The Boy Who Disappeared - Liam Hennesce (A book published this year)

I was asked to review a book for a friend of mine and this was the book and it is probably a book I would not have selected myself. A busy Bank Holiday weekend stretched before me but I was promised it was a short book so I settled down to read it in between doing lots of other things. 

Despite the fact that I was so busy I zipped through it in 3 sessions as I wanted to know what happened to Thomas.

This is a debut novel from Hennesce and is based on a true story. Set in 1963 Scarlett is a private detective who is asked to help solve the mystery of a boy called Thomas who disappeared one day after finishing his paper round. There are no leads to go and no motive for him to run away.

As Hennesce is himself a private detective the character of Scarlett is believable and the book also opens you into a realistic portrayal of the world of PI and the type of work they are asked to do. 

It seems to start as quite an airy read with references to the 60's that make you smile and a potentially easy missing persons case to solve but part way through starts to become darker and much more disturbing with Scarlett being double crossed, not knowing who he can trust and entering a murky underworld of crime. 

An enjoyable and intriguing read. Recommended. 

(Available on Kindle only) 

My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk (A book with a colour in the title)

This was a book that I brought during a weekend in Istanbul. We had popped into a bookshop and there was a table of books by Turkish authors that had been published in English. I was browsing through these and was looking at this one when another book lover also looking at the table told me that it was a good read.
Though this was November it remained on my to read pile for a long time. As usual with this challenge I was in a quandary as to which category it should go under - a book of more than 500 pages (most books I read are more than that!), a book originally written in another language, a book with a colour in the title. it was ousted from the over 500 pages category and shunted into the colour in the title after I read Gone with the Wind. I think it will stay here.

The book is set during the Ottoman Empire amongst the world of miniaturist artists one of whom is murdered and the plot develops as to why he was killed and by whom. It raises the differences in Ottoman art and the depiction of religious stories and the impact of Renaissance art. Not only a mystery the book also has a love story, and covers philosophical ideas of the time. The story only covers a few days one winter but as it is told from so many angles it is quite a big read. The murder mystery remains the central plot and you are kept guessing till the end who was the murderer.

Initially I found it hard to get into this book as each chapter is narrated by a different character (including a dog, a coin, a corpse) and it took me a few chapters to get into the rhythm of the story. I found it a fascinating read as it described a lot of local traditions (eg the role of a Jewish match maker), the set up of a household, day to day working life - all of which I love discovering more about.

The topic of religious art and representation of Muhammed was also very interesting to me as I started to read this shortly after the Charlie Hebdo murders here in France and so this was obviously a current topic of conversation and made the book all the more poignant but also answered some of the questions I had about why there were historical religious paintings but now a modern day Islamic belief that it is forbidden to make pictorial representations of Allah's creation.

• This is a great book and I highly recommend it! 

Gulliver's Travels - Jonathon Swift 1726 (A book more than 100 years old)

This was another book that I found on the shelves of the book exchange at work and though it was quite a long book, I decided that I would like to read it again. It was a book that I skimmed through when I was a teenager. I was a great skim reader when I was younger and now feel that I did not do justice to some of the books I 'read' back then, so this was a good opportunity to go back and reread one.

As it is a well know book I won't dwell too much on plot lines but more on what I got from rereading it.

I did wonder what mind altering substances Swift may (or may not) have been taking as the lands that Gulliver visits are so vividly described and very fanciful. Several things struck me - a lot of what Swift focused on was the difference in political systems in the different lands, each proposing a different way of living. At the time that he was writing these would have been very far fetched and radical ideas making Swift a political dissenter but as they were written as fiction it seems more amusing rather than political. I also observed that though Swift was keen on describing some extreme situations - for example a race of horses governing over men, or flying islands but he never had a country where women were in charge. Maybe that was one step too far in his mind!

There was also a sexual and bawdy element to the book, very much like Fielding. Having been introduced to historical books through reading Austen and Brontes, where manners and good breeding were considered important it showed how there was a swing of change in morals in the late Georgian and Victorian society, leading away from a more earthy sexual awareness to a repressing of anything sexual apart from true love leading to the higher good.

There is also a great deal of humour in the book - for example, pissing on the royal palace to put out a fire and the conflict between being grateful to Gulliver for saving the palace from burning down but horror at the way he had done this! Or wading through the 'deep' sea to spy on the enemy boats and bringing them back tied up together like a string of toy boats being pulled by a small child. As the book continues the humour lessens and the book becomes slightly darker.

All in all an interesting book on many levels and I'm glad I reread it. 

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (A book that can be read in one day)

Living in France it is not so easy to get hold of English language books. There are a couple of bookshops such as Decitre and fnac that have small foreign language book departments, which are great if you (like me) love handling books, looking at the covers and blurbs and reading a few pages to see if this is indeed a book you would like to read. Of course there is Amazon and e-readers that make it easy to buy books relatively cheaply but I do prefer the real deal.

In my quest to find 'real' books I set up an English language book exchange at work, which has become quite popular, though sometimes it appears to be library with the same books reappearing on the shelves. Shortly after I set this up the local Geallic Football team (yes, you did read that correctly!) started holding book sales to raise money for their team expenses. This has been a reliable source of books for a while although the majority of books seem to have a more masculine appeal as it is mainly the players who donate books. The recent development of a female team will hopefully redress this balance! 

