2026 - January Just got Real by Jane Fallon

 After the previous book this one just doesn't do anything for me. I have read the first chapter and I'm bored with it. 

I'll have to try and will write more later

2025 December - In Ascension - Martin MacInnes

 Published 2023. Supposed to be about 30 years in the future. It starts with Underwater exploration and moves on to the need to travel in space using a propulsion technology given by unknowns to earth. 

It's good, the space travel is reminiscent of Foundation by Asimov(1951).

Some anomalies to me are on page 209 there is a 19 digit number repeated, but what number base is this number? And why 3042 repeats? 

Page 309, at the start of chapter 11 "The Power does no Exist". But neither does Electricity or Magnetism. You can't hold them in your hand or see them.   And a joke about a cat refers to Schrodingers Cat, unknown to many.

Page 323 The dimensions are in Imperial feet and inches, but on page 340 the distances are metric. 

2031 was the last of Proscenium 1. Ci had come on the scene with ICORS in 2026 - This current year! It is the 2040s when she travels to Ascension.

The part where Helena is looking for answers and travels to Ascension Island had me wondering if Leigh and co. would still return.  The ending and the 'if you like' use of Leigh's body as the start of a new creation of mankind was quite an ending to the book. 

I have to mark it as 8.

2025-November - Ann Tyler - Noah's Compass

Liam Pennywell, forced into retirement from teaching at 61, Is robbed and loses his memory of the incident. He spends the rest of the book trying to find his way around his three daughters, ex-wife, and possibly new love interest, without finding a way into happy retirement.  Not inclined to read another like this. Mark 4

General comments - it got boring in the middle.

It was a typical ending for Ann Tyler. Nothing conclusive, not tidy

Like a A Man called Ove but not as good.

Noah's Compass  - A book that went nowhere. 

Liam was frustrated, he let life carry him, but he did have principles. 

H didn't like a single person in the book, T though it was a great read. She liked the characters, and the interaction with the grandson.

Marks  5.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 4, 8   Average 5

And then you read about this fellow, and how people have lost their view of risk:  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/12/britain-needs-more-lunatics-like-my-father/

from that article above: 

“: exuberant, determined, amazingly capable, and very far from risk-averse.

But that never deterred him. He saw risk as an entrepreneur sees it. Not as something objective and imposed from outside, but as something he could always shape himself through energy, charm, persistence… to make good things happen.

That view of risk shaped everything he did,”

And I feel that I have never taken the risky path, but have always taken the secure path of having an employer, when so many of my fellows set up their own companies.  [ It was pointed out that I did have a young family that I was responsible for.]  My father jumped at the opportunity to join the RAF in 1943 and then emigrate to Canada in 1952, and I did take the big step of  returning to England from Canada,  but I have never been adventurous enough to strike out on my own. 

2025- October - Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

Declared the best book of the year (so far)  The marks averaged at 9. 

Very well written, and good signposts throughout.

We had discussions about the takeover of New Amsterdam to be New York, and how the cities mentioned look now. 

For me, it was a good read. The second half was slow  and drawn out with all the writing  and reminiscing that Ned was doing, but wow, what an ending.  Very well researched, though I suppose he put words in peoples mouths, as  he would have to do.  I would love to go to New Haven and see if the structure is still the same. The Highlight of the book was the ending. 

From FW: I, too, really enjoyed the book. 

I do wonder if other episodes in English history had been written in this form whether I'd be a history (ish ) whizz by now, as I found it absolutely fascinating. The characters were real, if more than zealous, and so well painted. I haven't read any other books by Robert Harris and now feel they need to be on my Christmas list 😁

I'm going to give it an 8 as I don't think I'll have time to read it again with the pile I have waiting for me. If I were thirty years younger it would have been a 9 ( but I wouldn't have had the time to read it!!)

From TC: I really enjoyed Act of Oblivion and rate it 10/10.  I thought it might be a bit boring and heavy but found it well written, good pace and I could engage with the characters. 14/10/2025

It wouldn't suit being made for television. I suppose it is hard to get actors to be hung, drawn, and quartered.

2025-September - Elephanta Suite, by Paul Theroux

 

FW

I should have read a little about it before diving in—I expected more overt linking between the three sections. Only afterwards did I realise they were indeed connected through different experiences of Americans in India. Duh!

I found it quite thought-provoking, especially the last story, which had an unexpected ending. I’d heard of the author but never read him before. I liked his style, even though I might have avoided the book if the blurb had revealed more about the content.

Rating: 6/10

SC

Started off okay and was well written, but I lost interest due to all the sordid affairs and exploitation of young indigenous girls. I read about 150 pages and scanned the rest—didn’t think it was worth my time.

Rating: Barely 5/10

Agreed with Dwight when he asks on p.167:

“How had he been corrupted so quickly... prey?”

And on p.244:

“Most things that people... with it.”

Did the three main characters link up? Must have missed that bit!

HB

I read the book while traveling to Amsterdam and Bruges. Got strangely hooked on it during the Eurostar journey two weeks ago. It was well-crafted, and I looked forward to reading it. I even paused occasionally to stare out the window and ponder how I’d react if something in the plot happened to me.

However... writing this two weeks later, I can’t remember anything about what I read. It was totally forgettable. I didn’t “get inside” any of the characters’ heads. The book didn’t linger in my brain afterwards. I read it, then moved on with my life.

Rating: 5/10

PM (Review from 2013)

Not finished. It was a depressing book made up of three stories about different Elephanta Suites. In all stories, Americans come to India.

• In the first, Mr. & Mrs. each have a brief affair with an Indian. They are effectively thrown out and possibly killed.

• In the second, a businessman becomes enthralled with a young girl. His partner leads him into eastern mysticism. Dwight gives up everything to pursue it, handing over the American business to Shah, who eagerly grabs it.

• The third is about a young girl in an Ashram who tries to leave.

Rating: 1/10

2025-August Days from a Different World - John Simpson

 His 4th Autobiography. His earliest years remembered. What he remembers himself from those times, with the turbulent state of his mothers household, and also added in things about British and world history that make it more interesting, as well as what other people were doing at that time - 1944-1952.

 It was difficult to get started because it was not exactly linear, but more interesting finding out about what was happening in the world later in the book, because this was my time. 

It seems that quite a few people skimmed through the middle of the book and just read the beginning and end.  It was the kind of book that you could pick up and put down, and just read bits. 

There was lots of discussion about his early life, and the things that he thought he saw. His life was reflecting the decline of England?  

The book was well written. The overriding comment was that people  were glad to have read it, but didn't enjoy it.

MArks - 4-6-6-7-6-6-8-5-5 = 53/9 - about 6. 

2025- July - We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

 We had a blank month on our library reading list, so we chose this book.  It's different, it's suspend belief funny, and enjoyable. 

Retired detective Steve Father in law of Amy, a close protection officer, whose blood has been found at three murders of customers of her company, Lots of possible villains who all have a finger in it somewhere, and people who are nefarious behind their innocuous cover stories.   Amy is protecting a very rich female author, who when asked if she has something says 'yes, I think I've got one somewhere', or 'Doesn't everyone have a private jet?'  And she is horny as hell. 

My Mark 8 - I would read another of his stories along this line. 

9,9,8,8,7,5,4,2.5  Avg: 6.5