travels from person to person it becomes clear that he is seeking someone. The dog always pivots to face one particular direction. Most of the people he meets are living on the edge of society.
I loved this one too.

Like Water on Stone by Dana Walrath (2014)
YA
A verse novel set during the Armenian genocide and based on the writer's family story. Their older brothers are drafted to the army and then shot, their older sister is married and hidden by her Kurdish in-laws, their father says it will never happen to them but it does. The three youngest, lie hidden among the sheep in the hills above their home and become orphans. They must travel on foot through the mountains to reach their uncle in Syria and hopefully on to their other uncle in America. Following with them is an eagle who has lost his mate to a Turkish bullet, and vows to help these three from his home valley get to safety.
Hard to read but necessary. The twin brother was dressed as a girl for the journey.

The Abyssinian by Jean Christophe Rufin (1997)
fiction
Read this for the HOPE TO READ SOON: A tribute to Rebeccanyc Club Read thread which was started a few years ago. I misplaced my copy of The Abyssinian so had to wait while getting another copy.

I loved this one, it was quite the adventure story set around 1700. A French doctor without credentials is sent by the French consul in Cairo to Abyssinia to cure the ruler of an unknown disease and lay favourable conditions for a possible embassy. Not an easy task as Jesuit missionaries have made the ruler extremely wary of foreigners. The doctor has also fallen for the French consul's daughter and their path to love is not going to be easy.
The sequel which I'm now reading is set twenty years later in Persia, The Siege of Isfahan.
I've already read & enjoyed his Checkpoint & Red Collar and also have Brazil Red on my tbr pile. Rufin has had an interesting career, was one of the first members of Médecins Sans Frontières and has held several diplomatic posts including ambassador to Senegal.
https://www.optionstheedge.com/topic/people/cover-story-jean-christophe-rufin-do...

>94 avatiakh: Taking a BB for this one.

>98 lowelibrary: I liked her The Lost Ryu as well.

Cat's People by Tanya Guerrero (2025)
fiction
I found this quite an endearing read. A stray cat, with a number of names, but known as Cat ends up uniting a variety of needy people in a trendy neighbourhood of New York. There are minor annoyances in the book, such as endless reminders of one of the character's love of vegan food and also barista coffee culture. Guerrero is a filopino writer who has lived in the US & Spain and now lives 'a shipping container home in the suburbs of Manila with her husband, daughter, and a menagerie of rescued cats and dogs.'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (2020)
fantasy, novella

The Singing Hills Cycle #1 & Hugo Award for Best Novella (2021). This was one of several books I chose to read in May in order to complete my first TIOLI sweep. It's the first in a series of 7 books. Described as a feminist high fantasy, its about the life of a young Royal, sent from the far north of a country resembling Imperial China to make a political marriage. This was difficult to get into but the story became quite intriguing as it went on.

The writing on the hearth by Cynthia Harnett (1971)
children's historical fiction
I try each month to read at least one book from my collection of old UK children's classics. This one was set in the 1400s and near Oxford and involves witches and political intrigue. Stephen is a young boy whose future depends on his lord's promise of an Oxford education due to his late father's sacrifice when they were in France in battle against Joan of Arc. An unexpectedly excellent read.

All He Knew by Helen Frost (2020)
children's
A verse novel that pulls at the heartstrings. Set around WW2, Henry as a young boy becomes deaf through illness. Though he's really bright he can't communicate and ends up in a home for the mentally deficient, surrounded by boys with a variety of problems. The school is horrible and there is no help for these boys. Then the war breaks out and the staff is slowly replaced with young men who are conscientious objectors who question how these boys have been neglected.
The story of Henry is based on a family story.
This is another beautiful book that should be more widely known.

In the Shadow of Papillon Seven Years of Hell in Venezuela's Prison System by Frank Kane (2006)
memoir
This was a book I picked up in a library sale some time ago and my eye caught the word 'Papillon' when I was near one of my bookshelves, it fitted one of the TIOLI challenges to read a book by someone who'd been in prison. I read Charrière's Papillon years and years ago so this was a good substitute.
Kane and his girlfriend are stopped at the airport when leaving a Venezuelan resort island, they are both smuggling cocaine for the first time. Kane ends up spending seven years, his girlfriend serves five years in Venezuelan prisons. It's a battle for survival, forming alliances with leaders of violent gangs, friendships with other foreigners and legal battles with the local UK consul and indifferent courts. He is one of the survivors of the 1997 El Dorado prison massacre. This was a brutal read but well worth it. The book was co-written with John Tilsey, who is a professional writer which definitely helped the structure of the story.

The Book Censor's Library by Bothayna Al-Essa (2019)
scifi
Another TIOLI fit, the challenge was to read a book with a title that included a place you would find books. This was an unexpected pleasure to read even though the subject matter was quite dystopian. The Book Censor is new and soon realises he is not up to the job of passing judgment on the books he comes across. At home his young daughter is bursting full of the most imaginative stories, the only problem iis that in this new society imagination is prohibited. I most probably came across this novel on Lisa's Club Read thread.
I now want to read Al-Essa's Lost in Mecca which was translated in 2024.

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen (2021)
fiction

Another TIOLI challenge, to read a book with 'mother' in the title. This was also an interesting read, I didn't realise till I finished that it was based on real historical people, Johannes Kepler and his widowed mother's witchcraft trial around 1619. The structure is what stands out, the book is built on the testimony of his mother's neighbours, people she'd lived beside for decades, yet suddenly they are giving such paltry evidence as she walked past my cow for several days some years ago and my cow got ill but recovered or she looked at me when we passed in the street and I felt a pain in my leg, or I heard from someone that she once talked about something. The mother tells her side of the story to a sympathetic neighbour who has his own problems.
It's impossiblefor her to give a defense as the testimonies are so vague yet collectively they add up to suspicious behaviour. The mother is stubborn and it's obvious that some players in her downfall are after her properties and land.

The Wind Off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart (1968)
novella
The prologue is set in 1879 the Canary Island's Lanzarote and features an elopement. Then to 1968 and a writer brings her young secretary to the island to research her next book. A nice interlude on my other reading. I have several of Mary Stewart's romance novels and am slowly making my way through them.

Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books by Cathy Rentzenbrink (2020)
memoir
This is another TIOLI challenge book, Read a book by/with/about joy. I stumbled over this book when looking for a book with joy in the title or author name. It was the only one I felt like tackling at the time as all the Joys seemed to write crime fiction.
Rentzenbrink has spent her career mostly in bookselling and then working in the book world of promotion, publishing and even writing her own memoir. Her life was almost halted when her younger brother was badly injured in a car accident and was in a vegetative state for about eight years before succumbing. In the memoir she writes about the different types of books she's come across interspersed with stories of customers, fellow staff and her family. Her father was illiterate for much of her childhood, only learning to read in his middleage.
She has spent a lot of time in prisons as a volunteer in literacy projects. One memorable anecdote is giving her father Jane Eyre to read and he couldn't get past the first chapter which turned out to be the scholarly introduction. Such are the traps for those new to books.
Overall this was a pleasant read, the first chapter is full of the childhood delight of Narnia. I added several books to my tbr lists.

The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey (1990)
scifi
The Tower and the Hive #1. FOr the TIOLI challenge: Read a book in honor of MrMorphy. This was a shared read and not one I'd have picked out myself but I saw a copy come to light in some corner of the house. I loved every one of McCaffrey's Pern novels and enjoyed her Crystal Singer trilogy. This one didn't draw me in as much and I wouldn't read the rest of the series.
The Rowan is an orphaned young girl who has extraordinary mental powers so is trained to be a Talent on her home planet.

I also started listening to the Baroque Cycle's King of Vagabonds by Neal Stephenson for this challenge but I just don't do much audio listening these days so knew I wouldn't finish in time.

The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa (1980)
fiction
TIOLI: Read a book by a South Asian writer. Sidhwa is a well known writer from Pakistan of Parsi heritage. She died in December 2024 in the US. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/bapsi-sidhwa-parsi-writer-who-took-parti...
Very happy to have turned up this book for the challenge, it was full of comedy and tragedy. A Parsi family moves from the south to Lahore in 1903. The book follows Freddy, the father, and his fortunes and misfortunes, the greatest of his problems is his widowed mother-in-law who lives with them. She seems beset on making his life as miserable as possible...but then as his children grow towards adulthood he is beset by more problems. This was her debut novel.

The War Between the Pitiful Teachers and the Splendid Kids by Stanley Kiesel (1980)
children's
I had to read this one, the title is too enticing. Another Inter Library Loan for this one as used copies are hard to come by and too expensive. Not sure how I came across the book in the first place and it didn't totally meet my expectations.
Some non-achieving students end up transformed by a wonderful teacher who manages to inspire and turn them around, but for every example like this there are many who fall through the cracks of the education system. Many end up in depressing institutions where teaching and learning are just a daily grind. Skinny Malinky is one of those kids and he decides to declare war on the teachers.
One small problem I had was Skinny Malinky is a very similar name to Lynley Dodd's Slinky Malinky, a memorable cat from several of her picture book stories.

