This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Finished Jack Whyte's Uther which is book 8 in his Arthurian historical fiction series if you include the prequel. This one is a bit different in that it does not carry on from the end of book 7 but in fact is a separate book focusing on Uther one the main characters in the previous few books in the series. The book fills in some gaps in those earlier books including answering one major question not answered previously. Like much of the series I liked it overall although again it was a bit drawn out at times.

At Night All Blood is Black, David Diop. Short, vicious, often quite repetitive (by design) but it's a gripping read.

Finished The Eagle by Jack Whyte the last installment in his Camulod historical fiction series. Have to say after a good start this one kind of faded away and the ending not just in terms of being this book but given it was the final book in a 10 book series including the prequel well I was left feeling, and thats it?

Overall a decent series but nothing special at all.

For a change of pace and light read I just finished the Official story of Celtic's 9 in a row. So many great memories to relive there.

Finished Irvine Welsh's The Blade Artist. I really enjoyed this side story focused on Begbie from his Trainspotting books. The premise being Franco is now Jim Frances the reformed family man rather the psychopath Francies Begbie or is he?

Same for me and I have Dead Man's Trousers sitting right there on my to read shelf. As a further aside if you haven't already try Skagboys the prequel to Trainspotting. Not as good as Trainspotting but to be fair thats a really high bar and its still a good read in its own right.

I just read “Rodham” by Curtis Sittenfield. It’s fiction, about what if Hilary never married Bill Clinton, what happens to her then? A very interesting premise. I love American politics so it was great to hear her (fictional) story and her rise in politics. I won’t give a spoiler alert to what happens in the end, but I thought it was a good book.

I picked up the complete books of Earthsea on kindle (it's one volume but all six books) because it's on sale, and now I'm rereading A Wizard of Earthsea.

Finished Spook Street, fourth in the Slough House series by Mick Herron. Brilliant stuff. Next two in the tbr pile.

Yes, that sounds good. I’d like to read more of her books.

Just starting The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. It’s 790 pages.

Finished 'Northern Protestants – An Unsettled People' by Susan McKay, first published in 2000. I've enjoyed reading some of her articles on Northern Ireland, and in this book she travels across the 6 counties interviewing Protestants and asking them what they think of the political situation. She's from a Protestant background herself so she gets a straight, honest account from those she meets. She says in her introduction that the Orange Order criticized the book and urged people not to read it, although the late David Ervine did praise it.

I enjoyed it, and it gives a fair insight into the unionist mindset. I remember one contributor who said Europe would eventually see the island reunited and that the DUP lunatics would be shown up over time. Seemed rather prescient given the last few years. She brought out another book last year looking at Protestants in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, so I might take a look at that.

Finished John Connolly's A Wolf in Winter another great addition to his Charlie Parker thriller and suspense series. His mix of myth, legend and the supernatural is brilliantly done alongside the thriller and suspense nature of the book.

Read a couple of crackers recently. A gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles - maybe a bit sentimental, but very evocative and a real page turner.

Station Eleven, Emily St.John Mandel. Absolutely not what I expected - literary and suspenseful and post-apocalyptic. Something like the Blind Assassin meets The Stand. Can't recommend highly enough and will definitely be checking out her other books. (But to flag - probably worth avoiding if you're not comfortable currently with stories about viruses wiping out huge swathes of the population....)

Just finished McCarthy's Bar, Pete McCarthy. Very funny and particularly interesting when you know well the places being described. It's also an interesting snapshot of an Ireland at the start of the celtic tiger era. I have the follow-up, The Road to McCarthy, in the TBR pile.