Most recent reads

 

Disclaimer: this blog is affiliated with third party sellers. If you make a purchase through the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. However, this does not impact the price of items, and it does not influence the content of this blog. 

In today's post, I am reflecting on my most recent reads. That pile of books which waits not to be read, but to go back on the shelves. The last pages have been turned, the final sentences read, and that wistful feeling has been felt . . .

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

A deserved winner of the BookBrowse Best Debut Award, 2020.

Hà Nội, 1972. Twelve year old Huong clings to her grandmother as they navigate war torn Việt Nam. As Huong comes of age in a land scarred by war, she must do as her grandmother has done before her; hold her family together as war tears everything else apart.

You can purchase The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quể Mai here.

Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie's famous little Belgian detective, with his little grey cells and handsome moustaches, triumphs in another case. This time, as he weaves through red herrings, he must solve the murder of a young girl at a Halloween party. A young girl that claimed to have seen a murder herself.

You can purchase Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie here.

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

A mutilated body in Crawley.

Robert Weil is the prime suspect, but it must be discerned whether or not he is just an average serial killer or whether he has links to things more powerful. 

And, as if that isn't enough, London always has a lot more to throw at PC Peter Grant.

Grant navigates a weird world and must connect dots everywhere he goes . . .

You can purchase Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch here.

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit by PG Wodehouse 

A novel starring perhaps Wodehouse's most famous pair – Jeeves and Wooster.

'Stilton' Cheesewright would very much like to beat poor Bertie Wooster to a pulp – thankfully, for Bertie, Cheesewright has money on Wooster's performance in the Drones Club annual darts tournament. 

And poor put-upon Bertie is upsetting others too . . . with an offensive moustache. How will he survive a world this much against him?

You can purchase Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit by PG Wodehouse here.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

The beautiful Countess Olenska returns to rigidly conventional New York society, sending reverberations throughout its upper reaches. 

The Countess brings with her sophistication and a hint of scandal, having left her husband and claimed her independence. 

A passionate bond develops between her and Newland Archer, a man about to announce his engagement to May Welland, a beautiful young woman. 

You can purchase The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton here.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

An excellent novel.

Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works a houseboy for a university professor. Richard is a shy Englishman enraptured to Olanna's twin sister. Olanna being a young woman from Lagos who has given up her life of privilege to live with the university professor, her lover.

You can purchase Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie here.

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The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths – review

 

Disclaimer: this blog is affiliated with third party sellers. If you make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. This does not affect the cost of any items, and it does not influence the content of this blog. 

There is a quote on the cover of this book taken from the Sunday Mirror. A love letter to murder mysteries. And it certainly feels as though Elly Griffiths was having fun when she wrote this book.

In The Postscript Murders, we are invited into the world of crime authors, where sometimes they become the victims at the centre of a murder mystery themselves.

DS Harbinder Kaur investigates the death of ninety-year-old Peggy Smith, a 'murder consultant' who plotted deaths for authors. At first DS Kaur is little concerned by the case, but when Peggy's carer, Natalka, reports being held at gunpoint whilst cleaning out Peggy's flat, that soon changes.

By turning her lens onto the world of crime writing, Griffiths has been able to have a little fun with her own profession, and share its best aspects. For a start, there's Peggy, the victim herself, whose job it is to devise interesting ways to murder people. Not real people, mind you. Still, inventing ways in which to commit murder is still inventing ways in which to commit murder. 

And from Peggy, inventing murders and people-watching, and her death, there is born a mystery solving gang, almost à la Scooby Doo. Natalka, Peggy's carer leads the way, a strong and determined young woman from Ukraine with a past that's home to shadowy figures; Benedict is a mindful coffee shop owner – The Shack – who used to be a monk, and he is measured, but also uncertain when it comes to the ways of the world; Edwin is an elderly gentleman, a real gentleman, who used to work at the BBC, and who knew Peggy because they lived in the same building. Together this gang make it their mission to find the answers to the questions around Peggy's death. 