The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1960)
fiction

Read for Paul's European Grand Tour chllenge: May: Non-National Languages
The book was first published in Yiddish. The book cover of my tatty paperback shows Alan Arkin in the 1979 film of the same name. A good read about Yasha, a Jewish tightrope performer & magician, who travels around Poland each summer. He's given himself a complicated love life, stringing along several women. His wife stays home in Lublin, she loves him and accepts his lifestyle. In nearby Piask, Magda, his assistant & lover who is a Christian, he helps support her family, a mother who adores him and the brother. Then he's got another woman in the same town, a Jewish woman, Zeftel, whose husband has deserted her, she wants to travel to Warsaw with him. In Warsaw he's got Emila, a Christian widow who wants to move to Italy for her daughter's health. Yasha has made a lot of promises, too many.
This season his agent has promised that Yasha will be doing something new on the tightrope, a somersault...and so begins the turning of luck for Yasha.

The Star on the Grave by Linda Margolin Royal (2024)
fiction
A story based on the writer's family story of escape from the Holocaust. with thanks to Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. The book needs to be read to understand how Sugihara saved the lives of so many, and the story is quite engaging, but I felt it was too light in some ways.
The book is set in 1968 Sydney, and Rachel is newly engaged to an Australian Greek doctor. After family visits and promises to convert to the Greek Orthodox church, Rachel uncovers the family secret that her father has hidden from her, she's Jewish. Her grandmother has kept this secret to avoid her son cutting ties and she now wants to take Rachel to a reunion in Kobe, Japan with the man who saved so many families including their own.

The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman (2025)
fiction
The Ill-Mannered Ladies #2. I enjoyed the first book and have had to wait months for the next one to come out and now I'm looking forward to book #3 which will be out next year hopefully.
This continues the adventures of two spinster sisters in the Regency world where males rule the domain. I love reading Regency romances and this series comes close, though there just doesn't seem much time for romance in amongst all the action. Still you know it will evenuate.

Going Zero by Anthony McCarten (2023)
action

An interesting setup - an IT company has a possible $40 billion deal with the CIA on survelliance tech and the final test is a competition, the winner gets $3 million, ten individuals must spend the next thirty days staying undetected while the tech company hunts them down. Five are professionals and five are randomly picked from ordinary life. The chapters alternate between the hunted and the hunters, midway and with a week to go the story twists.
I found this hard to put down, it was really good but not great.
I've read several by McCarten who is probably more well know for his films - Darkest Hour etc.

Confessions of a Lapsed Standard-Bearer by Andreï Makine (1992)
fiction

I have collected a number of Makine's novels over the years but only read a couple. This one was picked up from a library sale table. Makine is a really good writer, I loved some of his imagery. The book tells the story through reminiscing of two Russian boys growing up in a small town near Leningrad. Their fathers both fought in WW2 and their mothers have stories of their own that they don't want to share with their children. Every summer the boys go to pioneer camp and march towards a radiant horizon.

'All morning a light autumn drizzle had been embroidering the air with its fine grey dots'.

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb (2022)
YA fantasy
I liked Lamb's The Forbidden Book which I read a couple of months ago and immediately requested their debut novel from the library. Lamb writes stories that are rich in Jewish life & folklore of East Europe. This one is about two friends who have lived for hundreds of years in a shtetl synagogue, a Jewish angel and a demon, the angel has no name but thinks of itself as Rescue, the demon is Little Ash. Little Ash is basically the runt of his litter though cunning and true to his type. Each day they sit inconspicuously in a corner and debate Talmudic texts with each other. They listen to gossip and news from the conversations around them and Little Ash decides that they must travel to America to find Samuel the Baker's daughter who seems to have gone missing.
The start of an adventure that brings on dybbuks, ghosts, New York sweatshops, Irish gangsters and all sorts of others. Along the way the angel gets a name and the two friends team up with Rose, a brave young woman travelling alone.

Taking BBs for >100 avatiakh: and >106 avatiakh:.

>118 lowelibrary: Good choices.

DNF Once was Willem by M.R. Carey (2025)
dark fantasy

DNF. Read about 60 pages and then thought why am I reading this at all. Set in medieval times Willem is a 12 year old boy who died and whose life his parents seek to resurrect with the help of a sorceror. What they get and then reject is a living corpse that has been buried for a year. Meanwhile the sorceror senses a great power source in the castle near Willem's village.

Too dark for my liking and I just don't want to deal with 200 pages of Willem in this form. I was initially drawn in by the book cover.

Game for Five by Marco Malvaldi (2007)
crime
BarLume #1. Read for Paul's Grand European Tour challenge: June: Italian / Italy.
This was a quiet crime novel, very enjoyable. The first in the Bar Lume series, set near Livorno, Tuscany in a small resort town and stars Massimo the bar owner and barman. The regulars are his grandfather and three other old men who love to sit and gossip while playing cards. Massimo solves the crime before the police inspector manages to work out the two suspects aren't involved in the murder.

The Apothecary Diaries vol. 12 by Natsu Hyuuga
manga
One of the only manga series that I follow now. I have vol. 13 on request and then I'll have to wait for more to be published. Maomao joins a hunting party along with her patron Jinshi. This instalment she discovers something that most readers have known for a while.

The Silence of the Sea by Vercors (1942)
novella
Read for the TIOLI challenge to read a book whose title makes you think of a reduction in noise.
This short story comes in a bilingual edition, including the original French version and two introductions, one from the historical perspective and the other is a literary one.
The story is about a young German officer who is billeted in a French home, occupied by an old man and his niece. No matter how charming he is, they refuse to utter any words in his presence. The German is a Francophile, composer of music and sympathetic but still the enemy. After a year of this treatment he leaves for the Eastern Front.

'Published secretly in German-occupied Paris in 1942, the book quickly became a symbol of mental resistance against German occupiers..'

Here is New York by E.B. White (1949)
essay
Having visited New York in late 2023 I thought this would be worth a read. A short descriptive passage that evokes a New York of the past and hauntingly hints at a possible destruction of buildings by airplanes. There's an introduction by Roger Angell that tells us why this is worth reading even though it's outdated.

Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz (2024)
children's
Operation Kinderspion #1. Took me two attempts to read this one. 12 year old Max travels on the kindertransport from Berlin to London and his host family, the Montagus are rich and Jewish. He finds it hard to settle after leaving his parents in Berlin and just wants to go back, eventually his wish will be granted. Max has a dybbuk & a kobold sitting on his shoulders as he leaves Berlin, they want to sit out the war in another country and luckily their conversations aren't as intrusive as I thought they might be.
In the end notes Gidwitz tells us that just like in the book, there was a family Montagu and Ewen Montagu did work for British Naval Intelligence and Ivor Montagu was the founder of the English Table Tennis Association and the family did take in a child from the kindertransport. There is a good bibliography as well. Gidwitz also notes that as a young child he became aware of the kindertransport as a close family friend had survived due to the transport.

I have the next book, Max in the Land of Lies, home from the library.

The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris by Leon Garfield (1978)
children's
Described as a farce, this comedy of errors is about the chaos that ensues when two schoolboys decide to imitate the Spartans and leave poor baby Adelaide exposed on a hillside.
This was quite funny at times though cartoonish. It was made into a tv series in 1979.

The Apothecary Diaries vol: 13 by Natsu Hyuuga (2025)
manga
Continues Maomao's adventures serving in the Palace's inner court full of his consorts, concubines, maids and eunuchs. When her friend stumbles and drops some precious ice, Maomao must quickly come up with a frozen dessert from what remains for her friend to avoid the wrath of an imperial consort. I'd sguess it's a version of halo-halo, the filipino dessert.
Lots to enjoy in this series but no more available at present.

The Siege of Isfahan by Jean Christophe Rufin (1998)
fiction
The Abyssinian #2. It was great to plunge back into the story of Jean-Baptiste Poncet, this time it's been twenty years since his trip to Abyssinia so about 1720. He's now living in Persia with his family and has to set out on a new adventure to find his old friend who has been taken prisoner by the Russians after fighting in the Great Northern War for Charles XII of Sweden. In the meantime the Afghans are about to take Isfahan by siege.
So pleased I finally read these two books for the A Tribute to rebeccanyc thread on ClubRead.

The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (2022)
fiction
I really loved this one. I avoided it on my stacks for some time as I knew the book was narrated by a bird and yet from the moment I started reading I fell in love with Tama the magpie. Tama, short for Tamagotchi, falls out of his nest when just a baby and is found by Marnie. Her husband is annoyed by all the attention she gives to the bird as she raises Tama like he's her own child.
I remember watching the woodchopping competitions when I was little. My father was friends with several of the axemen so it was really a trip into the past to read about the training and preparations in the book. Marnie's husband is gearing up to win his 10th Golden Axe trophy, ten years of winning the championship, but this time there's the pressure of a new competitor.

Escape from Shangri-La by Michael Morpurgo (1998)
children's
A delightful read. Cessie's grandfather turns up at her home, he's lost his memory and hasn't been part of the family since his wife took Cessie's father away when he was a young child. So turning up now after all these years is too much for Cessie's father to accept. There's an adventure once Cessie gathers the clues to her grandfather's past.

