All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

Okay folks, I know I am somewhat late to the party but being on furlough due to the Coronavirus, I thought I would try a book NOT in my usual crime/mystery/thriller reading genre.

All the Light We Cannot See is the work of historical fiction set mostly around the Second World War in France and Germany. The two principal characters are a blind girl in France and a short boy in Germany. Follow these two children as they grow up and meet the many challenges they face when Europe becomes a war zone.

This book is written in American English and Anthony has a tremendous vocabulary. His writing is of very high quality and is very descriptive. There is a lot of detail thrown into this story and I loved reading about the ins and outs of radio. A lot of research has gone into this novel which made it such a fulfilling read. Anthony really got to grips with telling his story from the perspective of a blind person…

To shut your eyes is to guess nothing of blindness. Beneath your world of skies and faces and buildings exists a rawer and older world, a place where surface planes disintegrate and sounds ribbon in shoals through the air. Marie-Laure can sit in an attic high above the street and hear lilies rustling in marshes two miles away.

...I liked how memories were created within the story, using phrases and tag lines that would be revisited later in this novel. Character development was wonderful and gentle, giving the impression that you the reader were growing up alongside them. 

All the Light We Cannot See is a very long read that runs to 532 pages. The time frame drifts about a lot, basically before the war and during the war. The last ten per cent of this book is more contemporary, following a linear time frame of two sections, 1974 and 2014. One of my pet hates are novels that roll backwards and forwards in time. Because this book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015, I thought I would bear with it. I decided to ignore the wandering time frames and coupled with the repeated memories, phrases and tag lines, I felt as though I was living the life through those eras. These shifting time frames made this novel very reflective of times we have not lived. It gave me access to another world before I was born and a world that I cannot see with my eyes - a world using other senses which blind people have to cope with every day of their lives. This is far more detailed than helping blind passengers travel on my coach.

I got a lot from reading All the Light We Cannot See. It is very sad in places but then those were very sad times. I found this book an OUTSTANDING read and is worthy of adding to your bucket list of books to read before you die. This novel has become very popular and rightly so, a lot has been written about this book, so what more can I add? It took Anthony ten years to write his novel but the detail and quality shine through from start to finish, so it gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

All the Light We Cannot See is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Grave's End (DS Alexandra Cupidi #3) by William Shaw.

Grave's End is the fourth novel in this Kent based British crime thriller series. It can be read as a stand-alone and new readers will not feel left out. You could even read this fourth book, enjoy it and start the series from book one without anything spoiling your enjoyment. Grave's End gets off to a creepy start when a man's naked body is found in a freezer. Detective Sergeant Alexandra Cupidi and her team are on the case to solve this murder.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Grave's End. Characters from the previous novels return like friends at a Christmas party. The plot is very complex and when another body is found both DS Alexandra Cupidi and the reader wonder if the two deaths are connected. When you go to bed after a reading session, your head is buzzing as you wonder who to trust and what the devil is behind it all. 

I loved how the issues around class conflicts, housing development, planning consent and local politics all played an integral part of the story. Grave's End is not a basic police procedural as there is lots more to this tale. There are even short chapters written from the point of view of a Badger. Don't worry if you know nothing about badgers as this old badger will teach you all you need to know. I found the badger tale gave this novel so much extra added value.

I found Grave's End to be a very entertaining read with lots to think about. I loved the rural locations, the wildlife and the bonds which developed between the characters. How Alex, Bill, Jill and Zoe bounced off each other was great to watch, it was as if the reader was the quiet one in the corner while the four of them got to the bottom of how and why the naked man was found in the freezer.

I like William's writing style, it is very easy to follow and roll along with. Character development is spot on. William has done it again, it is wonderful how he has published these 4 books in the series with the quality of each one being top notch. I can find nothing wrong with Grave's End and found it an OUTSTANDING read that gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Quercus for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Grave's End was written in 2020 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

I'm Only in it for the Parking by Lee Ridley AKA Lost Voice Guy.

Lee Ridley is also known as Lost Voice Guy, a comedian who won 2018's Britain's Got Talent. Lee developed cerebral palsy as a baby and communicates using an iPad. Lee is also a writer but this is his first book.

I enjoyed reading this memoir which Lee has written at the age of 38. I found his gentle humour an easy and entertaining read, for example...

When I was little, my parents sat me down and explained to me that I couldn't talk like other people. I thought I was really special. Then I realized that every Geordie child had the exact same conversation.

... I liked how Lee explained his disability and the daily challenges it gives him, for example...

My general physical movements are also pretty restricted. I'm shit at bending down and picking up stuff off the floor (so I can't shop at Primark) or at reaching up and getting anything off a high shelf (so I can't buy any porn). As long as I shop where everything is at eye level I'm sorted.

... I also liked how Lee explained at length how he lived from day to day and dealing with the many obstacles in his way. I found this book great for increasing disability awareness within the able-bodied population. I liked how frank and self deprecating Lee is with his story. I liked how he explained his stage name, using his talker software and the many life skills he uses to gain a great deal of independence in his daily life. Lee also writes about other things that are important to him like education, receiving inappropriate presents and accessible hotel rooms. 

