bookswelike

bwl 96 - Spring 2020

Fiction

Giles Andreae - Giraffes Can't Dance

Andreae is perhaps better known by his pseudonym Edward Monckton, author of offbeat philosophical cards and books. Giraffes Can't Dance is written for children but it maintains this combination of whimsy and deeper meaning. On the surface it's about an ungainly giraffe who gains the confidence to dance. But it's also a tale of diversity, exclusion and self-belief to rival many a more worthy novel. "Sometimes when you're different, you just need a different song" - indeed. (Kate Ellis)

Kate Atkinson - Big Sky

I had eagerly anticipated this latest outing for Jackson Brodie - only to be disappointed. It's all about the trafficking of girls, child abuse and a Yewtree-type background, so it's not a particularly pleasant story. But also it has too many coincidences and over-drawn characters and somehow just doesn't work. Such a shame as previous Brodie books have been a great read. (Annie Noble)

Margaret Atwood - The Testaments

I was so looking forward to this but I have to admit it didn't live up to expectations. It looks at what happens after The Handmaid's Tale finishes, and I didn't buy in to the basic tenet regarding a significant revelation about a major character. But it's an interesting story, beautifully written, and it ties up loose ends. (Annie Noble)

Sebastian Barry - Annie Dunne

Set in rural 1950s Ireland over one summer where ageing Annie Dunne lives simply on a farm with her cousin Sarah. Her young nephew and niece are placed in their care for the summer, and their arrival together with the brooding presence of Billy Kerr threaten all she has and challenge all her beliefs. The writing, prose and description are beautiful, but it is Annie herself, a complex character who is unforgettable and with whom all your sympathies lie. (Sue Pratt)

Joseph Eliot - The Good Hawk

It is always a pleasure to find a debut author who really does deliver - and Joseph Elliott does just that. The setting is Scotland - the Western Isles - but this is not a known period, rather an alternative history. We meet Agatha and Jaimie who both have problems - Agatha has Downs Syndrome, Jaimie suffers dreadful anxiety. Not ideal when you find yourself on a desperate quest to save your clan. Briskly written, full of excitement and great characters for keen 10 + readers (Ferelith Hordon)

Kate Fforde - A Rose Petal Summer

In dire circumstances a little bit of undemanding romance does not go amiss. And Katie Fforde serves this up in spades. No, you are not getting "high literature" - nor sadly the humour of Jilly Cooper but you will get great escapism (provided you are not too fussy and prepared to let your brain sunbathe). This is vintage Fforde. What is not to like - the Highlands, an irascible host, a good looking man.....it is all there (Ferelith Hordon)

Elizabeth George - A Place of Hiding

'Queen of the mystery genre' says the blurb. Well, if for a mystery you want an absurdly unlikely plot, unreal characters (a gardener with a History of Art degree?!), a clutter of irrelevant side plots and repeated guided tours of the island of Guernsey, you've got it. I believe George is appreciated for her Lynley novels so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, but this book simply irritated me. That's my crabby, locked-down opinion. (Annabel Bedini)

Sheila Heti - Motherhood

This semi-fictional book is ground-breaking in its unique style, and in its approach to the philosophical question of whether or not a woman needs to have a child. The book will mean a lot to women struggling to make the same moral choice for themselves. It is no doubt destined to become an important work on the subject. (Sharron Calkins)

James Hilton - Lost Horizon

Here is the land of 'Shangri-La' - a place of matchless beauty and serenity -forever beyond our reach. Here is the 'peaceable kingdom' we believe we long for. Or is it? In this story of kidnap and escape we see the promises of paradise, then, slowly, the darker side. What trade-offs are demanded? What is the true price paid? (Sharron Calkins)

Ana Johns - The Woman in the White Kimono

This beautifully written debut novel transported me to Japan, 1957, to follow the life of the fictional 17-year old Naoko Nakamuras, who has fallen in love with a young U.S. Navy sailor. Pregnant with a mixed-race child, she is banished from her family. The nightmare events that follow are based on the true stories surrounding the more than 10,000 mixed-race babies born to U.S. servicemen and Japanese women in that era. (Sharron Calkins)

