Reading list

Can't stop reading at the moment. Maybe shutting somehing out?

Over the past week I’ve read :

‘The Testimony of Daniel Pagels by Vickery Turner. Another crime story that uses the tempting world of quantum physics and the possibility it seems to offer of being in two places at once.

“The Whisperers” by John Conolly, although in truth I didn’t read it. I started, flipped through and put it down. Not my taste.

“The Hypnotists” by Lars Kepler (now there’s a man who should be into quantum physics with that surname) It’s a good read, fast, nice twists, gothic darkness and chill, but in no way as many-layered as “The Girl With..” series which its blurb would like it to be equalled to.

“The Lollipop Shoes” by Joanne Harris. I haven’t read “Chocolat” or even seen the film, but this was sitting on the Red Cross book shelves in a nice clean hardback so I tried it and was completely seduced. No-one explained there was a hint of witchcraft and sorcery in “Chocolat” as far as I can remember so it was another of those I dismissed. “Lollipop Shoes’ is a sequel so I’ve now ordered the first part. JH has a light style, obviously enjoys writing about food in a sensual, lush way that makes the scents and flavours curl up out of the page, and the final gift to the reader is her gentle invocation of all that is best about France.

When I drifted into the Red Cross shop again yesterday I found a thumbed copy of ‘Blackberry Wine’ so that’s kept me happy until just now.

In between, spurred by memories of France, I bought from Amazon (really they do arrive very fast!) ‘French tales” a collection of short stories by people like Colette, Daudet, Marcel Ayme and Annie Saumont. Some of the stories I have struggled through in french back in the day, but it was much more comfortable to read them in translation.