read: The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson ★★★★☆ 📚
Probably the most horrible character I’ve read about for a while. Ray, old artist with faded reputation, more talented wife & screwed up children. Lots of fun, though Ray didn’t get the complete metaphorical kicking he deserves.
Tag: ★★★★
Read The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller ★★★★☆ 📚
Set in the beautifully described big freeze of 1962. Two odd couples misunderstanding their partners. Echos of the war, class, everything is changing. The book ends with a tangle of unfinished threads.
the flakes skittered, twisted, seemed briefly to rise rather than fall, then fell decisively, filling the darkness with a whispering that had no clear source, no centre. They shut their eyes. They tasted it. Stone-flavoured, the tips of the sky. It filled them with a great excitement of change.
Read The Drop & The List by Mick Herron ★★★★☆ 📚
I enjoyed these more than most of his books, and they fill in some backstory to the slow horses.
Read: Wild Houses by Colin Barrett ★★★★☆📚
Wild life among the low life. Very Irish. Drugs, crime & kidnap in small town Ireland. Nicely written and paced.
Read Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson ★★★★☆ 📚
Took a while for the strands to come together, each character drawn with detail. Once I was engaged the end came too quick. Slightly confused as I came in at 4th in the series, although I’d watch the tv one long ago.
Read: The Starling: A Biography by Stephen Moss ★★★★☆ 📚
A nice read about one of my favourite creatures. History, behaviour & plenty of murmuration. Lovely old pictures too.
Read: This Is What Happened by Mick Herron ★★★★☆ 📚
One nasty twist changes this in quite a surprising way. Not quite what I expected from Mick Herron.
Read: For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria Mackenzie ★★★★☆ 📚
The thoughts of two medieval mystics moving through life towards a meeting. Very short alternate sections bring them and their differences to life.
Read The Overstory by Richard Powers ★★★★☆ 📚
Several different stories & ideas around the importance of trees to the world weave together. Some resonated with me more than others.
Many of the ideas are better known now than when the book was published.
The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story
This is a good story, it might change part of your mind, unfortunately like everything else it is more complicated.
Read: The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey ★★★★☆ 📚
Set in the 15th century, a priest tries to solve a “murder”. More about the priest than the murder. Told in reverse it revels his character & the story in an interesting way. Hypocrisy, superstition & morality.