The Great House by Cynthia Harnett (1949)
children's
A lovely historical novel for children set in the late 17th century. Barbara and her brother accompany their father out of London to a small village to stay at the Wheatsheaf Inn. Their father is an architect and friend of Sir Christopher Wren and is charged with building a modern great home to replace the older building which is full of charm but the new mistress wants something new.
Harnett has done the illustrations for the book.

Max in the Land of Lies by Adam Gidwitz (2025)
children's
Operation Kinderspion #2. The sequel to Max in the House of Spies which I read a few weeks ago. Max is back in Berlin and must carry out his mission despite numerous setbacks. A good read though Max quickly makes his way to the top tier of Nazis which makes the adult reader roll their eyes but also helps the younger reader understand the complexities of WW2.

I read online that Gidwitz was surprised when doing school visits to promote this book that he found almost none of the children had heard of the Holocaust.
https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/they-had-never-heard-of-the-holocaust

There's a bibliography at the end of the book and I've noted a few of his references including Account Rendered: A Dossier on my Former Self by Melita Maschmann.

The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman (2007)
graphic nonfiction
TIOLI #6. Read an UN book where a title word starts with 'Un'.
Not sure how I got my copy of this book, but I first came across Kalman when she illustrated one of Daniel Handler's books, Why we broke up.
This book riffs on lots of things - hats, people on the street, famous philosophers, food, drink, travel. Really just what comes to Kalman's mind at any point in the day. The artwork is typical of her style and overall it is a satisfying read.

__

The Monkey and the Tiger by Robert van Gulik (1965)
fiction
TIOLI # 17. Read a book has at least one title word of at least 3 letters that has as many vowels as consonants
Judge Dee #6 chronological or #11. This Judge Dee mystyery contains two short stories. I had no problem jumping in randomly in the series as I've been viewing the Judge Dee tv show on Netflix so am familiar with Dee and his officers of law. These two stories were great short reads and have convinced me to follow up reading the rest of the books in the series.
My library has several of these books.

It will be a DNF for The Beginners Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray.
I could tell by the end of a few pages of the prologue that it was not going to do anything for me, and I'm also finding my current read, She's up to no good, a tad boring too but will persevere.

An Empty House by Marga Minco (1966)
fiction
Set post WW2, this is about life after the war for a Jewish young woman who has been in hiding in Holland. She's lost all her family members and marries a man she's met as the war was ending. Not a lot going on but still an interesting and moody read.

The Way of Dog by Zana Fraillion (2022)
children's
TIOLI#4: Read a book having to do with a dog
A delightful verse novel. The narrative is told from the pup's POV and Frallion uses this to give great descriptive names to engage the reader. The boy that Scruffity first 'adopts' is My ManPup, other humans are ShoeLegs. Ducks are SkyRiverSwimmers. The train that he's terrified of SnakingMetalMuncher.

Foul Deeds and Fine Dying by Marco Malvadi (2020 Italian) (2024 English)
crime
TIOLI #2: Read a book with something in the title that or subtitle would bring you to a hospital.
Pellegrino Artusi Mystery #2. I couldn't get #1 in the series and I wanted to read another book by Malvadi after enjoying his first Bar Lume book. The book is set in 1900 and features Pellegrino Artusi who was a real person and here is in the role of an amateur detective of sorts dealing with a mysterious death during a weekend retreat at a castle. I quite enjoyed it.

My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal (2017)
fiction
TIOLI # 8: Read a book whose cover pictures leaves
A wonderful read that I just could not put down. Set in the 1980s, Leon is an 8 year old boy who goes into foster care after his mother suffers from post natal depression after the birth of his half brother. Leon must persevere through severe emotional distress as he loses his mother to her illness, his baby brother through adoption and even his foster mother becomes hospitalised. All Leon wants is to reunite his family. De Waal turns this sad story around by giving Leon the sweetest heart.

When you read de Waal's biography you can see that she was the right person to write a book like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_de_Waal

I read a bit more about Kim de Waal as I have been a bit of a fan girl after reading the Leon book.
From an interview in The Guardian: 'What’s the best book you have ever received as a present?
It wasn’t exactly a book, it was a session with Ella Berthoud, who co-wrote The Novel Cure and is a bibliotherapist. You tell her what’s going on in your life and she gives you a literary prescription to cure it. I did think it was bit bollocks at first, but it was actually really good. The books she prescribed – Jane Gardam, Anita Brookner, Elizabeth Taylor – were spot-on and I ended up confessing loads of stuff to her. It was a therapy session disguised as a chat about books.'

The Load of Unicorn by Cynthia Harnett (1959)
children's fiction
Enjoyed this historical fiction set in 15th century London where a boy from a family of scriveners becomes apprenticed to William Caxton and helps Caxton track down Thomas Malory's manuscript of King Arthur stories. This gives us a realistic look at the London of the day. Harnett's notes at the end of the book helps separate fact from her fiction.

The book has a couple of alternate titles: The Cargo of the Madalena & Caxton's Challenge.

The house with a dragon in it by Nick Lake (2023)
children's fiction
A magical story where a dragon appears to be living in a cave under an old house after a sinkhole appears in the family's living room. Foster child, Summer discovers this and is rewarded with an old bottle with a witch in it.
At first I thought that the story was going to be too juvenile to enjoy, the story took its hold and I raced to the end. I like Nick Lake's YA books and this children's book is illustrated by Emily Gravett so a bonus.

Isola by Allegra Goodman (2025)
historical fiction
I really enjoyed this story. Goodman reimagines the life of Marguerite de La Rocque based on the scanty historical references available of this 16th century French noblewoman. Her inheritance is plundered by her guardian, Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval, who was made Lieutenant General of New France. He takes her on a voyage to New France in 1542 and casts her off on to a bleak island off the coast of Canada with her lover and servant.

Crows Nest by Nikki Mottram (2023)
crime
Aussie debut crime novel. It's set in the 1990s, a detail I kept forgetting about. Dana, a child protection officer, leaves her husband while still grieving the death of her 8 month old baby, for a couple of months work based in Toowoomba, Queensland. She gets caught up in a murder suicide case of two women from the nearby Crow's Nest. The plot was quite good, but I wasn't so keen on the main character, Dana.

This from a review by GR Rowan MacDonald which I read after finishing the book: 'Note:
I feel compelled to mention articles that ran in The Australian newspaper, June 2023. They write that Crows Nest was “loosely inspired” by the 1990s real-life double-murder of Julie-Anne Leahy and Vicki Arnold. There is no mention of this in the book. Of particular interest is the character of Chrystal, based on a survivor of child sexual abuse, who said “it was unethical for a novelist to use her as inspiration for a character in her debut novel without contacting her first.”'

The Wild Date Palm by Diane Armstrong (2024)
historical fiction
I have several of Armstrong's books but never got round to reading any till now. This one tells the story of the Nili spy group that operated in pre-Mandate Palestine during WW1. Armstrong has created fictional characters based on real people. So Sarah Aaronsohn becomes Shoshana Adelstein, her brother Aaron, becomes Nathan and so on.
As Sarah makes the train journey home to Zikhron Ya'akov from Istanbul in 1915 she witnesses what is happening to the Armenians and this experience convinces her that the Jewish community needs to help oust the Ottomans from her area of the world before the same expulsion happens to her people.
Quite a riveting story, especially knowing it follows quite closely real events. The title choice becomes clear in the epilogue.
T. E. Lawrence makes a few appearances in the book and it's suggested in the text that his dedication in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom to S.A., is Sarah Aaronsohn/Shoshanna Adelstein.
https://www.reaction.life/p/unravelling-te-lawrences-mystery-poem

AI: 'During World War I, the Ottoman Empire, fearing Jewish populations in Palestine would support the advancing British forces, implemented deportations of Jewish residents from cities like Jaffa and Tel Aviv. These deportations, particularly the one in April 1917, involved violence, starvation, and resulted in the deaths of many. While some were able to return after the war, the Jewish community in the region suffered significant losses in population and economic hardship.'

I have a nonfiction account of the Nili organisation and the work of Aaron Aaronsohn: Aaronsohn's Maps: The Untold Story of the Man Who Might Have Created Peace in the Middle East.
There's another book, The Woman Who Fought an Empire: Sarah Aaronsohn and Her Nili Spy Ring (2018) by Gregory Wallace

I would have liked Armstrong to have included some sort of reference list as it would have been quite informative. She just mentions that Israeli journalist Gil Zohar sent her information and articles and she had Australian historian, Leslie Stein, read through her manuscript for factchecking.

By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart (1945)
poetic prose

Oh dear, not sure how I came across this piece of writing, it was not for me. This is a highly praised publication and yet is of the 'you hate it or you love it' variety. Smart documents in vivid prose the extent of her passion, her love and her yearning for the love of her life. It's a personal examination of her own feelings.