There are not many stand-alone jokes in this book, those are reserved for his stage shows. The best I read in this book was short and sweet...

I started off in a disabled Steps tribute band. We were called Ramps.

...But the main humour in this book is about the amusing things he came across along the way, like going horse riding at a Disabled Riding Centre and being given a horse with just one eye! Lee has also had much fun with leaving Post-It notes hidden in hotel rooms. I also liked the attitude throughout this book and Lee came across as down to earth and mature, for example...

None of us wants to be left on the shelf in the great big dating supermarket of life. The one where the most desirable people have already been taken, the cheapest have been used and brought back for a refund, and the rest of us just sit there, like Tesco-own-brand red sauce: not as tasty and hardly ever picked up.

... So, all in all, I found this book both enlightening and entertaining. You do not have to be a fan of his comedy stage shows to enjoy this book. I think I'm Only in it for the Parking is a GOOD read and it gets 4 stars from me. I got a lot from this memoir and I think that disabled people will be glad that Lee has taken the trouble to share his experiences with the public. Lee explained very well how disabled people differ so much from other disabled people, even with the same condition. Add to this the many people who have invisible disabilities. Disabled passengers present everyday to board and travel on coaches for long distance travel, so it is important for drivers to remember that one size does not fit all and to treat each passenger as a first date. Drivers should not take disabilities for granted and what most disabled passengers want is the ability to travel with independence and for drivers not to make a fuss.

I'm Only in it for the Parking was written in 2019 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The Brightest Fell by Nupur Chowdhury.

Put yourself into the near future on a fictional island called Naijan, somewhere in the North Sea. This political thriller is a tale of betrayal and corruption.

I got a shock when I started reading this novel. Right from the first page the reader is thrown into a make believe world. All the locations are fictitious, the country does not exist and there are no cultural or religious clues. There are no geographic references to the real world, everything is generic. But we have a civilisation, a working infrastructure including houses, media, roads and telecommunications. For British readers the place names and character names may be a challenge but simply ignore this as we are not reading aloud. So although we will not recognise names to begin with, bear with it and you will recognise everything else. Politics is the same the world over, featuring lots of lies and dirty work behind the scenes.

I enjoyed reading The Brightest Fell and feel it is a GOOD political thriller. I liked the plot and the political manoeuvring was very engaging. Each character had their own hidden agenda and there was good and bad in each of them. There was lots for the reader to think about, not just in this novel but whether these political struggles could be taking place today in real world politics. Woven into this plot were our current day concerns over corruption, drugs, state control and terrorism. Add to that our daily tide of fake news and lies from all politicians.

I found The Brightest Fell to be an entertaining read that I could relate so easily to. It is similar to watching the Daily Briefing here in the UK as our country struggles with the coronavirus pandemic. Suspicions are aroused as the politicians and scientists compete against each other.

I liked the writing quality that Nupur put into her novel. I found this book very easy to follow and well written. It follows a lovely linear time frame and the pace is steady with no boring bits to tire the reader. She uses American English and gives no clue to her homeland, except for just one word I picked up on, “kulfi” - a traditional Indian ice cream. Nupur deploys a lovely wide vocabulary and has a great range of popular phrases and sayings, for example…

The best lies, after all, had a basis in truth.

Can’t stain a black coat and all that.

...The Brightest Fell was an interesting read for me and it makes the reader question just how representative democracy is for the population it claims to serve. Nupur serves her readers with a solid GOOD read that gets 4 stars from me.

Thanks to the author for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The Brightest Fell was written in 2019 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Exit by Belinda Bauer.

Retired accountant Felix Pink, 75 has a hobby. He witnesses the deaths of people who wish to take their own lives. All is going well for Felix until one day when things go dramatically wrong.

Exit got off to an exciting and shocking start. Unknown to Belinda when she wrote her novel, the coronavirus has kicked off around the world and here in the UK. To read about characters as they took their last drastic breaths from behind CPAP masks was a shock for me and a little too close to home and reality. My wife Gail wears a CPAP mask for her Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and the thought of her taking her last breaths next to me in our bed really chilled me.

I liked how Exit mentioned the stress involved for visitors when they tried to deal with hospital car parking. I particularly liked when Belinda dealt with the feelings elderly people have with their wardrobe when she wrote…

His days of buying clothes were over. He had bought his last three-pack of Y-fronts a year ago, and the socks he had now would see him out. It was a strange feeling - that he would be outlived by his socks.

… After the initial shock, Exit became a farce as Felix and the local police buffooned around North Devon to establish what went wrong on that fateful day. Belinda Bauer has written many novels that have won a collection of awards but Exit is the first novel from her that I have read.

I found Exit to be a frustrating read and my interest faded as I worked my way through this book. If this was a television programme I would have been quite happy to turn over to another channel part way through. The story flitted about from character to character and this became rather irritating as this tale plodded along. The twists and turns were generated by trying to find out who moved the instrument on death and their motives. Laboriously the story lumbered on until the culprit was revealed. I lacked empathy for the characters because of the mistakes they were all making. I did not engage with the characters and my interest was fading fast. Although Exit got off to a very good start, I was disappointed and saddened by the lack of realism to this story. I found Exit to be quite a dull read and NOT a thriller. I think Exit is a POOR read and it gets just 2 stars from me.

