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I just started I Will Die in a Foreign Land. I’ve only read 13 pages, but I’m mentioning it because it’s gotten very good reviews even from main stream newspaper book reviewers, which isn’t common for indie press books (this is from Two Dollar Radio in Ohio,) and was indie pick for 11/2021.

The action starts in 2013 in Ukraine and according to reviews helps readers understand the current drama in Ukraine, as well as being a very moving story.

I’ve just finished We Kept Out Towns Going from NetGalley and am working on my proper review. Overall I really enjoyed it, though.

A few days ago I started Elizabeth is Missing and I think I’m enjoying it. I like reading it at any rate and want to know what happened, but I’m not sure about the two timelines.

I finished a rather lacklustre, dark academia novel by Victoria Lee A Lesson in Vengeance

Link to my review:

/review/show...

An incredibly engrossing and informative account of Britain's shadowlands, places that once existed but vanished leaving only traces behind, Matthew Green's Shadowlands: A Journey Through Britain’s Lost Cities and Vanished Villages

Link to my review:

/review/show...

Sounds wonderful. Thanks Alwynne

I just finished Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. I’m not really sure I liked it, but it was compelling and mostly well done.

I have my NetGalley book that should be next. It’s only available on the NetGalley shelf app, not kindle, which I’m not sure I would’ve requested if I’d have noticed that since I can’t read it as easily. Does anyone know of any work arounds for that? I’m guessing not, but figured it can’t hurt to ask.

Great review, Alwynne. I’m putting this on my Wish List. I love ancient history of the British isles.

Thanks WndyJW and NigeyB, definitely worth a look!

I finished Daisy Hildyard's Emergency which I found incredibly absorbing, and often impressive, although I don't think it totally worked in terms of the ideas she's attempting to communicate.

Link to my review:

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It's not quite March yet but as it's the weekend, I've 'opened' our group read of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and also our slow buddy read of Ulysses.

Set in Tennessee in the 1930s-1950s:
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate- My Review

I just finished The Ticket Collector from Belarus: An Extraordinary True Story of Britain's Only War Crimes Trial

I think it would appeal to many here, so attach a link to my review if anyone is interested: /review/show...

I have just finished Dear Hugo by Molly Clavering, who was a good friend of D.E. Stevenson, and anyone who is a fan of hers will probably enjoy Molly Clavering, so I'm very pleased that several of her books have been recently re-published, so I'm planning on getting to more of her books soon.

I have also been reading A Thatched Roof by Beverley Nichols. It's his follow up to Down the Garden Path, but this one concentrates on restoring the house, whereas the first one was about restoring the garden. I do enjoy his writing.

Just about to start Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future. It's the only Ukranian book on my shelves and I want to 'hear the voice'.

The Singapore Grip by J.G. Farrell is my favorite of the author's series. Really good writing that pulls you in, all the way through.

My review: /review/show...

I have just begun another of the Cadfael books by Ellis Peters. I am on the eighth book--The Devil's Novice. I don't usually enjoy mysteries or series, but Peters' Cadfael books are the exception.

I have just finished The Betrayal Helen Dunmore I was so captivated by The Siege that we read here, that I wanted to know what future held for Anna, Andrei and Kolya.

I finished a new edition of Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov's Grey Bees, not exactly my kind of novel but strangely compelling even so. Although not as memorable as his penguin novels.

Link to my review:

/review/show...

I just finished The Love Child by Edith Olivier. It was really short and sweet and I enjoyed it.

Just read and very much enjoyed The Door by the late Hungarian author Magda Szabo. A well-written, thinly autobiographical tale about a once-banned Budapest writer who late in life is finally recognized with major awards. But her elite world is deeply unsettled by a strong-willed housekeeper with little formal education who forces her to question both her personal and cultural relationships. Link to my full review: /review/show...

I love Magda Szabo.

I’m reading Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey. I see now why she received so much praise. The words flow, they aren’t archaic, but they still have a formal feel which I like in classics.

I’ve just started The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe and am so far really enjoying it. It has a little of The Group about it so far.

I finished an ultimately disappointing exploration of family, queerness and grief by Okechukwu Nzelu Here Again Now

Link to my review:
/review/show...

Historical fiction that begins in 1933, when Hitler meets German industrial leaders to obtain financing for his plans. It then moves to the Austrian leaders in 1938 as they attempt to delay Anschluss. It is short and focused solely on one episode in history. I read the English translation from the original French:

The Order of the Day by Éric Vuillard - 4* - My Review

I was fascinated by Virginia Woolf's The Years

Link to my review:

/review/show...

And absorbed in Ali Smith's fictional response to the pandemic Companion Piece

Link to my review:

/review/show...

The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories by Agatha Christie - 4* - My Review

Collection of eleven short stories written between 1924 and 1932. I'd call this a better than average collection of mysteries.

Returning to Ellis Peters' Cadfael books is always enjoyable. This time I read The Devil's Novice. It is not one my favorites by her, but still it is good.

My review: /review/show...

I have begun The Feast by Margaret Kennedy.

I finished a collection of fiction/non-fiction by pioneering Chinese American author Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior, China Men, Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, Other Writings

Link to my review:

/review/show...