Backstory: Smart fell for a married poet after picking up one of his books in a bookstore. She went on to have an affair and four children with him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_Grand_Central_Station_I_Sat_Down_and_Wept

Three Wild Dogs and the truth by Markus Zusak (2024)
memoir
Zusak tells the story of life with his pet dogs (and cats) and all it entails. He's honest about the troubles the family gets into while loving and despairing of the two pound/rescue dogs they've adopted. His dogs cause trouble, they aren't always well behaved and to some people they are frightening.
In the background we cover the 13 odd years where Zusak was struggling to write Bridge of Clay. He's a great writer and this was quite a joy to read for all that his dogs were not other people's ideal pets, but owners love their dogs with a passion and that shines through above all else.

I read a kindle version and was rewarded at the end with several pages of photos of the dogs and cats that I had come to know. Holding a hard copy I would have discovered these photos much earlier, another disadvantage of digital reading.

Singapore Dream And Other Adventures: Travel Writings from an Asian Journey by Herman Hesse (2018 English)
nonfiction

Hesse journeyed to South East Asia in 1911 and the first part of this is his writings about the trip, followed by several related poems and then a short story set in India. This gives a glimpse to the inspiration for his later writing such as Siddhartha. Hesse brings to life this corner of the world before modernisation. The short story is about a young missionary arriving to Bombay and realising in a few months that he's not at all suited to the work, and also that the natives are happy already with their own religious beliefs.
The translator, Sherab Chödzin Kohn, had an interesting life. I was intrigued by his name and wanted to know more and found a tribute written by one of his friends. https://www.chronicleproject.com/tribute-to-sherab-chodzin/

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov (1996)
fiction
TIOLI: #12: Read a book by an author you haven't read before, from a country you haven't been to
I really enjoyed this dark comedic novel. Victor adopts a penguin from the Kiev zoo when they offer up animals they can no longer afford to care for. He also gets given a new task at his newspaper, to write obituarires prematurely for notable politicians, officials etc. Some of these people start turning up dead and then Victor and his penguin are invited to the funerals. Loved the ending.

Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz (1988)
children's
I read this because of the author and his comments that it was a Harry Potter-like read that was published 9 years earlier than the Harry Potter books. There are similarities but this is a less complicated read. David ends up at Groosham Grange when a letter to his parents arrives the day after he is expelled from his posh school. He travels by train from London along with another boy and girl all heading to Groosham Grange, their parents also received letters from the school. One of the appealing tidbits of information in the prospectus is that the school has its own cemetary, the only school in Britain to have one.
A fun read and there is a sequel.

Taking BBs for both >148 avatiakh: and >149 avatiakh:

>150 lowelibrary: Hi April, hope you enjoy these. Death and the Penguin sat on my shelves for many years and all the time I saw LTers really enjoying it.
I've read lots of Horowitz's Alex Rider books and all three books in his Magpie Murders series. Groosham Grange is for much younger readers but fun for all that.

Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki (1946 Greek)
fiction
TIOLI #10: Read a book with a "summer word" in the title or a summery image on the cover
This was a calming read about three sisters over three 1930s summers. They live on the edge of Athens with their divorced mother, aunt and grandfather. It sounds like a rural paradise with lovely orchards, woods, wildlife and typical families. One sister gets married as the others contemplate their beaus. The mother has a secret and their father is considering remarriage.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021)
novella
TIOLI 16: Read a book that was longlisted for the Booker Prize in the last ten years
I chose to finish the month with this one as I knew i could pace myself rather than try an all out rush with His Bloody Project for this Booker longlist challenge. A wonderful story of a family man deciding to do the right thing whatever the consequences for his family on Christmas Eve.

Autocorrect: stories by Etgar Keret
short stories
I rushed through these stories as the book was due back to the library today with no renewal available. As per usual Keret's stories are very short and entertaining. He just has a way of writing that engages the reader.

The woman who laughed by Simon Mason (2025)
crime
The Finder Mysteries #3. This time The Finder is in Sheffield looking into a cold case from five years ago involving the world of sex workers. A serial killer was convicted back at the time that Ella went missing but her body was never found. Now her distinctive handbag has been found hanging on the door handles of the local cafe. This time The Finder has packed Persuasion to read alongside his investigation.
Going to look at Mason's DI Ryan Wilkins books which are set in Oxford.

Supercute Futures by Martin Millar (2018)
scifi
Challenge #15: Read a book by an author with an Irish or Scottish name or descent
I'm a superfan of Martin Millar who was born in Glasgow, love his Thraxas books written under Martin Scott. His The Goddess of Buttercups & Daisies is one of my favourite reads and inspired me to read a play by Aristophanes.
This scifi is about two 'girls' Mitzu and Mox who have built a global conglomerate since starting out from podcasting their love of Japanese kawaii & small plushies over an iPhone in their London bedroom as young girls. In the meantime the world has suffered from many climate and war related disasters. They have been involved with disaster relief and desalination, all good works which increases their fan base.
Now, while they look like girls they are almost 94% artificial and well into their 60s. They are savvy & smart but there is a plot to takeover their business and throw them out into the cold. This was a fun, adventurous read with lots of supercute moments.

AI definition: Kawaii, a Japanese term, broadly translates to "cute" or "adorable." It's a cultural aesthetic that emphasizes qualities like charm, innocence, and playfulness. Beyond mere cuteness, it encompasses a broader appreciation for things that are delicate, lovable, and perhaps even childlike.

Hurry home, Candy by Meindert DeJong (1953)
children's
TIOLI #14. Read a book with a title that is a command or instruction
My edition is a Penguin Modern Classics paperback. It has sat around the house for many years as I was never much enthused by the book cover so thanks to the TIOLI challenge I finally picked it up. I found it a great little story that tugs the heartstrings about a young stray dog and how he finally finds a home with a loving owner. Not DeJong's greatest book but still a good read.
As DeJong was born in Holland this also fits this month's Grand European tour challenge to read a book by a Benelux writer.

The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry (2023)
fantasy
I really enjoyed this fantasy read. I've got a few of Parry's books on my tbr pile and one of my goals this year was to start reading her work. Next up will be her latest book which I have out from the library, described as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell meets A Tale of Two Cities, so sounds quite interesting and i've read both those books.
This one is about a young girl who lives on a hidden magical island off the coast of Ireland around 1910. She lives with a mage and his rabbit familiar but soon they must travel to London to help stop magic disappearing completely from the world.

Dragonclaw by Kate Forsyth (1997)
fantasy
The Witches of Eileanan #1. There are six books in this series and I found this first instalment quite engaging. Witches, magic and magical beasts have become hunted in the land of Eileanan and so Isabeau has grown hidden away in the mountainous area of Dragonclaw with her guardian, but now the Red Guards have come to their area hunting dragons and witches.
I own the next three books at least so will keep reading.

Swept Away by Beth O'Leary (2025)
fiction
I've read all O'Leary's romance books since her The Flatshare. She specialises in putting two people in awkward circumstances who then work out their relationship. This one was a chunkster and not really that convincing. A one night stand between two strangers ends up being an adventure when their houseboat drifts from its mooring and out to sea. I liked the survival side of the story but Zeke's backstory isn't that great. Overall this was an easy read.

My favourites are The Flatshare and The No-show.

>160 avatiakh: I liked that one, but my favorite O'Leary is also The Flatshare. I think my #2 would be The Wake-Up Call.

>161 christina_reads: The Flatshare is my overall favourite too. I remember The Wake up call, it was quite good too.

Some desperate glory by Emily Tesh (2023)
scifi

This started out at a cracking pace and had most of the elements of a great story, then came the second part which changed things up, the third, fourth and final fifth part all giving other aspects of reality to consider. Overall I ended up enjoying the book but it's not the type of scifi I would normally seek out.
The book won the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel and was also shortlisted for a number of other awards. Her fantasy The Incandescent is also on my tbr pile.

Vanish by Shelley Burr (2025)
crime
Lane Holland #3. Enjoyed this one with its interesting setting. Lane is still in prison nearing the end of his sentence but manages to get a rehabilitation stint on a farm where he's convinced the prison governor's daughter went missing from twenty years earlier. Natural disasters ensue, severe flooding and then the threat of fire.
The story wraps up neatly.

Robinson Daniel Crusoe by Prudence Andrew (1978)
children's
This was an unusual read and not sure really if it's suitable for young readers. The story is told by the younger brother (13yrs) about his family especially about Daniel, his older brother (14yrs), who despite being a star pupil decides to stop attending school. There's discussion with teachers, psychologists etc about school phobia but nothing works. The mother avoids discussions by always taking the dog out for a walk, the father annoyingly tries everything and ends up quite ill. The younger brother is loyal to Daniel but he's also football mad and in training so he can become a professional.
Daniel keeps a diary and takes a childhood game of being a Robinson Crusoe a step further by making a small den in the garden shed, adopting a local truant as his Friday and even building a raft. The ending is a little harsh, in fact I wondered how it was going to resolve. The psychologist wondered if Daniel didn't want to grow up as there are so many problems in the world and adults do nothing to resolve them.
I can find nothing online about the author, Prudence Andrew, except that she wrote a number of books both for adults and children.

