Dave is 30 years old, has a mundane courier job in New Jersey. He has a girlfriend Julie who he has been with, on and off, for 16 years. He is also the lead guitarist in a covers band who play a lot of wedding gigs. This is a very relatable story for anyone who likes popular music and/or has ever been in a band. The story is very funny, laugh out loud funny at times. Dave proposes to Julie (about time!) but then his life seems to go into a tailspin. The book is right for anyone who just enjoys a funny heartwarming story.

The story follows a Chinese family across time and place, charting its rise, fall and rise as they negotiate the Japanese invasion, the rigours of the Communist Party and migration to USA. Ruth Young has always had a broken relationship with her mother, LuLing and now that LuLing’s memory is fading, she gives Ruth some of her papers. Ruth learns so much about LuLing and her life in a remote mountain village where superstition, tradition and ghosts are currency. On reading untold truths, Ruth develops a new understanding and respect for her mother and her view of family, love and forgiveness are consequently reshaped. It is a wonderful book, well written and has characters to like and dislike.

This book is so much better than 'Yellowface' by Kuang, it feels more intelligent and grown up, like an adult’s version of Philip Pullman’s 'His Dark Materials' series. The main action takes place in an alternative Oxford University where the Royal Institute of Translation exists, otherwise known as Babel. Young people from across the globe who have experienced trauma, loss of family or poverty are ‘collected’ by rich patrons who pay for their studies and their living expenses. There is a sense of these young people being treated as commodities as they are selected on the basis of what languages they can speak and read and so who will best fit the University’s desire to control the world. The students are used to carve words onto magical silver bars. These bars are then used to power trains, ships, industry, to hold up buildings and to heal or kill. The leaders of the Institute work in allegiance with the government and seek to start an unjust war with China. However, Robin, rescued from China, sees this as a betrayal of his motherland. Previous students have come to see that the power seeking must end and they form a secret society designed to dismantle Babel and all it represents.  The story is clever, well thought through, the characters are well drawn and there is a good pace to the action. It’s a long read, but most definitely worth it!.

'Water' is the first in 'The Elements' series by a popular Irish writer. A woman returns to the island of her childhood and changes her name and rents a remote cottage with no TV or internet access. She is running from her past, one that was shaped by the actions of her husband and daughters. The trouble is, we can never outrun our history and people discover her real identity and question her complicity in her husband’s crimes. With no outlet, she is forced to consider what she did and didn’t know and what she did and didn’t do.

Set in a quiet valley in the south of France is an isolated farmhouse called Mas Lunel. The current owner, Aramon Lunel, is an alcoholic who cannot break free from the violence he wreaked in the past.  Audron, his sister, has been banished from the main house and lives in a poorly built bungalow on the farmland. Into the mixture comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy antiques dealer from London. He looks to buy Las Munel but instead is drawn into Audron’s plans to exact revenge on her brother. The writing style is up to Tremain’s usual standard but the storyline is dark, focused on incest, and this does not make for pleasant reading.

The unfamiliar language of the 1870s can make for difficult reading but the descriptions of rural life in Victorian England serve as a reminder of the industrial revolution. The reader is struck by the way people travelled around, walking for days from village to village. Hardy's references to secularisation debunks what we sometimes think is a more modern concept. The matter-of-fact way in which the life of Tess's baby came and went, almost without comment, was a reminder of how common neonatal death was at this time. There are a number of issues which seemed very relevant to the modern day. An innocent working class girl taken advantage of by a worldly-wise man from a higher social position, who comes across as sickeningly entitled. He relentlessly bullies and manipulates her and won't take no for an answer. Then, much later, when he has apparently seen the error of his actions, and begun to lead a better life, he rediscovers Tess, and it's all her fault for tempting him into wicked ways again. This is echoed today when female victims of sexual violence who are blamed for "asking for it" by wearing too much make-up or a short skirt. In a similar way, the unfortunate past events are viewed in such a different way, highlighting shocking double standards. A girl taken advantage of is rejected by a man who himself has just freely confessed to his own shameful behaviour.  The book is a good read, even if the reader has the feeling that something tragic is coming..

There are some similar themes to 'Tess' such as pride, stubbornness and double standards. Mr Henchard was a complicated character and at heart there was something very decent and honourable about him, even if a combination of pride, jealousy, and alcohol brought out the worst in him. It is a pleasant read.

Here we have a crime story based around the reunion of a strange and isolated family in a small Scottish town. There are a lot of strands to the plot and it’s hard to like the characters as even the ‘good’ ones have flaws. It is an easy read with laugh out loud moments, especially the malapropisms dished out by a not very well educated senior police officer. It is a tale about the foibles of human nature.

Claire’s life is perfect. She has the job, the husband, the apartment and now the baby. But we all know that happy ever after is an illusion and husband James walks out not long after the birth.  Licking her wounds, Claire returns home and when James returns, he is in for a surprise. This is an easy read and an easy listen, great for when doing housework or ironing.

This is the third of a series of books that look at the lives of the women of Troy. This novel is focused on Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam, her refusal to have sex with Apollo and the consequences of her arrival in Mycenae.

Set on Sicily, the Syracusans decide to dump surviving Athenian invaders in a quarry and leave them to rot. Two unemployed potters decide to feed the Athenians in return for hearing from the playwright Euripides. The hapless pair find that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war. The book is meant to be a funny tale of the power of art in a time of war and the need for connection in a time of enmity. The book was reviewed to great acclaim on Sarah Cox’s programme ‘Beneath the Covers’ but the reality is much different!

When a whale washes up on a remote Welsh island, young Manod thinks it is a bad omen and yet also a sign of life beyond her isolated home. Add to this the arrival of a couple who want to study the island’s culture and Manod is looking for more, regardless of the consequences.

A man claiming to be a healer settles in an Irish village and he quickly beguiles the population. One woman in particular falls under his spell but is shattered when he is arrested for war crimes. She flees to England to escape her shame and works with others who have been displaced by war. She sees this man again at his trial in The Hague and her journey reaches its end. O’Brien is expert at writing about loss and tragedy, especially those events in the lives of women and girls.

Professor Lucy Easthope is the UK’s leading expert in recovering from disaster. Her job is to plan for disasters and to respond when they happen. She has been involved with 9/11, 7/7, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and the more recent Covid 19 pandemic. In this book she helps us to see into the aftermath, how people are impacted by disaster. She also takes us into government briefing rooms and it’s not what you would hope! The content of the book is awful, including how Easthope helps to identify bodies and is a harrowing but interesting read.

Dickens’ novel is the tale of a young man who tries to escape poverty through achieving his dream of being a famous writer.  There are a variety of larger than life characters that provide both comedy and tragedy. Dickens calls this novel his ‘favourite child’ and it draws deeply on his own life.

The Running Grave is the 7^th book in the Cormoran Strike private detective series. Strike and business partner Robin Ellacott are tasked with rescuing a young man who has joined a religious cult.  Ellacott goes undercover but is ill prepared for the dangers ahead and for the psychological fall out she experiences when the case is over.

Reviewed in January.

Mitchell presents us with a history of the royals of the United Kingdom. The first part of the book is focused on the ‘Ethelred’ era and the book finishes at the end of the Tudor period. The audiobook is excellent as it is read by Mitchell himself and his intonation and snide remarks make it an enjoyable listen.