Joseph Kanon - Defectors

Moscow, 1961: An American arrives to handle the publication of his brother's memoirs. A notorious defector, might he still be playing deceiving tricks? A vivid portrait of the expatriate traitors' community, packed with action, woven around the brother's complex relationship, building to a dramatic climax which keeps you guessing until the end. I'm a bit Philby'd out and It might be heresy to say it, but I preferred this to the more verbose and elliptical Le Carré - perhaps that's a literary equivalent of treason. (Tony Pratt)

Pierre Lemaitre - The Great Swindle

This Prix Goncourt winner concerns two French veterans of the Great war, scarred by their experiences in different ways, seeking to survive and prosper in postwar France. From the battlefield to the lower reaches of Paris and the depiction of the inhuman, corrupt ruling class, the narrative, alternately tragic and comic never flags. With its vividly drawn characters from a superbly cynical villain, a sexy maid - no better than she should be - to a failed bureaucrat battling for justice, I couldn't put this one down - highly recommended. (Tony Pratt)

Deborah Levy - The Man Who Saw Everything

In 1988 Saul Adler, 28, is hit by a car while crossing the road and this scene, reappearing later, shapes the novel's perspectives on key moments - his family, his research trip to Berlin, his love life. At first Saul seemed irritatingly self-obsessed but later you see how events are juxtaposed with emotions in his mind. Clever, thought provoking and slightly baffling, it's elegantly written with some very poignant final sections. I will re-read, despite Saul's pretensions. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)

Natsu Miyashita - The Forest of Wool and Steel

The sounds of a piano being tuned transport a Japanese boy to his mountain village with its scent of warm earth and falling leaves and determines his future. As he follows life's tortuous path, searching for purpose and meaning, he constantly asks himself: Have I got what it takes? And there is always the piano, the forest of wool and steel. A poetic, hypnotic tale to enchant and enthral. (Jenny Baker)

Jojo Moyes - The Giver of Stars

I absolutely loved this book and so has everyone I've recommended it to. It's the story of an English woman in the 1930s who marries a man from Kentucky and moves there. She becomes involved with a travelling library along with a disparate group of local women. It's about their lives, female friendship, the strength of women when they support each other, and the power of reading. (Annie Noble)

Philip Pullman - The Secret Commonwealth: Volume 2 of The Book of Dust

We fast forward 20 years to find Lara now in Oxford, the bond with her daemon is broken and she is drawn into a complex world which takes her across Europe and into Asia to search for a haunted city, a secret at the heart of the desert and the mystery of Dust. Be warned, it ends on a cliffhanger. Now we must wait for volume three. If you've never read Pullman his Dark Materials books might be the perfect answer to lock-down. (Jenny Baker)

Peter Robinson - Watching the Dark

This murder mystery was my first introduction to the book series featuring the character of DCI Banks. The first victim to fall is Detective Investigator Bill Quinn, killed with a crossbow. What follows is a well plotted story of good guys, bad guys, an old unsolved murder, more fresh murders, and international sleuthing. It was a good read that held my attention throughout. (Sharron Calkins)

Elif Shafak - The Bastard of Istanbul

This was quite unexpected - a romp but with serious undertones. Two families - one Turkish, the other Armenian, one in Istanbul, the other now in America - both full of opinions, tensions, history - and secrets. Once one gets used to the storytelling in which the story is intercut with the histories of the various family members it becomes important to get to the end. Full of character, atmosphere and families - worth reading (Ferelith Hordon)

Elizabeth Strout - Olive Again

If you've read Olive Kitteridge then I would highly recommend this. It continues her story but also looks at other people whose lives are closely or just slightly connected with hers. It's all about ordinary situations and and ordinary lives and is a wonderful reflection on old age. It's poignant, uplifting and amusing in equal measure. (Annie Noble)