Just finished this brilliant book, which was published in 1996 and includes an alternate history/reality of 2019-2020:
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - 5* - My Review

Published in 1976, this is Margaret Atwood's third novel:
Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood - 4* - My Review

A meticulously-edited, reissue of a compilation of work by radical women writers that grew out of a research project sponsored by academics including Toni Morrison Writing Red: An Anthology of American Women Writers, 1930-1940

Link to my review:

/review/show...

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy just didn't do much for me. Well at least now I have tested an author not tried before!

My review: /review/show...

Now I will return to a favorite author--Erich Maria Remarque. I will start Three Comrades. Looking forward to this!

I’m wrapping up Emily Wilson’s brilliant translation of The Odyssesy and reading The Beasts They Turned Away for the Republic of Consciousness Prize. It’s very good so far.

Sounds good Wyndy. I envy you I finished a disappointing, messy, lesbian love story Yerba Buena

Link to my review:

/review/show...

I think you’d like The Beasts They Turned Away.
Good thing you read a book or two a day since you didn’t care for Yerba Buena.

Erich Maria Remarque is such a fantastic writer. I just had to stop by and encourage others to pick up his books. Everyone knows of All Quiet on the Western Front, but he has other wonderful ones too, like the one I am reading now -- Three Comrades. What lines!

Published in 1997 and set in the 1970s in Oklahoma:
Paradise by Toni Morrison - 4* - My Review

That’s one of only two Toni Morrison books I haven’t read yet, the other is Love. I love Toni Morrison so much. If only it were possible to read her for the first time again.

WndyJW wrote: "That’s one of only two Toni Morrison books I haven’t read yet, the other is Love. I love Toni Morrison so much. If only it were possible to read her for the first time again."
She was such a wonderful writer.

Just finished this one:
In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut - 4* - My Review

I had read his book, The Promise, last year when it was won the Booker Prize. I didn't love that one, but I enjoyed his writing style, so I decided to pick up another. I liked this one even more. It is set in the 1990s in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

I’ve just finished reading “The Color Purple�� by Alice Walker with my local physical book group and found it a fantastic story about two sisters and there divergent lives. At first I was worried about the African dialect being a trial but actually it quickly became essential for the story to be believable . I css Axx n see how this book won the Pulitzer Prize and became such a seminal read not to mention a hit movie

I've been meaning to read...



Yes I Can (1965)

by

Sammy Davis Jr.

...for eons


Finally underway. What a story. Still early days but what a life that man has led and still only 16 years old.

Anyone read it?

When Sammy Davis, Jr. published his autobiography in 1965, it was an immediate long-running bestseller as well as a revelation. Yes I Can describes Sammy Davis's personal conviction, the view of success that both propelled him to stardom from ghetto obscurity and served as his armour against racism.

I've just started The Final Revival of Opal & Nev which is longlisted for the Women's Prize and am pretty confident in recommending it to Nigeyb and Susan.

It's written in a similar interview format to Daisy Jones & The Six, set against the 1970s music scene. I'm only about 25 pages in but it's immediately engaging and likeable, though there are darker hints about where it might go given the historical setting.

Ooh, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is in at the library for me, RC, and I'm hoping to pick it up tomorrow.

Three Comrades is a book by Erich Maria Remarque you simply should not miss.

My review:/review/show...

I have begun the Turkish classic Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali. I am liking it right from the start.

Judy wrote: "Ooh, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is in at the library for me, RC, and I'm hoping to pick it up tomorrow."

Oh good, it'll be fun to swap thoughts as we read, Judy.

Nigeyb wrote: "I've been meaning to read...



Yes I Can (1965)

by

Sammy Davis Jr.

...for eons"

I read it years ago and thought it was terrific. Very enlightening for a 16 year old Ben.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Judy wrote: "Ooh, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is in at the library for me, RC, and I'm hoping to pick it up tomorrow."

Oh good, it'll be fun to swap thoughts as we read, Judy."

I have SO many books on the go at the moment, but, yes, agree it sounds one that I would enjoy.

Ben wrote:


"I read Yes I Can (1965) by Sammy Davis Jr. years ago and thought it was terrific. Very enlightening for a 16 year old Ben."

I'm gripped. He's in the army now during WW2 and the racism he has encountered is jaw dropping and genuinely upsetting. Obviously I knew the States was deeply racist during the 1940s but it's still shocking when you read these first hand accounts. Especially as Sammy Davis is obviously a nice, easy going fellow who just wants to get along with everyone. Brutal.

Amanda wrote: "I’ve just finished reading “The Color Purple�� by Alice Walker with my local physical book group and found it a fantastic story about two sisters and there divergent lives. At first I was worried ab..."

The Color Purple is one of my favorites. The movie is very good as well. I read Possessing the Secret of Joy right after The Color Purple. It’s not a sequel, it’s the story of the young African wife we meet at the end of The Color Purple and her experience of the “cutting�� done to young girls in parts of Africa.

Nigeyb wrote: "Ben wrote:


"I read Yes I Can (1965) by Sammy Davis Jr. years ago and thought it was terrific. Very enlightening for a 16 year old Ben."

I'm gripped. He's in the a..."

Thank you for bringing Davis' book to my attention. I will definitely read it-soon.

Chrissie wrote:


"Thank you for bringing Davis' book to my attention. I will definitely read it-soon"

I'm enthralled

He's making it now....

...but still the incessant racism.

What a story though. I don't think I'd realised what a big star he became from around the mid 1950s.