Chanel Cleeton: Our last days in Barcelona, Berkeley 9780593197820, paperback

( she is published by Heyne in German)

Sometimes it has to be pure entertainment after a more serious novel, particularly when the sun is out and it feels like summer. 

Throw in a family dynasty of the Perez women,  who fled Cuba for Palm Beach during Castro's revolution  and narrate switching between two timelines, 1936 Barcelona when Franco's nationalists started  a devastating war  and were still in power in 1964 and you have a story which ticks all boxes for a great womens summer read: love story, strong female characters, historical novel, exotic settings and a bit of mystery. 

In 1964 Barcelona Isabel goes in search of her missing sister Beatrix and ends up discovering a family secret her mother Alicia harbors, hence the 1936 timeline. It ended a little too smaltzy for my taste but otherwise had me thoroughy entertained ... 

Chanel Cleeton has written 3 other novels around the women of the Perez family but they can all be read indepently. 

Maggie Shipstead: Great Circle, A. Knopf (Penguin Random House US),  9781524712020, large format paperback, 

Shortlisted for Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022, K

(German edition: Kreiseziehen, DTV)

 

I started reading Maggie Shipstead’s “Great Circle” twice, discovering a few months ago I was not in the right frame of mind to concentrate on such an epic story,  589 pages of superb writing as it turned out to be. I am so glad I gave it a second go, absolutely loved submerging myself into the cosmos of female aviator Marian Graves’s incredible, fictional life which has so many stories in a story it could go on forever.  

As a baby, Marian and her twin brother Jamie were rescued from a sinking ocean liner in 1914 and brought up living an almost feral life as children at their Uncle Wallace’s farm in Missoula, Montana.  Discovering a passion for flying early through travelling barnstorming pilots, Marian is determined to make her dream come true to become a pilot, striking a fateful deal with bootlegger Barclay Macqueen whom she marries later. She has to escape her husband’s stronghold, creating a new identity and years of restless resettling before her destiny, to become an independent woman circumnavigating the globe being the first to fly over the North and South Poles, seems attainable by a lucky turn of events.

“Great Circle” is a rich tale with many colorful characters but Marian became especially dear to me, as did her brother Jamie who inherited his Uncle Wallace’s talent for painting and is the polar opposite to Marian. The novel begins in 1914, is set mostly in the US but also England during WWII, but makes a connection to the present by way of a second storyline which really irritated me at first. Actress Hadley Baxter who is to play Marian in a Hollywood movie is the second heroine of the novel with an entirely different voice.   

I questioned first whether this second story had been a good idea but as the book develops and particularly towards the last
part of the novel, it all makes sense and comes together.  A great book, an emotional story, fabulous writing, what more do you want from a book – I loved it!

 

 Jo Nesbo: The Bat, Penguin Random House UK, paperback, 9780099581871,

This was my first Jo Nesbo thriller, in Germany he is a huge bestselling Scandinavian  author  and i can see why, he is a terrific writer who knows how to spin a yarn. 

"The Bat" is  the first novel of the  Harry Hole series , a Norwegian detective with a complicated personal and professional history.  Harry is sent to Australia to help investigate the murder of a Norwegian girl but to stay out of trouble. When the team discover a string of unresolved murders that might be connected to the recent one, it becomes clear they are investigating a serial killer. I had a great time with this thriller,  a perfect holiday read.

 Louise Penny/ Hillary Rodham Clinton: State of Terror, Pan Macmillan, hardback,  9781529079692

( GERMAN EDITION: State of Terror, Harper Collins Deutschland, gebunden)

Usually I never read thrillers written  by bestseller authors and famous personalities that have been concocted by  editiorial and marketing departments in publishing companies. 

But I am a fan of Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series and wanted to see what  plot she and Hillary Clinton had come up with. Having asked Hillary, who has apprently been a friend for some time,  what her worst nightmares had been during her time as secretary of state, the duo came up with a very enjoyable political thriller which was great fun to read. 

Borrowing heavily from actual recent political developments, such as an inept, narcisstic, corrupt US president who might also be considered a traitor, unrest and war in many Arabian states and terrorist explosions in major European cities, London and even Frankfurt in the novels case, the head protagonist in "State of Terror" is Ellen Adams. She has been newly appointed as secretary of state,  and as a former media group owner was installed in her position by a president she did not support who wants to keep her influence in check for political reasons hopeing she might trip early in her new post. The plot moves along very quickly,  is very plausible and well thought through, Hilary Clintons political experience and background clearly shows. A fast paced political thriller which surprised me positively - excellent read.

 

Daniel Klein: Travels with Epicurus - A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life, 

9780143126621, paperback, Penguin USA

Having just finished this little gem of a book, I believe that certain books come your way when you are ready for them. 10 years ago I would have probably not been up to understanding some of the pearls of wisdom Daniel Klein comes up with when packing his bags and heading to the beautiful Greek island of Hydra ( i can attest to its charm and beauty) to reflect and meditate upon what path to take for himself, how to grow old gracefully and mindfully in a world where staying forever young seems to be the thing to aim for.

His first starting point is observing his elderly Greek male friends, how joyfully they pass their days sitting in the local taverna talking, watching, eating, drinking and reminiscing. Klein always comes back for guidance to the ancient Greek philosophers and here in particular  Epicurus. Some of his observations made me laugh, smile and rethink a lot of my former beliefs one of which is that very old old age is something to thrieve for, where in reality it is very very hard, something I am watching my nearly 99 year old father going through. I really loved this little book which gave me much food for thought on many subjects about aging; i loved the often humorous approach,  recommended reading for anyone in their sixties plus or interested in the subject ....

 C.J. Box: Shadows Reels, a Joe Pickett novel, 9780593331262, Putnam 

( German editions by  Heyne but some out of print, available as ebooks)

I have been a fan of C.J. Box's Joe  Pickett series for some time. It's a bit like reading a Western and escaping into Wyoming, something i love to do. "Shadow Reels" i found a bit constructed and just not up to the usual quality. Nevertheless an entertaining read.

When a local fishing guide is found tortured and murdered and Hitlers  photoalbum stolen by American soldiers during  WWII is left at the libary where Joe's wife Marybeth works, it soon becomes apparent that the two incidents might be connected.

Nate, Joe's falconer friend,  is meanwhile hunting Soledad, who stole most of his falcons and lifelihood, and is associated with Antifa. I found this part of the novel particularly unconvincing and think it should have been left out or been a novel in itself with a larger role by Joe. 

 Nekesa Afia: Dead dead girls, 9780593199107, Berkley Crime

Sometimes it has to be an entertaining mystery, and i found just that in Nekesa Afia'S DEAD DEAD GIRL. Really enjoyed this unusual setting and developed a soft spot for Louise,  the spirited chief protagonist. 

Set in the Harlem Renaissance featuring a young black lesbian heroine, Louise Lloyd spends her days working at a cafe and nights boozing with her lover Rosa Maria and her twin brother Raffael at the Zodiac club. Not much escapes her there but when the girls she knows from the club end up being brutally murdered and dumped in front of the cafe where she works, she is scared and clueless. After a scuffle with the police, they force her to use her Harlem connections working with the somewhat shady  detective Gilbert or to get arrested herself. A glimps of what it might have been living in the 1920ties Harlem as a young woman fending for herself and being ousted by a preacher father with a mystery thrown in helped me to escape during a time when the world seemed to fall apart.