Graham Swift - Here We Are

Wartime evacuation and the last years of end-of-the-pier shows are the context for the story of a magician, his glamorous assistant and the show's 'star', told from varying perspectives and present day retrospect. Lucid and economical, if a little detached at times - I didn't get deeply involved in the characters - but Swift brings out the flavour of the times and by implication makes some interesting comments on Britain and perhaps on the analogies between 'illusions' and fiction. A short but good read. (Tony Pratt)

William Trevor - Last Stories

Probably because he's Irish William Trevor is a natural storyteller having 'a way with words'. This book is a collection of ten short stories, with no obvious connection to each other and possibly spanning his long career. Written beautifully as always, with his typical insight into the human condition, there is just no need for a long novel as everything necessary is there. Perfect escapism for the extraordinary time that we are living through. (Mary Standing)

Anthony Trollope - Mr Scarborough's Family

A flawed father, two flawed sons, an inheritance - all the ingredients for a classic Trollope easy read with its good plot and clear-eyed cynical appreciation of the importance of money, status and reputation to the middle and upper classes. Yes, there's his world's underlying anti-semitism but here this is popular cliché rather than malice and it's balanced by his sympathetic understanding of the constraints on women. Add a comical sub-plot and you have something which helps hours of confinement slip by. (Tony Pratt)

Jonathan Tulloch - Larkinland

The tale of a new Librarian in Hull, living in a 1950's boarding house, his love life - if you can call it that - and his first success as a published poet. With an amorous landlady, struggling commercial travellers, incompetent policemen, the limitations of provincial life and frustrated lust, it is frequently very funny but undershot, like his poetry, with that layer of sadness. A highly entertaining literary read but without any literary pretentiousness. Delightful for Larkin fans and may get him a new reader or two. (Tony Pratt)

Ruth Ware - The Turn of the Key

Full of tension, intrigue, not to mention scary, it's well written, and kept me on the edge of my seat to the very last page. An excellent read, especially right now when so many of us are cocooning at home. (Polly Sams Plant)

Niall Williams - This is Happiness

Under the guise of how electricity comes to a small village in Ireland during the 1950s, Williams combines a heart wrenching story of guilt and regret, a poignant coming of age story and hilarious anecdotes about the villagers and everyday life. Steeped in nostalgia, his prose is sublime and his characters unforgettable. If you want to be instantly transported out of present worrying times, this is the book to do it! (Denise Lewis)

Non-Fiction

Hugh Aldersey-Williams - Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements

What a lovely mix of history, biography, chemistry and general knowledge. The author's childhood obsession with the periodic table and his (inevitably incomplete) collection of elements spill out in this collection of anecdotes clustered around the individual elements like electrons around a nucleus. Although chemistry is at its core, with its stories of discovery, usage and associated myths, this shouldn't put off the general reader even if they did get a grade 'E' Chemistry O-Level. (Clive Yelf)

Max Brook - edited by - Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict

What can Star Wars tell us about conflict? Originally conceived as a teaching tool, the idea that we can learn lessons from a galaxy far far away is turned into this series of essays by officers, strategists and researchers. They're a mixed bag; although aimed at those with no prior military knowledge, some are overly technical. But most are enlightening: Han shot first - that's a preventive strike. Entertaining too - where else would the Battle of Endor be described as Agincourt with teddy bears? Not just for military buffs. (Kate Ellis)

Emile Carles - A Wild Herb Soup

An autobiography that shows how much can be achieved by the man/women in the street even against the most powerful when their cause is just and they passionately believe in it. Emile Carles, brought up in a remote mountain valley where life was subsistence farming had to fight hard to become a teacher. When she was In her 70's she took on the bureaucracy in Paris when they proposed building a motorway which would have destroyed the community, the way of life and the environment. However this is more than the fight it is the portrayal of a way of life [1900 - 1970's] which has gone. The valley was saved. (Lynda Johnson)