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa (2001)
fiction
I had ambitions to read five of Llosa's novels this year and this is the second one I've managed to complete, having given up on The Time of the Hero earlier in the year. After stumbling at the start, this turned into a magnificent read about the Dominican Republic's Trujillo era framed by the return after thirtyfive years of self-exile of Urania Cabral, one of the many victims.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (2023)
crime
Ernest Cunningham #2. So this is the second book in the series and Ernest is on The Gahn train travelling between Darwin and Adelaide in Australia. This is a world famous train so why not add a crime writer's festival to this trip. Ernest, fresh off publishing his true crime memoir (book #1), is one of the invited guests....and then there is a death, possibly murder of one of the writers and the train trip starts to get deadly.
This is written in a style that tires quickly for me so while I'm enjoying the mystery, the comedic moments there is the annoying aspect of Ernest looking at the experience as content for his next book, whch you the reader are holding in your hands. I owned this copy so that's the main reason I read it.

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik (2007)
fantasy
Temeraire #4. Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire, return from their long trip to China only to find that a terrible illness has broken out among the English dragons. Quite the interesting installment and the ending is quite dramatic. Next up is Victory of Eagles and I might just read it before year's end.

War and Turpentine: a novel by Stefan Hertmans (2013)
fiction
Read for Paul's Grand European Tour August: Benelux Countries
This is a mix of fact and fiction written about Hertmans' grandfather, a Flemish soldier of World War One. Hertmans relies on his own memories, his grandfather's notebooks and research to write this book of three parts. The end result is a magnificent story of his family.

Hi Kerry, I just visited your thread after a very long time and I added so many titles to my wishlist. What a great variety of books you read!
I also bought Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak as an ebook recently, and it's good to know about the pictures at the end. I will look at them first before reading the book.

Bandit's Daughter: Kung Fu Girl in Ancient China by Simon Mason (2020)
children's
I read Simon Mason's three crime novels this year and wanted to also try one of his children's books. Mason edited The Rough Guide to Classic Novels and works as a book editor as well as writer.
This was an exciting action packed story about the legendary Chinese heroine, Mu Guiyang, and how she helps save the northern border from the invading Liao and Western Xia armies. Part of a True Adventures series by Pushkin Press.
More about Mu Guiying: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_Guiying

The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (2025)
fiction
Another absorbing read from Chidgey. It's an alternate history with World War Two ending after Hitler's assassination. The book is set 30 years later in the 1970s and is about a set of boy triplets living a surreal sort of life in rural England. Initially the reader only knows what the boys know and understand about their world and the story unfolds from there.
There's a recent interview with Chidgey here: https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/07/chidgey-week-steve-braunias-interviews-catheri...

American Visa by Juan de Recacoechea (1994 Spanish) (2007 English)
fiction
I read his Andean Express back in 2016 and have had this one on my tbr list ever since. Probably not for everyone, this noir novel exposes the underbelly of La Paz with our protagonist arriving to the capital with one task in mind, to obtain an American visa so he can visit his son in Florida. He stays at a seedy hotel, befriends a bunch of down at heel characters and his hopes for a visa seemingly spiral out of control.
There's an afterward by Ilan Stavans that discusses the translation and de Recacoechea's writing style & influences.

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Gone by Glenna Thomson (2024)
crime
One of several Aussie crime novels I've had out from the library. This one is about the family, father, mother and younger sister, of a seventeen year old girl who walks out and disappears. Rather than alternating now and then chapters, this plot goes in a straight timeline from the day she disappears till forty years later when the truth of that day is unraveled.
Not totally compelling so I probably won't read Thomson again. Next up is the second Detective Kate Miles book by Dinuka McKenzie.

129) A Gift fom the Birds by Caroline Stills (2025)
childrens
Winner, Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing, 2024. Sadly this is the last Text Prize winner as the award has been discontinued. While there have been 16 winners (I've read 12), Text Publishing has published over fifty books from the manuscripts received over the years.
This gentle story follows Millie through the last days of her mother's cancer to where Millie and her father begin to recover from their grief and loss thanks to a family of crows.
While the topic is a sad one, the writing is sensitive, dealing with Millie's anger and desolation. At school, where all the mums come to drop off and pick up their children, Millie feels in a daze, so unhappy and isolated from her friends.

A guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson (2008)
fiction
Gosh two bird books in a row! This was a delightful read about a widower and his adventures in birdwatching. Set in Nairobi, Mr Malik has secretly been in love with widow Rose Mbikwa for the past few years. Rose organises the weekly Tuesday morning birdwatching walk.
Another book that has sat on my shelves for a long long time.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (2009)
fantasy
This has been a long term resident of my tbr pile, so am pleased to finally have got to it. I also own the sequel so will read on. I've seen a few people mention that it reminded them of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but it's been too many years since reading Tartt's book for me so I can't draw the same conclusion. I wasn't that taken with the book though the last few pages had enough action to make up for the previous pages of nothing much. What I didn't go for were most of the characters, I found Quentin to be very unappealing and hope he picks up in the next book. Quentin is not sure where life is taking him and then as he goes for an entrance interview for Princeton he suddenly finds himself being accepted into a school of magic instead.

The Chieftain's Daughter by Sam McBratney (1993)
children's
An older paperback that's finally read after a few years in the house. I just realised that McBratney also wrote the beloved picturebook Guess how much I love you.
Set in Ireland around the time the first Christian missionaries are appearing, an old chieftain tells the story of his youth around a fire. He was fostered to a remote clan that lived primitively and as he grows he falls for their chieftain's daughter. A wandering missionary comes and stays for some time as the concept of Christianity is so far from the grasp of these Irish pagans. It ends sadly as a feud with a neighbouring clan meets a deadly end.
The feud aside, the book tells of daily life and the local customs in those times. The pagan rites around standing stones and spiritual trees was quite fascinating.

A Dog's Life by Peter Mayle (2013)
fiction
Boy is adopted after a harsh puppyhood that included a time of homelessness. He tells the tale of his life in the Mayles' Provence household with some humour. The book is liberally sprinkled with illustrations. I didn't gel with this much at all but continued to read as it was a shared TIOLI read.

The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (1995)
fiction
Read for Paul's Grand European Tour challenge: September: Books about European places & TIOLI challenge to read a book with a European city in the title.
I have collected several of Pérez-Reverte's novels since being captivated by his first Captain Alatriste novel. This one is a literary noir about a priest being sent from the Vatican to Seville to learn more about the situation of a 300 year old church on the cusp of being sacrificed to developers. A hacker has managed to navigate the Vatican's IT and left a message for the pope about coincidental deaths at the church.
While this is dated with searches for telephone connections and modems, it is also a glimpse into old Seville of the 1990s especially the Santa Cruz quarter. The battle between the old priest and his congregation, the church's interesting history against the bankers and financiers who want to make money on a deal.
I read about Arturo Pérez-Reverte on wikipedia and he is an interesting chap. A war correspondant for many years he refused at first to have his books translated to any language but French. 'Perez-Reverte owns a library which has an estimated 32,000 books, as stated by himself.'

Inkflower by Suzy Zail (2023)
YA
Based on Zail's own experience of having a father who never talked about his childhood experiences of the Holocaust until he has only a few months to live. She has fictionalised the 'Now' part of the story and chooses to cast herself as a high school student, Lisa, who has kept it a secret that she is Jewish and now a second secret from her friends that her father is dying from motor nerone disease with only six or so months left.
Every Friday night her older brothers arrive from university and the family listens and records as the father tells about his teen years in different camps, how he was able to survive despite losing family members.
The Now and Then chapters were really well done, Lisa struggles at school with not being able to explain her withdrawn behaviour.
I have to say I had a few tears appear when the father dies, there was so much love in the room.

This is the second book of hers that I've read and I have a few more on my tbr list. I've read Alexander Altmann A10567.

The Great When by Alan Moore (2024)
fantasy
Read for the British Author Challenge: September & TIOLI challenge #9: to read a book with a blue cover. It also fits the Grand European Tour September challenge to read a book set in a European city.
A rewarding read set in 1940s London, after the war and Londoners are still dealing with ruins and damage from the bombings. Young Dennis Knuckleyard lives in a dilapidated bookshop with the owner, a decrepit older woman who legend says buried an ex-boyfriend in the backyard. When Dennis picks up a collection of books for her, there is one in the box that shouldn't exist and needs to be returned to The Great When or the second London around which their present London is built.
So much good stuff in this one, the text is dense but rewarding and the charcters are all interesting in different ways.

Becoming Dinah by Kit de Waal (2019)
YA
A roadtrip novel which I always enjoy. Dinah, with her newly shaven head, and determination to run away ends up with her neighbour, Ahab, driving his campervan in a chase for the stolen VW campervan that he's been working on. Inside the stolen van is Ahab's prosthetic leg and as they travel south we find out the background story. The shame Dinah is feeling and the obsession of Ahab to get hold of the stolen van.
The book is a bit of a homage to Moby Dick and as I haven't read MD, this part didn't really sink in apart from the names.