Exit was written in 2020 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Us Three by Ruth Jones.

Catrin Kelly, Judith Harris and Lana Lloyd, have been best friends since the age of five. Follow these three women from the age of eighteen to their early fifties as their lives and friendships whirl through many ups and downs.

Us Three is the second novel by Ruth Jones. This story appears under the genre of “Women’s Fiction” BUT do NOT let this label put you off. I am a fan of the Crime/Mystery/Thrillers genre of novels and I thought Us Three was simply BRILLIANT. Yes, it is a book out of my normal reading genre but the quality of Ruth’s writing is superb.

Catrin, Judith and Lana grew up in the fictional small town of Coed Celyn, somewhere in south Wales. Ruth Jones is famous for writing the hugely successful British television situation comedy Gavin & Stacey. Reading the dialogue between her characters in Us Three, it is impossible for the reader not to take on the accents and voices from the television programme. The humour expressed between her characters is similar to that which viewers enjoyed with Gavin & Stacey. For example…

Judith nearly spat out her ginger beer laughing, though Lana was not amused. ‘He was just being deliberately difficult. And we had sex and it was rubbish. Like Chinese takeaway. Y’know, good in the moment, but ultimately unfulfilling.’

… I found the dialogue between her characters simply a joy to read. I liked how Ruth highlighted the difference between Cardiff and Valley accents. This is something we poke fun at every week at our Llantrisant depot.

The short chapters are written from each character’s point of view. This makes this novel ideal for brief reading snatches. Character development is wonderful, the content is so rich that you quickly believe these characters are real people. Ruth pitches the dynamics between these three women really well. Having been married to a Welsh girl for the past 28 years and privy to regular telephone conversations as Gail drones on via speakerphone with her friends from school - I know the conversations that Catrin, Judith and Lana share are realistic.

I really enjoyed reading Us Three and what’s not to like? I found this book highly entertaining, funny and light reading. I think it will make an excellent holiday read that should appeal to both genders. It has high quality writing that is easy to understand, follow and roll along with. There are no dull or repetitive bits in this novel. There is no padding within this story to bulk it out, just comedy drama gold. I could not help but wish each girl well as she made her way through the challenges thrown her way. 

I found Us Three a delightful and refreshing read. I loved how it featured the Welsh culture with the attitudes and dialogue so true to life. Had Ruth featured a real small town in south Wales rather than the fictional Coed Celyn, I feel it would become a tourist attraction just like Barry Island has become following the success of Gavin & Stacey. Still, Ruth does mention Cardiff quite a bit in Us Three and we have plenty of hotels here to welcome tourists to our fine and historic city. Just don’t think that Bessemer Place is off Bessemer Road! Instead walk along to Leckwith Road, pop into the Asda and you will overhear women talk just like in Us Three. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Us Three and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me. Well done Ruth, you are a Welsh legend.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The American Crusade by Mark Spivak.

This novel reflects the War on Terror that America started following the attacks that took place on Tuesday September 11th 2001. The central character throughout this novel is the American Vice President who does all he can to achieve his aims. The dates, names and places have been changed from the history books to allow the author the scope to write a fictional read that reflects the attitudes and moods of  the times following the 9/11 attacks.

I found The American Crusade an interesting read as it covered events in living memory. All those news reports about the Middle East and America’s response came flooding back to me. Throughout this novel I kept thinking “Yes, I remember that bit”. The problem is that readers will remember the past, so this novel fails to give them anything new. It is an old story with dates, names and places changed.

I liked how this novel explored a conspiracy about 9/11 and the whole sorry saga of intelligence gathering and analysis. I found the tales about the behind the scenes workings of American politics enlightening. I loved the highlighting of American attitudes towards religion and sexuality. I enjoyed reading the snappy dialogue between the characters and the ability for the author to poke fun at former American politicians. The humour within The American Crusade does travel quite well across the pond and will raise many a chuckle from British readers like myself.

I did not like the short chapters that were devoted to the Fourth Crusade in the Middle East that took place in the Thirteenth Century. Okay, author Mark Spivak reminds us of that ever-vital adage: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” but I found those chapters tiresome. I accept that Mark was drawing parallels with the past but reading a memoir from the 13th century was an absolute bore. Thankfully although America followed Russia in making similar mistakes in Afghanistan, Mark did not bore the reader with a history of those times. I feel that those chapters could have been left out of this novel without taking anything away from the enjoyment or plot of this story.

I found The American Crusade to be an easy to follow read in the same way that we watch television chat shows. I feel that this novel is average in it’s entertainment value and is an okay read that gets 3 stars from me.

Thanks to the author and the TCK Publishing for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The American Crusade was written in 2019 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The American Crusade - Mark Spivak

https://www.tckpublishing.com

https://markspivakbooks.com/