Fergal Keane - All of these People

A brave and powerful book. His life as a war correspondent in some of the most dangerous parts of the world combined with his own journey through life. He has the ability to take you to the heart of the issue whether it is genocide, bravery, alcoholism, love or the hidden heart of each of us - you are with him as witness. A book and a man you will never forget. (Lynda Johnson)

David Kennedy - Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945

FDR dominated this convulsive period, made many mistakes but admitted them and was prepared to change course, surely the mark of a truly courageous and great leader. It is salutary to re-read this lengthy volume in the excellent Oxford History of the USA at this time to remind oneself that how even the most seemingly unsurmountable problems can eventually be overcome. I wouldn't, however, bet on a New Deal from the current White House incumbent. (Jeremy Miller)

Viktor Mayer-Schonberger & Kenneth Cukier - Big Data: The Essential Guide to Work, Life and Learning in the Age of Insight

Rather presciently, the opening example of Big Data usage relates to the outbreak of the H1N1 virus with Google searches for symptoms providing a real-time picture of the spreading virus. A 'good' use of data mining but as companies and organisations realise that the data they hold is often more valuable than any product they make there can be a feeling of exploitation. This is a well-balanced discussion with fascinating, revealing and sometimes alarming insights. (Clive Yelf)

Leo McKinstry - Attlee and Churchill

These two extraordinary men, thrust together to lead the fight against Hitler, worked well together, despite their political differences and remained friends long afterwards. For me, brought up in China and imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp, Churchill's election defeat was incomprehensible. This book has helped to fill the gaps in my understanding of those times. Be warned: it weighs over 3 lbs. but it is worth every penny. I was lucky, it was a Christmas present! (James Baker)

Anthony Williams - Medical Medium: Life-Changing Foods

The author has done us all a great service in writing a book that can inspire us to actually WANT to eat more fruits and vegetables. Reading his descriptions of each food's benefits motivated me to run out and buy more of them than I usually would have. This diet change has brought me a slow weight loss and better skin. (Sharron Calkins)

Derek Wilson - The People's Bible: The Remarkable History of the King James Version

What I found most interesting in this expansive history, was just how expansive it was! The King James Version did not arrive in a cultural vacuum but as part of a chain of ongoing religious, political and social changes marking the change from Tudor to Stuart monarchies. As a work of literature it drew heavily on previous translations, was assembled by teams of talented translators from across the kingdom, becoming both cultural icon and classic. (Clive Yelf)

Feedback

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I really look forward to the arrival of each new 'Books We Like'! Thank heaven there is always the happy prospect of the next good book to read... Books have gotten me through my first 75 years and I am counting on them to entertain and inform me to the very end. At the close of bwl 95 there was a comment about more negative remarks creeping into some of them. Was this a sign that readers were less willing to be led by the nose when reading glowing book blurbs? In answer, I can only speak for myself. When reading book 'blurbs', I am cautiously optimistic. Blurbs CAN persuade me to purchase the book, but nothing can persuade me to write a review if the book was disappointing. First, I don't want to invest even a moment more on a disappointing book. And second, our 'assignment' as reviewers is to comment on the books we LIKE. (Sharron)

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What does anyone else think? As someone guilty of the occasional bad review I can't be the judge? (Jenny Baker)

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On Chapel Sands - Laura Cumming
I'd strongly endorse Jenny Baker's praise (bwl 95 Winter 2020) for this investigatory family memoir. It's superbly written and gives a vivid sense of landscape and village life. The social mores which gave rise to the story of the childhood and youth of the author's mother seem utterly different from those of today yet all this happened almost within living memory. The sensitivity and writing quality deployed, combined with the perceptive commentaries on works of art which seem relevant to the story, make her other books (also reviewed) sound well worth pursuing. (Tony Pratt)

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You will all have read Margaret Teh's email which she forwarded to everyone. What a terrific idea to share reading a book on-line with the aid of an App. (Jenny Baker)

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