Star without a sky by Leonie Ossowski (1978)
children's fiction

Winner Buxtehuder Bulle (1978). This was a good read, full of the chaos of the Russian approach in east Germany at the end of World War Two. Set in a small town with refugees from the east arriving in a steady stream, the story is about a few schoolboys discovering a hidden Jewish boy in a cellar of a destroyed building. One of the boys is an indoctrinated Hitler Youth who insists that it's their duty to report on the boy. Ossowski manages to build great tension in this build up to the arrival of the Russian army.
Leonie Ossowski (1925-2019) was a German writer and some of her work was adapted to film. I'd like to read more of her work but not sure if any more has been translated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonie_Ossowski

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009)
fiction
I found this a slow immersive read of life in a Polish hamlet during winter. The main character, Duszejko, is quite eccentric, working on horoscopes and studying astrology. She's also helping her nephew translate William Blake's poetry to Polish.
In the background are a number of deaths of locals and those from the nearby town that Duszeijko considers are caused by hunted animals seeking revenge on the hunters.
Need to read more by Tokarczuk, my late mother bought The Books of Jacob for me when we visited a bookshop a few years ago.

>186 avatiakh: I loved this book—it was so unlike what I was expecting. I’ve since read The Empusium and didn’t care for it nearly as much, but I still plan to read The Books of Jacob.

>187 Charon07: Yeah, it was a good read and unusual. Keep seeing it described as a thriller but it was anything but. My son read The Empusium for his book club a couple of month's back.

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik (2008)
fantasy
Temeraire #5. I had to read this one as the last book ended on a cliff hanger. Napoleon's army with his dragon corps is poised to invade England. Battle tactics are different with dragons around.

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (2021)
crime
The Marlow Murder Club #1. I noticed that 8 or 9 people were doing a shared read on TIOLI so decided to finish the month with this book instead of my current reads.
A fun crime read with three older ladies playing at Miss Marple and 'helping' the police solve three murders in their village.

Surviving Hitler: a boy in Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren (2001)
children's nonfiction
Jack told his story to Warren who wrote the book at a middle grade level. She advises in the introduction that she has added short conversations based on Jack's own memories.
It is an excellent read and seems to be suitable for that age group. Most of the photos are stock photos from museums, he only managed to get a photo of his father from a distant cousin in Israel, sent before the war, and of his aunt who looked much like he remembers his mother from another cousin.
Jack decides early on that he's going to be strong and not hate the guards, the capos & Nazis but try his hardest to be agreeable and survive. He was only fifteen when sent to the camps after surviving the first two years of war doing forced labour for the Nazis in the stead of those who paid him to take their places.
I remember back when I ordered the book online a few years ago that my husband said he was a relation of his and I just confirmed on Geni that he is his fourth cousin.

I was mentioning some of the experiences he went through with my daughter and she says she will never forget being in the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem about 9 years ago when a girl on a school trip there had a complete meltdown and cried out from realising that all this was done to her people.

Across so many seas by Ruth Behar (2024)
children's
A delightful read. Behar has reimagined her grandmother's life and heritage based on the few facts she remembers about her. The story begins in 1492 and the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Benvenida's family must leave Toledo and they end up in Turkey via time in Naples. The story jumps to her descendants and 1923, a time of Turkish independence but Reina is sent alone also at age twelve to Cuba to an arranged marriage. Then it's 1961 and Cuba is having a revolution. Alegra wants to teach literacy to the peasants in the countryside, but aged only twelve she is sent to Miami with hopes that her parents can join her.
Miami 2003 and 12 year old Paloma travels with her parents and grandmother, Reina to Spain to visit Toledo.
The common thread through all the stories is music and a Sephardi song about a girl in a tower.
Behar references several interesting websites about Sephardi culture food and music also some Ladino. A good read to complement A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine.

The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling (2025)
crime
Cormoran Strike #8. Another great entry in the Cormoran Strike series. I'm a total fan. This time the detective agency is investigating a murder with ties to the Freemasons.

The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-ran (2021 Korean) (2025 English)
urban paranormal
It's been quite a while since I read a vampire novel and I'm not sure how I came across this one but glad I did. A crime novel where a detective is investigating the strange suicides of four elderly people who lived on the sixth floor of a rehabilitation hospital in an isolated suburb.
Quite a compelling read and a Korean bestseller.

The Best of Everything by Kit de Waal (2025)
fiction
Another de Waal book that is just a delight to read. The book is about Paulette, a single mother who was originally from St Kitts. She has no luck with men and wants her son to have the best of everything, but there is a neglected boy in a nearby street who she can't get out of her head.

Taken by Dinuka McKenzie (2023)
crime
Kate Miles #2. Kate is back at work from extended maternity leave after being shot and giving birth early as a result. She's haunted and guilty, her husband has just been made redundant so instead of enjoying being an at home Dad, he's finding it hard going. Her first case is dragging her down and making her spend extra hours at work, a baby abducton case. The main suspect is the husband but the mother's violent ex-partner lives nearby and Kate has already had to call in on him about domestic abuse issues. There's also a corruption scandal that might involve her ex-cop father.
I'll keep reading this series, a lot to like.

Death comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood (2023)
crime
Marlow Murder Club #2. Less satisfying round from the Marlow ladies investigating murder. A lighter crime series that I'll leave behind at this point.

Trajectory by Canbria Gordon (2024)
YA
Historical fiction involving a teen girl and mathematics. Eleanor is scouted to join a team of skilled women mathematicians to work on a secret project at the Philadel­phia Com­put­ing Sec­tion during WW2. This is a riveting story about the roles women played during WW2.
Several real life people are in the book, Mary Mauch­ly is the recruiter and Alyce Hall is Eleanor's first friend at this job.

'In a top-secret program, talented, young female mathematicians calculated the artillery and bomb trajectories that American GIs and airmen used to win World War II.'
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/female-computers-unsung-heroes-world-wa...

Under the Domim Tree by Gila Almagor (1992 Hebrew)
children's book
This turned out to be a reread, I first read it in 2012 and had left the book lying around and I have been constantly coming across it. I'm pleased to have read it again, I didn't recognise anything so it was as if I had never read it before.
First, Gila Almagor is one of Israel's most famous actresses and both her semi-autobiographical children's books have been made into films.
This one is about Ayala who lives in a youth village as her mother is under severe mental pain and she has no father. Most of the other children are orphans from the Holocaust. The book focuses on the stories of Ayala and two other girls.

From wiki: 'Gila Alexandrowitz (Almagor) was born in Petah Tikva to Jewish emigrant parents from Europe. Her German-Jewish father Max Alexandrowitz was killed by an Arab sniper while working as a policeman in Haifa four months before she was born. Her mother Chaya was from a Polish Orthodox Jewish family. Almagor grew up caring for her mother, who was slowly losing her sanity after realising that all her family in Europe had been murdered in the Holocaust. When her mother was institutionalized in 1954, Almagor was sent to Hadassim youth village.

The book received a National Jewish Book Award at the time.

Day of the Dead by Anthony Masters (1998)
children's fiction
Set on the Day of the Dead, Alex is on holiday visiting his estranged father. They end up in Tijuana where his father is involved in getting a family across the border with the help of coyotes who turn out to be ruthless and uncaring. The family's hopes for a new though illegal life in California are fairly depressing. They are holed up on a small farm that accepts them, living in almost worse conditions than they had in Tijuana.
Looking back at this story with 2025 eyes it's easy to see that a book about crossing the border illegally should not be narrated by a UK schoolboy though part of the book is about the boy's relationship with his father.
Masters had spent quite a lot of time travelling around in Mexico with his wife so lots of the descriptions are vivid.
'Anthony Masters was renowned as an adult novelist, short story writer and biographer, but was best known for his fiction for young people. Many of his novels carry deep insights into social problems, which he experienced over four decades by helping the socially excluded. He ran soup kitchens for drug addicts and campaigned for the civic rights of gypsies and other ethnic minorities.

The Fourteenth of October by Bryher (1954)
children's fiction
Hard to see this as a children's book even though the main character Wulf is a boy growing to manhood. As a boy, Wulf is taken as a hostage by the Danes when they attack his father's lands in northern England. He's given to the Normans as a serf and after five years escapes, landing in Cornwall with a fellow Saxon. They live peacefully for five years as farmers but constantly under the threat of the Normans coming to England. Wulf and his friend lead a group of local men, traveling for weeks to get to Hastings in time for the great battle that everyone knows is coming, but lose their way in marshland and end up only in a small skirmish while hearing that Harold is now dead. They make their way back to Cornwall and Wulf realises that to stay means having to quietly submit to Norman rule in the coming months or years.
I found this to be far from a pageturner, but more descriptive of life in Britain in those times and the changing landscape because of the politics of the time.
There's an enthusiastic introduction by Dame Edith Sitwell.

Bryher or Annie Winifred Ellerman had an interesting life.
wiki: 'Her father was the shipowner and financier John Ellerman, who at the time of his death in 1933 was the richest Englishman who had ever lived. He lived with her mother Hannah Glover, but did not marry her until 1908... During the 1920s, Bryher was an unconventional figure in Paris. Among her circle of friends were Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Beach and Berenice Abbott. Her wealth enabled her to give financial support to struggling writers, including Joyce and Edith Sitwell. She also helped with finance for Sylvia Beach's bookshop Shakespeare and Company...
From her home in Switzerland, she helped to evacuate Jews from Nazi Germany, and then became an historical novelist.'