I found Heart of Darkness in the work book exchange and as Conrad is on my 'must read some of his work one day' list and was also a very thin book, I grabbed it to fill the 'book that can be read in one day' category and I was able to read it one day.

Set as a narrative it is a powerful book about the darker side of mankind and is based on some of Conrad's own experiences while in the Congo.
The fictional Marlow entertains his crew mates, who are waiting for the tide to turn before sailing up the Thames, by recounting his experiences on a riverboat in the Congo.
The story covers racism and a disillusionment of imperialism and is an uncomfortable but memorable read. The scenes described are incredibly vivid and easy to picture and you are taken, very quickly, into this dark and horrible world.

I would highly recommend this book and it would make a good starting point for a discussion on imperialism.  

The Drop - Michael Connelly (A book set in a different country)

I did mess up with this book as I saw it in the library and thought it was a book that the film The Drop was based on. I got very excited and thought that I could put it in the book that became a movie section, so without really looking at the blurb on the back I tucked it under my arm and headed to the check out desk (via the dvd section).

It was only after I got part way through chapter three that I started thinking 'This isn't at all like the film that I saw the trailers for.' so did a little research and found out my error.

Anyway this was my first Harry Bosch book, though obviously not his! It was an enjoyable and easy read. A slightly complicated 'who dunnit' with Harry being a grumpy, seen it all before cop who now works on cold cases. New DNA found at a crime scene implicates a guy who would have been 8 years old at the time of the original crime. The case has several twists and turns but they are fluid and believable.

I probably wouldn't rush to read more Harry Bosch books as my favourite grumpy policeman called Harry is actually Harry Hole and I can only follow so many grumpy police detectives in one lifetime.

Then I had the problem of deciding which category (if any) this book fitted into and so by default it went into the book set in another country category as it is set in the U.S. Not exactly a glamorous location compared to some of the others I have been reading but it will do! 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle (A book published in the year you were born)

A couple of categories on this list needed a little bit of research, so I Googled books published in 1969 and to my utter joy The Very Hungry Caterpillar was towards the top. I did query this choice with my Facebook friends and as no-one put forward an objection I made sure I read it to the children at work the following day and have included it in my list! 

As a very young child I don't think this book was in my library as it was an American publication and may have taken a few years to gain popularity and cross the pond. I do, however, remember coming across it slightly later in life - possibly my younger brother had a copy. I was fascinated by the holes in the pages, such an amazing idea, and the fruit being on both sides of the (smaller) pages. Now it doesn't seem so different, almost a normality as children's books look for the novel factor to encourage interaction - lifting flaps and foldout pages are the norm now. Holes punched in the middle of pages was a 'stand out' in the early 70's. 

It is a publishing phenomenon with over 30 million copies sold and translated into multiple languages. It is a great learning resource for young children - days of the week, counting, lifecycle of a butterfly and healthy eating all rolled into one. Many a pre-school project has been based on the book (I know I've done a few!) Best of all is the fact that it a lovely story. Children are very particular about what stories they like and this is always a favourite. It has a clear beginning, middle and end and not one but two surprises on the way - the page of wonderful foods on the Saturday (just as you've gone through 5 pages of fruit) and of course the transformation into the butterfly. It has humour and a simplicity that makes it fantastic for young 'readers'. 

It is one of the better children's story books and one I have continued to enjoy reading with children over the last 28 years! 

Home - Toni Morrison (book with a one word title)

This was another book I took out from the library to help me get through my whiplash injury and fill my days at home.

I guess I was in a hurry that day to get back to my sofa and medicated, pain free bliss as I remember thinking "One word title - that will do". It may also be due to the medications that I don't really recall much about this book and it's only a couple of months later. Incidentally the French doctors love to give you lots of medicine. I was on Valium (2 per day, which I dropped to one) as well as anti-inflammatories and ibuprofen, so it was no surprise that I felt like a zombie and now can not recall all aspects of this story.

Frank is a returning soldier from the Korean War who has difficulty in re-acclimatising to being back in the US and his sister Cee who is in trouble.

I covered the Korean War during history lessons at school but have to admit that, despite learning all the facts and figures, M*A*S*H provides a more visual reference for me. UK forces were not deployed in any large scale in either Korea or Vietnam so we have no sense of the impact that these wars had on army personnel and their return to civilian life.
I found it difficult to relate to Frank but did find it easier to identify with his sister Cee and found that side of the story more memorable. Cee gets offered a job as a domestic servant with a 'respectable' doctor and becomes his subject for eugenics.
Frank gets a message that she needs help and overcomes his demons to travel home and rescue her. Cee also is given the time to heal and make peace with her past.

It was a very short book (it could have also been in the 'read in one day' category) and the last few chapters seemed a bit rushed and the story finished quickly and could have done with more time to finish off the various story-lines. Toni Morrison normally tackles racism in her books and this was only given a small mention probably due to the issues of displacement that were the bigger themes of the novel.

An interesting book that I felt lost its potential and had only just got going when it ended.