DS Kaur works with the gang to solve the case, whilst also navigating the struggles of having to live at home with mum and dad. Whereas other fictional coppers might hit the bottle for relief from the pressures of the job, DS Kaur is addicted to the games on her phone. 

Along the way, we traverse the world of the crime novelists, and even get to poke a little fun at elements of that world. Such as the slightly pretentious writer who insists their work is more literary than crime fiction – genres such as crime, horror, and romance all have to put up with their snooty detractors, sometimes from within.

Yes, it definitely feels as though Elly Griffiths was having some fun when she wrote this one. 

And, I had fun reading it. In particular, following the amateur sleuths, Natalka, Edwin, and Benedict. To be honest, I found each of these characters more interesting than the detective of the novel. If Elly Griffiths ever feels the need to return to this world, I hope it is to revisit the gang rather than the detective. 

In this novel, Griffiths presents each chapter from the point of view of each character. Apart from giving the reader the chance to see the mystery of the book from different points of view, the chance consider the problem from different angles, it is a useful device for getting to know each of the characters better. And I very much enjoyed getting to know the characters.

Though it is useful to have a detective in the novel, able as they are to go places an amateur sleuth would find it difficult to gain access, I did find those chapters with DS Kaur the least enjoyable of the book. I found her to be the least likeable character. She seems to have a problem with absolutely everyone and everything else – her brothers, her partner at work, the family dog. To be mildly annoyed seemed to be her default setting. 

However, of course, liking or disliking a character is all very subjective. It could be that I am in the minority and others will completely and utterly despise Natalka, probably my favourite character of the novel. 

Yes, I very much enjoyed this crime novel set in the world of crime novelists. I don't know that I have read a crime novel quite like it before. 

You can purchase a copy of The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths here.

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Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins by Rupert Everett – review

 

Disclaimer: this blog is affiliated with third party sellers. If you make a purchase through the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. This does not affect the prices, and it does not influence the content of this blog.

Ah. The showbiz autobiography. When done well, an insightful piece of work, an enjoyable and interesting peek into the mansions, the studios, and VIP sections . . .  And the personalities of the people that populate them.

When done badly, thinly veiled, empty self-celebration, and/or an attempt at raising one's profile. Like perfumes and fashion lines, just something every celebrity does because . . . Well, it's just what's done, dahling. A nice bit of passive income too, sweetie.

Anyone with just a whiff of fame's toxic scent can get an autobiography on bookshop shelves. From the awfully vacuous to the splendidly soulful . . . 

I am referring to the biographies, of course, not the celebrities. I swear. 

But, after all, Rupert Everett's Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins is a showbiz autobiography done well. Very well.

This account of his life and career begins with a scene at an Essex farmhouse, slap-bang right in the middle of the 1960s, surrounded by burning fields; a scene of high domestic drama. And, from there, to cinema screens and beyond. From the seedy to the showbiz. The reader follows the progress of Mr. Everett's life from sixties England, through Parisian nightclubs, to early 2000s America.

The writing is witty, and ranks with the very best, having been compared to Evelyn Waugh and the Byronic. It does what all good writing ought to – it scrapes away the bullshit to get at the truth. Oh, and it entertains.

This book, though filled with dramatic scenes, populated with extraordinary people, and recounting fantastic events, is human and soulful. Alongside the champagne scenes, there are accounts of vulnerability. Death and sadness happens even amongst the stars.

But, fear not, there is no performative victimhood or self-pity here, only a disarming honesty.

Rupert Everett's career as an actor, for me, has always existed on the periphery of the cultural landscape. I have been aware of his work, but I have felt no strong feelings about it one way or the other.

I am no avid follower of celebrity lives either, so many of the people in this book I was only vaguely familiar with. Some I recognised not at all.

I tell you this because I want to assure you that this book is not just showbiz and celebrity. Indeed, the showbiz and the celebrity is incidental. It is the humanity and soul on every page that makes this telling worth the read, it is this that kept me reading.

I might not have been paying much attention to Everett's work as an actor. But as for his work as a writer, I am ready for more.

You can purchase a copy of Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins by Rupert Everett here.

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Thank you again.