The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar (1992)
fantasy
Taken me some years to pick this up even though Millar is one of my favourite writers. It is a mad romp in New York with some punk-inspired whiskey drinking thistle fairies from Scotland. They get offside with the local Italian, Ghanian and Chinese fairies, they help hapless Dinnie find love with lovely though sick Kerry. Not for everybody's taste and I had tried to read it once before.

John Diamond by Leon Garfield (1980)
children's
Whitbread Award for Children's Novel (1980). Came across this in one of my piles of books and saw that it fitted Paul's TIOLI US state nickname challenge, Delaware is the Diamond state.

Delightfully gothic and Dickensian. On the night of his father's death, young William Jones is told by his father that he hadn't always been the upright, honest man, in fact he had swindled his partner, Alfred Diamond, of his share of money some twenty years earlier. William decides to run away to London and to put things right somehow. Armed with his father's gold watch, six guineas in a leather purse, his adventures in the grimiest part of London begin.

I remember buying this Vintage Classic edition for the book cover alone, artist Isobel Lundie.
https://www.isobellundie.com/

Live Fast by Brigette Giraud (2022 French) (2025 English)
fiction
Prix Goncourt (2023). Read this for Paul's Grand European Tour: October - France.
I had this short novel out from the library before and had made a promising start. It's an autobiographical look at the death of her husband some twenty years earlier in a motorbike accident. She looks at all the 'if onlys' that could have changed what happened that day.
His death came just as they took possession of a cottage that they planned to renovate and now twenty years later she must move as the property is sacrificed to new developments and new roading.
This wasn't to my taste, I didn't like the intense dwelling on the past in this manner. It was interesting to read about the motorbike that her husband was riding for the first time that day. It was designed and made in Japan but banned from sale there as too dangerous and yet was sold in France, Spain and Italy, a Honda CBR900 Fireblade.

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald (2024)
YA
Carnegie Medal (UK) 2025. Quite stunning, raw and honest. Two boys growing to manhood, both have been in care and foster homes. They were together for a while, bonded and then parted by bad words, actions and they both need to heal. Finlay is now in his first year of nursing studies, desperate to succeed but without enough money to even feed himself well. Banjo is younger now in a foster home and new high school where he uses anger to lash out before others attack him.

A wonderful debut book by a young writer (b. 1998). This is the second book I've read of late where a character is suffering Crohn's disease and they've had/needed a colostomy. McDonald suffers from Crohn's Disease and has had surgery and experienced pain medication dependency, all topics referred to in the book.
My late father had his colostomy when he was in his early 40s and I remember how sensitive he was about it at the time.

>193 avatiakh: I am also a fan of this series and this one is on my Christmas list
>194 avatiakh: taking a BB for this one

>206 lowelibrary: I really love this series, look forward to each instalment.

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero (2022)
YA
TIOLI November Challenge: to read a book by a Jewish writer
This was a lengthy verse novel set in Prague. Romero volunteers every summer to tend Jewish cemeteries in East Europe. I had watched a short video clip a couple of months ago on volunteer work like this so was keen to read her book. There are several organisations that work to preserve these cemeteries. https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2025/10/16/jewish-cemetery-clean-ups-2025-3/

The book is about a teenager, Ilana, who is sent to her Jewish aunt in Prague for the summer. She finds an overgrown Jewish cemetery full of broken headstones near her aunt's cottage and also the ghost of Benjamin, a boy her age who died in 1902. As Ilana weeds and cleans up the area,she falls for Benjamin even though he's a ghost and she finds out that the ghosts of young children are trapped by a vodnik (waterspirit) who lives on their memories.
Quite a good read all in all.

Summer of Aviya by Gila Almagor (1986 Hebrew) (1991 English)
childrens
TIOLI Challenge: to read a book by a Jewish writer
This autobiographical novel is linked to Under the Domin Tree that I read last month. Aviya's mother has stints in a mental hospital receiving treatment. The summer Aviya turns ten, she spends living with her mother after five years spent in a children's home and finds that both of them are outsiders. Her mother shaves off all Aviya's hair, fearing a lice infestation, more bait for the children to taunt her with. Her mother is taunted by the neighbourhood children as a 'partishunka' even though she she was a partisan heroine fighting the Nazis during the war. After capture & torture in the camps she has never recovered. Aviya's father was killed by an Arab sniper a few months before her birth, another trauma for the mother.

Only 90 pages but heartfelt reading.

A thousand shades of blue by Robin Stevenson (2008)
YA
Added to TIOLI challenge to read a book with a silhouette on the cover.
Quite an interesting read. The parents of a troubled family think that a year spent together on a sailboat will solve their problems. After motoring their boat down from Canada to Florida using the Great Loop canals they are now in the Bahamas and need to dry dock the boat for a few days due to a cracked rudder. The cracks in the family start to break out also.

160) King of the Vagabonds by Neal Stephenson (2004)
alternate history
The Baroque Cycle #2. I finally started listening to my audiobooks again. This one only had a couple of hours left which I raced through. It's set in the late 1600s and the story revovles around Jack Shaftoe, a vagabond character who has been on the battlefields fighting the Ottoman army. He manages to rescue Eliza who has been held prisoner in a harem. They travel together across Europe and try to make their fortunes from various sure-to-fail ventures. Lots of fun. The scene in the ballroom was magnificent with Jack riding in on a stolen horse looking for a way out, noticing that the ceiling is about to give way due to a build up of water, though more than water cascades down when the ceiling does give way.
The next book takes us back to the world of Daniel Waterhouse from book 1, and we meet Jack again in book #4.

Now back to my scifi with 22 hours of listening left. Exodus: The Archimedes Engine by Peter F. Hamilton.

The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar (2025)
fantasy
TIOLI Challenge: to read a book by a Jewish writer
This is Sachar's first novel for adults. I've read several of his children's books, loved Holes and his Sideways Stories from Wayside School. My children loved these books too.
This one is about a court magician helping the princess escape from an arranged marriage with a neighbouring king and hopefully find true love with Pito, an obscure servant boy. An amusing read but not a great one.

Tipping Point by Dinuka McKenzie (2024)
crime
Detective Kate Miles #3. Another good read, this time Kate's brother is a person of interest as two of his best mates from his school years die within days of each other.

To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1967)
YA
Six teenagers crammed into the back of a small plane are on their way to an outback sheep station for their friend's 14th birthday celebrations. A three hour flight but an hour in their pilot suddenly dies. Only one of them has any clue on how to fly the plane but not to land or navigate. No radio on board and bad weather conditions, the plane flies through almost all its fuel before a break in the clouds as night descends and they can finally prepare for a landing, but who knows where they are.
What I liked was the technical detail of flying the plane. Not as simple as those stories you hear about emergency landings where a person is talked through landing a plane. Here the boy only has what he can remember from his father and the pilot on previous flights and a basic lesson or two on the instruments. The weather is against them and they must fly into the unknown because of heavy cloud, sudden rain and dust storms on the ground.
Also each teen has their own personal battles reacting to their predicament.

There's a sequel, A city out of sight, written sixteen years later. Needs one, as they haven't been rescued by the end of the first book, just managed to begin their survival on the ground story.

All cats are on the autism spectrum by Kathy Hoopmann (2021 edition)
picturebook
I first read the previous edition All cats have Aspergers Syndrome back in pre-LT days. Using cute photographs of cats the simple text describes the complex behaviours of children with some form of ASD. The new edition reflects the new diagnosis of autism and Aspergers to include all types on an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The cat at night by Dahlov Ipcar (1969)
picturebook
This was mentioned by Lisa on another thread and I was keen to have a look at the 2008 Pushkin Press edition. The artwork is lovely and the storyline showing the cat's surroundings at night all a silhouette mystery and then on the next page showing it as the cat would perhaps see it even though it is dark is quite remarkable for such a simple story.

Kata & Tor by Kevin Crossley-Holland (2025)
YA
Added to TIOLI challenge to read a book with an interesting sky on the cover. Crossley-Holland says that this is his 8th and final book set in this time period. I found it to be a delightful contrast read to The Fourteenth of October by Bryher which I read a few weeks ago. In this story about the year 1066, Tor is the third son of King Hardrada and sent ahead of the fleet as a scout to find out about the rivers, settlements and so on that Hardrada's Viking army could come across as they move to conquer York and the north of England. Tor meets Kata by chance and they fall for each other. Unfortunately the story of war must go on.

The Dumas Club by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (1993)
fiction
Read for Paul's Grand European Tour: November Iberian Peninsula.
Join the hunt for particular antiquarian books dealing in the occult. Add in a Dumas manuscript and the hunt soon seems to be chasing the main character, Corso, who is given the job to find out whether the book and the manuscript are forgeries or the real deal. Intense and qt times scary.

Hostage by Eli Sharabi (2025)
memoir
In clear and simple words Sharabi tells the story of his 491 days as a Hamas hostage, spending months on end living in one of the Gazan tunnels. Most of the time he is with three other hostages and they soon know each other, their life goals and their family stories. Sharabi is older than the others and has more life experience. He is especially caring of Alon Ohel, a younger guy who was abducted from the Nova Festival and mentors him to be strong in order to survive. Alon spends an additional 247 days in captivity.
An important book, one that leaves you with tears in your eyes as it ends with Sharabi's first taste freedom and learning the fate of his family.

