May

Until the End of Time    Brian Greene

I read this in a hurry as I was about to join him on The Infinite Monkey Cage, but now I find myself going back and dipping into some of the fascinating things he reveals about the Universe.   It’s more interesting than science fiction.  In fact the whole Universe is far weirder than the bearded conjurer theory.   I want to read more.

 

I downloaded two Don Winslow books on to Kindle because they are so heavy! Alas I began to read the wrong one.  I meant to read The Border, the third part of his trilogy but I inadvertently started….

The Force            Don Winslow

…so I continued.  It was very prescient, a book about Police Corruption and the Manhattan Police.  Fascinating.  A brilliant portrait of a corrupt cop and what happens on the streets of NY.

Now perhaps I can finish his brilliant Trilogy.

Laugh Lines         Alan Zweibel

My life helping funny people be funnier.

Hilarious.  I loved this book.  He is a wonderful man.  I’m so glad I have known him since SNL in 1976.  I am very proud of him.

Strangers on a Train      Patricia Highsmith

Was this her first?  Hitchcock made the movie.  This was not my favourite read of hers.

Catch and Kill      Ronan Farrow

I started this brilliant book in hardback when it first came out, but finished it recently on Kindle.  It is an amazing achievement and worthy of all the awards he picked up.  He takes down the appalling sexual bully and rapist Weinstein, as well as NBC and their misguided attempts to shield Matt Lauer from the retribution he totally deserved.  Along the way he has to face many attempts to stop him, including the attentions of Black Cube, which is, reassuringly a post Mossad group for hire, if you have, you know raped anyone recently.  They can help.

Talking to Strangers               Malcolm Gladwell

I finally finished this intriguing book.  He is always readable.  Like a feast for the mind.

Maigret and the Old People.     Georges Simenon

Wonderful as usual.

So you don’t get lost in the neighbourhood.   Patrick Modiano

A bit French for me.

American Dirt               Jeanine Cummins

Starts fantastically well but I felt it ran out of steam towards the end.  I prefer Don Winslow in the horrendous world of the Mexican cartels, but she is certainly impressive, and he recommends this, if indeed it is not quite The Grapes of Wrath.   The Rapes of Wrath?

April

Hi Five                Joe Ide

An IQ novel

Well into his stride now, his books are effortlessly readable.  I’m not quite sure I get much of a picture of IQ his protagonist, I still don’t quite have an image of him in my mind,  but I really enjoy reading his author.   This one concerns someone who is accused of murder who is a Multi, and that in itself leads to complications.  Highly original.  Good stuff.

No Bones             Anna Burns

The great thing about age is you can happily re-read a book you just read recently with only a dim awareness of what happens.  This was her first novel and I liked it very much. Her writing is wonderful, in Belfast rhythms with slang and issues, a young girl, her family and friends at the beginning of the Troubles. I did indeed read it in January 2018 and said then “ She manages to be both bleak and satirical at the same time, as well as the finest prose writer.”  I agree with me.

Lady in Waiting             Anne Glenconner

My Extraordinary Life in the shadow of the Crown

A highly readable memoir of the Upper Classes and the poor woman who was married to the loony Peer Colin Tennant, the King of Mustique.  She becomes Lady in Waiting to the less than fabulous Princess Margaret.  This is a fascinating glimpse of the children of the Bright Young Things. Her description of the Coronation, where she was one of the six ladies in waiting carrying the train of the Queen at that extraordinary event, is worth the price of admission alone.  Kindle.

Maigret in Vichy

A memorable one.  Maigret is a fish out of water, taking the waters in Vichy, when a little old lady he and the Mrs have been holiday watching is suddenly found dead. Of course the local police ask for Maigret’s help and of course he can’t resist.

Apropos of Nothing        Woody Allen

Interesting autobiography of America’s most famous comedian and director of our time.  Interesting that he says he is not an intellectual, and indeed he never went to college. It was fun to read about his movies.  But we were all waiting for how he writes about HER… and he does.

Read on Kindle.