Mischance Creek by Garry Disher (2025)
crime
Hirsch #5. Another absorbing installment from Disher. Hirsch has spent the last few years as a rural cop in a small town three hours north of Adelaide thanks to being demoted by corrupt Adelaide police leadership. The crimes in the outback are different, lives are stretched to breaking point with drought and financial hardship. Amongst all this Hirsch has to visit isolated farms to do welfare checks on older folk and also firearms checks. Soon there are a myriad of problems, crimes, even a cold case misadventure/murder to reinvestigate.

We were the lucky ones by Georgia Hunter (2017)
biographical fiction
I grabbed this title for the TIOLI challenge to read a book with 'lucky' or 'luck' in the title and didn't know much about the background to the book. As I'm reading I'm thinking that it's incredible how this Jewish family living in Radom, Poland at the start of the book and start of WW2, manage to all survive the war due to their own efforts.
Reading the author notes when I finish I realise that this family was real and were indeed the 'lucky ones'. Hunter's grandfather was the 'Addy' of the story, the France-based refugee who made his way alone to sit the war out in Rio de Janeiro after losing all contact with his family in Poland. He was on one of the last boats out of Marseilles, the ship was forced to sit for months in port in Dakar due to British intervention. His visa was one of many that the Brazilian ambassador to France, Souza Dantas, granted defying his own government's secret restrictions.
Hunter mentions a family reunion where she discovered the war time stories about her grandfather and his siblings survival which led to years of research to uncover the background to their various stories.

Her second book, One Good Thing, has been published earlier this year and I'll be lining that one up to read.

You dreamed of empires by Álvaro Enrigue (2025 English)
fiction
This was my last read for November though I only finished the last 50 pages today. The book reimagines the meeting between Cortes and Moctezuma in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1519. It's quite disorienting to read from the perspectives of the Aztecs with their embrace of sacrifice and their gruesome rituals etc... Enrigue has Moctezuma as a regular user of magic mushrooms and the story does get quite surreal and dream-like at times. Not a book for every reader.

Deception by Joan AIken (1987)
fiction
I've had this one on a slow read but now that it's December I have to complete a few of these started but not yet finished books. This was a fun story with a good sensible ending. Alvey and Louisa have met at a boarding school, they share an incredible likeness. At the end of their three or four years stay, Louisa hatches her plan that Alvey returns to Louisa's home in her place while Louisa sails off to India to her dream life as a missionary. With no prospects Alvey is finally convinced and heads off to an isolated great house to carry out the deception.

Murder in Constantinople by A E Goldin (2024)
crime
Ben Canaan #1. I found this an entertaining read, full of action and adventure. It's 1854 and Ben, a young Jewish man is working as a tailor for his father's tailoring business. Not the life he'd hoped for...but he's headed for an adventure far from home after a botched prank sees him on the run from the police. You do need to suspend belief to enjoy the rather unbelievable plot but this is a great romp of a read.

Happy New Years by Maya Arad (2023 Hebrew) (2025 English)
fiction
Just wonderful. One of my top reads of the year, I blasted through the second half of this novel in one sitting. The novel is composed of annual Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) letters that Leah sends to her fellow graduates from teaching college over fifty years. Despite moving to the US, a land of opportunity, Leah's life is one of hard knocks and disappointment, yet she manages each letter to write mostly of the positives and optimistic moving on. These fellow graduates aren't her friends but people that Leah wants to show how her life is a success despite all the gossip and rumours about her from those days. The afterword is written by her son and sheds a little truth to some of the hard times. For fun, Maya Arad plays a walkon part as a creative writing tutor in a community course that Leah takes in her retirement.

I enjoyed her The Hebrew teacher earlier this year.

The Horse Dreamer by Holly Surplice (2025)
children's
A lovely book full of the author's illustrations and a story of overcoming grief. Merryn and her two sisters live in an isolated area, possibly the Outer Hebrides (the home of the author). Their father was lost to a storm some time earlier and their mother is lost to her grief. The sisters manage without telling any adults their predicament, waiting and waiting for their mother to pull herself together. Merryn shares her days in the forest with an imaginary horse, Sorrel, that grew to life from her twigs, leaves and flowers collage.
A story that resolves well and to a happy ending. The illustrations are really beautiful and add so much to the book's appeal.
Surplice has two dogs, Painter and Pencil and a cat, Penny Crayon.

Bear by Kiri Lightfoot (2025)
YA
This won the 2024 Tessa Duder Award for a YA manuscript. A great read about Jasper, a young teenager who has issues brought on by the death of his grandmother, the separation of his parents and then later the moving in of his mother's boyfriend, 'Manly Steve'. His anger issues come in the form of a bear in nightmares, he's terrified, lonely and doesn't know how to deal with his emotions especially his anger at his own dad who seems to not care about him. He's also a talented artist and eventually his life starts to come together.
Lots to like with this one.
This was a leftover read from last month.

The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr (2014)
YA
I thought this was a good solid WW2 read. A Ukranian Jewish girl is alone and travelling in hiding after everyone in her village is shot by Nazis. She ends up in Askaniya-Nova Nature Park where she meets Max, the caretaker of what's left of the park and zoo. The park is home to a small herd of rare Przewalski's horses which the Nazis living on the estate have exterminated apart from a stallion and his mare. When the SS Officer in charge is determined to kill these last two horses Kalinka escapes with them to hopefully find the Red Army before the Nazis find her.
I'm going to look online to see if Kerr has mentioned anywhere his research or reason for writing this book.

It was the first I knew about the Przewalski horses and that aspect of the story was fascinating. The Nazi extermination was due to them being an 'inferior' horse breed.
More info here: https://www.oneearth.org/species-of-the-week-przewalskis-horse/

Ride North by Maria De Jong (2025)
children's
I seem to be reading a number of books featuring horses.
An enjoyable New Zealand story. A girl decides to sneak off and ride her pony north to Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean at the northernmost tip of New Zealand. She wants to scatter her mother's ashes there not knowing that it is a sacred site (tapu) for Maori. There are adventures along the way especially along 90 Mile Beach.
This was another left behind November read. I love the cover art.

My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor (2023)
fiction
Rome Escape Line trilogy #1. The tension builds up really well in this one. It starts off as a countdown to a mission by the members of the Choir, a group of individuals who manage the Rome Escape line for escaped POWs. Father O'Flaherty, based in the Vatican, is a key organiser. The action and his movements are interspersed with 1960s interviews with key participants of the mission, this provides the necessary background.
I really enjoyed this read which is based on real events. The sequel, The Ghosts of Rome, came out earlier this year and seems like there'll be a third book. I'm keen to read more by O'Connor.

Lucky Thing by Tom Baragwanath (2025)
crime
Lorraine Henry #2. Another crime novel from Paris-based New Zealander Tom Baragwanath. Featuring resilient file clerk, Lorraine Henry, she's an older woman who knows her community around Masterton well, and assists her police chief and the sole constable at the town's small police station. Trampers find an unconscious teenager in isolated bush and while she recovers tempers flare between families and old history rears its ugly head.

The Secret Familiar by Catherine Jinks (2006)
historical fiction
Set in 14th century France. Helié is a former spy of a famous inquisitor but now lives in obscurity and hiding as a parchment maker. However he is reaquainted with his old master and sent to ferret out the truth behind the disappearance of another spy. Helié's relationship with his young apprentice is what makes the story so interesting as he tries to protect Martin from all the intrigue that he himself is involved in. Quite a tense read as these inquisition stories always are.
In the Author Notes you find out that several characters were real life people such as the inquisitor is Bernard Gui and some of the heretics.

I have another historical fiction by Jinks, The Inquisitor, which is set around the same times.

With a sword in my hand by Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem & Pat van Biers (2009)
YA
An exciting 14th century historical fiction that won several awards at the time. This is a reimagining of the early life of Marguerite van Male, daughter of the Count of Flanders. He only wanted sons yet all he got was a healthy daughter. Here we see her as a bit of a tomboy, riding horses, learning swordplay and running wild with the young boys of the castle until she is pressed to stay at home and play the lady. She's courted by both Edmund, son of the English King and Philip of Rouvres, the grandson of the Duke of Burgundy. The Count needs a match that best helps his prospects and that of his region, including the merchant class of Bruges.

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 14 by Natsu Hyuuga (2024 Japanese) (2025 English)
manga
Another one in the series. Still good, though the ending leaves us in a sticky situation so happy to see the library has vol. 15 on order.

The Seventh Well by Fred Wander (1971 German) (2008 English)
fiction
Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize Winner 2009. These are fictionalised memories by the author of his experiences in twenty different concentration camps and work camps. Unlike many memoirs Wander focuses on other inmates and the stories are not linear but jump around including to pre-war times in France. I read the book slowly through the last few weeks, and so I didn't mind this type of writing which other reviewers criticised. Wander lived in East Germany for many years and the book was published there in the 1970s before being found and translated to English in the 2000s.